Risou no Himo Seikatsu

DISCLAIMER: THIS REVIEW WAS WRITTEN ONLY AFTER HAVING READ UP TO CHAPTER 12

Can I just say wow? I don't think I've ever gone into a series expecting less and been so so wrong. If you read the description or look at the cover art your first reaction will probably be "Really? Another isekai harem? When will the SAO wannabes finally die?", and then you will precede to read it anyway as a guilty pleasure because you're bored trash and have nothing better to do.

Allow me to say one thing:

READ THIS MANGA.

So you know how typical isekai protagonists are some hated garbage of humanity, they die unexpectedly, end up in a new world, become super op, and have a truck load of girls they sleep around with? This manga is nothing like that. Lots of political intrigue, some thought was put into the plot, the mc isn't some awful guy that sleeps with anything that isn't male, and it has a lot of unexpected twists. I am constantly worried that the author is going to revert back to cliche isekai tropes, and then I am always equally impressed that the author makes original choices and plot developments.

Yeah, it's just really good. I gave it a 9. Did I give it such a high score because I was expecting something way worse? Probably, but perhaps that is what makes it so enjoyable.

Story: 8
Art: 10
Characters: 10
Enjoy: 10
Overall: 9

What a beautiful manga I just saw.

Do not be fooled by this manga, although it is isekai, it has nothing of the basic isekai cliche, more than
transported to another world, the protagonist is not strong, the manga does not revolve around him, waifu is not the stereotype of isekai's waifus, it can be said that roles are reversed here, the protagonist would come to be waifu and that is which makes this manga attractive along with its beautifully designed politics theme.

You can tell that I am an isekai anti-cliche by my comment, but it is not, I am a lover of all isekai with all their cliches, BUT honor to whom honor deserves, and this manga should not be underestimated just for being isekai.

** I'm not native english speaker, sorry for any mistakes.

I started reading this work without any expectations. I already kind of gave up on Isekai due to having some boring elements such as extremely strong or extremely cowardly protagonists, completely passive heroes or Tsundere hysterics. But Risou no Himo Seikatsu seems to be one more at first glance, but it is not.

Story 8
Art: 10
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 10

Risou no Himo Seikatsu tells the story of Zenjirou, a simple Japanese worker who ends up being summoned to a fantasy world to marry Aura, a queen from a less developed kingdom than the land. The reason is his lineage of 150 years ago that has magical connections with that of the queen.


It looks pretty generic and rom-com, but it isn't. Expect a lot of intrigue and politics, a protagonist who is not a badass but also is not a dense coward, would be something much closer to reality. Expect a protagonist who has more knowledge than the inhabitants of his new kingdom, but that does not mean that he knows all the processes of making anything on earth, after all, he was just an office worker. Fantasy elements such as magic and other races exist but despite being the focus of much of the plot, the development of the novel is not hindered. Expect a strong and determined heroine, more skilled than the protagonist in several things, but who won't make your partner an idiot. In other words, expect a work that gives you everything you want, everything you curse at the authors of Japanese romantic comedies for not having the balls to show.

Isekai, you are just like a bad habit and you are perfectly aware of the fact that it is bad for you, but you can never have enough of it.

In a nutshell
Zenjirou Yamai decides to take a walk on his day off, but he is summoned in a completely unknown world by a gorgeous woman. Upon arriving in the new world, the woman makes an offer worth Yamai’s while. I mean, who would not want to marry a hot queen, right?

Story
Thankfully, unlike many other cliché counterparts, The Ideal Sponger Life is somewhat different because of the male protagonist. You do know these clichés, when ‘the main male character is just afraid of women, or one is not enough and he, just like any sheikh, wants to get a whole harem, or immediately agrees to make babies and jumps in the bed,’ e.g. 90% of hentai plot. Here, however, Yamai Zenjirou decides to find out more about the world he is summoned to, he wants an explanation on his future status and just simply to know the reason why the queen summoned him.

The Ideal Sponger Life reminds me of A Realist Hero's Kingdom Restoration Chronicle, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom. Truth be told, I hate anime and manga like The Ideal Sponger Life, because of the clichés that I have already mentioned in my review. Having seen 100 anime like that, I am not ready to see yet another copypasta, or to read a manga about it. Here, however, there is a story and likeable characters, who are perfectly balanced. What I mean is that it is often that one gender receives more attention from the author than the other; the male is stupid, or other way around. Here, however, Yamai Zenjirou and Carpa Aura complement each other and it makes this manga the whole new level of wholesomeness.

Overall
All in all, I would not say that it is just a pure masterpiece and is something that will blow you away, no. It is just very enjoyable to read, because the author actually cares and wants to make a unique piece that is not yet another full of clichés crap. In addition to this, those who liked the manga, I would highly recommend you to check the novel, too. Hopefully, one day there will be an anime adaptation, because The Ideal Sponger Life is unique and it deserves one.

Story: 8
Art: 6
Character: 9
Enjoyment: 10
Overall: 8

This manga makes the wrong first impression. When you see the front panel and start reading it, you're like, well, here we go again into the classic stupid guilty pleasure that is most of the isekai stories.

But then, while this series does provide some fanservice and a very satisfying experience overall, it still manages to tell an interesting story that avoids most of the cliched tropes.

Here you'll find a lot of political intrigues, great characters, and a really wholesome romance without any teasing or harem bs that is so common in the isekai works. It's not overly comedic, the characters aren't stupid and it is an extremely interesting series to read overall. Can't wait for it to be completed and translated.

Its only weak point may be in the art department, cause while it's more than competently drawn, I find myself confusing characters pretty often as they look similar. Otherwise, I totally recommend it.

It is a really refreshing work in a desert of overused tropes. I recommend you to read it, the world building is marvelous, the story is very good, the characters are well developed and have proper motivations, no one is pure evil, no one is pure good. The downside is that the MC is not a protagonist, he is boring because he only reacts to his environment and has no goals.

Let me expand a little more on the things I said before. The world here is very interesting to learn about, you will find internal and international politics, from time to time you are going to learn about the geography, the economy, and the politics of the Carpa Kingdom and about the other nations as well. Even better, the information doesn't feel shoved into your throat, it is given from time to time, in small doses. The magic system is a hard magic system and I think that it is very interesting as it is not another copy of the MMORPG/D&D systems.

The story is very entertaining, and if you read works like A Song of Ice and Fire or A Magic of Twilight you are going to like a lot this type of story. The action is not very prevalent, it has some side stories with action, but the main story is much more about political and family drama.

The characters, well, you are not going to find here the common otaku tropes about characters, no "deres" here. The characters have proper motivations and backstories, you will understand why they are doing what they are doing.

Continuing in the characters department, I am now going to tackle the main problem here, and that is the Main Character. Because of his personality, he lacks ambition and that is his main flaw, he had potential to be a great protagonist. And what does a good protagonist do? He/She move the plot forward, but this particular one chooses to only react. In volume V we have a good sample of his potential, it is the best book so far and, thank God, shows the MC acting on his own, just for a change. I really don't like much his relationship with his wife, I am not going to give a spoiler, but it is unbalanced, one of them really loves the partner above its own life meanwhile the other seems to, at best, like a lot the other partner, more like a very liked pet than like a real spouse. But I have hopes that in the future I can change my perception about this couple and the MC will be more proactive.

It started relatively great.
But as I went on reading it, I felt really conflicted.
The guy is nothing but a wife to his wife. The roles of their
life are reversed. The wife goes to work and the man is at home being lazy.
To top it off, he was only summoned to have a child with the queen as to preserve royal blood. He knows no sh*t about the world. The only conflicts in the
story are merely political junks and whatnuts. I swear to myself that after reading a heck ton of chapters, it only made my man pride go down....
I mean... who doesn't want to work when your wife gets involved in a lot of
political struggles and stuff while you laze around at home being some hikikomori f*cktard...
.
UPDATE:
Read up to volume 3. It's just good enough for passing time but not good enough to be addicted with. :/

This story was enjoyable to read, and I am not quite sure why. The novel is about a guy who worked very long hours 6 days a week who gets summoned to a different world to marry the queen, the reason he is summoned is to be someone who was related to the royal family several generations ago and is thus a reasonable candidate. The setting is in a rather generic summoning genre world, but the stories conflict is the protagonist is trying to be a lazy good for nothing person who's only use is to produce off spring so that in the male dominated society the queen can rule her kingdom without issues. It's a new concept of the summonee is not meant to be very important and it was very enjoyable to read and I have been checking for updates for a third volume every couple of weeks and I would defiantly suggests checking it out over at Unlimited Novel Failures.