Ono Fuyumi - The Twelve Kingdoms: Sea of Wind

[oyceter]

This is the second book in the Twelve Kingdoms series, and although you don't have to read the first book to follow the plot of this one, which stands alone, this book does build on some of the worldbuilding of the first book.

A young boy is swept away from his unhappy family life in Japan, and when he reaches the world of the twelve kingdoms, he is renamed "Taiki" and told he is the kirin of Tai. As such, he has the duty of selecting the rightful king. Unfortunately, because he did not grow up in this world, he has no idea how to shapeshift or do other things that most kirin can do.

As with the first book, the prose translation feels rather flat, and I seriously question the decision to use words like "lamia" and "faerie" to describe some of the mythological creatures. I'm particularly puzzled by "lamia," which is used to describe the kirin's guardian figure, who seems to be more of a chimera. Also, although I know the original lamia story is not a vampire one, I still associate the word with vampire. Also also, I know there are fairy-like creatures in Chinese mythology (仙女), but why use the "faerie" spelling? It has connotations that do not fit the book! And from what I remember, the faeries in this book don't particularly resemble anything I am familiar with. Instead, it feels like the translator picked random terms that kind off maybe not really fit the creatures in the book and slapped them on, completely disregarding any sort of cultural background.

At least they stayed with "kirin" instead of going for "unicorn."

Anyway! Back to the plot. As with book one, the protagonist may not be likable to everyone, but I actually liked him a great deal. And because I know now that Ono tends to go for a slow build up, I was much less impatient than I was with the first book. I did manage to guess most of what would happen, but for me, the plot was less important than Taiki's character journey, which was carried off well.

Like Rachel (link below), I do wish there had been more examining of how the kirin system of choosing a king is better than a different system. On the other hand, it was good getting a look at the other kirin who was not that successful with his king.

Also, I hope Risai shows up again! She was awesome.

Links:
- rachelmanija's review

Comments

[inkstone]

I've never particularly liked the English adaptation for 12 Kingdoms, and a lot of it has to do with the random usage of western terms for the world. Not to mention the random titles they gave all the emperors. I still snort every time someone refers to Gyousou as Peace-King.

I should check my DVDs at home. I have the original singles that Media Blasters put out and I seem to recall the liners including glossaries and translation notes with each volume. I think there was something about Taiki's nyokai.

[oyceter]

I had no idea the emperor titles were random! WTF? Oh TokyoPop..... whyyyy?

12 K

[mayraldole.wordpress.com]

i think i'll skip 12 kingdoms but look forward to your other reviews.

Re: 12 K

[oyceter]

Thanks for reading!

[taelle]

Is Risai the female general from Tai? In that case, I think, she _will_ turn up again.

[oyceter]

Yes! Cool, thanks. I liked her a lot.

[desdenova.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I had serious issues with the portrayal of the kirin-king system in this volume, & Taiki's passive acceptance of his apparently complete lack of free will. The third book in the series does provide a different perspective (several, actually) on the system, though, so I'm not taking the "Sea of Wind" version as the definitive one.

[oyceter]

I was actually not as annoyed with Taiki's passivity or his acceptance, mostly because he was ten, and I figure when you are stuck in a new magic world and told what your purpose is at ten, you don't have as many resources to fight back?

Huh, it'll be interesting seeing what the third book does on it!

[lnhammer]

My reactions are similar to yours, though while I was thrown by lamia I wasn't by faerie and found the prose acceptably recessive. I did think the book initially promised more examination of the kirin system than it delivered. The external evidence of the volume suggests that it was deferred to book 3.

(As an aside, I'm amused that 仙女 is pronounced multiple ways in Japanese: senjo, sennyo, and sennyu, two of which are regular readings of the kanji.)

---L.

[oyceter]

(Oh cool, I didn't know that!)

Heh, I think I was mostly thrown by "faerie" because I've read way too many Celtic Faerie/Fae/Faery whatever fantasy book, all with the "fae" spelling in it!

[lnhammer]

It is entirely possible that I've been living with that spelling around for too many years and so have become habituated.

---L.

[rilina]

You will be amused to hear that I am reading this book right now! (I skipped over the spoilery section of your post.)

[oyceter]

Hee! Neat!

[(Anonymous)]

I enjoyed the book, mostly because I really love the 12 kingdoms world. Looking at the anime as well as the novels I don't think the kirin system dictated by the heavens results in a better choice for ruler than an arbitrary choice. It could provide worse results given the examples of rulers who have governed really poorly and kirin who chose multiple unskilled leaders.

Instead, I find the kirin system really interesting because it generates an uncertainty about the ability of rulers to make wise choices and govern well in a job that is thrust upon them. It seems like a really powerful method to connect the reader's trials and life experiences to those who struggle to rule and to draw the reader into the story.

[kothithelegu.livejournal.com]

-kothithelegu
sorry, forgot to sign in

[oyceter]

*nods* I think the system is a really interesting way of literalizing the mandate of heaven metaphor that was used a lot in China (not sure if it was as much in Japan?).

ooh

[(Anonymous)]

I had forgotten this series existed, it's been so long since I read the first book. I remember being unhappy with the translation, and I remember that, despite that weakness, the story itself eventually grew on me. With translations, it's unfortunately not always easy to tell whether problems are the result of bad writing in the original, or just less than stellar work on the translation itself. Your comments about the names used for the fantasy creatures indicates that at least part of it is probably due to the translation. Things like this make me wish I could read the original...

Re: ooh

[oyceter]

Yeah, from what I gather from other commenters, some of it does seem to be the translation. I'm also a little baffled by the naming of the fantasy creatures, considering that they go through the trouble of showing the kanji for other names in the book... it seems like using non-familiar creature names wouldn't be that much of a stretch.