Bride of the Barrier Master Volume 1 Review

Cinderella-like series have been on the rise in popularity lately. Perhaps influenced by My Happy Marriage, a few similar works have been slowly making their way into the English market. One such title is Bride of the Barrier Master, which I’m here to review the first volume of and find out how it fares in this growing genre. 

The story is set in an alternate modern-day version of Japan where the country has been protected by five leading clans who wield barrier-weaving magic. Each clan is charged with protecting a pillar with their barrier magic, which in turn helps protect Japan from supernatural creatures known as Shades. 

Heroine Hana Ichise and her twin sister Hazuki belong to a branch family of one of the biggest clans, the Ichinomiya. While their parents had high hopes for both children, when they became 10-year-olds and were tasked with summoning their first shikigami, an immeasurable gap opened up between them. Hazuki summons a shikigami who is in a humanoid form and can speak, while Hana summons a butterfly. 

Hazuki has long outshone Hana in the ten years since their birth, but this is the final nail in the coffin and now Hana finds herself an outcast of the family. Although she still lives at the Ichise estate, she has no staff to wait on her and is relocated to a shed. When they’re not hurling abuse at her, Hana’s family leaves her to her own devices as she goes to and from school. What her family don’t realise is that Hana has awakened to stronger powers later in life, but having seen the stress Hazuki is put under, our protagonist has decided to hide her strength and live quietly out of the spotlight. 

Unfortunately, her ideal quiet life plan comes crumbling down when the head of the Ichinomiya family Saku sets out to find a bride strong enough to stand by his side and restore the barrier his clan protects. Everyone thinks Saku will end up marrying Hazuki, but when Shades attack the school and Hana ends up expending more of her power than usual, it’s not long before Saku catches wind of her real abilities. 

Naturally, Hana wants nothing to do with Saku and becoming his bride sounds like all the things she’s been trying to avoid by hiding her powers. Still, he promises that if she helps him restore the barrier, he’ll grant her the peaceful life she’s looking for and allow her the opportunity to move out of the Ichise household. 

Bride of the Barrier Master follows the fairly traditional rags-to-riches format of titles like this. However, rather than being swept off her feet by a Prince Charming, Hana is very reluctant to go along with Saku’s plans and has no romantic feelings for him whatsoever. At least, for the majority of this volume anyway. The two bicker endlessly. Saku is handsome and, more importantly, intelligent, so it doesn’t take much for him to one-up Hana or simply wave something in her face that she’ll have no choice but to accept. The fact that Hana is rude and uninterested in him just makes him more curious about her. 

I think author Kureha has come up with an interesting world here. I found myself genuinely interested in learning more about the clans and pillars that keep Japan safe. The action scenes and encounters with the Shades are also well-written and relevant to the overall story, too. Compared to Volume 1 of My Happy Marriage for example (which is a similar set-up on the supernatural side), Kureha has done a better job of balancing all the different elements. 

What I am less invested in, unfortunately, is the relationship between Saku and Hana. And I think some of this is because I’ve also read the manga adaptation for this series (handled by artist Odayaka) and there it’s much more fun to watch over the interactions between the two. Watching them bicker in a more visual medium means you have not just their dialogue but also their facial expressions and reactions, which I find works better. Kurega is not a bad writer, but Hana is a tsundere character which is difficult to make likeable in a novel at the best of times. So, what should be the main appeal of the novel ends up being the bit I didn’t care nearly as much for. And that is a problem that’s going to make it a difficult sell for other readers looking to pick it up for the romance or character relationships. 

Perhaps now all the setup is over, Volume 2 will end up being a notable improvement. Especially as these are fairly short books. I’m certainly going to give that a read, even if only to work out if I want to continue the source material or just stick to its manga. 

Bride of the Barrier Master Volume 1 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and has been translated by Linda Liu who also works on the manga version (also published by Yen Press). The translation reads well with no issues to raise, which is always reassuring! Nothing really to mention in the way of extras here as there are no internal illustrations, which is a shame and I think would have helped alleviate some of my concerns with the character interactions if we ever saw them. 

The series is ongoing in Japan with 4 volumes currently available while the manga adaptation is also ongoing with 4 volumes (the 4th is out in early May in Japan). Here in English Yen Press has released 2 volumes of the LN with #3 following in July, while the manga is up to Volume 2. 

Overall, Bride of the Barrier Master is an interesting read that’s let down by its two lead characters. The world they live in is interesting with plenty happening around the cast, but it’s a difficult one to recommend in this form as it’s so hard to get invested in watching over Hana and Saku. If you like the sound of the premise then I’d recommend checking out the manga instead which is more visually appealing and alleviates some of the issues. 

Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.