Soara and the House of Monsters 04 Manga Review
Soara to Mamono no Ie 04
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

Soara battles the monster, which is too much for her. However, when it barfs out the contents of the goblin home, Soara’s rage causes her to seemingly defeat the creature. It revives, then barfs up the goblins, who are somehow still alive. The monster then grows many heads, grabbing the dwarves. When it sees Kirik, it stops. During this pause, Goh-chan attacks, forcing the monster to tunnel in the ground and retreat.

That night, after the goblins leave with supplies, Kirik tells her the monster is a chimera. Further, despite their rarity, Kirik once knew one when he, Niko, and Gansho lived in the Dwarven Nation. As a youngster, the clumsy and weak Kirik worked for a blacksmith. Meanwhile, preparations begin for a visit from Prince Leonidas. Of all the crafted items, only Kirik’s pick survives the test. Leonidas recognizes the small dwarf’s potential and wants to take the orphan to the capital, Barcway. There, the prince is greeted by his adoring little sister Darkione. Kirik is put into Prince Nikolaus (Niko).

Niko isn’t impressed by Kirik. After Leonidas has a meeting with the king and advisers, he has a chat with Kirik. He reveals that he sucks at craftsmanship, but excels in strength. Thus Kirik shouldn’t worry about being weak. Later, Leonidas has a duel with the leader of the Mashira, Nukushi. After a long battle, Leonidas ends up using a dagger made by Kirik to defeat the monster.

The dwarves resume trade with other countries. They get a caged chimera, whom Niko is given charge over. Niko is to tame it, so he gets Kirik to help. Eventually, they succeed, thanks to an obstacle park Kirik made. At the same time, the human hero Kagari returns with Nukushi’s head, vowing war on the dwarves.

Unexpected Flashback

Well, I gotta say that I didn’t expect most of Soara and the House of Monsters 04 to be a flashback. For some of the dwarves in the Dwarven Nation, it seems that Yamaji-sensei took references from The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings movies, but not entirely. The other dwarves look more like humans, including Prince Leonidas.

What I like about Kirik’s backstory is that it shows that though he’s weak and small, he has a gift that compensates for that. Just as Prince Leonidas sucked at craftsmanship, but excels in strength and combat. So while normal dwarves make decent enough tools and weapons, Kirik can eyeball best quality materials to use for his tools and weapons. Thus with tools suitable for his weak state, he can make superior items and contribute.

Another interesting element is that Niko is actually a prince. Man, the dynamic in their relationship now versus back then is something else. I have a feeling that the Dwarven Nation may have all but been wiped out in the monster war with the humans. Thus Niko no longer calls himself a prince. But we’ll see when I finally get volume 5.

Finally, there’s the Chimera. While it isn’t monstrous in the flashback, I suspect that the monstrous version is the same as the “normal” version from the flashback. However, if I’m right about the Dwarven Nation, then the Chimera may have been captured by the humans and only recently escaped, thanks to the peace.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Let me wrap up things with Soara and the House of Monsters 04 with some final thoughts.

• Very limited omake in this volume. Just a preview ad of the next volume and the black and white versions of the front and back covers.
• It would seem that Soara’s master was the human Hero for the war with the monsters. What’s odd though is that she’s just a young, serving girl in the flashback. I wouldn’t have expected someone given hardcore combat training to be serving food and drinks at a victory party for the human warriors.
• Goh-chan’s return was certainly a deus ex machina moment, but I’m okay with it since we get to see the Korpokkur for a cameo. While we got word on where the goblins went, there was no word on Goh-chan and the Korpokkur.
• Speaking of the goblins, it was rather plot convenient for them to all still be alive rather than partially digested. But while it makes no sense, I’m okay that they are alive and kicking.

In the end, Soara and the House of Monsters 04 took an unexpected turn to flashback land, but I like seeing where characters came from to get to where they are now.