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Light Novel Review: The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes: Volume 1~ favorite light novel for the year!
Art by: Yukiko Translated by: Tom Harris
Rosemary Velfalt is reincarnated as a princess rival in the otome game, Welcome to the Hidden World, infamous for its terrible suitors and amazing side characters. She's now breaking event flags to avoid triggering routes. Disclaimer: A review copy was provided by the publisher.
With all the reincarnated villainess breaking flags in otome game and whatnot, this still offers something fresh and funny. Unlike in other isekai, Rosemary has her memory since infancy and she's not avoiding getting killed. It's in the goodness of her heart to help the main guys skip story routes. Her internal monologues are also amusing with her flair for dramatics and hysterics. But for someone insightful, she also suffers the same baka-ness inherent to heroines of being oblivious to all the love interests she's gaining.
Its' a reverse harem light novel all right under four flowers. (See Levels of Reverse Harem) And not just one! We seem to have two sets of reverse harem like with Angelique, and Diabolik Lovers anime adaptations. This is the weirdest and most problematic reverse harem I have encountered in a while. There's an age gap, brothers, questionable choice of words to describe the guys... and yet, I immensely enjoyed all the characters with their flaws and all.
The main guys are the second prince with a serious sister complex, the unaware narcissist fiance, the masochist guard, the sorcerer fascinated with a dead body (I refuse to use the original word used. LOL) And we have yet to meet two more, the gay assassin and the yandere demon lord.
Each main guy has a corresponding side character: the cool and intelligent first prince, the calm and gentleman uncle, the caring and strong guard captain, the zealous and hardworking sorcerer's rival, the feminist assassin turned waiter, and the demon lord's big sister with a big sister disposition.
Truth be told, I totally forgot about the main and side characters distinctions and just dived in and became totally engrossed with the story. It's only after I finished the book that it hit me that whoa one of the guys I'm thinking as MAIN character is actually a SIDE character. Meanwhile my favorite character, Klaus, totally stole the spotlight with his uncalled-for compliments. He got me laughing so hard! If it wasn't for the comical art insert, I would have been seriously rooting for him. But in terms of who's THE ONE, it seems too easy if the main guy is the one she's crushing when she was playing the game. The other two guys have the potential too. But if we look closely the book is successful in making you confused about who the main guy is. It can be anyone's game. (Also see 7 Types of Reverse Harem Endings.)
The author's penchant for little details leaves a lot to my imagination. The final one-liners of the guys especially the two brothers left a lasting impression on me. Like with how the final words of the main guys in the game left a lasting impression on Rosemary albeit not a happy memory for her. Klaus is my favorite character but not necessarily for our heroine. I don't know who to root for but when one of the guys voice breaks into hoarseness that was it for me. That just teeny-weeny detail opens a whole new route in my head.
My main problem is the age gap like when Rosemary is ten in the story, her crush is maybe around 25 years old. Even Rose mentioned it's a little creepy. But then again, no lines have been crossed yet. It's pretty clever that even though there's no romance per se you can feel the reverse harem static in the air. There's a lot of future references and as much as I want to do time skip and see her way much older, I didn't want the story to progress as it nears the end. I wanted to be stuck with the characters. Never knew that could happen.
The rich, decadent description is befitting of the Renaissance-like setting. The art though gives off a shonen vibe. Like when harem and reverse harem are lumped together in MangaUpdates, MyAnimeList, and Bookwalker, you would know right away how to distinguish the two just by looking at the covers. If not for the three guys and a girl on the cover and my previous knowledge of the licensing news, I would probably pass this as not a reverse harem. But I'm glad I didn't, it's a very addicting read and I have so much neeeeed for the next volume. The year is about to end so it's safe to say this is my favorite light novel for the year! Let me know your thoughts on this one. Who are you rooting for?
Purchase titles/ related to the titles mentioned: (as an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases):
The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes: Volume 1 https://amzn.to/3qHp3Mb
The Reincarnated Princess Spends Another Day Skipping Story Routes: Volume 2 https://amzn.to/3FoE5dX
Neo Angelique https://amzn.to/3kIf2dU
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