reincarnated prince herscherik

By Nobiru Kusunoki and Arico. Released in Japan as “Herscherik” by M Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by afm.

After the end of the previous book, things are going pretty well for the Kingdom Formerly Known as In Woe. The King and his sons are running around trying to slowly fix everything that Barbosse broke, and also trying to track down the corrupt nobles who benefited from it (as opposed to those who were just threatened into obedience). Indeed, the previously unseen Sixth Prince has returned, as he was going all around to various countries trying to gain allies and also get enough evidence to get rid of the thorn in their side, only to find Hersch took care of everything first. Herscherik is buried under paperwork, because oh my god there’s SO MUCH potentially crooked stuff to review, but there’s still time to go out to his favorite outdoor market. While there, however, he runs into the grocer he likes, who asks him to talk to two clearly suspicious people – a young red-haired woman and a man disguising his huge wings. Disguising because being a beastman in Gracia is punishable by death.

Those who recall the events of the third book might be looking at the cover of the fifth book and saying “oh dear, I hope this isn’t a trend”, but no, I’d be a lot crankier in my review if it were. For the most part this book is very good, showing off how difficult it can be to take definitive action when you are running a kingdom and have to obey its laws… even when some of the laws have reasons that are lost to the mists of time. Both “Kurenai” and “Ao” (Hersch is still giving codenames to people, and is still terrible at the names) have suitably tragic backgrounds, are suitably broken and fatalistic, and are cheered immensely be Herscherik basically being himself. We also meet the sixth prince’s bodyguard, Tatsu, who comes from a land that sounds very much like ancient Japan… and he seems to know that Kuro is still hiding some secrets. But that’s future Herscherik’s problem. The current one has his hands full trying to stop another self-sacrifice that ends in death.

The book has several sequel hooks, and the afterword has the author hoping to see us again soon. Unfortunately, when series are licensed from Japanese publishers, we do not get guarantees that the series will go on until a proper ending, and rumor has it that the series has been cancelled by the publisher in Japan. This is a shame, as it has a lot of elements that I quite enjoyed, using just the right amount of “I have my memories as an office lady from Japan”, having Herscherik be ludicrously good at political intrigue but also ludicrously bad at physical and magical things, so he always needs allies to kick asses for him, and good guys you want to root for. Perhaps one day we can get more of this, but until then, I’m glad I read what I did. Plus, as the books have a bit of “and in later years” history text to them, at least we know the good guys won down the road.

By Nobiru Kusunoki and Arico. Released in Japan as “Herscherik” by M Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by afm.

The last two volumes of the Herscherik books have had the subtitle refer to a new vassal that is the focus of that particular book, so you might be coming into this one wondering who the Hero of Light is going to be. But no, Herscherik has a full army of weapons in his cache now, both in terms of the men he has at his side and also his family, who are increasingly rebelling more and more against the chains of Marquis Barbosse. He has tried assassinating the royal family to depress the King into doing his bidding, he has tried introducing lethal drugs into the kingdom, and he has tried using his own daughter in a plot to kill Herscherik, one that ends in her own death instead. And yet here is Herscherik, a literal seven-year-old running rings around him. Of course, the reader knows that’s because he has the mind of a brilliant Japanese middle manager in hi, but no one ELSE knows that. So there’s only one thing left to do: send Herscherik off to die in war.

Yes, in an incredibly convenient coincidence, the country next door has decided to amass a huge invasion force at the border, so the army needs to take their much smaller force and go investigate. Barbosse suggests that Herscherik should go, despite being seven, as … well, he comes up with excuses over and over as to why no one else in the family should go, to the point where by now everyone in the room is aware he’s doing his best Snidely Whiplash imitation. But that’s fine by Hersch, who has also decided to stop pretending to be an innocent seven-year-old and act his age + his reincarnated age. As a result, they head off into an obvious trap and, well, get ambushed. Surprise! That said, Herscherik is a good two or three steps ahead of Barbosse here, and, of course, has Kuro, Orange, and Weiss, who together are the equal of at LEAST one invading army.

The book reads as if the editor said “you know those scenes you always get near the end of a book that make the reader punch the air? Could you fill the book with them?”. Every confrontation is a joy, and while sometimes the plot does verge on the ridiculous (I will give the fall from the cliff a pass because every book needs at least one hand wave) other parts are very well crafted, bringing in events from the first three books and tying them together, and also answering the very obvious question we’ve had for some time: given Barbosse can kill off the royal family with impunity, why hasn’t he done away with the youngest prince? The book is also very good about talking about the difference between doing what’s right for the nation and doing what you personally want to do, and how even Hersch finds that hard to handle at times. And, as I mentioned before, the dramatic confrontations are to die for. (Literally, sometimes.)

The series is not over, and reassuring us that we’re still only in the prologue of the Tales of the Prince (though we do meet the author of the books here, a scrub in the army trying to survive so he can send his pay back to his family), but this book definitely closes the book on the plot that’s run through the previous three. Where does it go from here? We shall see. Till then, enjoy a fantastic light novel series that makes the reincarnation isekai bits work well and also not be overused.

By Nobiru Kusunoki and Arico. Released in Japan as “Herscherik” by M Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam Seacord.

This does not fall into the “Villainess Otome” genre of books – for one thing, Prince Herscherik is absolutely not a villain. Nor is it a game at all, but a real, very messy world that he lives in. But there are certainly otome game elements in the books, and it really has to be said that Herscherik, although male in this universe, is building up quite the reverse harem for himself. In the first book it was the dark assassin, in the second it was the fallen knight. And here, as the title might suggest, it’s the broken mage, a young man who is so beautiful that he’s always mistaken for a woman, and who is inextricably bound to the Church. Now, there is also another tortured soul to be saved in this book. Alas, she’s an assassin when we already have one of those, AND she’s a woman in what is becoming, as I said, a reverse harem. Since she’s not the Haloed Sage, it is not hard to see where her arc is going.

It’s been a few months after the last book, and Herscherik is going to be turning seven soon. Clearly it’s time to marry him off. Or so thinks the evil Grand Vizier… erm, Marquis, who has decided to try to beat that pesky youngest prince by having Hersch marry his daughter Violetta. He also has an older daughter, Jeanne, who basically acts as Violetta’s bodyguard and minder, but she has… a different job she’s doing for him. Surprisingly, the engagement goes fairly well – Hersch is simply incapable of being mean to people who don’t deserve it, and Violetta falls for him hard. He also has to deal with the aforementioned beautiful mage, who he names Shiro (to with with Kuro), who is rather startled that Hersch is not terrified by his magic. (Hersch, who can’t do magic, just thinks he’s cool.) And oh yes, there are still assassination attempts. Will Hersch be able to avoid tragedy? Well, yes but also no.

In this book we finally meet the rest of Hersch’s immediate siblings, and I love the fact that they are all basically on the same page as he is, even though they’re trying to protect him just as he’s trying to protect them. It leads to a lack of communication between the sides, but also shows off that while the royals are dealing with a weak king who is being tortured by his evil Marquis, they’re overall good people who are trying to fix this. The triplets were particularly fun, though I’m not sure having one of the brothers being a tsundere sort really works out. I also loved the part that shows us Ryoko’s life if she had not been run over by a car, which shows off a) how she tended to be overly self-effacing and modest even back in Japan, and also b) she’s very clever at spotting traps.

The book in general is excellent, with occasional suggestions of future events a la Legend of Galactic Heroes. For the moment, however, things are not looking good for Herscerik and his family, and I suspect the fourth book will rapidly reach a crisis point. Till then, absolutely recommended for J-Novel Heart or reincarnation isekai fans.

By Nobiru Kusunoki and Arico. Released in Japan as “Herscherik” by M Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam Seacord.

The second volume in this series pretty much picks up where the last one left off. There’s serious political intrigue. There’s tragic death and despair. There’s good old-fashioned sleuthing. And there is virtually none of the sort of thing that you’d expect in a reincarnation isekai – about the only thing that stands out is Herscherik briefly going all Marielle Clarac on us when he sees the titular knight and his former best friend (the first prince) angsting at each other and starts to ship them – though the text takes pains to tell us, over and over, that Ryoko was not a BL shipper per se. That, and the occasional scene where Hersch does something bad and Kuro yells at him, is the closest we get to humor in this series, which is far more concerned with showing us how HARD it is to change a corrupt world. Even when you discover the secret and stop the bad guys, you realize that there are bigger bad guys behind them who got away.

The titular Twilight Knight is that red-haired brooding man on the cover (OK, the one in the foreground, I clarify). Octavian is the 3rd son of the country’s most famous war general, and was easily the most talented of his children. Friends with the eldest prince, a lovely fiancee he adores, what could be better? Then his fiancee dies suddenly, and finding out why and how sends him spiraling into despair. Not, two years later, Herscherik is looking for a knight to protect him (every prince has one), but would rather not have a sycophant or someone only interested in his name. Octavian, who is trying out for the position as he’s being forced to by his family, seems like just the man. But can Hersch manage to awaken his spirit and get him to be the best knight he can? And can they stop the drug that killed his fiancee from making a comeback?

The majority of the plot, as you can see, is dealing with Herscherik as a 5-year-old 7th prince of the realm. But the most interesting stuff here may be on the Ryoko end of the equation. We get a few more glimpses of the life she had in Japan, and it’s clear that she was the type of employee who was overworked to death because she was competent enough to be given more. Herscherik is shaping up to be exactly the same. There’s also an oracle who is consulted at one point who not only gives our heroes the clue they need to solve the mystery, but also seems to be able to see that Hersch has the soul of a woman from another world inside him – something that is supposed to be impossible for this world. A far cry from the usual isekai “we summon heroes all the time” schtick. And Hersch is also starting to trust more people, which is helpful but also means more people are realizing he’s not your typical five-year-old boy.

So, as I noted, in the end our heroes win, sort of, but the main problem still exists. Which is good, as there are more volumes to come. For those who enjoy a good adventure series, this is right up your street.

By Nobiru Kusunoki and Arico. Released in Japan as “Herscherik” by M Novels. Released in North America by J-Novel Club. Translated by Adam Seacord.

It has to be said, after a year that seems to have been filled with nothing but Japanese office ladies dying and being reincarnated in various games, it was somewhat startling to realize that’s not what’s going on here, and that The Epic Tale of the Reincarnated Prince Herscherik (the series name overall) is simply a normal reincarnation isekai – albeit one where our hero is reincarnated as our hero. If I was to ask what the ‘gimmick’ is with this series, that would be one of the three points. The second would be that the hero’s adventures in this book take place from age 3 to age 5 years old. There may be a timeskip in later books (the series is a total of five volumes), but certainly not here, where the prince needs to learn to get things done while being an even smoller bean than Myne. Possibly most importantly, there is very little to no humor in this book. The kingdom is in danger from its corrupt officials, the king is powerless, and good people die. Herscherik is going to need all his OL skills.

Unlike a lot of these sorts of ‘otaku lady in another world’ stories, the life in Japan plays a large role in the story, with Ryoko’s past life sometimes making Herscherik function almost the way Tanya von Degurechaff does, with Ryoko’s own thoughts sometimes seeming separate from Herscherik. Ryoko is a relatively successful office worker who specializes in oversight and checking to make sure everything balances. She is the eldest child, but isn’t married despite her younger sisters both having partners. But she’s reasonably happy, and has a love of games which makes her rush through the rain to get a preorder… which leads to the inevitably car accident that causes her death. There are flashbacks that show her interactions with her family, and we see what her funeral may have been like. It’s quite touching, and it’s also nice to see someone in a reincarnation isekai who got on well with their loved ones.

There is a LITTLE bit of humor in the book – I was amused at Herscherik noting how handsome he is, and then seeing the rest of the royal family, each of whom are far, far more gorgeous. That said, for the most part the book runs on intrigue and thriller, as our little prince rapidly realizes that his kingdom is going to be destroyed and that his father the King is too beaten down and cowed to do anything about it. (We get some scenes with the king, and he’s nice enough, but yeah, Herscherik is needed.) The prince may be only a few years old, but thanks to Ryoko’s knowledge he’s able to figure out who the bad guy is and who the bad guy’s minions are. We don’t take out the big bad here – this feels like a series that was entirely plotted out before it was started – but at least we get a minion humiliated and blackmailed. Oh yes, and Herscherik gets a butler-cum-assassin, who is exactly what you would expect an assassin-turned-butler to be like.

If watching Full House made your eyes roll at the precociousness of the Tanner kids, this may do the same. That said, Herscherik at least has Ryoko’s memories and life experience as an excuse. Other than that, though… this is simply well-written and gripping. Epic Tale fits it nicely.