The Twelve Kingdoms, Volume 2: Sea of Wind | Fuyumi Ono | Another wonderful installment in the...

The Twelve Kingdoms, Volume 2: Sea of Wind | Fuyumi Ono | Another great installment of the fantasy series!

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The Twelve Kingdom...

	The Twelve Kingdoms, Volume 2: Sea of Wind Fuyumi Ono TokyoPop, 2008 - 320 pages average customer review:based on 7 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Another wonderful installment in the world of the Twelve Kingdoms

As many fans of the Twelve Kingdoms universe, I fell in love with the anime adaptation. Now that TokyoPop is publishing the novels, I wait excitedly for the next novel to come out. This story, in particular, has always been my favorite, and the novel did not disappoint at all.

This year, we get Volume 2: Sea of Wind which centers around Taiki, the kirin of the country of Tai. This novel tells the story of Taiki's return from Japan. The novel begins with the birth of Sansi, his guardian. Through a heartbreaking chain of events, Sansi loses the unborn Taiki to the other world in a terrible storm. For 10 years he is gone, and no one can find him. Finally, Enki, En's Kirin, locates Taiki in Japan. The kirin of Ren uses her treasure to bring Taiki back. From there, Taiki must learn about his true home and his true self in order to fulfill his destiny of choosing the next King of Tai. For a child of only 10 years old, this is a lot to handle!

Much like Volume 1: Sea of Shadow, the main character knows very little about the world of the Twelve Kingdoms and has to learn about the world suddenly. Instead of seeing the perspective of Yoko, a future ruler, we get the perspective of Taiki, the kirin. Taiki, unlike Yoko, is much more accepting of the Twelve Kingdoms. While she questions what kind of world it is, he accepts the world as it is and feels more at home there. As a child, though, he seldom understands everything as the adults do, and struggles to make sense of it all. He particularly struggles with his own role and destiny.

The writing is once again very lovely. Unlike the anime adaptation where the writers had to try very hard to tie Taiki's story with Yoko's, in the novel the characters' thoughts and actions make much more sense as a standalone tale. Through reading the story and making the emotional journey with the characters the world becomes more vivid and real.

The translation seems good and true to the story. Sometimes it seems like the translators do not have faith in the readers' abilities to comprehend certain terms/ideas. Instead, the translators overcompensate by using more rigidly defined words that kind of miss the mark. For example, the translation of Sansi as a "lamia" (a female vampire). I cringed every time I read the "lamia" in the pages. It has never seemed before that Ms. Ono was going for the monsterish angle with the kirins' mother-like guardians (nyokai). I thought this redefinition of terms was also a problem in the Sea of Shadow. Most readers will not care how true to the little details the translators were, and such things should not be an issue.

I cannot say how appealing this novel would be to those who haven't already fallen in love with Ms. Ono's world through the anime adaptation, but for those who have, the novel does not disappoint.

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Another great installment of the fantasy series!

I became a huge fan of Twelve Kingdoms through the anime first. When I discovered that Tokyopop was translating the novels, I was elated because the anime covered less than half of the storyline from the novels. My only regret about this book is that I had to wait a year for it to be released since the release of the first novel.

Sea of Wind follows Taiki's story which was the second arc of the anime. The anime followed it very very closely with only minor changes and omissions. While the novel does not require the reader to have seen the anime, I think seeing the anime should encourage the viewer to get a more indepth look at the Twelve Kingdoms universe and read the novels.

What you do get in this novel is a better understanding of Taiki's thoughts as well as what makes him a unique kirin. Also, you get the perspective of other characters such as Sansi. Also the system and ways of the world of the twelve kingdoms are even further fleshed out. Taiki's time with Keiki is also further explored. The only people you will miss in this version of Taiki's story are Yoko and Kenro Shinkun, who really only served as bystanders in the anime anyhow.

The novel is quite vividly written and I daresay flows better than the first novel. Twelve Kingdoms is a great series to read for people interested in politics, fantasy, and just really good characterization. I cannot recommend it enough.

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reviews: 1, page 2

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