Risou no Himo Seikatsu | The Ideal Sponger Life [Licensed by J-Novel Club]
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Risou no Himo Seikatsu
The Ideal Sponger Life
理想のヒモ生活Publisher: Hero Bunko (Shufunotomosha)
Author: Tsunehiko Watanabe
Illustrator: Juu Ayakura (Illustrator for Spice and Wolf plus it's sequel.)Synopsis:
Yamai Zenjirou is summoned to another world and given the opportunity to marry the Queen of the country. After bringing a number of modern appliances with him including his computer, games, and a hydro-electric generator, he begins his life as the Prince-Consort to Queen Aura of the Carpa Kingdom, a Tropic temperature Kingdom that has recently gone through a war. His life as a Prince-Consort is anything but easy as being a simple sponger isn't feasible for one of the only royals in the Kingdom.
Why:
For those that don't know, the manga adaptation of this series has been licensed by Seven Seas. To describe why I want this series is difficult because it's a series where I read each volume, but can't figure out why I enjoy it so much. The story is interlaced with politics as Zenjirou has to work as Royalty rather than getting to spend his days in a harem of beautiful women. He's genuinely in love and monogamous to his wife which leads him to be willing to do just about anything for her. They're a really cute couple that has to deal with being the only remaining royalty in the Kingdom after the war.
Despite being modern appliances to this other world, he hasn't introduced grand changes as the story takes a realistic look in how an amateur with only surface knowledge can't actually reproduce many of the concepts they're aware of. So while bits of modern knowledge do get mixed into this other world, it's not to any large degree.
The perspective also shifts around quite a bit. We learn how the various characters tick including even seeing the nobility of smaller houses as they perform their military duties. We get Aura's constant contemplation over how to make her husband happy while also balancing the needs of the Kingdom. The maids get their voices known to the reader on their humble/eccentric master that doesn't lay his hands on any of them. And even the royalty of other Kingdoms that are visiting the Carpa Kingdom as part of diplomacy.
Overall, it's a really interesting and well done series that I would love to see licensed.
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This is one of the few fan translations that I've read. They should've called it, "Living the Otaku Dream in Another World, but Mai Waifu Doesn't Have Electricity."
The first volume is a bit weak, but the subsequent volumes are better. It's mostly focused on court politics, cultural differences between the two worlds, and how the main character's behavior is bizarre in their eyes. It's one of the few other world stories that really plays around with cultural expectations and letting the other world be foreign.
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Yup. Plus the male protagonist is really smart, but in a believable way. He doesn't, when talking about glassmaking, suddenly reveal he's a genius glassmaker. He provides hints that anyone who might've seen an edutainment show on television might know, and they have to figure out the details themselves, but he points them in the right direction.
And the female protagonist is cool too. She's strong-willed, smart, but flawed as even she has her expectations due to culture surprised at times.
If you're looking for an action series, this ain't it. If you want slice of life, bit of romance, politics, and more it's a great series.
I don't even think the first book was off, though it was setting up a lot of stuff.
I will say though that it's only in the latest book being fan translated (7) that
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I feel like this one is going to be at AX (this is based on literally nothing except the fact that Seven Seas picked the manga up already).
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One of my favorites. I readed the fantranslation (vol. 1 - 7) and it's really good.
Ah, but the narrative is very detailed, so much that sometimes two pages of the LN are only one page of the manga (because in a picture you have the background, clothes, etc) and maybe some people do not like it.
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It sounds like a more relaxed Realist Hero, I’m down.
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Well, Realist Hero but the protagonist really, REALLY isn't the ruler. That's why his wife chose him, actually. Any her-world male she could conceivably choose could lead to her losing her throne or at least a lot of its power.
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@aruseus493 I liked how the most important thing he brought turned out to be his copy of Excel.
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Yes, please, where and when can I lay my money down for this series. The reason you like it so much is because it doesn't rely on ANY of the usual tropes to attract readers. What tropes it uses, it uses in an original fashion. So yes, yank it out of Seven Seas' hands and run with this one.
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I'm hoping Seven Seas grabs it today. That, Classroom of the Elite, or Rakudai I'd like from them as the "exciting" light novel title they teased.
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@terrence
Actually, I pray for Netoge no Yome wa Onnanoko ja Nai to Omotta? or Gamer!Seven Seas: I'll pick smth else entirely!
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Was this up digitally in Japan before? Bookwalker is saying they added the series volumes on 7/3.
https://bookwalker.jp/de8846831e-69a7-4613-8c70-637bd8be5071/?acode=WpfPW3yk
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@terrence Pretty sure it wasn't. Shufunotomosha is only now going digital.
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Japanese language first volume of this is only 93 JPY on Bookwalker until the 14th.
https://bookwalker.jp/de8846831e-69a7-4613-8c70-637bd8be5071/?acode=WpfPW3yk
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This series is good one but as the story goes on the story became much more better and the Art ohh BOY its from the illustrator of Spice and Wolf what do i need to say :D
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Great story. The manga is Licensed but the LN isn't so JNC could get this one. Please?
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I'll throw in a vote here, I've been following for a year or so but it's frustrating when it's like a chapter every month or so on a somewhat irregular schedule. I'd be very happy to pay for quicker releases :)
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Volume 12 comes out in a day. There's even a Drama CD Version.
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Sorry, I checked the sticky and did not see it. I apologize.
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@davistr If you Ctrl+F search for it, it's there...
