月の影 影の海 1 [Tsuki no Kage, Kage no Umi]

十二国記 [Jūni Kokuki] #1

by Fuyumi Ono, 小野不由美, Akihiro Yamada (Illustrator)

The epic novel series that inspired a hit anime returns with an all-new translation! Experience a quest for survival and self-discovery as one girl finds herself lost in a strange, unknown world.When high school student Youko Nakajima is approached by an enigmatic, blonde-haired stranger named Keiki, her life is turned upside down. Whisked away into the perilous world of the Twelve Kingdoms--a realm teeming with mythical beasts, ancient prophecies, and political intrigue--Youko finds herself alone and hunted. With danger at every corner, she must fight to survive, all while grappling with shocking revelations about her true identity that could shatter everything she thought she knew.
Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea introduces readers to a breathtaking fantasy world, where nations rise and fall, and destiny awaits those who dare to seize it!

Genres: Fantasy, Light Novel, Japanese Literature, Fiction, Adventure, Young Adult, Novels

274 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1992

About the author

Kanji Name: 小野 不由美.

Fuyumi Ono (小野 不由美, Ono Fuyumi) is a Japanese novelist who is best known for writing the Twelve Kingdoms (十二国記, Juuni Kokuki) series, on which a popular anime is based. Her name after marriage is Fuyumi Uchida (内田不由美, Uchida Fuyumi), but she writes under her maiden name.

Ono was born in Nakatsu, Ōita, Kyūshū in 1960. She graduated from Ōtani University in Kyōto with a degree in Buddhist Studies, and in 1988 was employed by the publisher Kōdansha. Her debut story is titled Sleepless on Birthday Eve.

Ono is married to Naoyuki Uchida (内田直行, Uchida Naoyuki), a mystery novelist who writes under the pseudonym Yukito Ayatsuji (綾辻行人 , Ayatsuji Yukito).

Before she started work on Twelve Kingdoms, Fuyumi Ono wrote The Demonic Child (魔性の子), a horror novel about a boy from another world. She later worked certain events from this novel into the Twelve Kingdoms series. Short stories set in the various kingdoms include: Kasho, Toei, Shokan, Kizan and Jogetsu. In February, 2008, the first new Twelve Kingdoms short story, Hisho no Tori (丕緒の鳥) was published in Shinchosha's Yomyom magazine.

According to an interview at the Anime News Network, she is "currently rewriting a girls' horror series (she) wrote long ago."

- Wikipedia

Reviews

[二六 侯 · Rating 4 out of 5]

十八年前看動畫，十八年後回頭看小說，還是覺得有意思。
看似普通的少女漫穿越，一去毫無愛情元素，畫風變成硬派。打怪是打怪，但多數時候在討論社會組織和國家行政。奇幻的設定也掩不住某種和現實照應的奧妙感：人在他鄉反倒容易被同鄉騙，二戰世代對90年代青少年的不滿，1970年代日本沿海被綁票到北韓的平民也好似被「蝕」捲去異世界……也難怪這部向來評價高過同類作品甚多。

[Rebecca · Rating 5 out of 5]

Still great, possibly even better with the new translation! But I am seeing why the previous edition used the version that put volumes one and two together - this is unrelentingly dark and hopeless.

Isekai: it used to have teeth.

[Jordan DeMoura · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ahh this is exactly the type of fantasy I love. Now unfortunately I have to wait until October for the next book. I have seen the tv adaptation of these novels and so I already knew I loved the story and that there's plenty to laud about what Fuyumi Ono has crafted. There are actually a fair number of differences between this and its adaptation, among which is the greater emphasis on Youko's thoughts and interiority. For example, her dream sequences which are quite compelling and were omitted entirely from the show.

The series goes on to really become something unique, sprawling, and special later on but even in the first installment the worldbuilding is creative and unique and the character writing is thoughtful and rewarding. Youko still has a lot of growth to experience, and things will get worse for her before they get better but this book does a great job of capturing and articulating her experience in a different world with all the fears, anxieties, and neuroses that accompany it.

I love the way it expresses her struggle to retain her sense of self and how it is challenged by circumstances, how she battles within herself about whether or not to trust people when she has been betrayed so many times, how she contemplates suicide as a source of repose but whether through bravery or stubbornness chooses to persevere, and finally how she comes to a state of introspection and realization about the way she previously lived her life. She was a people-pleaser and someone who was always afraid to ruffle feathers or be disagreeable. And it turns out that by trying to be inoffensive to everyone you ironically become appealing to no one. But like all stories that thrust to their characters into new settings, exciting opportunities for reflection and growth abound. She has begun the process but her story continues. And I am looking forward to it.

[M. Nión · Rating 4 out of 5]

Me costó un montón coger ritmo con este libro. El principio me pareció aburrido, previsible y muy parecido a lo visto en mangas y animes en los que una chica va a parar a un mundo fantástico. Llegué a lamentar haberme comprado ya los 4 primeros volúmenes (correspondientes a 2 libros). Pero, hacia la mitad del libro la cosa se fue poniendo mejor y la última parte me ha gustado mucho.
Es refrescante frente a tanta fantasía occidental, tener una ambientación oriental y el personaje de Yoko, que al principio parecía una Mary Sue en toda regla y, sin ser el personaje del siglo, ha evolucionado un montón en esta primera parte.
Pero sobre todo me han gustado las reflexiones acerca de la soledad y la confianza y, sobre todo, esa metáfora que es el mono azul.
Es una lástima que no esté en español. Yo me decidí por la edición en francés porque leí que la traducción era mejor y, además, la encontré a buen precio, y tengo la suerte de entender bastante bien este idioma; pero me gustaría que más gente pudiese leer esta historia, sobre todo si sigue yendo a mejor

[Lorelei · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was so good! I just blazed through it and I'm already in book 2. It's making me want to watch the anime again since it's been so long since I watched it. They don't make enough YA/teen books like this in the western world, that's for sure.

It's heartbreaking watching Youko forcibly grow up. Unlike in the anime, with the book you really get inside her head. She goes through so much. The chapters seem short and yet a lot happens at the same time. The worldbuilding is amazing, aspirational.

I'm so excited to get further in.

[Kitty Holmes · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sé que no soy muy objetiva con este libro, porque desde pequeña que soy fan de esta historia (del anime, concretamente, y sobre todo de este primer arco), así que para mí ha sido un sueño hecho realidad poder hincarle por fin el diente a su versión en papel y ya ni os cuento el pensar en poder en un futuro leer los arcos de la historia que no estaban adaptados.

Pese a que la lectura es bastante ágil, tampoco me ha parecido que peque de escueto y creo que se dan las suficientes descripciones para que puedas formarte una imagen de cómo son los Doce Reinos (lo poco que se ve de ellos en este inicio, claro) y la gente de ese mundo.

Pero lo que me ha vuelto a enganchar, pese a saber ya lo que va a suceder, es Youko y su viaje. Ya no solo porque creo que la autora plasma muy bien su evolución en este primer libro, en el que pasa de ser una apocada adolescente que se desvive por agradar a todo el mundo, a costa incluso de perderse a sí misma entre las exigencias de los demás, a alguien que tiene que sacar fuerzas de donde no las tiene para poder sobrevivir, aunque ello la lleve a ser incapaz de confiar en nadie.

Hay una parte que me ha impactado mucho y es cuando Youko recuerda cómo su padre la sermoneaba por querer llevar vaqueros, porque "las chicas no deben llevar ropa de chicos, las chicas no deben querer ser más fuertes que los chicos, ni ser más listas que ellos". Desde luego, no me esperaba para nada esa crítica abierta a los roles de género en una novela japonesa de 1992.

Lo malo es que el viaje de la protagonista no acaba, porque al final las novelas ligeras en Japón se publican por capítulos y para la edición en EEUU han decidido agrupar este primer arco en dos libros, por lo que realmente no es que estuviera planteada la historia para cortarse donde acaba este libro, sino que en realidad este y el segundo forman la historia completa, y simplemente han decidido vender dos libros cortos en vez de uno muy largo.

No soy de leerme varios libros de una misma saga seguidos, pero me estoy planteando muy seriamente lanzarme a por el segundo, porque estoy demasiado enganchada.

PD: Me ha llamado mucho la atención el hecho de que Sugimoto y Asano no salgan en el libro, bueno, ella sale al principio, pero no se menciona que viaje al mundo de los Doce Reinos. No sé si es que su trama no será la misma que la del anime o quizá en el 2 sepamos si Sugimoto tiene algún papel en esta historia.

[Ebbie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't sure at first, as the story felt a little rough around the edges. The MC is not very likeable (tho she's less of a whiny brat than in the anime) and there are some stuff that feel dated. But I'd say that around the time Youko starts interacting with people a little more, it gets going.

I don't know a lot about this series, and I just watch the first episode of the anime after finishing the book yesterday. This volume ends a bit abruptly, but even if it had not, I would still be eager to know what's going to happen next. It feels like we just scratched the surface of this world. There are a lot of questions that are unanswered.

That being said, it is a little bleak. There's a pocket of hope towards the end, but it doesn't last very long.

[Ross · Rating 5 out of 5]

今日は初めて日本語の小説を読み終えました！杉本がいなくて寂しいですが、本当に素晴らしい本でした。

[Thesincouch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was incredible. First, I want to spend some time raving about the translation - so smooth, so good, and quite tricky. 10/10 I'm so glad Kim Morrissy is in charge of the whole series and that vol 2 is coming in October - barely any wait.

I watched the anime as a young teen and I thought Youko the most bratty, spoiled thing in existence. TWELVE KINGDOMS is the story that got me hooked on character growth because there was such a change between the whiny Youko from the beginning and the hardened Youko by the end. I will have to re-watch the anime because I didn't feel like this at all. Youko goes through hell and back and her "previous" life was not great either so it's not like she starts in a place of strength. She is alone, she is possessed, she is betrayed, she is starved and sleep deprived, and yet her constant will to survive remains. I love that she was my first instance of girl with a sword. I was riveted the whole way through and I can't wait until vol 2 comes out.

This is a recap for when the second one comes out in case my memory fails me:

Youko is basically kidnapped by Keiki (who his subordinates call Taiho - he is blond, with a kimono) to the Twelve Kingdom. People from there are used to people from Japan coming ashore, they call them Kaikyaku. She lands in the Kingdom of Kou (in the Jun Province) - they separate Kaikyaku into good or bad (the good ones are treated well, the bad ones are said to bring calamity and are executed. In the kingdom of Kei, they are given citizenship, but right now Kei is at war with the youma.

Youko is given the sword with a scabbard and a blue jewel (that heals!), but doesn't know how to use it so one of Keiki's youma (?) possesses her - Jyouyuu the jellyfish one. Ok so when she arrives, she is captured and put to prison to be taken to the governor to be executed. She escapes, loses the scabbard, sleeps during the day, kills youma during the night, no food. She finds a hamlet with rice farmers and tries to steal clothes from Takki. Takki takes her to one of the towns and tries to sell her to her mom, in a brothel, after gaining Youko's trust. She escapes, steals boys clothes, goes to another town. There she meets a Japanese soldier from the IIWW, she realises she speaks and understands the 12K language without realising. The soldier steals her money. She has to run again. Meanwhile, she has been starving and fighting to survive, barely getting a rest against these white metal trees. There is also this blue monkey (maybe a youma, maybe a figment of her imagination) that keeps telling her the darkest thoughts of her head. By this point she is so done and mistrusts everyone. The sword shows her image of Japan at night - she realises her father, friends and teachers didn't really like her or love her, the only one grieving is her mother. This youma with a talking parrot that has blonde hair like Keiki, Shiro, puts a sword through her hand by orders of the parrot. In her moment of need, this mother and small daughter come to help her, giving her sweets and water, and tell her to come with her but she can't trust that they won't betray her and try to sell her - which at this point is so fair.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

After nearly two decades, a new published translation emerges for a seminal work of epic fantasy. Youko Nakajima is hurled into an old, pre-industrial parallel world beset with monstrous youma, devious kings, duplicitous townsfolk, and a mythical sword without its scabbard.

THE TWELVE KINGDOMS is its own thing. It's an adventure fantasy, isekai, court drama, coming-of-age tale whose numerous co-protagonists must scale mountains of doubt, wayfaring the fog of their own hubris, with the errant hope of summiting something resembling courage or goodness. THE TWELVE KINGDOMS: BOOK ONE — SHADOW OF THE MOON, SHADOW OF THE SEA: PART ONE is the starting point. Youko is a boorish, people-pleasing teenager who, one day, is yanked through a portal and into a foreign plane where immense beasts prowl the countryside, people are inherently suspicious of one another, and regional governors, apparently, feed their inclination to kill every foreigner on sight.

For such a long-running series, structured to house so many intertwining stories, THE TWELVE KINGDOMS v1 spends a great deal of time formulating chaos: Youko's is separated from her chaperones, Youko is attacked my youma, Youko is possessed by haunting visions, Yoko is betrayed by townsfolk, Youko nearly starves to death. This novel pours on the grit, violence, and aching despair that arrives when unfiltered loneliness threatens to crush all that remains. Youko must survive. But can she?

The new translation and adaptation (2025) reads like a more contemporary novel, relative to the prior work (2008), which felt more traditional and poetic. Of the tangible differences, one might say the previous translation sought to unbuckle the wonders of the unknown and the unknowable, which contrasts slightly, but meaningfully, to the newer translation's focus on articulation and readability.

Alas, the story is the same. Youko is in a foreign land with zero allies, and all she has is a sword. Ono's work has a knack for driving up readers' hope for solace and harmony, only to overturn such expectations with an onslaught of twists and turns that shift the narrative trajectory (and the point-of-view character's fortune) again and again and again. THE TWELVE KINGDOMS v1 isn't about how twists and turns shape fated encounters; it's about how the misfortunes wrought by anxiety, greed, exhaustion, ambition, and futility tend to warp everything else in sight.

[Aelvana · Rating 5 out of 5]

Youko Nakajima was a good girl. She never caused trouble. She never did anything to make people dislike her. Which is why she's so confused when a strange man bursts into her school one day, followed by monsters. He sends her to another world, but the experience is anything but magical. Lost, confused, alone, and hunted relentlessly, Youko wanders without any idea why she's there, or what might become of her . . .

I love this series to pieces, but I dearly wish the first two parts had been released together. Because make no mistake, this is HALF of the first volume (like it says, Part 1). And it's the brutal half.

Youko is painted exquisitely well in just a few pages, before her everyday life is over and she's thrust into a new world. A strange world, with monsters and magic, and most of them deadly. The soft, shy, people-pleasing Youko, unwilling to stand out lest she be noticed and disliked crashes up against constant monster assaults, human treachery, and a very special sort of haunting designed to break her mind down.

And yet. And yet. She doesn't break. She may be losing her hopes, her dreams, her innocence, her trust . . . but she hasn't broken. The trouble she faces is sharpening her like a blade against her troubles. Despite all of her crying and complaints, she never accepts the offer to commit suicide. She's too stubborn.

Unfortunately, this part cuts off before her redemption can begin, but it's still a fascinating, harrowing story. The fantasy world is well-realized, with details gradually, grudgingly revealed as Youko learns them. Every encounter exposes something new, and something in her changes in response. The Youko on the last page is unrecognizable from the Youko on the first page (and there's a very nice bit juxtaposing it with her classmates to really drive that home).

I cannot recommend this series enough. The anime is also fantastic, and very faithful to the story, but some details come through a bit clearer in prose, like her deteriorating mentality. Just keep in mind this is meant to be a pair with the next volume, and try not to mind the abrupt cutoff too much. Highly Recommended.

[Riri · Rating 5 out of 5]

Even after all these years, this is still amazing.

There may be plenty of isekai books these days, but The Twelve Kingdoms will never be rivaled because it’s really so unique. No one else does it like this. Unlike how most isekai stories go, Youko has a tough time surviving in an unfamiliar world. She’s alone, injured, and starved with no one by her side (except for the Hinman possessing her), and everyone seems to want to betray her. The man who brought her to this world is also nowhere in sight, so she has no choice but to survive on her own. As the main character, Youko has her own flaws but is forced to grow through the book. She’s not perfect, but she also makes you want to root for her. The worldbuilding is also fantastic, even if we only learn a little at a time through Youko’s eyes. Everything is shown instead of told, and the pacing is nice too.

It’s been a long time since I watched the anime adaptation, but there’s quite a number of differences. The biggest one is that Youko gets stranded in the Kingdom of Kou alone instead of with Sugimoto. The book also shows a lot more of her thoughts, and I find the part about her struggles with life in her original world so well-written. Her flaws as a people-pleaser are laid out in such a thoughtful, empathetic way, making it really easy to understand why she acted the way she did. Youko still has a lot of character growth waiting ahead of her, and I’m excited to see it again.

Also, the English translation is so nice. It’s so elegantly done. Nothing feels stiff or out of place, and it matches Ono Fuyumi’s writing style as well. In the next volume, Youko will finally graduate solo travels. October can’t come soon enough.

[J · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quite a place to end a book. Less a cliffhanger than a splatter, the story having fallen from the cliff already and never come back up, no resolution in sight. The writing is fairly simple, not usually too descriptive, except for any gory details. I was able to read it very quickly even when getting distracted constantly. Conversations with one character were very infodumpy, throwing all of the exposition not done in the rest of the book into that one section so that the new world gains some dimension rather than being whatever is immediately in front of Youko. I would have liked to see more gradual immersion through steady worldbuilding.

Youko was frustrating throughout, at first for being unable to adapt to circumstances and then for failing to learn from the big reveal (if it can be so described) about the monkey thing. Despite learning what exactly it is and why it is constantly enumerating the forms her demise might take, she continues on as before, apparently internalizing its chatter even when she's just realized it's lying often as not. The last decision she made was very frustrating and that leads to the end of the book so that is top of mind right now. That said, I like the concept of the monkey thing as a way for Youko to interrogate her relationships with her parents, friends and teachers. It can be and is argued that many relationships are hollow, but nothing is done with that because Youko doesn't have time to process any of it; she's busy being feral in the mountains. It is a good concept that needs some development and may well get it in the second volume; I don't know.

There are things I liked and things I disliked so three stars seems appropriate.

[Alejandra · Rating 2 out of 5]

I got started with anime in the late 90s, and epic isekai was all the rage: Fushigi Yuugi, Escaflowne, Magic Knight Rayearth. Isekai involves a character from the current world, generally a high school student, being transported into a fantasy world. Generally, things worked out pretty well - the main character would quickly find her way to a protector who would inform her of the key role she plays in the new fantasy world. And then I watched Juuni Kokuki ("The Twelve Kingdoms"), where things most decidedly did not work out well for the main character, and she finds herself alone trying to survive. The anime was only a few episodes long and did not provide any closure. The anime was based on a series of light novels, which were never translated to English, and thus I've spent a few decades wondering what ever happened to Youko.

I was thrilled when I learned Seven Seas licensed "The Twelve Kingdoms" for translation, and eagerly dug into the first volume as soon as it was released. Maybe my expectations were unrealistic after such a long wait or maybe I've aged out of the target audience, but the writing seemed very simplistic and I was frustrated to see that for the first half of the book, the main character, Youko, has no agency at all. Things improved towards the end as she starts to figure out the world around her and make plans to improve her chances of survival. Youko's growth also improves things, since this is told from her point of view and at the beginning, before she is spirited away, she seems to be sleep walking through life, which does not make the most compelling read.

I'm interested enough to keep going with the next volume when it comes out.

[Mladoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ce premier tome nous fait entrer dans un univers étrange et pourtant si familier. L'héroïne semble connaître le monde dans lequel elle est projetée bien malgré elle, en échappant à des hallucinations cauchemardesques comme sorties d'un de ces rêves récurrents.
Pourtant, bien loin de son Japon natal, le royaume de Kô lui réserve bien des surprises et combien de désillusions.

Trahison, sang, faux semblants et illusions nourrissent ce premier opus de leur amertume. le style dynamique de l'auteur nous permet une immersion totale dans cet univers d'une noirceur démoniaque, teintée du secret espoir que Yôko arrivera à se tirer de tous les mauvais pas qu'elle va rencontrer, que ce soit grâce à Joyû ou pas. Vraiment hâte de poursuivre cette fresque fantastique. Une lecture d'aventure à dévorer.

[Tyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Finally, I can read Juuni Kokuki in English! I didn't read the previous English version, so it's truly nice to have it re-translated and re-published. With isekai-themed novels abounding nowadays, this first book might feel ordinary now. But when you remember that it's originally published in 1992, the idea and the world building must have felt fresh at the time. Ono Fuyumi built the universe carefully; we're really learning about the world only as fast (or, as slow) as Youko did. And how frustrating the process is, watching Youko coming across hardship after hardship, while she's still very much in the dark about what's actually happening! Moreover, we must wait until the next book to see when and how her painful struggles in this mysterious world end. The next volume can't arrive soon enough!

[Pieter · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Twelve Kingdoms Book 1 is definitely a different kind of isekai from the current usual. There are no answers in book 1, just a suffering MC high school female student who was absolutely not prepared for being kidnapped from school, and then dropped into a harsh medieval fantasy world with no support except a magic sword and a magic induced skill to use it (but not the will). Lots of show and very little tell, although from what I have seen I trust the author to give those answers. Bit of a cliff hanger ending, not entirely unexpected from what I saw on the titles of the volumes on wiki. I do hope she can catch a break in the next part though, otherwise her survival would feel a bit too much as a plot armor.

[Ale · Rating 5 out of 5]

Una de mis novelas favoritas y la razón por la que empece a estudiar japonés aunque ahora la leo en inglés no me creo que haya finalizado el primer volumen.

Este volumen esta repleto de desesperanza, traición y desarrollo de personaje por parte de Youko. En esta parte Youko tiene que adaptarse a un nuevo mundo del que poco conoce, sin amigos ni aliados y solo enemigos. Se ve el inicio de la historia y el desarrollo de Youko como personaje, acabas con más misterios que respuestas.

He amado este volumen, el mundo es amplio y con muchos matices, pero la forma de conocerlo es amena y e intercambiar.

He visto a Keiki 🥹

[Ivy~ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ohhh, this is really good. I've read a lot of stories in my time about teenagers being transported to fantasy worlds, but this one is wonderfully realistic and melancholy, without tipping over into the sort of gratuitous SA-filled nightmare you sometimes find in darker fantasy books.

A lot of this book felt like exposition, and I'm really excited to see what will happen next, because the setup is quite interesting. I do have some suspicions about the way the story will go, and they are rather generic, but I don't mind that, because I'm really excited to see how this particular story will present everything.

In short, I really liked this, and am excited to continue.

[Sergio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Funny coincidence to read this while I'm rewatching The Vision of Escaflowne, when the two have similar vibes. This first volume covers very little of the story, with some introductory buildup and an ok cliffhanger, so I'm not sure I can speak much to its quality, but it does follow a standard isekai setup with a girl getting kidnapped from school and introduced to a fantasy world albeit with a darker tone than I'm used to and expected. I'll be revisiting this, but it's not a priority, I feel like they maybe should have bundled a couple volumes together to have a better idea of what it's going to end up being about.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Je l’ai lu quand il est sorti en France, donc en 2007, et ce livre a été mon introduction à la littérature japonaise, et à la fantasy, et je me rends compte que j’ai été très chanceuse que ce soit le cas.
C’est une histoire plutôt exigeante (pour un jeune public notamment) dans le sens où le début est assez lent et difficile pour l’héroïne avant qu’elle ne découvre sa destinée, moment très très fort. Les descriptions des paysages et du monde, notamment sa mythologie l, son bestiaire et son système politique sont superbe, et en plus les illustrations de Akihiro Yamada sont magnifiques.

[Ava Clary · Rating 5 out of 5]

There is a fascinating density to this world and poetry. It is an adventure in another world, but there is also an invitation to consider more. What is the shadow of the moon and the shadow of the sea if not an impossible thought? It reminds me of the fairy tale named: East of the Sun and West of the Moon. And yet the entrance to this other world is through the moon's shadow cast upon the sea. If I were better at philosophical musings, I'd say more, but I dropped that class after the first day.

[Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

I watched the anime first back when I was in high school (🤧 15 years ago, gross) and it quickly became one of my favorite shows to watch. I also read the first translation of the light novels which was also amazing and everything I could have wanted as a teenager. This current translation is fantastic! And ALL 15 books are planned? Thank god.
The audiobook is great, too. I fucking LOVE this series. The character development Youko goes through is the best I’ve ever personally read. I cannot wait to dive into book two (again).

[Suzana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gostei bastante. O começo é bastante visual, parece já um filme, anime. Estava achando a personagem pouco desenvolvida também, como se a história acontecesse de fora para dentro e não soubesse o que ela estava pensando, mas achei que isso melhora conforme o livro avança e se desenvolve. Comecei a ficar meio amarga, como a protagonista, no final do livro, quero saber como ela vai se salvar e porque ela entende a língua deles, o que ela é e porque foi levada pra esse mundo. Estou curiosa.

[Johannes Emtlind · Rating 4 out of 5]

The most interesting part was the believable main character. A person with flaws but you still root for them because of what they could be.

The story is nicely paced with quite emotional scenes sprinkled in.

Would recommend to anyone that likes fantasy targeted to young adults.

[Lu · Rating 4 out of 5]

重看小感：
1.現在再看一次才理解標題月之影影之海的意境。
2.陽子通過月影之後的生活真的好坎坷，雖然剛開始不想沾血的性格有點不耐煩，但想一想一個乖乖女高中生面對這些莫名奇妙的超現實情境，沒辦法馬上開威能也很正常。更何況到了新的世界之後什麼都不知道，每天日夜顛倒的處理妖魔和擔心身邊的人是否要陷害自己，還沒食物吃，真的好崩潰（到底是怎麼撐下來的⋯⋯），反而更佩服陽子的變化了。
3.景麒真的是一個莫名奇妙的傢伙XD，都你不好好講啦！
4.看到陽子爸的描寫真的很無言，相較之下陽子在家庭中的性格導致在學校沒有人能理解，有點哀傷。

[Alana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not much happens after Youko crosses the barrier. The novel just keeps making the protagonist's life as miserable as possible and reminding her that she can't trust anybody, with crumbs of worldbuilding sprinkled here and there.

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

20171108

‪＃月の影影の海 上巻 #十二国記 #小野不由美 さん #読了‬

‪12年ぶりに再読。普通の女子高生が異世界に、の始まり方が少し苦手。後半の陽子の執念がすごい。わたしが高校生の時に陽子と同じ状況に放り出されたら、彼女よりも余程早く諦めていただろう。今後の展開が楽しみ。思い出しながら読むのもいい。‬

[Clothilde · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very intense book, a bit depressing. Starts wih a teenage girl with no personality but she changes a lot in the story. I'm a bit frustrated by the story, going slow and sad for a long time.

[Cilou · Rating 5 out of 5]

Que de souvenirs de replonger dans cette saga que j’ai dévorée adolescente ! Et j’y trouve un sens féministe aujourd’hui : se battre pour sa place dans le monde, et refuser les injonctions.