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Our Last Crusade or the Rise of a New World Light Novel #1
キミと僕の最後の戦場、あるいは世界が始まる聖戦
終末の魔女と双剣の騎士が刃を交わすとき、物語は廻り出す――
「降伏しろ」「降伏なさい」帝国最強の剣士イスカ。皇庁が誇る魔女アリス。二大国が激突する戦場で二人は出会い、共鳴しながらも敵対する。追い求める理想の世界のために。細音啓、渾身のヒロイックファンタジー!
「降伏しろ」「降伏なさい」帝国最強の剣士イスカ。皇庁が誇る魔女アリス。二大国が激突する戦場で二人は出会い、共鳴しながらも敵対する。追い求める理想の世界のために。細音啓、渾身のヒロイックファンタジー!
326 pages, Paperback
First published May 20, 2017
76 people are currently reading
351 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 8, 2020
It was okay. Enjoyable, to be sure, but nothing earth shattering. I did like how the hero and heroine were meeting and actually found that to be the most entertaining part of the book. The final third or so was just a bit much for an opening novel, at least for me. Again, it wasn't awful, just didn't work for me. I'll definitely give it another volume or two.
Verdict: Light, fun, star-crossed love -- we'll see if it can become something bigger than itself.
Verdict: Light, fun, star-crossed love -- we'll see if it can become something bigger than itself.
July 14, 2022
Content warnings: Fantasy violence, war
One of the greatest pieces of Jo bait are stories in which a technology faction is at war with a magic faction and neither seems to be winning. Throw in, specifically, ice witches and an enemies-to-lovers romance, and I’m hooked.
A mechanical utopia, The Empire, is at war with a paradise for witches, The Sovereignty. Iska is the youngest to rise to the rank of Saint Disciple in the military, on a mission to capture the Ice Calamity Witch, Alice. Epic fights ensue while intrigue and plotting unfold in the quieter moments, culminating in a literally earth-shattering fight against a originator witch possessing multiple elemental powers.
There are some beautiful turns of phrase throughout this novel that makes the prose as exciting to read as seeing the illustrations. The world feels lived in, with one of my favorite details being the culture present within the neutral cities. It’s where main characters Iska and Alice get to know each other, specifically attending an opera and seeing an art exhibition together. They can’t attack, and that forced proximity and peace makes for some charming awkwardness that brings the characters together almost as efficiently as their weapons and magic clashing in battle.
There are more powers that be than just the Empire and the Sovereignty, and I’m eager to keep reading.
One of the greatest pieces of Jo bait are stories in which a technology faction is at war with a magic faction and neither seems to be winning. Throw in, specifically, ice witches and an enemies-to-lovers romance, and I’m hooked.
A mechanical utopia, The Empire, is at war with a paradise for witches, The Sovereignty. Iska is the youngest to rise to the rank of Saint Disciple in the military, on a mission to capture the Ice Calamity Witch, Alice. Epic fights ensue while intrigue and plotting unfold in the quieter moments, culminating in a literally earth-shattering fight against a originator witch possessing multiple elemental powers.
There are some beautiful turns of phrase throughout this novel that makes the prose as exciting to read as seeing the illustrations. The world feels lived in, with one of my favorite details being the culture present within the neutral cities. It’s where main characters Iska and Alice get to know each other, specifically attending an opera and seeing an art exhibition together. They can’t attack, and that forced proximity and peace makes for some charming awkwardness that brings the characters together almost as efficiently as their weapons and magic clashing in battle.
There are more powers that be than just the Empire and the Sovereignty, and I’m eager to keep reading.
Want to read
January 8, 2021Ahh I’m watching this anime atm! And it’s so good ❤️
I’m also excited to read this manga ❤️
I’m also excited to read this manga ❤️
January 4, 2020
This light novel started out a bit slow. We have a couple of enemies - one a powerful witch born in a society that hates those that oppress witches, and one a masterful swordsman born in a society that fears witches and wants power. The two meet on the battlefield, but eventually realize they have more in common than they think.
While the beginning was a bit slow, the intrigue kept me going until quite the exciting end! This is a story of war and oppression, a story of power, a story of fantasy, a story of budding romance (think Romeo and Juliet type story). The battles are interesting and overpowered which I enjoy. The characters are fun and diverse. The world building was fine, there are some holes and questions, but overall the world and magic system was interesting and explained well enough. The whole feel of the book is a little lighter I would say, but still good.
As with most in this genre, there are many questions still to be answered and wondering how this story will continue. But I'm ready for book 2.
While the beginning was a bit slow, the intrigue kept me going until quite the exciting end! This is a story of war and oppression, a story of power, a story of fantasy, a story of budding romance (think Romeo and Juliet type story). The battles are interesting and overpowered which I enjoy. The characters are fun and diverse. The world building was fine, there are some holes and questions, but overall the world and magic system was interesting and explained well enough. The whole feel of the book is a little lighter I would say, but still good.
As with most in this genre, there are many questions still to be answered and wondering how this story will continue. But I'm ready for book 2.
January 21, 2022
This feels like one of those stories that it would be really easy to fall in love with.
June 28, 2021
I have some mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it's totally trying to be a romeo and juliet story. I did not include that in the spoilers because it is completely obvious by the end of the first chapter. My issue is, I generally don't like romeo and juliet stories, too much depressive drama. Also, this is romeo and juliet with two teenagers. I can literally come up with a ton of different plans those two could have used to achieve their goal including subterfuge, which would have been so much easier with an 'agent' in each of the warring countries. But no. We're going to be bullheaded idiots and waste our time and energy fighting each other 'to the death' because the other won't defect and join the first person's side. Like seriously? You both have the exact same goal, but no... you each know the best way to do things and anyone who doesn't agree that your idea is the best and proper idea is your enemy. And this, folks, is why you don't give world shattering power or cutting edge military weapons to teenagers (I'm looking at you Gundam!). The reason I put 'to the death' in quotes is because both characters play up the star-crossed lovers trope almost to the point you wonder if it's being done for comedic purpose and not for actual drama. Both claim they need to kill the one they love in order to achieve world peace (uh, no you don't), but when they finally have the chance to go through with it, they both back down. The best way I could describe their relationship is tsundere. Not that either of the characters are tsundere, but the relationship itself is. I plan on checking out the second volume, but if it continues with more of this overblown drama and if the character continue to be stubborn, narrow-minded teenagers, I might just drop it.
September 8, 2020
Ha sido una novela muy entretenida. Nada del otro mundo pero un buen inicio que puede dar lugar a una buena historia. Habrá que ver por dónde irá el autor.
Los dos protagonistas me han gustado. La relación que tienen de rivales-aliados es good y los secundarios no se quedan atrás. Habrá que ver qué papel les da el autor.
Y el diseño de personajes me parece bonito, simple quitando el de la prota pero bien. Alguna ilustración creo que queda algo rara pero bueno, nada importante.
*Soy de esas que la portada fue el motivo por el que quiso leerse la novela*
Sin duda leeré la segunda novela estos días.
Los dos protagonistas me han gustado. La relación que tienen de rivales-aliados es good y los secundarios no se quedan atrás. Habrá que ver qué papel les da el autor.
Y el diseño de personajes me parece bonito, simple quitando el de la prota pero bien. Alguna ilustración creo que queda algo rara pero bueno, nada importante.
*Soy de esas que la portada fue el motivo por el que quiso leerse la novela*
Sin duda leeré la segunda novela estos días.
September 26, 2020
A delectable tale of a soldier and a witch, a boy and a girl, enemies striving for the same goal. Sometimes they clash, sometimes they work together, either way, you can see their development cross paths as their understanding of each other grows.
The novel has great characterization, a hint of romance, and action and slice of life scenes that are enchanting to read along with the spectacular prose. It’s interesting how much the author managed to pack into less than 300 pages while maintaining a decent pacing; there was pretty much no wasted scene.
If you’re a fantasy + light novel lover, you should definitely read this volume.
The novel has great characterization, a hint of romance, and action and slice of life scenes that are enchanting to read along with the spectacular prose. It’s interesting how much the author managed to pack into less than 300 pages while maintaining a decent pacing; there was pretty much no wasted scene.
If you’re a fantasy + light novel lover, you should definitely read this volume.
June 1, 2025
One of my favorite couples in anime/manga/light novels. I was first introduced to this series by the anime and was immediately a fan, especially the relationship of Alice and Iska. I really felt the attraction they have for each other in all the facets of the story be it the manga or the anime. I did read the manga which was an adaptation of the first season of the anime and it was absolutely fantastic. I’m happy to say reading this light novel brings back all the happy memories of the series. I’m very much looking forward to reading the rest.
March 15, 2022
This is another action romance which I am known to be a very large fan of. I had originally found it on Hulu and had watched the anime first. The first book was covered in the anime, but I enjoyed reading it still. I truly do not think that either of the lead characters are anything to write home about, but overall they were not too bad at all. Iska and Alice have a pretty fun relationship through the book and is does lay the foundation for the series to have a lot of tension which is nice.
I gave it 4 stars because I did not love it, but I think my watching the series had me lower on it. I very much enjoyed the series and am excited to dig deeper into the series.
I gave it 4 stars because I did not love it, but I think my watching the series had me lower on it. I very much enjoyed the series and am excited to dig deeper into the series.
May 15, 2022
I watched this as anime first, then i fall in love with the characters so much that I decided to buy the novel. The story is nothing new. What attracted me is how they introduced the characters and let them casually meeting. I love the approach. The ending might be random and too much for the beginning. I don’t like it at all. Besides the lack of explanation to the powers during the fights is huge hole. But that’s not what I’m reading this work for. I’m reading it for the characters
July 26, 2024
This has significantly more fan service than the anime. These enemies to lovers stories are always good fun outside of that. I appreciate that the protagonist isn't just OP, there are people stronger that require teamwork.
December 30, 2018
Loved the first volume. I love the star-crossed enemies trope where they fall in love, and I enjoyed the fantasy battles and cute interactions and chemistry of the main characters.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 4, 2019
I don't like the art, but the story was much better than I was expecting.
February 3, 2021
The manga was the best of the three formats so far for me.
July 27, 2022
It is hard to comprehend how a "hero" from an Empire rescues a "jailed witch" enemy and thus betrays their Empire. Dura lex sed lex (The laws are strict, but they are the law that stand). Is an Empire and an Emperor that subjectively imprisons people and foreigners (without a fair trial) that are not even citizens fair and just? Historically, royalty and dictatorships do not have rule of law (fair-justice) systems. The dictators are subjective, fickle and end up being over-thrown because of the accumulative sum of their injustices.
Is it "honorable" to oppose tyranny (even if that tyranny is from your own land)? Is it "honorable" then to serve and protect a dictatorship and their oppression?
It is said that forbidden fruit tastes sweeter; some criminals and perverts use it to justify adultery, incest, rape, or religious sin. The two main characters one is an able soldier from the Empire, Iska and the other is one of the royal princesses, Alice. They are opposites and it seems they have a lot of common likenesses (love pasta, opera, etc.) but they are unwilling to cede and seek the peace of their two territories. They say they love their families and friends but at the same time they maintain their territories at war (and constant risk of death). So theirs is a forbidden love.
Both Alice and Iska fight the Founder Witch and are able to control her magic in the end. The only problem is that Alice is "betraying her homeland and her founder" and by weakening her homeland and her founder is placing on their knees her land so that the Empire can defeat them easily in the future.
The author in the acknowledgement, states that it took him two years to write this first volume. This means that the author took more than a month to write 10 pages, more than a week to write 2 pages. Even if someone is not gifted or able to write, to take 2 years to write this first volume is Pyrrhic and sad and it just proves that people that are not apt to write, should not dare to write; because the result is mediocre at best. As a consolation prize, the author admits that the second volume would be published 2 months after this first volume, so if that was true, then maybe, just maybe there is a little bit of talent for writing, in this author yet?
Is it "honorable" to oppose tyranny (even if that tyranny is from your own land)? Is it "honorable" then to serve and protect a dictatorship and their oppression?
It is said that forbidden fruit tastes sweeter; some criminals and perverts use it to justify adultery, incest, rape, or religious sin. The two main characters one is an able soldier from the Empire, Iska and the other is one of the royal princesses, Alice. They are opposites and it seems they have a lot of common likenesses (love pasta, opera, etc.) but they are unwilling to cede and seek the peace of their two territories. They say they love their families and friends but at the same time they maintain their territories at war (and constant risk of death). So theirs is a forbidden love.
Both Alice and Iska fight the Founder Witch and are able to control her magic in the end. The only problem is that Alice is "betraying her homeland and her founder" and by weakening her homeland and her founder is placing on their knees her land so that the Empire can defeat them easily in the future.
The author in the acknowledgement, states that it took him two years to write this first volume. This means that the author took more than a month to write 10 pages, more than a week to write 2 pages. Even if someone is not gifted or able to write, to take 2 years to write this first volume is Pyrrhic and sad and it just proves that people that are not apt to write, should not dare to write; because the result is mediocre at best. As a consolation prize, the author admits that the second volume would be published 2 months after this first volume, so if that was true, then maybe, just maybe there is a little bit of talent for writing, in this author yet?
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews