One of the most familiar fantasies in children's literature is that the protagonist is secretly royalty from another world. But what if that's more of a nightmare than a fantasy? That's the position Youko finds herself in in the second volume of Fuyumi Ono's classic fantasy series The Twelve Kingdoms. While it is a turning point for her, it's also hardly an ending, happy or otherwise, something that the next two novels in the series won't necessarily mitigate, given that they cover different characters and time periods. But that doesn't make this an unsatisfying read as Youko continues to grow and we learn more about the Kingdoms.

Almost immediately, the unrelenting bleakness of the first half of Shadow of the Moon, Shadow of the Sea is broken as Youko meets her first true ally. Rakushun, a young man who has the appearance of a rat-man, finds an ailing Youko and brings her to the home he shares with his mother. Needless to say, Youko has a hard time trusting him, not because of his unusual-to-her appearance, but because literally no one else she's leaned on for support has come through. This goes all the way back to her de facto abduction by Keiki; he swooped in out of nowhere, and almost immediately after, monsters began attacking, and she was sent away on a mysterious beast to a strange land. He's more kidnapper than ally in her mind, and the place where all of her problems started. So really, why should she trust Rakushun, especially when he suggests that they leave the Kingdom of Kou and head to the Kingdom of En?

Rakushun's reasoning, however, is sound, something Youko is eventually forced to acknowledge. He says that En is ruled by a king from Wa (Japan) and that the country is far more welcoming in general than Kou – not only to people from other worlds, but to hanjyuu like himself. It is Rakushun who finally begins filling in the blanks for Youko, telling her about the world in what feels like a mostly organic way, even if a few details, like how Taika, people originally from the Kingdoms who were sent to either China or Japan, could happen in the first place. It mostly pertains to the fact that everyone in the Kingdoms is hatched from an egg that grows on a special tree rather than, as Shakespeare put it, of woman born. Admittedly, Ono glosses over some of the implications of this, although she does mention that Youko noticed a few red-light districts, which means that sex exists for non-reproductive purposes, one of the more unique worldbuilding aspects of the series.

Rakushun is an important character in several ways, as well as a breath of fresh air in how he steadfastly refuses to let Youko self-sabotage when it comes to their budding relationship. He's our first true indication that the people in this new world aren't universally prejudiced and horrible, as well as the one who first figures out the truth of why Keiki sent Youko across the sea. He does function as a bit of an infodump personified, but it doesn't detract from the storytelling because he's also the first person to truly talk to Youko without artifice. More importantly, without Rakushun, Youko would never find the courage to destroy the blue monkey, the manifestation of her self-doubt and anxiety, who was actively holding her back on an emotional level. Youko still has to move forward and figure things out on her own, but Rakushun gives her the support to do so. He's the pedestal upon which her courage rests.

That doesn't mean that all of her turmoil is solved by becoming friends with Rakushun, nor does it mean that she's suddenly anxiety-free and happy-go-lucky. Ono's not writing that kind of fantasy, and Youko remains a grounded, more realistic isekai heroine than we typically see today. Each meeting she has with another person from her old world only leaves her more unsettled, from the teacher who first arrived in Showa 44 (1968) to the King of En, who has been ruling for five hundred years, meaning he must have arrived during the Sengoku Era. Everyone's experience is unique, and Youko's travails are her own, complicated by the political situation in a third country, Kei. She may have been thrown in the deep end, but no matter how deep the water, she was always going to have to learn to swim on her own.

While it is a bit frustrating to realize that we'll have to wait a few volumes to get back to Youko's story (but trust me, it's worth the other books), her journey is an excellent introduction to the world of The Twelve Kingdoms. Youko's growth over the course of this second volume is clear and steady, and the information we learn alongside her sets up the series in its entirety. The new translation continues to be incredibly readable, and this is the sort of book that could easily be recommended to people who don't normally read Japanese pop fiction.