There’s really not that much I need to say about Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts volume 5. In fact, I shall try to convince you to buy it with one image:
Yes, you want to see little Leo and Anubis.
As you probably have gathered, part of this volume (half in fact) is about their past. Anubis’ frustration at his king taking a human queen has defined much of his character as well as the overall story. I’ve been worried that this series would end up stuck in a loop: Anubis invents a new test, Sariphi takes it and passes, and then he invents another new challenge. This multi-chapter flashback helps prevent this, at least for a while as Anubis remembers how and why he swore an oath to his liege.
The story is roughly what I expected (witnessed Leonhart’s charisma and thoughtfulness and wanted him to rule), but it still helps at least dull readers’ irritation at how Anubis keeps trying to push away the woman Leonhart has repeatedly declared to want by his side. Sariphi herself states that Anubis isn’t going to suddenly approve of her, and I like how she’s not repeatedly begging for his endorsement. Learning about Anubis is the main point of this section, but of course the best aspect is the visuals. Young Leonhart and Anubis are so cute that they are practically begging to be made into plushies. Other parts outside the flashback are just as good, like the king in his ceremonial garb.
Meanwhile, the other chapters finish up the Ichthyans’ visit and prepare for a ceremony to honor the founding of the beast country. It looked like Amit’s love life was about to get more interesting, but it was dropped so that Sariphi could get a pep talk and dance with Leonhard. Boo! I doubt the over-enthusiastic Joz will ever win Amit’s heart, but I think his crush could lead to some romcom fun that the main couple lacks — but only if we see him again.
The parts about the ceremony I’m mixed on thanks to the opening and the closing pages. The ending is abrupt, having solved the crisis (which I won’t spoil), but perhaps volume 6 will give it a clearer wrap-up. Otherwise, there’s an interesting splash page of what appears to be the first king and queen. If Tomofuji showed the two of them in their true forms (who look nothing like the statues made in their honor), it seems like it would be a major spoiler and game-changer for the country of Ozmargo. I can’t think of who else the splash page would be of. Sariphi and Leonhard in different forms? Nah. But yet I’d find it odd that Tomofuji would just drop this truth nugget and press on… Hmm.
Maybe this will be a volume where I will go back later and see it’s more important than I initially thought. If the author comes back to a couple of plot points from here, volume 5 might deserve a higher rating. But personally, the art alone is worth the cost of admission.