It’s the finale of Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts, and volume 15 is notably thick. That’s because you’ll find volume 15’s credits page at page 192, but the book is about 234 pages long. Yen Press based this version on the Japanese special edition, and so there is a collection of sequel and side stories after the official end of the manga’s main story — complete with a color insert. This is a wonderful surprise for fans for the series, and volume 15 doesn’t come with a higher price tag to offset the extra content.
Anyway, when we last left the heroes, they were trying to stop Set’s coup, but things were looking bleak. Although Sariphi has learned the truth about Leonhart’s heritage, she’s now been caught by Anubis. He’s been siding with Set, and everyone else is either preoccupied or otherwise limited by what they can do during the chaos. Will Leonhart regain his crown?
I’m sure you can guess the result. To me, the only people who will complain about volume 15 are those who hate typical happily-ever-afters. The climax does rely on several clichés and includes limited surprises, but it’s still a fun ride and fits right in with the fairy tale nature of Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts. There is fighting during the story, but more battles here are waged through a war of words as Sariphi and, even more so, Leonhart share their wisdom from what they’ve learned and their shared vision for the future.
Also, shout out to Amit for showing everyone the determination of a best friend. She’s always been a great gal, but she comes in clutch here. A good amount of romance here (may could have used a little more with it being the ending), but glad to see a reminder the girls’ friendship is just as important.
The (main) story is split evenly between the coup and post-coup events, so readers get a pretty clear picture of what happens with the main characters and life in Ozmargo as a whole after Leonhart and Set settle their business. There are potential jumping off points if Tomofuji ever wants to revisit this universe, and I found myself really intrigued by the short glimpse we get of Leonhart’s parents. The flashback was only a few pages long and was shown only through narration, but it was surprisingly moving.
As for the special edition contents, it’s two hit-or-miss comedic short stories, a parody, and a sequel story. The sequel is set before the final pages of the last chapter, and it doesn’t add a lot of fluff or new info, but it’s cute enough. Can’t really complain since it’s a bonus for English fans.
Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts has been a solid manga overall, and while the ending doesn’t veer too much off the expected path, in a series like this, that was exactly the right road to follow.