Torture Princess: Fremd Torturchen

Spoiler-less review. If you somehow encountered this light novel, then this review is meant as an argument to persuade you to check it. For the record, this is the most underrated work of art I've had the pleasure of experiencing. I had my worries going into this light novel at first. I couldn't quite pinpoint the reason, but it invoked a feeling that it'd be a misery porn from the looks of it. The title and description certainly wore that atmosphere in them and were contributing factors. Well. I kid you not, reading it thoroughly, I laugh at myself for having that notion to begin with. Be myguest and hear why. World: The world is refined, ambitious, and curated with care. Set in an environment that's nigh-dystopian, grotesque, bleak, and unforgiving, you might be a bit.. put off. If you can't handle brutality - think Berserk without blatant sexual stuff - then do not read. For the sake of you. It's palpably unintended to be a commercial unsubversive work. The author has ideas to narrate, and he wouldn't mind meddling with the range of the work's potential success for it. However, it doesn't do that for the sake of it or to look "different". It quite literally cannot tell its story without these elements. They're the base-foundation that'll be utilized to build and develop its skyscraper of events and communicate the meticulously-penned lore. Additionally, the story uses its own cruelty as a scaffolding to paint the world with moral dilemmas and communicate the sheer grayness. The author doesn't just go "Haha, torture this, torture that. Look, organs spilled. It's dark and deep hehe. Now gimme 10/10". There's a point to the torture and extent of cruelty. It is namely what makes it work. Get to the volumes above four and the curtains on that idea will be raised. By essence, it is about the exact opposite: love. Yes, even in the most disturbing atmospheres, there can still be heartwarming moments. One notion I've had when I entered was "oh, is this going to be demon slaying all over distributed evenly among 9 chapters where in each one we'd see one or two of the fourteen demons getting their ass kicked by our powerful wannabe "proud wolf"?". It was a worry of mine. You guessed it, I was wrong once again. There's a lore fatter than me and you beyond it, and what we see initially is the surface. Things'll keep uncovering the more that you read, and before long, you'll find yourself thoroughly impressed and submerged in it like a fly contaminating a solution and being unable to let go. Story & Characters: Not particularly a fan of annotating synopses within reviews, but it'll be necessary to encapsulate the feelings it'd managed to burst within me. 'Tis, in Elisabeth's tone, a torture-laden story. About a biting, sharp-tongued princess, a self-proclaimed proud wolf and a lowly sow, an existence whose life was centered around capturing, torturing, and feasting on the human beings, and her little dimwit of a servant (not sponsored by her, I swear) whom she's summoned to help her, after being captured and prompted by the church with the task of slaying the fourteen demons that threaten the continued amicable existence of humanity, before being burned at stake for the horrid sins she'd committed. Why wouldn't she be hated? Stake burn is only worthy, no? On the onlooks, she's the epitome of evil. A psychopath that could NOT care less about other beings because that makes her an alpha (fe)male, or whatever it is resembling that you see in other self-insert fiction. But wait for it. That's just the roof of her character. The iceberg tip the author likes you to see. It won't take you long before diving deep down and being fascinated with a brilliant complexity. You'll build an empathy for her. The servant she summoned was tortured by his father, so much so he's grown so accustomed to the pain. So, being summoned was essentially a boon. In a way, he was saved. Not by a hero, not by a kind spirit, not by God, but by a torturer. An "evil" person. A loathable existence. Kaito Sena. Our "foolish" fellow. That man had every opportunity to turn this into a story of "I Was Summoned By An Evil Woman From Another World, Now She Is A Wife Whom I Follow Like A Dog" yet he didn't. For someone who could've handily been cardboard cutout, I admit there's a ton of individuality and personality to him. He isn't a pawn who gets prompted without will from Elisabeth. You'll see some deeds he'll commit, ones that could be perceived as far from rational, bar one tiny thing, he does it in the name of love. The motivation behind it is persuading to the point that if you were arrogant yet caring enough, you can see a timeline where you're dwelling in the heel of his shoes. 'Course, we can't wrap the page up without mentioning Hina. She's overflowing with kindness; she gives off extreme genki vibes, almost to the point of you seeing her as an "object" the author put for the MC because yes. That feeling only lasts for so long, though. Without spoiling, you'll get to see a bit of her background later on and her demeanor would make a lot of sense. I don't know if that makes sense, but she's the least automaton-like automaton I've seen. The story has a narrow balance between the lock-in and the dillydallying scenes. You'll see a myriad of action, so when the slice-of-life kicks, you'll enjoy its bits and pieces while it lasts. The chemistry of the main cast is natural and homogenous that you lose track of time even when they're just goofing around, which is perhaps a contributing factor to why every portion of it was enjoyable to me. All of them are, to a significant degree, well-written, grounded, and serve their purpose perfectly within the story. Prose: As I've implied above, it is descriptive to its marrow, uses a lot of words, and doesn't particularly hold back at a "taboo" act, bar it's a bit toned down sexually. It holds your hand and leaves very little for your imagination to fill in the blanks. It borders on purple prose sometimes, but that's the extent of it. It's not a self-indulgent writing; it does that to let you live in its world, and experience it less as a reader and more as an involved party. The prose was a contributing factor to its enjoyment for me. Art: Of course, I can't end it without praising the glamorous art of Saki Ukai. His illustrations are so good they'd keep you biting your toes in wait for the next one. They're eye-catching, detailed, and they keep hitting the spot. On a final note, this story leans to being character driven. Yes, you can expect to see a rich lore, a lot of revelations, plot twists, and thought-provoking dilemmas, but know that you're supposed to be there mostly for the journey. To see the main trio develop over the volumes, watch over their dynamics, relationship, and feast your eyes on their gears turning with the moral stakes they keep being presented with. And maybe shed a tear or two (or an Amazon, a probable scenario) at the climaxes. And do remember - this is, by its core, not a story of romance; rather an artistic expression of love. It's not a perfect tale, not at all, but I for one know that if you give it its chance, it'll turn to something that stays with you.