ミミズクと夜の王 [Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou]

ミミズクと夜の王 #1

by Izuki Kōgyoku, 紅玉いづき, 磯野 宏夫 (Illustrator)

魔物のはびこる夜の森に、一人の少女が訪れる。　額には 「332」 の焼き印、両手両足には外されることのない鎖。　自らをミミズクと名乗る少女は、美しき魔物の王にその身を差し出す。　願いはたった、一つだけ。　「あたしのこと、食べてくれませんかぁ」　死にたがりやのミミズクと、人間嫌いの夜の王。　全ての始まりは、美しい月夜だった。　―― それは、絶望の果てからはじまる、小さな少女の崩壊と再生の物語。

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Japan, Fiction, Novels, Japanese Literature

274 pages, Paperback

First published February 10, 2007

About the author

Name (in native Japanese): 紅玉いづき

Reviews

[Mizuki · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mimizuku and King of the Night is a light-heartened yet endearingly written coming-of-age/fantasy adventure YA novel/light novel, and it's also its author's first novel as well.

The story is set in some Europe-looks-alike fantasy world, with humans being ruled by kings and monsters/demons living in a Night Forest and under the reign of a King of the Night. One day, a human slave girl escaped into the Night Forest---and surprisingly, she went there to seek her own death. the girl called herself Mimizuku (a kind of a night bird) and she met Kuro (his name means 'black'), a monstrous servant of the King of the Night in the forest; and eventually she also met the current King of the Night himself (later the King allowed himself to be called by the girl as 'Owl'). The powerful and extremely beautiful King distaste humans in general but he also wasn't interested enough to end Mimizuku's life, so what will happen next?

It is a well written fantasy story with refreshing setting of monsters/demon and magic, engaging characters, an equally engaging coming-of-age storyline and just a few doses of delicately done romance by the end of the story.

Although the 'Europe-looks-alike fantasy world' setting is nothing new, but I really like the characters and the relationships are developed among them, for example the relationship between Kuro, the King's monstrous servant, and the King of the Night; I like how Kuro viewed the survival of the King's power source as the most important thing for him and his fellow monsters (the King himself could be replaced, but the power source must live on), but in the end he is still willing to help the current King because he thought the King's enchanted paintings are of irreplaceable beauty.

Perhaps some readers would think some parts of the story is a bit too 'easy' for the characters, but I still feel it is a successful light novel story. 4.7 stars.

My review for the author's 'Man-Eating Monsters' trilogy, book 3 Snow Mantis: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Haiiro · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ấn tượng ngay khi đọc chương đầu tiên là cái kiểu hành văn ngây ngô non nớt như của các em học sinh còn tình tiết thì thật ngớ ngẩn và nhảm nhí. Nhưng hình như truyện manh nha từ hồi tác giả còn là học sinh thật nên thôi tạm bỏ qua vậy. May mắn là có một chút cải thiện về sau để tôi không phải quá băn khoăn về việc sản phẩm này được giải nhất cho giải thưởng gì đấy. Chấm 2 sao thì hơi thấp, nhưng 3 sao thì lại hơi cao.
Dù sao tôi vẫn nghĩ câu chuyện thế này nếu chuyển thành dạng anime thì sẽ dễ tiếp nhận hơn là dưới dạng tiểu thuyết như thế này. Hoặc đơn giản là tuổi của tôi đã không còn phù hợp để đọc nó nữa.
Rất nhiều lỗi chính tả.

[Mali · Rating 3 out of 5]

English version's the one I read. Note to self that I should read it in Japanese too.

[Mylove4book · Rating 4 out of 5]

嗯...雖然大概知道作者想表達甚麼，但看完沒有共鳴。而且夜之王好邊緣喔，明明都放在書名上了，戲份可能只有20%吧，台詞也超級少，看到最後還是不知道他在想甚麼。日本人對皇族的憧憬是不是就類似這樣啊? 還不錯的是最後很溫柔的Happy Ending，連壞人也沒甚麼懲罰，好久沒看到這種人畜無害的收尾了呢。

[Olena Pravylo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Казка в темних тонах про вивільнення з власного рабства, любов та служіння.

[Olena Pravylo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Фантазійна казка в темних тонах про любов, вивільнення з рабства, служіння та дружбу.

[Min Trong Suốt・透明みん · Rating 3 out of 5]

暗闇は泣いているが、月明かりはあなたを愛撫し、愛してくれるだろう。多分それはすべてただの夢です。甘い悪夢。

[Giang Nguyen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hình minh họa và phần giới thiệu nội dung khiến mình liên tưởng đến một câu chuyện u ám, và chính xác là mình đã chuẩn bị tinh thần cho một câu chuyện hại não nữa của văn học Nhật.

Thật không ngờ... hành trình của Mimizuku lại dẫn mình đến một câu chuyện cổ tích đẹp đẽ đến vậy. Nếu Tooko "ăn" Mimizuku & Vua Bóng Đêm, đây chắc chắn sẽ là món Bittersweet Chocolate Truffles vừa đắng vừa ngọt. Mình yêu thích tất cả các nhân vật trong truyện chỉ đơn giản vì cái tình của họ. Không cần nói nhiều bằng lời, từng hành động cử chỉ đều mang lại cảm giác ấm áp, hạnh phúc, khiến người đọc như mình cũng lâng lâng theo từng cung bậc cảm xúc của cô bé Mimizuku.

Vốn dĩ chỉ định đọc một chút trước khi đi ngủ, lại thành ra đọc xuyên đêm luôn. Tuy câu chuyện không dài nhưng lâu lắm mới gặp một tác phẩm tạo động lực đọc liên tục cho mình như thế này.

Cảnh báo: Tuy mang hơi hướng truyện cổ tích nhưng phần đắng của truyện không dành cho trẻ em!

[Anny · Rating 5 out of 5]

A beautiful heart wrenching story of Mimizuku and the King of the Night.

Mimizuku was a little girl who never knew happiness, chained since birth and treated like a livestock. One day, she had enough and journeyed to the forest to meet the monsters. Somehow she met the beautiful King of the Night and then she spoke to him "Eat me, please!"

Then their story together began ...

[K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh my god, I did it!! I finished a JP leisure read!!

I liked the first third best, where Mimizuku is trying to fit in with the monster(s) in the woods and suck up to the Night King. I don't know why the author ever stopped that thread. How many books are there with a noble knight (even though this one wasn't set up as very likable) and a beautiful, maternal priestess? I don't care about those characters at all. Mimizuku is original, and interesting, and if we'd continued exploring her history and her half-assimilation from slave-animal in a bandit village to semi-human fringe member of the Night King's "court"... we could have learned so much more about her, the monsters, the humans in her world, and ourselves.

Everyone reading this book is a human. I can bring that background to help me contextualize Mimizuku. I don't need empty trope-puppets to teach her how to love and cry. And especially when that development isn't really reflected in the ending except through telling (not showing)? Feh. :/ So... great, she goes back to live in the forest with the Night King. But now she knows how to cry and... how does that affect her going forward? We don't know, because the story ends as soon as she and the King get back to the forest.

Why did we spend all that time in the castle? I don't care about those characters, because I've seen them before, so I don't care if Mimizuku made them realize some aspect of their own humanity they had overlooked or not. Sub-spoiler alert: She didn't, really. The "good" characters stayed good, and the meanie king had a last-second "change of heart" when the Night King gave him what he wanted without the meanie king having to kill the Night King to get it. And it's not as if the knight who went crusading to save the poor human girl from "enslavement" by the Night King learned that monsters aren't always bad. He just decided at the very last second to help the poor human girl again in the climax, after she had already helped herself. I'm awash in character development here. The less said about Orietta and Claudius (The Secret Garden did it better) the better.

But I did really like the first third, and the ideas it presented. I need some fanfic that just stays there.

[Rose · Rating 5 out of 5]

Please note that this is a review for the English Baka Tsuki fan-translation and not the original Japanese novel.

Mimizuku to Yoru no Ou or Mimizuku and the King of the Night is a stand-alone light novel about a mysterious and cheerful girl seeking out the monstrous and beautiful King of the Night in order to be eaten. It's a whimsical and airy story, reminiscent of a fairy tail, that touches upon the nature of humanity and is full of cheer and pain in equal measure. Despite the light writing style of the story, it's surprisingly emotional and I found myself tearing up a little by the end.

I would certainly recommend trying out this story to anyone who is interested in a more emotional and thought-provoking light novel. Readers who found an interest in Book Girl or Kieli will likely enjoy this.

[ban ♡ · Rating 3 out of 5]

One thing you should know about this story is that there isn’t really much to it. It’s quite short and simple. A little girl meets and monster and they form a special bond. It’s like a story from long ago, almost like a fairytale. It’s a bittersweet tale. I had a hard time imagining some of the monster characteristics and I personally didn’t enjoy it as much as I thought i would but I still don’t regret reading it. So do whatever you want.

[Ahmad · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mimizuku and The King of the Night, a story about a girl in chains going into a forest to offer herself as a sacrifice to King of The Night, who doesn't want to kill her. A simple yet beautifully written story.

[Naveen · Rating 5 out of 5]

❤ Mimizuku ❤ and Fukuruo The king of Night...
This is the First Novel i ever read it was so beautiful, my tears were flowing even though i tried to control it,best ending man it was a wonder,
I will never forget this experience in my entire life,it was so beautiful and amazing,emotional

[Sharakael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This... was a beautiful work. It is earnest in what it tells, and it tugged at a soft spot in my with its childlike honesty. It was a book I hadn't expected to finish in one day, but it convinced me to burn the midnight oil just to finish it even when it barely contained action scenes (something which hadn't happened for months).

This book read like a faery-tale; charming in its simplicity and touching in its innocence. However due to a particular scene described inside it's not really suitable for children... regardless, if you like a somewhat more melancholic faery-tale you should give this a go.

[dodicin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Truly a beautiful fairy tale.