Soara and the House of Monsters 02 Manga Review
Soara to Mamono no Ie 02
ソアラと魔物の家

NOTICE!!! In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I am the adapter for the official English translation of the True Tenchi Muyo! novels, which are also published by Seven Seas.

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* * * S P O I L E R S * * *

The Story, in Brief

Kirk figures they need to head to sea to get what they need to build the electric wolf-man Baldur and his mermaid wife Maribel a home where they can properly live together. As such, the dwarves quickly build a small sailing ship and head to sea with Soara. However, they get attacked by a kraken. After escaping it, they find the cast off skin of a giant jellyfish.

Once the dwarves have the needed supplies, they build a home over the water, just off shore. About half the house is dedicated to Maribel and the other half to Baldur. At the same time, the house is designed to absorb Baldur’s electrical discharges to provide electricity to the home. It means that he and Maribel can now hug. In return, the dwarves get a thunder wolf fang and a mermaid scale.

Soara and the dwarves resume their trip to the Demon Lord Hagan’s castle. When they arrive, they find it deserted. After three days, they find a passage that leads to the roof area of the castle complex. To their shock, they find it has been been turned into a medieval Japanese farm. The three, fearsome Demon Lord Generals Goliath (a giant), Sheeba (a centaur type), and Barak (a one-eyed spinner) are working the farm.

Soara refuses to believe her eyes. As such, Hagan recounts how that fifteen years prior during the war with humans, he wanted a massive castle befitting his rank. A captured human architect woman named Kahyou gets brought before Hagan. She’s forced to draw blueprints for his new castle. After his castle gets built, he’s still unhappy.

Kahyou says she knows why. She has Hagan gather supplies and with her assistance, he builds the community on top of the castle. He comes to understand the value of his Japanese thatched home and farm. Kahyou gets released to travel. Kirik reveals she was his building master. Hagan reveals she is missing and thus acting on her instruction, he summoned Kirik to find her. Meanwhile, something is hunting Kirik’s party.

Japan in a Fantasy Setting

One thing most editors and translator/adapters fail to recognize is that all manga (and anime) titles are in fact Japan with a different facade. Certainly, that should have been clear in Soara and the House of Monsters 02. That’s because in addition to Soara’s katana, the Demon Lord’s farm was right out of ancient Japan. So naturally, because this is a fantasy title, we must strip out Japanese elements where possible, even though they are inescapable. 😑

But I promised myself I wouldn’t get worked up over this stupidity, so I’ll move forward by saying that I love Yamaji-sensei’s artwork. The tiny village on top of the castle looks amazing. And the Demon Lord’s castle looks pretty good too.

As to the story, it is a plot contrivance that Kirik’s master was a human who has earrings with the 大 kanji in them. Then Soara is with Kirik, but she has a necklace with the same 大 kanji. However, it doesn’t bother me and I’m curious to see where this goes. I do enjoy Soara’s journey as she learns that demons can change.

Next up, the resolution to the story of the electric wolf-man and mermaid was sweet. Again, Yamaji-sensei goes to great length designing homes for the various monster-types that are quite cool.

Finally, in addition to the quest to find Kahyou, some kind of freaky monster appears to be on Kirik’s party’s tale. Could it be looking for Soara?

Omake

Not much in the way of extras in Soara and the House of Monsters 02. There’s a page dedicated to scrapped designs for Baldur and Maribel’s home. Then there’s a page depicting Kirik’s various character designs. Finally, there’s a preview of sorts for the next volume and a 2-page art spread for volume 2.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, Soara and the House of Monsters 02 is another fun outing. Personally, I wish the adaptation had kept the Japanese flavoring, meaning using Japanese honorifics. Just because a title is “fantasy” doesn’t mean it should be pounded into a Western mold.