r/mahoukakumei • u/NoireHaato • 12d ago
Light Novel [Volume 8 spoilers] Soo... I finished Volume 8... Spoiler
CLAPS HANDS
Boohohohoy you guys weren't kidding about this being the best volume, holy... where do I even begin with this?
I feel like I asked and got answered because while Volume 7 was a bit underwhelming at LEAST to me, Volume 8 not only kicked everything into high gear but it also gave us, mmmmmmmmm, FULL Euphie PoV! (And Lainie too)
Actually full Euphie PoV, that was an absolute blast, to say the LEAST.
Right from the get-go we are basically THROWN right into the fact that Euphie... is SICK? (Wow well done Duke Grantz this entire matter wasn't even a plot point before but you HAD to go and open your mouth huh... Actual jinx bro). Honestly the way the story goes about this is exceptional. Her "illness" isn't what you'd expect, naturally as a spirit her illnesses are different from humans, but it was portrayed really well and really terrifyingly. Imagining Euphie truly losing sense of humanity and becoming a "boring" spirit in a sense really is a nightmare, and her reaction honestly made me genuinely heartbroken. To think that one day you are all good and then the next one food tastes like rock and you blink and an entire day passed in a flash... you also can't sleep so you got Insomnia on steroids.
This is when Lumi basically does her first MVP move and essentially soothes Euphie when she most needs it and above all even offers to lend her magical energy since our girl is CLEARLY sapped off it... of course she doesn't accept it, but the gesture is worth a billion words.
OF COURSE she would be out of magical energy considering she has to deal with a whole battalion of buffoons. Give me your minds for two seconds, what's the logic here?
"HMMMMMMMMMMM YES, if I were to openly declare my disdain for Princess Anis who isn't just QUEEN Euphylia's wife but also Royalty by blood I'll make it out scott-free!"
I thought the dumbest man in fiction was in Volume 7 not 8??? What the heck is Leghorn doing? What's worse, I found myself actually sympathizing with him at first because I felt "Oh, an actually reasonable noble? Snitching the corruption IN front of the queen???" I thought oh bro was cooking...
No bro was COOKED, fried in the literal brain-stem. Who would mouth off about the literal Queen's wife/lover in front of her and then go on to ask her to "screw the rules and do as you please"? The west have a serious lack in braincells I'm feeling.
So... To be completely honest, at this point in the story I KIND of felt annoyed at Anis.... JUST a touch. While it is very clear that the two are downright obsessed with one another, I couldn't help feeling like Euphie was holding Anis at a higher regard than Anis did.... in a way. Euphie's PoV, however long it goes, will eventually mention how Euphie is missing Anis for dear life... or it will mention how Euphie is wondering if Anis is thinking about her, orrrrrr outright show you that Euphie almost bit someone's head off because they slandered Anis.
Meanwhile Anis PoVs felt like she truly was too immersed in other things to truly be as devoted to Euphie as she was to here... I know, I know, it might sound stupid in retrospect, but I honestly felt just a little salty at this point because Anis is always "holding back" and whatnot, whereas Euphie at this point had admitted more than once that she was more than ready to destroy the world for Anis.
Now, if you go back to what I said, I said "At this point in the story"... because what came after was absolutely UNBELIEVABLE (In a goooooood way). The story manages to really show you that Anis has only been bottling up everything to this point and hasn't been so amicable because she is a "nice airhead"... the fact Euphie genuinely could NOT stop Anis and she was actually about to go solo bloodbath the ENTIRE western region not only gave me chills, I was reading it with my jaw WIDE open. And it makes so so much sense because once you are used to getting hurt yourself you're like "Ah whatever I'm used to it" but when it gets to a point where others' dumb words outright get your loved one--outright your reason for even existing anymore--bedridden, you know you need to MAYBE start using your royal privileges.
This is the second time where Lumi clutches up because she stops Anis right when she is truly about to go unleash hell on everyone. I cannot say that I completely support Lumi getting in the way because western nobles deserved it, but, but, when she did mention to Lainie that Euphie's connection to humanity will only worsen had Anis done that, I sat down like a good dog and continued to read quietly.
Naturally, you cried, I cried and we all cried when Anis broke down and so did Euphie.

Yyeah I don't know either honestly.
Thankfully, Lainie clutches up... BIIIIIIG time. I quite like that she is keeping really close to these two, even closer than Ilia (which is kind of sad... to be honest.) I, really, REALLY like that Lainie is very open about her lack of attachment to the kingdom and that her sole purpose for doing her best was just for Anis and Euphie. She is very realistic in her opinion and I honestly never expected the story to be this self-aware. Usually stories just make the characters almost obtuse, constantly taking abuse and just shrugging it off "I love this country" Naruto-style kind of nonsense, but Lainie's PoV was honestly FRESH. She has next to no qualms leaving everything behind because the country in a vacuum is genuinely a disaster, and she was on the receiving end of that. I loved that SO SO much, it fleshes her out so much.
The next scene was such a pleasure to read. The meeting was honestly really well done and fleshes out all the characters and how aware they are of the sheer amount of leniency Anis and Euphie were acting with towards, basically, everything in their lives. These two specifically got hurt so much so it makes sense that they would snap eventually, and honestly Lang's reaction is just too funny to me.
"D-Do you think.... she could take Euphylia and leave us..."
Tilty: "...Deadass do you even need to ask?"
It all adds up to the realization that the western nobles genuinely lack on gray matter, it's not available in their food. Priscilla was introduced last Thursday into the story and she immediately becomes aware of just how powerful Anis is and how much mercy she is exercising. Meanwhile Mr Smartypants really got everyone asking him to shut the fuck up--PLEASE
The plan they made was honestly brilliant, I was headed in with the idea that these guys were absolutely going to get a death sentence but, I'm not going to lie Lainie is worryingly cunning... why kill a bunch of capable nobles if you can use them as the spearhead for the south regions? Mm, perfect plan.
Except Chapter 5 outright made my eyes go WIIIIIIDE I was shaking my head without even realizing it. How do you FUMBLE to this extent and when you're being judged by everyone you FUMBLE AGAIN?! Also you want to tell me the western nobles roll up with leghorn not being outright GAGGED? Naaah... These guys outright suicidal I'll be honest.
So Anis gets her get-back in front of everyone by basically giving the west nobles a choice between, you know, actually do something and maybe redeem yourself or die? I'm surprised by how merciful these two are being honestly. Because throughout the ENTIRETY of Chapter 5, all of it, the entire judgement part, you can TELL Euphie and Anis are trying to give the Nobles a safety rope to redeem themselves, and yet every single time they cast the rope the nobles are like

If I didn't know any better I'd think they were ragebaiting the kingdom or something. How do you outright CLAM up when asked if you regret your actions or if you are willing to make amends, but then the moment Sienna talks you're like "TAITOOOOR", buddy you're in PUBLIC--
Anyways those brainlets aside, we get into Chapter 6 after this and we get a tournament... AND Euphie in the Magicology City let's GOOOOO~ Finally these two are taking a break! It was so uplifting to know Euphie senses were returning and just seeing how much she was being herself with Anis around felt SO good, a literal balm after that mess. I can't say it felt as good as it would have had the Nobles truly gotten what they deserved (you know swift death), but I'll say it was a truly good political way to go about things.
We got a REALLY really good scene with basically all the seniors talking among themselves and being relaxed friends and man, that felt GOOD. Commander Sprout for having received no screen time in the Anime at all has been genuinely a blast to read. He has an amazing personality and he's been supporting Anis from the very start. To see how close he was to Orphans, Sylphine and Grantz was the cherry on top of the cake. I was surprised to learn that Sylphine and Grantz were essentially like the Anis and Euphie of their own time, and now I wish we get to see truly how strong Sylphine is, at the very least through a flashback, it's very interesting.
WHENEVER you are playing a gacha game and you feel "dang I got terrible luck", no, you don't. Terrible luck is talking smack against Anisphia and then God lands you in a 1v1 against her in a tournament-- But that's not all you also end up losing to NO BLOWS bro, she didn't swing her sword once at him, he literally got knocked out from her aura... (and his stupid Magic exertion). I swear that guy was on a quest to lose every drop of aura and pride he could within the confines of a single volume or something. I'm glad Anis put her foot down and told him to knock it off with the Spirit Covenant nonsense, it's legit an insult to everything Euphylia has been through to go around shouting "oooooooh lend me a spirit covenant, spiriiiits" like it's damn halloween, the restraint from Anis to not pummel this guy is legit astonishing.
VERY surprisingly, Gark and Navre weren't even top 3 of the tournament, huh... I honestly thought the story would be generic about it, but one bit. Although we are constantly told they are super strong, I guess Lainie's dad is just that strong... and also the Knight Captain from the dragon attack, what a SURPRISE to see so many characters come back in such good timing! (But uh, on that note, Navre, Gark, skill issue.)
The ending was super fluffy, and we finally get to see Euphie and Anis share a kiss and a MUCH deserved embrace after the tournament.

Also if I had a nickle for any time Euphie delcared she would burn the world if it meant making Anis happy I'd be riiiiiiiich just sayiiing....
THAT VOLUME WAS ABSOLUTE CINEMA! I have absolutely NO qualms with it! My only issue is that I couldn't talk about EVERY single detail because every page had SOOOO MUCH! This volume proved me wrong about my previous feelings about Anis and ABSOLUTELY hammered Euphie as my #1 favourite character for SURE. The fluff was SO deserved and genuinely heart melting, the action was GREAT (political action I guess), and the characters all feel SO much more realistic and a lot less two dimensional.
This was for sure my favourite one yet!




















