My Gently Raised Beast Volumes 4 and 5 Review
In the previous volumes of My Gently Raised Beast, the divine beast Amon and Princess Briddy finally realised their feelings for each other. Amon wasn’t the problem, just Briddy’s stubbornness in not recognizing what she felt. Now Amon just needs to figure out how to marry Briddy and get the emperor’s consent… after all Briddy is still a princess!
However, not everyone is happy about this turn of events. While Briddy doesn’t know about Amon’s plan to ask for her hand, the emperor and Lart, Briddy’s brother, know. When Adellai, Lart’s sister finds out about it as well, she hastens her plans. She needs the heir of Barahan to control the divine beasts and seize the throne. And it seems she has found him in Joseph. The next phase of the plan is to train the descendant with the help of Marquess Rodson so that Joseph can develop his powers and become Adellai’s loyal dog in her ascension to power.
But Joseph needs time to learn and develop his powers, and Adellai can’t let Briddy do whatever she wants in the meantime. When Briddy stands up for herself and for her maid Lucy, a couple of nobles want revenge and with Adellai’s help, they attempt to kill Briddy. Thankfully Amon gets to Briddy just in time, but now Adellai’s intentions are clear to Briddy, and it won’t take long before the two sisters will openly face each other.
In My Gently Raised Beast Volumes 4 and 5, the characters and their relationships develop a lot and many of our main protagonists make their feelings known. While in the first few volumes it wasn’t clear what the emperor’s intentions were and where he stood, what happens to Briddy now brings the emperor to state his feelings. He’s not been a good father to Briddy but there is hope for change. He thought the best approach when he first brought Briddy to the palace was to let her enjoy whatever she desires as the princess, but it didn’t work in the way he he expected. Moreover, his intentions as emperor are still dubious—does he want to suppress the divine beasts, or does he want to live with them in peace? His thoughts and actions seem contradictory based on what he shares with Amon as the new leader of the divine beasts, but at the same time he tasks Princess Adellai to find the heir of Barahan, who can control the divine beasts. While he recognised his mistakes as a father, we shall wait and see if he recognises his mistakes as the emperor and where he’ll stand moving forward.
The biggest surprise is Lark. As the crown prince, he has always felt superior. Like Adellai he thought Briddy wasn’t his sister—she was more like a stray that his father brought in. However, the more time he spends with Briddy and Lucy, the more he grows into his role of crown prince. He’s not as dumb as Adellai originally thought. While Lark is not privy to Adellai’s plans, he knows she’s plotting something and makes himself clear on what Briddy means to him.
It’s nice seeing how more people are starting to recognise and support Briddy. After a childhood full of abuse and trauma, she’s slowly getting to her happy ending. But first she needs to deal with Adellai and what she’s plotting to do with the divine beasts. It seems like the readers won’t have to wait too long to reach the climax of the series.
In Volume 5 there is a new adapter, Kim JunJun, to the story written by Early Flower and illustrated by Yeoseulki. Kim replaces Teava who adapted the first four volumes. Volume 5 runs smoothly, so I didn’t notice the change until I checked the names on the copyright page. I’m not sure if Kim JunJun will permanently replace Teave in future volumes, but readers can be reassured that even if that’s the case, there is no glaring change in the story.
My Gently Raised Beast started as a web novel and got adapted and serialised as a web comic on Webtoon. While the series is already completed on the digital platform, the print edition of Volume 6 was released in April 2024 by Ize Press.
Our review copies from Ize Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
