Kyou Kara Maou Novel 7, Chapter 5

[kannnichtfranz]

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Kyou Kara Maou
Japanese Novel 6 / German Novel 7: Of Brothers and Sheep

Comments

[keelieinblack]

Chapter 4: I adore all the backstory and scenes we get of Flynn. Knowing her past and motivations makes her actions so much more understandable, and so much more impressive when she wavers but picks herself back up again. Loved the scene of her giving up her earring for passage fare, and how impressed Yuri is with her determination.

Oh, Murata. I don't if it's possible to facepalm with delight, but that's the reaction he keeps evoking from me. His frantic joy over selling a sheep! And then pretty much saying "Hey, wouldn't it be neat if there was a murder?" And teasing Yuri about his taste in women. *flails*

WTF, my Flynn x Yuri crack pairing actually has a hint of plausibility! Even if Flynn had to put on men's clothes and a baseball cap for it to happen. jk, jk, I don't really ship it, but I do like to amuse myself sometimes by mentally pairing Yuri up with some of the ladies in the series and imagining how 90% of the fandom would throw fits....

Huh, everyone does get into a lot of trouble with water travel in the early parts of the series, don't they? The conventional sort of water travel, I mean, not Yuri's get-sucked-into-other-worlds sort (which also gives him plenty of trouble, of course....)

Chapter 5: Yes, Field Marshall Gisela! I love how gobsmacked Wolfram is by her change in behavior. And that's where the squid came from! I remembered the ginourmous squid being grilled on deck from the related episode, but IIRC they never explained it, it was just, "hey, giant squid." How they dare they cut out the awesome squid battle!!...though given the animation budget, it may be better that they left it out.

Gwendaaaaal! Someone needs to hug him. Sitting there not feeling the warmth of the fire and worrying about Yuri not being prepared for the cold is so poignant. At least he finally got some useful news in this chapter. Also, OMG, I completely forgot that part about Adalbert sending a message back, so I kicked my feet a little with happiness when I got to that line, although my mood dropped back down again with Gwendal's "Not willing to go so far for love after all" line.

Anissina: best babysitter? worst babysitter? I can't believe her fight with Snow Gunter is actually canon; for some reason I thought it was anime filler.

I keep trying to figure out why the shifts from lightness to seriousness in this series don't really seem to bother me. We go from Wacky Sheep Hijinx to to dead child soldiers, from Gwendal brooding to Babysitting With Anissina. You'd think that sort of thing would throw a reader out of the story, but for some reason it never does for me.

Thank you as always for translating, I and hope your RL issues are going well!

[kannnichtfranz]

Thank you for your lovely comments and reactions and discussion points!

re:Murata and Flynn -- I love how Flynn already has more intuition about Murata than Yuri does -- she saw a different side of him when Yuri was incapacitated by the events at her estate. Yuri isn't questioning his understanding of Murata at all yet. Love it!

re:Flynn/Yuri -- Murata does have a point, right? Yuri does seem to have a thing for older women -- at least, when he imagines them in baseball gear or with a baseball bat. So far, Nicola, Flynn, that waitress at the Carolia harbor cafeteria...

I love chapter 5, totally one of my favorites. I think one of my favorite Wolfram/Yuri moments is that when Wolfram learns about Gisela, the first thing he thinks is, I've got to tell Yuri! ♥!

And that Gwendal scene, sooooo much love!

I can't believe her fight with Snow Gunter is actually canon; for some reason I thought it was anime filler.

*giggle* I love that KKM causes reactions like that! And we love canon even more for it. :) And yes, the juxtapositions of extremely serious and extremely silly are amazing in these chapters -- KKM often does that, but especially so in these chapters. Especially Murata/sheep vs. Flynn and Yuri's conversation -- it was breathtakingly effective, I thought. Maybe if the author dwelled on the depressing too much, readers would not be able to / want to stay with her through that, but by injecting adorable silliness, our ability to process and deal with the seriousness without getting depressed is increased?

I would stay with broody Gwendal though anything, though. ♥

[keelieinblack]

I wonder if Flynn would have picked up on something weird about Murata even if she hadn't had seen that aspect of him when Yuri was out of it. Then again, Murata's had a long time to practice his poker face....Yuri, of course, has Murata so neatly placed in the "eccentric-but-mostly-harmless friend" box that it's no wonder he's not noticing anything suspicious. *g* His mental reaction to the revelation ought to be hilarious.

I think one of my favorite Wolfram/Yuri moments is that when Wolfram learns about Gisela, the first thing he thinks is, I've got to tell Yuri!

Aww! They do say that a sure sign of love (or at least deep attachment) is that whenever something new or weird or funny happens, your first thought is, "wow, I have to tell [person] about this!" Bonus that Yuri probably would be surprised by it, too; everybody else probably knows about Gisela already.

Yes, that balance of comedy and drama really seems to help the series from going too far in either direction--and done right, it ends up making the effects of both types of scenes even greater. There's something very natural-feeling about the way they're mixed together in these chapters; it gave me a vivid reminder of the real-life fact that even when you are laughing your head off at something, someone may be undergoing a tragedy not ten steps away from you, and vice versa. Impressive stuff.

You know, I suspect that no matter how much we tried to help, we would only end up making Gwendal even more broody. ♥

Sorry about your cold! Hope it really is at the getting-better point.

[kannnichtfranz]

Yes, you're right, I think Flynn might be suspicious of Murata even without that extreme event at her estate.

it's no wonder he's not noticing anything suspicious. *g* His mental reaction to the revelation ought to be hilarious

One might expect that, but actually, it's not like the anime (or what I remember from the anime.) It's really hurty for a chapter or two... I think it's in the book after this one. I think someone else translated that one already.

*pictures even!more!broody!Gwendal and hugs him tighter*

My cold is definitely moving through the stages... I can breathe more easily now, but it's moved into my chest and I have a cough. Hopefully it'll move quickly through that stage too. Thank you!