The Spring 2025 Manga Guide
The 31st Consort
What's It About?
The 31st Consort has a story and art by Tsubasa Nanaki, based on the work by Momotomoe. English translation by Naoki Sakamoto. This volume is lettered by Aila Nagamine. Published by Yen Press (April 22, 2025). Rated T.
Is It Worth Reading?
Rebecca Silverman
Rating:
Based on the light novel of the same name, The 31st Consort is both like every other inner palace romance you've read and not at all the same. The main difference is in the setting – unlike other similar works, this one takes place in a pseudo-European country, where the king assembles thirty-one potential consorts and visits them on the appropriately numbered day of the month. Felia, our heroine, isn't keen on being one of the ladies, but since no one else of noble blood will take the position, her older brother gleefully offers her up, figuring that she'll at least get a few fun, cushy months out of the deal.
That aside, the rest of the plot is exactly what you'd expect. Felia is a straight-shooting country girl who prefers farming and cooking to primping and prancing, and she's not at all bothered by the way the palace servants snub her – in fact, she's utterly delighted with her tiny cottage and lack of maids. She's very much Not Like Other Girls™ in this story, blithely doing her own thing when that's not expected or desired of her, and while that trope is so old that its beard reaches its knees, there's still something kind of delightful about Felia. She's unselfconscious in the right way, while still being very aware of her situation. When she and King Macron (yes, I know) finally meet, she doesn't even let on who she is, letting him think she's a maid so as to show him her true self. Obviously he's delighted, and the series seems set to spend the next book up to have Macron try to finagle a way to get rid of the other consorts.
Fortunately, he's got a great wingman in Binz, his childhood friend and captain of the palace guards. We see more of Binz than Felia in this volume, which feels a little odd, but ends up working out just fine. Everyone in this book is basically who they say they are, without artifice, and Binz comes the closest to having a sly bone in his body as he tries to make two people he cares about happy. It's almost inner palace pastoral as a genre, comfy and sweet without excessive angst and plenty of time spent just enjoying the story and characters for what they are. The art is clean and clear, and character designs are unique enough that everyone looks distinct, while backgrounds manage to set the scene without being overly fussy. It's a perfectly fine start to what seems like a perfectly fine series.
MrAJCosplay
Rating:
I can sum up this manga by calling it “girl boss: the series”. There are a bunch of manga out there about putting our protagonist in an unconventional situation so that they can tackle hardship. This is one of the more unique situations I've seen where a young girl is brought in as the thirty-first potential candidate to be the queen of the land. However, instead of being some medieval version of The Bachelor, this series takes an interesting approach by developing a relationship between our lead, the knights of the castle, and eventually the king himself. We don't see the guy that she potentially needs to win over till almost halfway through the book, as a good chunk is focused on her being a boss.
Given the fact that she is last in the list of noticeable candidates, she's given the worst treatment. But unlike everybody else who seems to come from some sense of nobility, our lead is just a simple farm girl, and therefore has a different outlook on life. She doesn't need a maid because she prefers to do all the work herself. She enjoys cooking and agriculture, so the overgrown nature of the house she's put in doesn't bother her, and she's not afraid to stand up for herself. This attracts the attention of the castle knights, who see her as a refuge from the more lavish yet stressful life. It's a story that allows everybody else to focus on the simpler things, which is very cute.
I love how much everybody likes our main lead. I feel a similar sense of comfort seeing her just going about her day as everybody else does, which I think was the point. The story isn't very lavish in its presentation. Honestly, I think things look a little bit bland from time to time. But considering the simple nature of the themes and story itself, you could argue that fitting.
When the king is eventually introduced, we start to see this contrast fully coming into play. We understand why our lead is different from all the other marriage candidates, and we start to understand how that becomes the foundation for this potentially new romantic relationship. It's a very cozy series that doesn't necessarily have a lot of stakes, but I like that about it. True to its nature, it doesn't need to do a lot to grab my attention. If you're looking for something laid-back with just a drop of romantic drama, this is probably up your alley.
Disclosure: Kadokawa World Entertainment (KWE), a wholly owned subsidiary of Kadokawa Corporation, is the majority owner of Anime News Network, LLC. Yen Press, BookWalker Global, and J-Novel Club are subsidiaries of KWE.
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