Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Comedy, Romance, School Life, Isekai

Sub-Tags: OP, Strong Lead, Personal Growth, Villain

Piggy’s Annoying Prince Problem!

For the second of the pre-pub reviews, we’re returning to Kirsch as Dustour’s Prince gatecrashes proceedings!

Upon defeating his strongest enemy so far, Piggy Duke’s eighth volume sees Slowe at his happiest, finally fulfilling his romance with Charlotte. Unfortunately, reality is often cruel. As soon as one problem is solved, another arises as Neon, Prince of Dustour, arrives as a transfer student.

Despite annoying the entire student body, a kinship forms between them due to their similar circumstances. However, all is not well at Kirsch as Neon might not be the only one to have arrived from the north. With Shuya picking up the scent of something strange, the Night of the Arisen approaches and blood will be spilt.

Having reached the post-confession part of the story, the eighth volume’s best feature is finally getting all the wonderful lovey-dovey moments absent from previous volumes. Required to keep their relationship from others, there are some great secret moments shared between the two. The only issue I have is that they’re so few and far between. A lot is going on in the volume, which cuts into the much-anticipated cute couple moments.

Said story is mainly focused on Prince Neon and his attendant, Suz, and after thoroughly annoying everyone on campus, they eventually turn their attention to Shuya. They don’t get on and it often leads to Slowe having to clear the mess they make.

Slowe doesn’t have all that large of a role to play for most of the volume, and that brings with it some interesting perspectives as we follow Shuya around for a bit. He’s the main instigator of a lot of the mystery-solving – dungeon diving and looking into the causes behind the Arisen. For once in the series, he acts like the anime’s protagonist.

What role Slowe does play in the first half revolves around introducing his knight Claude and acting as one of Neon’s few friends at Kirsch. This friendship does come with problems, being behind the scenes in a dungeon comes at great mental torture and he ends up in a battle he probably wishes he’d skipped altogether.

The main battle of the volume comes alongside the Night of the Arisen. Suz, a Djinn, has been controlling them in preparation for a fight against the King of Vampires, Giabalham.

Whilst not the strongest of the series’ battle scenes, it still serves its purpose with plenty of action and tension as both Neon and Suz are left for dead and only Slowe can save the day.

Overall, Piggy Duke’s eighth instalment manages to keep the series entertaining with a host of new friends and foes. I loved how the author got Slowe to take a back seat and finally showcase some of the other cast’s potential. Although looking back, its main down point is that there aren’t enough romantic opportunities for Slowe and Charlotte, a slightly sour note given all that they’ve gone through up to this point.