"...with each step I've taken... I've become proud of myself, bit by bit." -Saraphi
In this particular volume, we see character growth in 4 main players. Saraphi, Lante, Leo, and Ilya.
Saraphi shows that she is capable of protecting her guard when he is falsely accused because he is a Hyena. She also discovers that she is nervous to be reacquainted with Leo after a long period apart. After some friendly advice, she decides to dress up for their reunion. We will chat more about this when we talk about Leo.
Lante grows in his desire to protect Saraphi after she stands up for him. She believed him when he said he didnt do what he was accused of, and we got his back story as to why that was important to him. Lante then takes the next step in guarding Saraphi by talking with Leo, the King.
Leo, starts to feel jealous because he can't be the one at Saraphi's side all the time. He begins to envy Lante. When he sees Saraphi dressed up and in his bedchamber, he confesses this jealousy to her and opens up a dialogue about where they want their relationship to go. They begin to further things.
We haven't seen Ilya since Volume 3 when he leaves, still hating beastkind. In this volume, he is put in a situation that forces him to question everything, and he ends up opening up to a little bit of beastkind.
So excited for the next one. Still love this series forever and always.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
". . . What saves one's heart is an encounter with someone new."
BE STILL MY HEART WITH THOSE LAST TWO CHAPTERS!!!! GAHHHHHHH!
What utter perfection and cuteness and grumpiness!! Absolutely loved it so so so much and just like PLEASE LET US GET MORE OF THEM MANGAKA!!! Such cuteness!!! Made me teary-eyed with how it ended! <3
I liked this volume quite a bit but was a little uncomfortable with the fact that Tetra was "pushing" for more a "seductive" romance with Sari and Leo. While this IS a romance, I got the impression she's pretty young and found that distorting for her to be the one in charge of "livening" things up for our main couple. Granted, it's been obvious that she is really knowledgeable in regard to marriage, but that pulled me out of the story quite a bit there. 😅
I really did like the wrapping up of the arc of Lante becoming Sariphi's knight though! His backstory really stabbed my heart because he didn't deserve any of that. Once again, Sari shines in how she touches everyone around her and so thankful for how she is gradually touching and changing everything and everyone around her for the better. <3
But that ending though. I won't be getting over that cuteness for a while... *happy sigh*
This series just keeps getting better and better! After Yona of the Dawn, this is definitely a favorite fantasy manga of mine. I love the characters and the art so much; my only issue is that there is no real overarching plot but rather glimpses at smaller issues and ordeals. Still, it is definitely worth reading!
Excuse me, I'm just going to bang my head against a wall to get over this MOTHERFUCKING CUTENESS! Holy shit, tiny Lante and Maalo were just too fucking precious for words, and Tetra's as cute as ever! And of course, we can't forget my girl Amit getting all excited about love! She's the best, I fucking love her and Sariphi's friendship so damn much!
Seeing Lante approve of Sariphi and swear on his life to protect her was great and I just love his lack of respect for others, especially those who piss him off. Going off of that, it was amusing seeing Leonhart roar and put Lante in his place. Don't mess with royalty, folks.
Leonhart has proven himself to be a man among men, apologizing after lashing out Sariphi and admitting his reasons for making him queen are less than stellar. I know he might strike many as the "too good to be true" type, but considering how most male romance leads (fantasy or otherwise) are either dicks or cold, I'll take Leonhart any day. Also, I love how both him and Sariphi are willing to talk things out and mend any tears in their relationship. This is easily one of the healthiest relationships I've seen period, even if, again, people think it's "too good to be true". Never change, you two, never change.
Oh, and Ilya was in this book and he's less of a dick now than before. Good for him, I guess. I was honestly more invested in Maalo, so I didn't really pay much attention to Ilya. Oh, well.
I love this series, I love it so damn much, I don't know how to handle it! I need more!
Lante was marked for trouble from the start, and of course Sari gets him out of it. Unfortunately, the process by which she saves him isn’t that engaging, and mostly we get Lante’s tale of childhood woe while he is stuck in prison. While this arc is in keeping with overarching story of Sari steadily changing beastkind opinions about her, the plot is extremely predictable, and Lante’s wretched past is merely another addition to a cast full of terrible childhoods.
The Review
The Maasya arc continues with the new captain of the Queen’s Guard getting blamed for the attack on Lord Braun. Predictably, everyone assumes Lante is the perpetrator, and he has no witnesses to account for his whereabouts at the time of the incident. Equally unsurprising is Sari’s conviction of Lante’s innocence. Sari is then saddled with the task of catching the actual culprit while Lante gets tossed into a cell.
I thought the main focus would go towards Sari’s investigation, which is under a time crunch, but we hardly see any of it. Rather, the narrative shifts to a lengthy flashback about Lante’s wretched past. While it does explain why he behaves as he does, it is yet another tale of a horrible childhood. It seems like the entire cast grew up under terrible parents or traumatic circumstances, and it is getting a little old.
At any rate, Sari (once again) succeeds in her endeavors and wins Lante’s loyalty and trust. The speedy capture of the actual attacker is a bit too convenient, but the one interesting part of the investigation is a reference to Sari’s ability to see colors that beastfolk can’t. That mention of beast colorblindness is a nice change of pace from the usual prattle about humankind’s inferiority to beastkind.
Sari then returns to the palace in time to receive a guest. I hadn’t expected Tetra to return to the story so quickly, but the tsundere princess is back–this time to meddle in Sari’s relationship with Leo. Given that Amit and Sari are so shy around their respective love interests, it’s jarring to have the child catgirl exhorting Sari to be bolder in approaching Leo in the bedchamber. While Tetra doesn’t change the Sari/Leo dynamic much, she does allow glimpses of plot developments to come.
The volume concludes with a two-chapter arc about Ilya. I hadn’t expected him to return to the story at all. He remains in the human realm, but his encounters with beastkind continue as he journeys as a vagabond beast hunter. While Ilya’s personality is prickly as ever, Sari’s influence has affected the way he views beastkind, and a chance meeting with a very small, very trusting beast demonstrates those changes.
Extras include embedded author’s notes and the bonus manga, “The Beast Lad and the Regular Boy.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Lanteveldt shares his past with us as Sariphi proves him innocent.
Lord Braun was assaulted before he could attend the signing ceremony and although his attacker was disguised the more carefree Captain of Sariphi's guard is accused (mostly I am sure do to his Hyena bloodline.) Now Sariphi must work hard to save her new friend and bodyguard from being unfairly accused and complete her duty as acting queen consort.
Of course there is more development between Sariphi and Leonhart after being apart from each other for the first time for this length of time or distance since their feelings began to blossom. Of course who can blame Leonhart for falling for her. I am glad her feelings for him are so dedicated because I can imagine it would be all too easy for others to fall for her honest and loyal heart and Leonhart doesn't need jealousy (though he will experience it more I imagine) clouding his already important duties.
We also get to see Tetra has come to Ozmargo for a visit and we see the return of Sariphi's childhood friend Ilya who is off on his own journey of self discovery and learning a little more about beastkind as he saves a runt of an armadillo from much worse.
Did somebody else noticed that the dress she is using in the cover is the same she wears "that night"? Author-sama, what are you trying to say?? Besides, what's with Leo's face in the cover?? OMG!! My head is like KABOOOOMNN
Beautifull as allways😍😍😍 Right now Lant is in my top five of favorites male characters in this manga. Of course, Leo is number one 😎 And Tetra and Ammit are in the very top of all best friends in all manga and anime ever!!!
Again it is always tear jerking to see that someone like Sariphi can change the minds of others not through their strength but because of their actions and words. Her kindness is her greatness strength and this volume helps show that as she is slowly gathering allies like Landbert. Also it is also really cool seeing that we are learning about Ilya's story as he defends a beastmen child from humans.
More of a 3.5 star rating; I really like seeing Lante’s background (as sad as it was), then seeing him interacting with everyone in the castle. It was cute seeing King Leo get jealous of Lante, and it was even more cute seeing Princess Tetra make another appearance.
This is one of those series that is far better and more thoughtful than it has any right to be. And Maalo the armadillo is the cutest child I've seen in manga in a long time.
I only knew that little Sandshrew for a couple of pages, but I would die for them! They stole the show and are my new favorite character…. Too bad we’ll probably never see them again. (๑ó⌓ò๑)