Man, what a misleading cover..... though its pretty much expected given the genre this series indulges in.
While the main plot of this volume revolves around Rio's reunion with Celia, the first half is actually dedicated to the continuation of the previous volume where Rio unexpectedly reunites with his one true love. The rom-com antics are still blatantly there, magnified by the decision to return to the spirit people's village where the girls from vol 2 make a return as well.
In fact, this is quite a jam-packed volume, as everyone, except the cast from vol 3, makes a return here. Thankfully, even the author realises this and helpfully decides to add a character relationship map at the start of the book to jog our memories.
That said, the rom-com antics are more toned down here and closer to the level of being heart-warming instead so this was a more agreeable read. Unfortunately, with only less than half of the volume's page count left, the focus character Celia doesn't really shine much other than playing her role as a maiden in distress.
Of course, the redeeming grace here is the author setting up again the political conflicts from volume 1, building things up for future adventures. The existence of multiple other heroes also gets thrown in the fray, along with a evil empire in the wings so i'm hoping these won't go to waste. The first three volumes was a rather good read due to the single-minded focus of Rio's journey to discover his past and seek vengeance, but the previous volume and this volume hasn't really had the same feeling yet.
The author in this light novel has made every human being in this alternate world a monster ( no values, no honesty, lie, cheat, torture, etc.) and has made the spirit folk (honorable, civilized, kind, generous, etc.) What is the point to this obvious contradiction? The main character saved the second princess Flora, more than 3 times, and every time he saved the second princess Flora, all the humans around the King, would torture, conspire, and try to assassinate Rio because he was honorable and they were monsters interested only in power and corruption. Why would this be interesting to read? Did Flora ever do anything for Rio? (no.) Did anyone else do anything good towards Rio? (only Celia Claire) (who is being persecuted, blackmailed and enslaved in this volume). The author has created a dystopia ( alternate world that seeks evil instead of good) The good beings get tortured, blackmailed, raped, enslaved, sexually assaulted, etc. the evil people receive no punishment at all. This alternate world competes with reality, so what is the point to create this evil alternate world? Why can the evil humans teleport and summon beings from other worlds to this hell?
No estuvo mal este volumen, pero tampoco me voló la cabeza. El final sí lo hizo un poco, pero quizá haber visto el anime antes hizo que se mitigara un poco la sorpresa.
Miharu, Aki y Masato deben insertarse en la comunidad de los hombres y mujeres espirituales, habituándose a la vida diaria de Latifa, Orphia, Alma, Sara, y las demás chicas, quienes les darán un lugar donde refugiarse y vivir por el momento en el que los extranjeros estén. Además, Rio debe buscar al héroe invocado, y compa?ero de los extranjeros, y para ello busca a su profesora Celia, que se encuentra en una posición comprometida. Esa segunda parte del volumen sí me gustó, ya que Rio se interpondrá e intentará salvar a su profesora, de lo que cree que es una muy mala decisión. También pueden apreciarse los problemas políticos que se encuentran en los reinos de Beltrum, Galarc, y los duques Arbor, Huguenot, y Fontaine. Es lo que más me gustó del primer volumen, y me alegra que se retome un poco más en este, viendo a Liselotte, quien seguro se convertirá en una gran figura.
After a dissapointing previous volume, the author got back on track with the story. Although the first half of the book is quite slow, spending a lot of time describing parties and meals among the Folk Village again, we are introduce with interesting new character at the end, also the story plot got improved with the introduction of some political and power struggle among different factions. The action and fight scenes are repetitive and the main character is so overpowered that these scenes becomes boring at the end.
Rio goes back to the spirit folk town but only by a short time. He has to meet again with cute and small professor Celia. Some dramatic stuff happens and he has to be a hero again. I feel like the author want to do a lot of things with a lot of characters but it gets a little weird at times...
I've been waiting for the book for some time after I finished reading the previous volumes. Now the wait is finished, it was worthwhile, but now I have to wait some more time for the next book.
Never a dull moment with tale. This story dose keep you interested and breathlessly awaiting the next outcome, but surprisingly it is not what you expected.
Another very fun addition to the series that I thoroughly enjoyed. Once again, if you enjoyed the previous volumes, you will certainly enjoy this one as well.