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王を統べる運命の子１
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 7, 2020
The first book from Higuchi Misao that doesn't piss me off. The funny thing is, while this has all the tropes that Higuchi frequently uses, like the indecisive and petite bottom, condescending and discriminating top etc., unlike her previous books which were all so frustrating and ridiculous, this book makes sense. Maybe it's because of the fantasy setting, because of the harsher than usual living conditions of the characters, or because the true nature and background of the top/s haven't been revealed yet that enables me to become more patient with the absurdity or the unlikableness of the characters, idk. The one thing I know for sure is that there's no bad aftertaste after I finished this volume and I'm more than eager to read the next one.
I feel like social hierarchy, whether it be based on wealth, lineage, abilities, or a combination of those, is the major theme in most of Higuchi's works. And I also got the impression that maybe Higuchi herself was also trying to figure out what to feel about this issue while writing her books. This is absolutely just my own personal opinion, but up until now the message that I got from all of her works has been that, there will always be a hierarchy, or a system within any society that is inherently unequal. It's extremely hard, or even impossible to change such a system, and only if you were born into a disadvantaged position can you understand truly how devastating and cruel the system is towards the disadvantaged. The people who have never been in the disadvantaged's shoes, who don't share the same experience, no matter how much goodwill and love they have, how much they try to understand how the disadvantaged feels, can never truly understand the pain of the disadvantaged. And you can totally love someone while holding prejudice and discriminating attitude against your loved one as well. You can still love someone without regarding them as your equal. It's kinda pessimistic, but I like this message way way waaaaayyy better than those ridiculous romances that sugarcoat class conflict and other social issues with the idea of love overcomes all.
But then Higuchi somehow always come to the conclusion that, as a disadvantaged person in the system, there will be many moments in life when you feel angry, frustrated, devastated, hopeless, since there's virtually no way out, but that's fine because you can still somehow find happiness within such a system. I do get that this is not an unrealistic perception of reality, and maybe this is Higuchi's coping mechanism against the harsh personal experience concerning social inequality that she faced in her life. Nevertheless, I just really dislike this message. I personally find it distasteful as it advocates for a compliant and complacent attitude towards an unjust social reality. Maybe I'm just too young and not yet beaten down to the point of giving up on these issues of inequality, but I just can't find myself appreciating Higuchi's stories no matter how skillfully she told her stories.
But this book is somehow different from all of Higuchi's previous works. At least in this volume, the MC doesn't seem to end up with a pessimistic attitude about his position in life. While acknowledging the unfair, unequal, paradoxical nature of the society in which he is a part of, and acknowledging that there're limits to what he can do with his abilities, he eventually comes to the conclusion that he'll do whatever he can, operating smartly within this rigid system to reach to a place where he has enough power and resources to decide what he wants to do without having to feel like there's no other choice. Now what exactly does the MC want to doin the future, we don't know yet, but that itself is a realistic depiction of a the journey of life, especially if the person lives in a world of turbulence and uncertainty. I do like how the story is going.
My personal favorite is probably the last one forth of the book, when the MC finally realized how ironically paradoxical and unfair the world really is, how different his and the people of power's views are and how much frustration and even grude he hold against them for that. I like how he started to realize that even though the people of power need him, that without him they can do nothing, yet they still look down on him, and that that is unfair, and that he actually is now in the position where he can make negotiation or even demand, and that he no longer want to force himself to just obey these people's orders. I like how he confronted one of those people aka. the top about how the people of authority, as they talk about sacrificing the small details for the higher cause and all that stuffs, they simply are telling the common people that they give no shit about them and how privileged they are since they from the beginning aren't in the discardable "small details" group. Damn right boy!
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this volume, mainly for its political undertone hahah. The romance is nice as well, but right now I'm just too focused on the MC's personal development and the politics so Imma save my thoughts on the romance for another time.
I feel like social hierarchy, whether it be based on wealth, lineage, abilities, or a combination of those, is the major theme in most of Higuchi's works. And I also got the impression that maybe Higuchi herself was also trying to figure out what to feel about this issue while writing her books. This is absolutely just my own personal opinion, but up until now the message that I got from all of her works has been that, there will always be a hierarchy, or a system within any society that is inherently unequal. It's extremely hard, or even impossible to change such a system, and only if you were born into a disadvantaged position can you understand truly how devastating and cruel the system is towards the disadvantaged. The people who have never been in the disadvantaged's shoes, who don't share the same experience, no matter how much goodwill and love they have, how much they try to understand how the disadvantaged feels, can never truly understand the pain of the disadvantaged. And you can totally love someone while holding prejudice and discriminating attitude against your loved one as well. You can still love someone without regarding them as your equal. It's kinda pessimistic, but I like this message way way waaaaayyy better than those ridiculous romances that sugarcoat class conflict and other social issues with the idea of love overcomes all.
But then Higuchi somehow always come to the conclusion that, as a disadvantaged person in the system, there will be many moments in life when you feel angry, frustrated, devastated, hopeless, since there's virtually no way out, but that's fine because you can still somehow find happiness within such a system. I do get that this is not an unrealistic perception of reality, and maybe this is Higuchi's coping mechanism against the harsh personal experience concerning social inequality that she faced in her life. Nevertheless, I just really dislike this message. I personally find it distasteful as it advocates for a compliant and complacent attitude towards an unjust social reality. Maybe I'm just too young and not yet beaten down to the point of giving up on these issues of inequality, but I just can't find myself appreciating Higuchi's stories no matter how skillfully she told her stories.
But this book is somehow different from all of Higuchi's previous works. At least in this volume, the MC doesn't seem to end up with a pessimistic attitude about his position in life. While acknowledging the unfair, unequal, paradoxical nature of the society in which he is a part of, and acknowledging that there're limits to what he can do with his abilities, he eventually comes to the conclusion that he'll do whatever he can, operating smartly within this rigid system to reach to a place where he has enough power and resources to decide what he wants to do without having to feel like there's no other choice. Now what exactly does the MC want to doin the future, we don't know yet, but that itself is a realistic depiction of a the journey of life, especially if the person lives in a world of turbulence and uncertainty. I do like how the story is going.
My personal favorite is probably the last one forth of the book, when the MC finally realized how ironically paradoxical and unfair the world really is, how different his and the people of power's views are and how much frustration and even grude he hold against them for that. I like how he started to realize that even though the people of power need him, that without him they can do nothing, yet they still look down on him, and that that is unfair, and that he actually is now in the position where he can make negotiation or even demand, and that he no longer want to force himself to just obey these people's orders. I like how he confronted one of those people aka. the top about how the people of authority, as they talk about sacrificing the small details for the higher cause and all that stuffs, they simply are telling the common people that they give no shit about them and how privileged they are since they from the beginning aren't in the discardable "small details" group. Damn right boy!
Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed this volume, mainly for its political undertone hahah. The romance is nice as well, but right now I'm just too focused on the MC's personal development and the politics so Imma save my thoughts on the romance for another time.
December 6, 2023
Review for vol 1- 4
It’s full of surprises but I’m very happy with the ending. One of the themes that is the most memorable to me and it keeps iterated throughout the story is that no matter how short a life is or how prematurely someone’s life has ended, death can’t destroy the fact that they were happy during their lifetime.
It’s full of surprises but I’m very happy with the ending. One of the themes that is the most memorable to me and it keeps iterated throughout the story is that no matter how short a life is or how prematurely someone’s life has ended, death can’t destroy the fact that they were happy during their lifetime.
July 29, 2020
3.7 stars. This book serves more like an introduction. Not a bad book but the main characters don't appeal to me so far. Yeah they are nice...and there is still no solid love between them. Wait until the next book I think...
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews