I can forgive that he’s an ogre… I can forgive that he kidnapped me… But I cannot forgive the fact that we’ve only just met!
Scroll to the very bottom to watch my video review of this volume!
Before we start the review…
Who wrote this manga?
This manga was written by Waco Ioka.
Info about the series
- There are currently 10 volumes of the manga published in English.
You can check out this series for yourself below.
What’s this series about
After losing her grandfather, Aoi is truly on her own. Though he wasn’t the greatest person around, as he was the person who saved her from an orphanage at young age, she can’t bring herself to hold any negative emotions toward him. That’s just Aoi though, as it seems like everyone else who knew her grandfather has no difficulties talking about all the troubles he caused them throughout their lives.
Though one reason Aoi holds her grandfather in such high regard is the fact that he saved her, it’s not the only one. He also taught her that her unique talent—her ability to see ayakashi, or spirits—isn’t strange at all. As he could see them too, they were able to bond over the supernatural. Now that he’s passed on, all Aoi can do is remember the advice he gave her and try to live a good life.
Out of all the ayakashi knowledge she has, the piece she most commonly uses is the fact that ayakashi are less likely to attack humans if they have a full stomach. Whenever she goes out, she always brings some extra food to feed any ayakashi she happens to come across. Unfortunately, one such ayakashi ends up using her kindness to his advantage, and kidnaps her to the world of ayakashi.
Once there, he announces her as his bride. So there Aoi stands, in a completely new world, in front of what looks to be like a counsel of high standing ayakashi. The one who announced her as his bride is an ogre, one of the most devious ayakashi, and the single strongest ayakashi in the area. While those in the audience are against the marriage announcement, in protest of the strongest marrying a human, Aoi too is in protest. Not because she doesn’t want to marry an ogre, and not because she doesn’t want to marry someone who kidnapped her, but because she refuses to marry someone she just met.
The ogre takes Aoi to an area where the two can talk by themselves, and explains the situation to her. A long time ago, he explains, Aoi’s father visited the ryoukan (traditional hotel) that he runs. During his time there he caused a great deal of trouble, and ran up an unimaginable debt. As he had no money to pay off the debt, he instead promised one of his grandchildren to the ogre. So, upon his death, his debt has become Aoi’s debt. Aoi, not wanting to marry a stranger (again, that seems to be the only thing that bothers her about this arrangement), offers instead to work to pay off her debt. The ogre agrees, but only if she can find a place to work within his ryoukan.
My thoughts on this volume
Even though I know I haven’t read this series before, it felt so incredibly familiar to me! After doing some research, I saw that there was an anime released for it quite some time ago, and I can only imagine that I watched an episode or two. I’m not sure why it was wiped completely from my memory, as I found this volume to be rather captivating!
While I do love my fantasy series, I didn’t really have any “cozy” fantasy series in my collection. Until now! Kakuriyo, though it does have a few points of strife here and there, is definitely the type of series you read when you’re trying to wind down for the night. As I’ve only read the first volume I’m not all that confident on whether there will be romance yet, but I think I would still enjoy it even if it ends up just being the story of how Aoi ended up successfully avoiding marriage to an ogre.
I enjoyed the few bits of mystery placed here and there throughout this volume, and I especially found the nine tailed fox character to be charming. As Aoi was so good at feeding all of the little ayakashi she came across in the human world, I thought it would only make sense for some of the ayakashi she met in the other world to like her. I felt bad for her as most of those she tried talking to in the other world had already decided they hated her before even interacting with her. Like, such a kind character she be given a little more grace than that! So when she did eventually make an ally of the fox, I was relieved.
My favourite parts of this volume (spoilers)
💛 The little kappa telling Aoi that they know she’s really a good human at heart. They were so cute, I don’t know why she called them annoying at first!
💚 The nine-tailed fox’s fox form—he’s so cute!! I thought his ability to shapeshift into various forms was rather unique, and I’m looking forward to seeing his other forms throughout the series.
💙 The ogre “torturing” Aoi when she said she didn’t want to be his bride—I really can’t tell if he’s a villainous character or not, as he seems to be so kind…until he’s not.
❤️ The fox asking for an omelet—he’s just too cute!! I didn’t love how Aoi called his request childish, but I can forgive her.
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