Tags: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Drama, Tragedy, Isekai

Sub-Tags: Strong Lead, Ruthless Protagonist, Game Elements, Dark Fantasy

A Heroine’s Ruthless Emancipation!

Mixing dark fantasy and Otome elements, Harunohi Biyori’s Otome Heroine’s Fight for Survival is one of the latest titles to finish its pre-pub on the J-Novel Club website.

Upon discovering that she’s a heroine from an Otome Game, the series follows the story of Alicia as she attempts to shirk off her game character credentials and forge her own path in a world filled with violence and treachery.

A Heroine’s Awakening

Not for the faint-hearted, Otome Survival wastes no time in setting the tone of the series as a dark fantasy. With a deadly attack on the protagonist instigating the story, it finds Alicia wrestling with the idea that she’s a heroine from a game and the ways with which she can emancipate herself from this fate.

Whilst emancipation is the major theme, it isn’t the driver of the volume’s first half; it’s survival. As an orphaned child in a violent world, learning to act on instinct and fight is the only way to avoid death. This ideology shapes Alicia, resulting in a ruthless character willing to kill to survive.

Ruthless though she may be, that doesn’t mean that Alicia is unlikeable. Logical and determined, she never kills without reason and keeps to a set of principles that develop throughout the volume.

Two adventurers from the early parts of the novel are likely what stopped her from becoming a mindless killer and showcased that there’s good in the unforgiving world. Known as Feld and Viro, they help in Alicia’s survival quest by teaching her useful abilities and skills in both combat and sorcery. Detailed and intricate, the mechanics of growth within this fantasy world come alive as Alicia learns alongside the adventurers. Unfortunately, the author doesn’t quite keep the level of excitement when Alicia learns on her own. Often, the novel grinds to a halt as Alicia attempts to enunciate incantations.

A Battle Maid’s Impetus to Change

Having learnt the basics of survival, the second half of the volume re-introduces the theme of emancipation. Accompanying Viro on a job, she ends up apprenticing as a battle maid. Serving under the royal family, they act as bodyguards, and it’s here that Alicia discovers her impetus for change – Princess Elena.

Alicia and Elena are birds of a feather. They see the world in the same way and are trying to carve out their own path in the world. For Alicia especially, this meeting between them is important as it gives some directionality to her abilities and opens plenty of doors for the future.

As an aside, the battle maid arc also provides an element of coolness to the volume. Through her time with the organisation, Alicia develops her fighting style with strings. Constantly catching her enemies off guard, it adds a layer of swagger to the numerous battles she has as the volume progresses.

Overall, Otome Survival’s opening instalment makes for an entertaining read. The series achieves this by creating detailed foundations and managing to balance the dark aspects of the series without coming across as edgy. Alicia is the highlight of the volume. Ruthless yet likeable, you can’t help but route for her as she attempts to break away from the rules of the game.