Shanti (light novel) (Volume 1)

by Shinano Sano, Phil Charbonneau (Translator), Nigata Ammon (Illustrator)

In the dark corners of a 1920s city where wealth and poverty, dreams and despair all coalesce, a boy named Sangha lives humbly with his beloved little sister. Their fragile happiness is soon shattered by the iron fist of the mafia that rules over the city. Sangha is left broken, sinking into the depths of despair, until someone reaches out to him—a man with a carefree, frivolous smile. What awaits Sangha next, salvation or damnation?!

280 pages, Paperback

Published April 14, 2026

Reviews

[Jordan Rinehart · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m kind of confused after finishing Shanti, but it was definitely enjoyable. The world it set up was weird and drifted between trying to be a realistic crime world and a more fictionalized one. Sangha was a fine protagonist but I struggled to get invested in him. Zhen Hong was a very interesting and mysterious character, however we never truly get to solve the mystery surrounding him. The ending was not very good, gave me a bunch of random questions that never got answered. I won’t get into the climax to keep this spoiler free but it really just came out of left field. Not a bad read by any means but one that could’ve been a whole lot better.