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The Twelve Kingdoms Volume 1 Sea of Shadow Fuyumi Ono Books

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The Twelve Kingdoms Volume 1 Sea of Shadow Fuyumi Ono Books

The general consensus that “the book is always better” has a few exceptions. I recently decided, because of how much I enjoy both reading books and watching anime, to try the source novels of some of the anime I know. Unfortunately, I was tempted to give up after the first two turned out to be only shorter and weaker shadows of their anime adaptations. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I gave it one more try with The Twelve Kingdoms. These books certainly surpass their anime counterpart.

This first book, like the anime, starts out rather wobbly. The writer repeatedly reverts to the amateur practice of relating Yoko’s feelings in ridiculous and sloppy metaphors. The scenery is described in Yoko’s equally unnatural misinterpretations as things slowly come into view. Whether this is actually the fault of the original Japanese author or that of the translators, I couldn’t say. Regardless, things start to clear up after about 100 pages. The events of the novel pick up, becoming too interesting to be dampened by the cloying renderings of Yoko’s thoughts and feelings, which become less frequent as the writer has more important things to say.

That being said, Yoko’s inner journey as she struggles to live in and escape from this strange world she has been dragged into is truly captivating. Her transformation is not so tidily rendered in the novel as in the first section of the anime, and she deals with her struggles and fears in a human way that sometimes doesn’t end in clear resolves.

What struck me most in either version were the thoughts expressed in this story. There is no usual overarching message about friendship, love, determination, sacrifice, etc., but rather a natural, disorderly struggle with her even more bewildering circumstances that provides much to think about. Yoko’s decisions, resolves, motives, and thoughts are not always easily and immediately understandable; however, they can be very relatable, and when they are not, it further defines Yoko’s individuality. She is not a character simply created to be as plain and usual as possible so that any reader might relate to her.

Nor does Yoko possess some secret skill or quality that sets her above those around her. This is not a typical “Chosen One” story, though Yoko is chosen to be the ruler of a kingdom. Secondary characters do not stand back in awe, wonder, or jealousy as Yoko bedazzles them with unheard of power that causes the masses to crown her in unison. Being forcibly chosen as the ruler of Kei is, in fact, shown to be hardly desirable under Yoko’s circumstances, and ascending the throne is no easy task.

Lastly, this novel lacks the anime’s clumsy attempts to improve on the story. Yoko’s development is not hampered by the accompaniment of two friends from her school. There are pages of lone travel for Yoko, and we can view the story and the other characters through her eyes alone, which helps the story make that much more sense overall.

In short, this book is well worth reading regardless of whether or not you have already viewed the anime, and it was worth it for me to go about finding the four available books in this series. I’m eagerly looking forward to the sequels, and I hope that more of this series will be translated.


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The Twelve Kingdoms Volume 1 Sea of Shadow Fuyumi Ono Books Reviews

I like fantasy. This one is Japanese, and only 4 of the 8 published books are available. I'd buy the translations of the other 4 in a shot. I like visual representations, but am picky about the changing of the story line. I tried the anime and had to give it up for a number of reasons. But, my husband liked it and I decided to try the books, once I realized they existed. I am very glad I did, because the four create a very intricate and interesting tale that kept me reading to the end and wishing for more.
I'd watched the anime first an enjoyed it quite a lot then found it was a pretty popular book itself.
Instead of a 200 or so page light novel as I expected like many anime seem to be based on lately, this was actually a full large novel! 464 pages worth! Awesome!
Anyway, I was surprised at some of the immediately noticeable differences the anime took in the adaption, though not to say that ruined the experience of the anime or the book when I realized this.
The only problem I have with this is specifically in translation. Now I cant read Japanese so I could not compare the original to this translation but I can tell there are some things that weren't quite as accurately as they could have been. Its also disappointing that Tokyopop chose to (or was unable?) to continue the translation of the entire series, stopping at only 4 books out of 12 (or 8 as I take it there are different printing for this series or something) which is unfortunate as I would have bought all of them.
Also I should note that in the paperback they fixed some errors that appeared in the hardcover edition. I have both and have compared them. While minor its nice to have the correction in the paperback.
But regardless of translation errors and unfinished series translation, its a very enjoyable story, a classic epic. Some have said its comparable in scope to Lord of the Rings, which it is, but that comparison is unfair to both as they have no where near the same setting or plot or character. But yeah, you could say its pretty close in scale to something like Lord of the Rings I guess.
I love the series. I bought it for the purpose of collecting and for the multiple artwork embedded inside. (Example photo provided.) Character development is amazing and will have you constantly rooting for the protagonist Yoko, for book one at least.

Translation
I own the Japanese version, which was sliced into two parts, so I do appreciate the U.S. version for bundling them up together. Translation is OK for volume 1. The speaking tone and emotions for the characters' dialogue are a bit off at times, but there's no glaring editorial mistakes and follows the original Japanese version almost word for word. The language is plain and elementary -- could be either good or bad depending on the reader's preference.

Teen friendly; some violence when dealing with demon / monster killing, injuries, and brief mentioning of brothels. Nothing too explicit.

Con
If you're not familiar with Japanese kanji or Mandarin Chinese, you might have some issues with the recurring foreign titles, names, objects, and places... The anime is lengthy but will definitely help as a visual guide with the bizarre fantasy world. It is a gem of its own and concludes Yoko's arc rather nicely.

The anime is adapted differently; in the novel, Yoko was thrown in the distant world alone. In the anime, she had two other acquaintances. The graphics and character voicing were done nicely, but overall I prefer the novel. Highly recommended.
The general consensus that “the book is always better” has a few exceptions. I recently decided, because of how much I enjoy both reading books and watching anime, to try the source novels of some of the anime I know. Unfortunately, I was tempted to give up after the first two turned out to be only shorter and weaker shadows of their anime adaptations. However, I was pleasantly surprised when I gave it one more try with The Twelve Kingdoms. These books certainly surpass their anime counterpart.

This first book, like the anime, starts out rather wobbly. The writer repeatedly reverts to the amateur practice of relating Yoko’s feelings in ridiculous and sloppy metaphors. The scenery is described in Yoko’s equally unnatural misinterpretations as things slowly come into view. Whether this is actually the fault of the original Japanese author or that of the translators, I couldn’t say. Regardless, things start to clear up after about 100 pages. The events of the novel pick up, becoming too interesting to be dampened by the cloying renderings of Yoko’s thoughts and feelings, which become less frequent as the writer has more important things to say.

That being said, Yoko’s inner journey as she struggles to live in and escape from this strange world she has been dragged into is truly captivating. Her transformation is not so tidily rendered in the novel as in the first section of the anime, and she deals with her struggles and fears in a human way that sometimes doesn’t end in clear resolves.

What struck me most in either version were the thoughts expressed in this story. There is no usual overarching message about friendship, love, determination, sacrifice, etc., but rather a natural, disorderly struggle with her even more bewildering circumstances that provides much to think about. Yoko’s decisions, resolves, motives, and thoughts are not always easily and immediately understandable; however, they can be very relatable, and when they are not, it further defines Yoko’s individuality. She is not a character simply created to be as plain and usual as possible so that any reader might relate to her.

Nor does Yoko possess some secret skill or quality that sets her above those around her. This is not a typical “Chosen One” story, though Yoko is chosen to be the ruler of a kingdom. Secondary characters do not stand back in awe, wonder, or jealousy as Yoko bedazzles them with unheard of power that causes the masses to crown her in unison. Being forcibly chosen as the ruler of Kei is, in fact, shown to be hardly desirable under Yoko’s circumstances, and ascending the throne is no easy task.

Lastly, this novel lacks the anime’s clumsy attempts to improve on the story. Yoko’s development is not hampered by the accompaniment of two friends from her school. There are pages of lone travel for Yoko, and we can view the story and the other characters through her eyes alone, which helps the story make that much more sense overall.

In short, this book is well worth reading regardless of whether or not you have already viewed the anime, and it was worth it for me to go about finding the four available books in this series. I’m eagerly looking forward to the sequels, and I hope that more of this series will be translated.