Reflection Novel The Asterisk War

Miyazaki, Yuu. (2012). The Asterisk War: Encounter with A Fiery Princess. Translated by Melissa Tanaka from Gakusen Toshi Asterisk. New York. Yen Press, LLC.

The Asterisk War: Encounter with A Fiery Princess is a fantasy light novel that tells about the school-city of Rikka—also known as “Asterisk”—where children gifted with magical abilities compete in Festa for the sake of glory on the greatest combat-entertainment stage in the world. The protagonist, Ayato Amagiri encounters a foreign princess Julis-Alexia von Riessfeld on his arrival at Seidoukan Academy, and they commence a mock battle because of a misunderstanding, which then kindly interrupted by the student council, Claudia Enfield. Ayato is taken to the council office and therefore reveals his true intention of going to this school. He is looking for his missing sister, but with all of the complex and deadly politics in Asterisk, what he finds are only trouble and discovered enemies. Okiura is in the charge of providing illustration to the highlighted events of each chapter in this novel. Although only the front pages have the colored illustration, the insides are still fancy and pleasant to witness. The layout of the book is neat with the type of paper that does not become an eyesore. This is a translated light novel, yet the word choices are simply magnificent, and they are easy to understand for people who are in the intermediate to advance level of English. The story itself, however, might not be suitable for children under 13 since it contains mild graphic violence.

Reading this book reminds me of an animated television show titled Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry as both of them bear the identical setting—a fantasy world where magic school and battle are common things. The protagonists from both media may have different impression to me, I firstly see Ayato as a good-for-nothing protagonist who happens to be surrounded by girls, while Ikki is in a whole different level from him, but they are equally awesome in their own ways that I enjoy watching the show and reading the novel until the end. Although the complete stories differ from each other, I find the circumstances quite similar that both of the protagonists undergo the life where politics are dirty and threatening, nonetheless they have friends who will always be there for them.

Anyway, I personally think it is such a pleasure to obtain this novel. So if you are fascinated in modern fantasy fiction works with cool characters, illustrations, and stuffs, you will love to give this novel a go!