Krystallina:
“Excuse me — that’s rather rude, Mister Dog-Person.”
Summoned to be eaten by the King of Beasts but the Chancellor saying she’s too scrawny to be a good meal, Sariphi chooses those to be her potential last words.
It’s hard not to like Sariphi after that introduction, and even the King ends up finding her interesting. Long story short, her time with the King (later named as Leonhart) ends up being extended, and the other citizens of the Beast Kingdom are aghast and frightened by the thought of a human becoming queen.
Little do they know their king has his own secret.
While the title and cover make this seem like it’s a dark or melancholy story, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts is actually tamer than you might think. Leonhart and Sariphi have a major disagreement about the future of their relationship at the end of volume 1, but there’s no doubt they’ll be a happy couple again. There are several other series involving rushed or forced marriages and countries disapproving, and so far, in this aspect, the story itself doesn’t feel unique. Many readers have probably seen such dynamics in The World is Still Beautiful, and the popular The Ancient Magus’ Bride is also similar considering it has a monster-like male lead and human orphan falling in love. Saraphi in particular has a Chise-like expression on the cover, but this heroine is a lot more lively.
The aspect that really stood out to me is the art. It’s only the first volume, but Tomofuji already includes an anubis, two floating eyeballs, reptiles, foxes, and, of course, the lion-like Leonhart. The characters aren’t just humans with animal ears but full anthropomorphic creatures, the kind usually relegated to support characters in manga. It’s much easier to sense the distrust when the two races are physically different, and it helps set Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts apart from other similar manga.
But it’s solid enough for an early volume, so perhaps the author will throw in a few story twists in the future. I’ll be sticking around to find out.
Krystallina’s Rating: 3 out of 5
Helen: Most of the girls who are about to be sacrificed to the King of Beasts wail and plead for their lives, but not Sariphi. Sariphi learned long ago that she was adopted just so that she could be sent as a sacrifice. So she cheerfully feels like this is probably the only place where she belongs. But the nameless King of Beasts isn’t what she expects; he’s quiet, unexpectedly protective, and, most importantly, been letting all of the sacrifices go all along. There seems to be something about Sariphi’s openness that is soothing his heart, but will his subjects really go along with his plan to make her his queen?
In this era, maybe even glut, of monster boy/girl stories, this latest shoujo take on a “Beauty and the Beast”-esque tale fails to impress. I personally think it’s a cop-out to make Leonhart, as Sariphi names the king, half human and therefore have a human form in his most vulnerable moments. Commit to what you set-up Yu Tomofuji, don’t let your readers think “oh, it’ll be okay for them to have a relationship because he’s actually not a hairy monster!”
Although frankly, there’s not much in this story that supports their relationship one way or another. It seems to exist primarily because the plot demands it so. Sariphi plays the role of “young girl who will warm the heart of her author-designated significant other through her heart alone!” and Leonhart is the “dark, brooding, but concealing a heart of gold male lead” to a T (double points since what he’s concealing is literally his own humanity!).
These stories are popular for a reason and if Sariphi and Leonhart had more depth to their characters then it would be easier to root for them. But Sariphi doesn’t have much to contribute to the story (she can’t advise Leonhart on anything, perform any essential duties, and her mere, human presence riles up other characters) and Leonhart is just broody and busy all the time. This, unlike Horimiya, is a case where establishing their relationship in the first chapter actually hurts the story instead of helping it. If they weren’t already a couple then at least that would be something for the story to progress towards, and without even having that available to the story as a plot it just feels like the manga is spinning its wheels. Almost every story will have its slow bits but it’s worrisome to see it occur so early on. It will take some remarkably strong reviews for me to return to this series. As it stands I don’t have any incentive to do so and will instead wish Krystallina the best in covering this manga!
Helen’s Rating: 2 out of 5