Where is the love?

Swazik Doujin Cover Art by Fumi

Swazik Doujin Cover Art by Fumi

Toctoc, Kadi here.

It's taken me a while longer than I hoped, but here is the first web novel review done. The first among... an alright number, I hope. I'm still taking recommendations, details can be found here, I've gotten a few interesting ones already.

But now, without further ado...

 

The Swazik Futuer - The Outcome of Good Intentions

Alt.: Princess Swazik Tale - The Whereabouts of Good Will, スワジク姫物語 ―善意の行方―
Author: Tomato Sandwich (トマトサンド)
Official Tags: Reverse Harem, Otherworld, Spiritual Possession, Princess, Comedy, Yuri, Genderbender/Sex Change
Length: 68 medium-length main chapters
Status: incomplete, irregular updates (was inactive for >6 months before an update last week)
Other: has 2 chapters as a doujin manga adaption, one of them scanlated

Link: http://ncode.syosetu.com/n1323p/

 

Synopsis:

Our unnamed male protagonist finds himself in darkness, heading towards a voice calling for help. When he wakes up the next time, he's in the body of a princess Swazik who was just saved from drowning. No idea about her circumstances, who to trust or who to ask for help, he decides to roll with it, act with princessly refinement and grace and see where it takes him.

What he doesn't know: the princess he is now? Swazik was Princess Mayhem/Brutality/Barbarism (pick one), spoiled, violent, hair-trigger-tempered and maid killer. Literally. How will he/she deal with her scared maids? How will maids and family deal with their all-new princess? Slowly, "Swazik" discovers who "she" was, but will she make it in time to avoid a fatal misstep? And how will "she" face the future as Swazik?

 

Characters:

Swazik - Princess Mayhem. Was recently possessed by the male protagonist. Used to be brutality incarnate, now wouldn't hurt a fly. Almost Alice-grade fluffiness.

Misha - Hardcore lesbian maid and playgirl. One day noticed just how cute her tyrannic mistress actually was.

Anise - klutzy maid and Misha's main lover. Probably the most scared of the princess of them all.

Faytaar - Siscon brother prettyboy prince. Pours cheese and sleaze all over Swazik at every opportunity, much to the latter's consternation and our entertainment.

Leo - Faytaar's best friend and prettyboy. Mysterious and cool(TM).

 

Meat Vegetables:

It was probably Swazik Futuer that made me consciously realize for the first time how hilarious comedy based on difference in information is. On one hand, we have the protagonist, Princess Swazik, who's tame as a kitten, wouldn't hurt a fly and tries to act out our modern-day Disney Princess. On the other hand, we have the maids in particular who have learned to fear and loathe their vicious mistress in the past. As serious as that sounds, the result is great comedy. Tomato Sandwich strike a pretty good cord with it, but doesn't let it go stale.

That leads us to the second of Swazik's strengths: Pacing. Before the jokes get old or the status quo gets boring, the story takes another step or reveals another detail of Swazik's past. At the same time, it doesn't feel rushed or lacking in detail. If you ask me, the pacing is just right.

Which leads us to the third important point about Swazik: It's tagged as comedy, right? I've praised its comedy, right? Yeah, don't get tricked. It's a tragedy. And it's awesome. It doesn't aim to make you as miserable as it can, but the jabs hurt nonetheless. As with the comedy, the amount is dosed just right. Swazik will make you laugh, and she'll... well, she might not make you heartless bastards cry, but she will give you feels.

A big part of that is thanks to the characters. You'll learn to understand them, if not like them. They all have their motivations for what they're doing. Yes, even the over-the-top siscon Faytaar. And there is no simply evil character. Hell, I dare say there is no evil character at all, just people with goals and grudges. Some just end up on different sides of the lines drawn, whether they like it or not. And as important as such character setups are, they make the cast realistic and emotionally connectable after all, I think they are much too rare in web novel culture. That makes Swazik Futuer an even rarer gem among the myriad of stories out there.

Now, for all the praise I'm heaping on this, I'm particularly vague regarding the details spoilers, aren't I? Well... this is one of those stories you need to experience first hand. You need to go through reveal after reveal and find out yourself. Spoiling it would ruin most of the fun, so I hope you can understand why I'm hesitating to give meaty spoilers (personal dislike for those aside). And if you can't like it for the vegetables I offered you here, maybe, just maybe...

 

The conclusion:

Good comedy, good tragedy, great pacing, great characters... you know how the first point I made about these reviews is that I wouldn't translate them? For Swazik, I'm considering breaking that point. On the first review. Hell yeah. Yes, I like it that much. And no worries, I'll get some more Alice Tale updates out beforehand, rest assured.

 

Random Criteria:

Fluffiness: Almost Alice-grade. No, really, Swazik is ADORABLE. Dibs?
Tragedy: Sweetest Pain, just enough to want more
Pacing: I wish other authors would learn from this
Prose: who cares, it's not like we can judge it appropriately

 

... I'm taking suggestions for other Random Criteria, too. Gimme something good. Or hilarious. Or both. I don't care.

 

So far!

——Kadi

 

P.S.: Oh, right. The other link.

19 thoughts on “Where is the love?

  1. Sanngrior

    love the review, found the scanlated doujin chapter but unfortunately it is too lacking to give any real feels for the story besides "someone died and woke up in the body of a nearly died by drowning girl".

    I do hope you would choose to take some of these on, but I also hope that anyone reading this capable of translating may also choose to take it on, it would be brilliant to see a lot of highly rated stories hit translation.

    Reply
  2. Anon

    Sounds interesting my only concern is; does it properly focus on Yuri, or is the romance ruined by the MC suddenly becoming interested in men? You listed it as Reverse Harem, which makes me concerned it takes that direction, personally it's this kind of thing that made me drop Hyperion.

    As for criteria;
    * Romance; how prevalent it is, whether it's part of the plot or just something on the side, and the nature of the romance
    * Setting; does it offering something beyond just 'medieval Europe + fantasy elements'
    * World Building; does the author give us interesting information regarding the new world, it's customs, laws and so on. As a random example; Evil God Average, the religions of the human and demon race are both explained and as it turns out they overlap however the humans version is twisted slightly to make the demons out to be evil.
    * RPG-elements; does it have them, if so how prevalent are they. I'm sure some find them intrusive and distracting.
    * MC's power; is the MC OP, were they born with god-like talent/magical power/physical strength/intellegence etc, do they have cheat abilities, do they have authority/political power/noble blood

    Well that's just some ideas off the top of my head, hope it helps.

    Reply
    1. Kadi

      Right, these criteria are certainly useful, or even needed, when it comes to WNs. Thanks! (Why the hell did I not write anything about the setting?)

      Reply
  3. Irina_Akashira

    Please

    Dont drop Alice tales

    I'm sure Everyone here want to read till the end

    Reply
    1. Kadi

      Sheesh you guys are sensitive. How often do I have to write that Alice Tail is my priority when it comes to translating?

      Reply
      1. Irina_Akashira

        I said because in a previous post you said that maybe stop after finish the arc 2

        Reply
  4. VorpalHerring

    This sounds amazing. Would love it if you translated it.
    On a side note, do you know anything about "Isekai Cheat Magician"?
    I can't find a synopsis for it, only the cover art.

    Reply
    1. Kadi

      Nope, but frankly, the word "Cheat" in the title makes me want to touch it with a 5 foot pole at most.

      Reply
  5. Sonoda Yuki

    My "Feels Heirarchy of Needs" for Lit. or any other medium of art is roughly:

    Comedy: Well, I do need to laugh sometimes, but constant slapstick will wear out quickly.
    Fluffiness: Between this and the "conventional" fanservice, cute and fluffy things are far more likely to keep me on a series.
    Tears: If you can make me cry, you won, because it means that you indubitably made me form an emotional attachment to one or more characters. Doubly so if you can manage it without something terrible having happened to the vic– character.

    Reply
    1. victorrama

      Thanks for the compliment! You know I do....
      Anyways, I tried looking at it, read some chapters and....Well, quite interesting. Since jap is lacking it is so tiring to read them, sadly.... Oh and thx for the fluffiness!

      Reply
      1. Sonoda Yuki

        I don't understand, I was only stating my own random criteria, not advocating any series in particular.

        Reply
        1. Sonoda Yuki

          As for criteria that Kadi can add to his list would be:
          Worldbuilding (top-down)
          Characters and character relationships (bottom-up)

          Reply
    1. Kadi

      At the earliest? After I get done some more Alice Tale. I hope. I want to focus on what I have going already before I take on something new, and Alice Tale deserves the updates. Nobody is helped if I take on a second project and both die, right? As much as I like Swazik...

      Reply

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