Art: Hinase Momoyama
Original Story: Kujira Tokiwa
Character Design: Yu-nagi
Translation: Alice Prowse
Lettering: Katie Blakeslee
Publisher: Yen Press
Recently I picked up The Holy Grail of Eris which is a manga adapted from a light novel on Shosetsuka ni Narou (“Let’s Become a Novelist”). It’s a perfect quick read to basically introduce readers to the characters and the start of what is sure to be a beautiful and chaotic adventure. The main character, Constance Grail, is absolutely adorable but quite the pushover and you will end up feeling terrible for this girl’s luck. Luckily, someone new (or is she?) comes into Constance’s life named Scarlett Castiel. She pops in to stir up some trouble when Constance finds her jerk of a fiancé, Neil, cheating and then she is accused of theft (not spoilers, no worries – These 2 plot points are in the summary on the back of the book). Is Scarlett a witch? A ghost? Both? This book is clearly laying the groundwork for the rest of the series so it read a bit quickly and was mostly an introduction to these different, mostly infuriating, characters in high society. Think of it like “Bridgerton” meets “Black Butler” or any other manga or anime that dabbles in the highs and lows of high society while including some sort of supernatural element.
The art is absolutely beautiful. Every character’s expression is done so well that you can clearly tell what they are feeling without even reading what is being said. The nearly blank look on Neil’s face and the smug look of Pamela (another terrible character you meet) add to their personalities and make me dislike them so much more. The fire in Scarlett’s look on nearly every panel she is in adds to her mystery. The innocence and devastation on Constance’s make me love her more. Even the outfits seem to hint at the character’s personalities.
This book also included a short story based on the characters from the original story’s author, letters from the main creators of the book, and rough sketches of some of the initial character designs. I loved these little additions. I always enjoy seeing how a character changes between the initial design versus what actually ends up published. The story and extra pieces in this volume gave just enough to make me want to come back for more when volume 2 comes out. 4/5
Anna
anna@comicattack.net
