The King's Beast, Vol. 14

王の獣 [Ō no Kemono] #14

by Rei Tōma

Ajin boys who show signs of special abilities are conscripted to serve in the imperial palace as beast-servants—status symbols and shields for their royal masters, to be kept or discarded on a whim. When they were children, Rangetsu’s twin brother Sogetsu was ripped from her arms and sent to the palace to attend Prince Tenyou as a beast-servant, where he quickly fell victim to bloody dynastic intrigues. Now in a world that promises only bitterness, Rangetsu’s one hope at avenging her brother is to disguise herself as a man and find a way into the palace!

Prince Tenyou’s reforms have been well received by the Ajin of his country, but the rulers of the neighboring kingdoms are anything but pleased. With war brewing on the borders, Rangetsu and the prince travel to a market town to seek information from a mysterious merchant. Will their reconnaissance efforts be for nothing when battle breaks out?

Genres: Manga, Fantasy, Romance, Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult, Historical

168 pages, Paperback

First published December 26, 2023

About the author

Rei Tōma (Japanese: 藤間 麗,Tōma Rei) has been drawing since childhood, but she only began drawing manga because of her graduation project in design school. When she drew a short-story manga, "Help me dentist" (ヘルプ me デンティスト), it attracted a publisher's attention and she made her debut right away. Her magnificent art style became popular, and after she debuted as a manga artist, she became known as an illustrator for novels and video game character designs.

Dawn of the Arcana is her first long-running manga series, and it has been a hit in Japan, selling over a million copies.

Reviews

[Mark · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has definitely stretched longer than I necessarily would have liked and while this whole conflict angle is, in theory, interesting, and feels like it has really hit the gas of late… well, that doesn’t necessarily make it a better story.

Two problems - one, the new bad guy has nebulous powers that make sense, but I feel that they should probably have a little explanation behind them. Especially given the shocking conclusion to the volume.

And then said conclusion appears to get possibly walked back because this series is, apparently, crossing over with Dawn of the Arcana. Which is its own problem because I sure haven’t read that and this completely assumes you have because it gives nowhere near enough context for the revelations and characters who crop up.

The reveal of one character is meant to be a huge thing, but it’s like reading a whodunnit to the end and the culprit turns out to be somebody who was neither mentioned nor appeared anywhere else except in a different book.

This definitely lost all its momentum when it resolved the Sogetsu story and has only managed to recover a little bit. This has some good stuff, but it feels like it exists in the long shadow of earlier volumes and it makes an assumption about the reader’s familiarity with a whole other series that really stuck in my craw.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

This volume had really cute moments but also really sad ones. A lot is happening. I'm intrigued by all the new characters that are being introduced.

This is the first volume that had a big cross over with Dawn of the Arcana. I haven't read that series yet, so I was really confused at first. I guess this is my sign that I need to move that one up my TBR lol.

Thank you, Viz Media, for the arc!

[Mariána K · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure if this volume was worth reading...

My usual complaint is targeted towards how short these reads can be. This time I was going to add that the content was totaling up to a bunch of nothing. Wasn't even much relationship stuff going on. Then the last few pages happened and now I'm just really confused about what actually happened versus what might happen.

Basically the only thing that happens in here is the setup for the next big plot arc. There's some weird stuff going on at the border that might be leading up to a war. There's a new character from some other kingdom is having visions of stuff going on in the main story group. So you don't know if what you see has already happened or if it's a prophecy. Additionally, there's implications that there is some human general in an enemy country that might have some OP power that will make or break the war long-term. Pretty much all of this high tense game staking stuff happens in the last few pages, the rest of the book is pretty non-important.

I think this series is starting to run out of steam and direction. They seem to be avoiding a lot of the relationship development between the lead characters and I have not heard anything about the prophecy about a king marrying a beast person in a while. Now all of a sudden there are external politics and potential war politics going on that feels like distraction or even an attempt to extend the story longer with a new plot. I can understand wanting to have the setting and characters continue on but I feel like there hasn't been any resolution in the main story. I'm finding it hard to put into words my feelings this time. A lot of what I saw being set into motion feels more like sidetracking, derailment, or similar distraction for the overall main focus and plot. It might work, it might not... But considering how long you have to wait between volumes and how short the volumes are I find it frustrating when there isn't any significant development and the story seems to be heading into a whole new mess of things rather than tidying up towards some sort of resolution. It's not that I want the series to end, but I want some sort of satisfaction and less emptiness. It just makes for a really disappointing read when nothing is really happening.

[Anaika · Rating 5 out of 5]

The crossover!!! Ugh I need to know where this is going. The cliffhanger is disrespectful.

[Courtney K · Rating 5 out of 5]

Not Prince Kouga? How is this princess vision going to come into play? She's part of the enemies, right?

[Diliana Van Der Stoep · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ok now i have to read dawn of arcana

[Faeryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

OH MY GOD YES

[Kaitlynne · Rating 5 out of 5]

No, I don't think you understand.

I

Am

S C R E E E E E A M I N G

Just when I thought that things were settling down and the story was coming to an end, we get hit with THIS.

Are we actually getting a Dawn of the Arcana x The King's Beast CROSSOVER?!?!?!?!?!?!?


I simply cannot wait.

Also, I am having a hard time processing my emotions, because Kougai BETTER NOT ACTUALLY DIE!

I love the characters, they're all so beautiful, and it is just randomly so funny. Rangetsu and Tenyou are so precious, and sometimes their relationship reminds me of Jinshi and Mao Mao.

I cannot WAIT to see what is going to happen next (or maybe I can if it's something bad?)

Thank you VIZ Media for this ARC. I'm crying, but it's fine. (and all thoughts and opinions expressed are entirely my own)

[R. · Rating 2 out of 5]

It seems the previous emperor and Tenyou may have already had a plan in motion to secure Kyoko's cooperation, so the twins just needed to decide his fate. They may have an idea of where the trouble on the border is coming from as well, but it seems that may spell out doom for one of the princes, or maybe not given these new visions if they're shared. From the references, it seems like this may be another tie in to Dawn of the Arcana, though I haven't yet read that series. It would be interesting if reading both at the same time to see how it may fill out the story or if it seems to be completely separate. We get some sweet moments between Tenyou and Rangetsu as well as they continue to circle each other. At least it seems our inner circle of characters are in a better place for the moment, even if they are still facing challenges in this new world.

[ℂ ✧ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Torna a aparèixer l'ajin de l'antic emperador, el Kyoko, que tenia forma de tigre, perquè li volen demanar que lideri l'exèrcit d'ajins ara que està a punt d'esclatar la guerra... però descobrim que els bessons podran decidir el seu futur: voldran revenja o s'aprofitaran del seu poder? Francament, no sé per què continuo, tinc l'esperança que millori, que la trama estigui més ben planejada, però sempre m'acabo decebent... Llegit també el següent i la cosa no millora en excés. Han decidit introduir més acció amb una guerra a punt d'esclatar, però per a mi que només emboliquen la troca :/

[Ellen Scheid · Rating 1 out of 5]

I am confused and disappointed with how the last few chapters went. Before this, I thought we were getting close to the conclusion of this series and I was enjoying it. Volume 14 felt so deliberately drawn out as to attempt to get a grasp on the political aspects of this world, but it was still lacking and now we are stuck on a huge cliffhanger.

[Isel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good thing it didn't happen. I was about to shed a tear 🙈
Seeing the Loki look alike... I hate it 😢 .... Cause I hate Loki not cause I miss him lol... 😢
I'm assuming that's her son so why he calling her Princess Nakaba? Did Loki have a secret child?

[Sarah Meerkat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read via viz manga app

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ch 52-55

Read on VIZ app

[Kayla Brunson · Rating 4 out of 5]

While I’m always happy to see Tenyou and Rangetsu be adorable, Kougai better be okay!

[Janis Kay · Rating 3 out of 5]

WHAT JUST HAPPENED?!?!?!?!?!?!?! That cliffhanger was NOT on my bingo card today😭

Now I have to wait for vol 15…

[Sofy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I way i gasp and scream. Dawn of arcana is my favorite manga all time the crossover is getting to me

[Kasha Michiels · Rating 4 out of 5]

Letting me hang of a dangerous cliff i see.

[Aurora · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wish there were more moments with the twins in this volume haha, and also am finding it a bit annoying that we’re dragging in the Dawn of the Arcana characters (who I barely remember 😅).

[Tbirdplanstoread · Rating 4 out of 5]

That ending! And now I have to wait 2 months for the next one!!?!?! How rude!!!

[Krystal Caloia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Oh no! Prince Kougai!!!! Poor Boku is going to take that so hard and blame himself!!!

[R · Rating 5 out of 5]

I LOVE this series!! Matching prosthetic with boots/tights, drop-in with Arcana characters again! I adore the artistic style and love the story! I can't wait to read more.

[Yaiza · Rating 4 out of 5]

4⭐

[Gretchen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rangetsu and Sogetsu decide Kyoko's fate.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

3-3.5 stars

[Amanda Setasha · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love the fact that they're starting to tie Dawn of the Arcana into this. Not what I expected at all, but I'm loving it.

[Kendra · Rating 3 out of 5]

So she wants both the brothers? 😂

[Shatiel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mamma mia...ho avuto un infarto!!! Non si faaaaannno queste cose! Maledetta autrice!!!