Like volume 3, Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind has a limited number of chapters. Tinaris is now 15, and she is fairly comfortable with her new “normal” — hiding in a fortress, only emerging to defeat monsters. Marcus and Nakona end up stopping in for a visit, and they each narrate a chapter as they swing by. The big ball of darkness in the sky has gotten bigger, and so everyone knows the big battle is eventually coming.
However, it’s still eventually coming at the end of this volume.
I was a little surprised by the decision to not have a “Me at Age 14” arc. Mainly because since time skipped ahead a bit, I would have expected a heightened sense of emergency. While the novel does have battles, most are presented as everyday skirmishes. So volume 4 still has an everyday life feel, but we also miss much of the adjustment period for the main characters since their days together at the inn.
This also means the romances feel like it missed a stop on their journey of love. Tinaris, for instance, soon realizes Renge is more important to her than just her savior, but I would have liked to have seen another instance of them growing closer before Tinaris has her light bulb moment. Meanwhile, Marcus’ two daughters have been rooting for him to get together with the knight Licorice. He ends up blurting out a confession here, and it makes you wonder why he couldn’t do that in the two years prior.
However, perhaps the best example is Nakona’s chapter. (Yay, Nakona chapter!!) Her love life takes a surprising turn, especially since Tinaris thinks her older sister is super dense and needs more help in the romance department than she can provide. Perhaps if the story had been slightly reorganized, the foundations for Nakona’s new relationship could have been set a year prior in the novel and then continued when Tinaris is 15. You could argue the way things happen shows how different Nakona is from her feet-dragging father and sister, but if nothing else, we could have gotten another enjoyable escapade between the Ril family members and their love interests.
This might have also shown a little more of the adjustment period for the characters as they find themselves on unexpected paths. Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind has always been heavy on the slice-of-life, so I wish we could have a little more of the family members’ everyday lives separately rather than Marcus and Nakona both arriving for a visit. Because of this, we never see the twins or the lodge, which some will find disappointing.
The side story about Tinaris organizing a fashion show was the author’s attempt at showing more of what life is like for Tinaris at the fortress. It probably would have fit better set before the main story, and I personally kind of tuned out at all the details about moisturizers and such, but the main idea was what I would have liked to have seen.
That being said, if you were worried about Reincarnated as the Last of my Kind losing its soft touch, you can breathe a sigh of relief for now. The three main chapters also balance out quite well. Tinaris’ story is most like the days of old, but it ends with emotion. Marcus has a little more exposition about the world of the novel. Nakona’s chapter is probably the most intense, but yet even then, the reason she and others are in quite a pinch is because they want to give Tinaris a break. So it’s still a very character- and family-driven series. I do hope Nakona returns as a narrator, especially now that she has a love interest…and someone needs to tell Marcus.
Unfortunately, though, we probably won’t see the characters again until Tinaris is at least 16. I don’t know if that mean it’s time to fight for the fate of the world, but if not, I wouldn’t mind seeing more of the individual struggles as Tinaris’ friends and family all work in their own ways to save the world and their loves blooming along the way.