 |
| My biggest complaint? This front cover |
Author: Yukako Kabei
Illustrator: Shunsuke Taue
"Why isn't God here?"
Light novels, in a nutshell, tend to be more about the characters than the plot. Volume 1 of Kabei-sensei's Kieli isn't much different.
Kieli is a young girl with the ability to see ghosts. This ability, coupled with the fact she has no remaining family members left, causes her to lead a lonely and reclusive life in a boarding school. One day, she chances upon a young man named Harvey who turns out to be an Undying (immortal soldiers once fielded in an ancient war who were gradually hunted down after the war ended). Harvey is on a journey to lay rest the spirit of a corporal, who currently resides in an old radio. Intrigued (and on school holidays), Kieli decides to tag along.
The first half of the novel detail their journey to the abandoned mine. These chapters are brief and have an episodic taste to them, which reminds me somewhat of Kino's Journey. While contributing little to the plot of the novel, they do highlight Kieli and Harvey's relationship, and give some rather tasteful insight into the characters. The latter half is more fast-paced as the Church finally locates Harvey, and contains the majority of the plot.
The plot itself, while not too horrible, is pretty predictable, and the ending isn't anything out of the ordinary either. I found myself actually enjoying the episodic chapters more than the story itself, largely thanks to the interaction between Harvey, Kieli and the Corporal. As with most light novels, the story is rather mediocre, but the characters are interesting enough to push the reader through.
The episodic nature of the first half also makes it really easy to put down between intervals, further enforcing the 'light' part of light novels. The localization is well-handled, as I've come to expect from Yen Press - the translation smooth and the color pages given their rightful treatment. My only complaint is how the original cover artwork isn't offered as an alternative, or at least made available via dust jackets like Volume 1 of their Spice & Wolf novels.
Where to savor:
With trains being the main method of transportation in the novel, and with a good part of the story taking place on trains or places concerning them, it's pretty much given that the recommended place to enjoy Kieli would be on a moving train. I found myself stuck in an old KTM coach last week; reading Kieli while gazing out at the rapidly moving scenery was really ace.
Most notable quote:
"Oh, what a wonderful God. He can just drop dead."
- Kieli
Overall thoughts and score:
An entertaining read, Kieli is perfect for those short train rides. The first half does a good job of getting you attached enough to the characters for the second half to unwind. Good for a casual read.
Overall score: 7.5 / 10
 |
| Such beautiful cover art - the background really defines the mood of the story. |
No comments:
Post a Comment