The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master - Tumblr Posts

these abrupt endings are both brilliant and pissing me off! The DAMN WAIT is gonna kill me but the tension is so delicious.

now I'm thinking of Wakamiya and Sumio running a food truck. 😅

Loosely character interview

by the author, Chisato Abe *

* One of the features of the fan book is Chisato Abe’s imagined interview with the main actors of “The Raven Doesn’t Choose Its Master.” (The translation is very rough, so apologies if you find mistakes.) Illustrations are done by Matsuzaki Natsumi, the princesses have also been “interviewed.” (Perhaps in the coming days, it’ll be their turn.)

Wakamiya

He will be the next Kin’u in Yamauchi. The child of the sun (the crown prince).

How do you feel now that you have returned to Yamauchi for the first time in a long time? As I was away for a long time, I couldn't escape the opposition of the Imperial Court. Well, I'm just prepared.

Are there some side servants planning to come? It would seem so. I'm sure I’ll be able to build a good relationship with them.

Wakamiya, according to Ms Abe: He’s the main character of the first volume’s main story. He’s the Crown Prince, but has hardly a good reputation. He has a Furaibo temperament. (風来坊 - vagabond, wanderer. A person who wanders from place to place without a fixed home: one leading a vagabond life.) … His hobby is cooking and is also good at making sweets. Maybe he’s not suitable for political struggle because of his unique personality.

Yukiya

The “blockhead” second son of the governor/chief of the Taruha Village Yukimasa and an Imperial Court servant to Wakamiya.

How do you feel now that you have been selected as his personal attendant? I'm surprised and afraid that it's so sudden.

Are you looking forward to serving him? I think it's an honourable role.

Are you looking forward to it? I'm fucking looking forward to it. Can I go home now?

Yukiya, according to Ms Abe: The main character of the second volume’s main story, “I'm not a beautiful boy. I'm pretending to be a kind-hearted person, but I’ve been scolded a lot because I don't like to lose.” Still there’s his nature of being sweet. “Somehow, I was born and raised as a young master. And I always think of my family back home.”

Lord Natsuka

From the southern family, the eldest son of the current Empress. Wakamiya's older brother.

What do you think of your brother? Even though he's my younger brother, one should swear loyalty to him. I will serve him with all my heart.

Rumour has it that you are thinking of recapturing the throne? No way (lol). By the way, who told you that?

Natsuka, according to Ms Abe: According to the book, he was supposed to be the king quickly, but various things happened and he gave up the position for his brother. He ignored his own will and the people around him, who became heated up in the power struggle, so he had to do his best to get along with it. He loves his brother! Maybe he himself has a moderately ruler-oriented personality. There are wrinkles between his eyebrows, but he’s quite honest.

Sumio

Wakamiya's only escort. A warrior who graduated from Keisouin Academy at the top of the class.

How is it to be Wakamiya’s escort? It's an honour for me.

Sumio-domo is a commoner, isn't he? Why was he selected? I wonder if you paid attention to the results of the Keisouin Academy.

Do you have a girlfriend? Huh? Why, all of a sudden?

Sumio, according to his creator, Chisato Abe: A good young man who came from the commoner class, but is forced to live the hard way ever since he’s become friends with Wakamiya, who he found wandering for some unknown reasons. A hard-working individual who has a good head, personality, and good motor skills, but doesn't have much luck.

Sometimes, I think when I’d exhausted their canon stories, it’d be interesting to put them in an alternate universe where these characters could move in a modern setting. I love them. I think it could work.

Everyone is pushing for Hamayu and Wakamiya agenda, but in truth…

… Hamayu is infatuated with Masuho no Susuki that she’d “marry her in a heartbeat if she were a man.”

She’s only joking/taking a piss you’d say. Perhaps…

But does she really?

Chapter 37

No wonder Hamayu keeps on teasing her ever since they’ve known each other at the Sakura Blossom Palace. That kind of love and hate relationship. From enemies to friends… And somehow, Masuho begins to like her due to her selflessness. Both of them pushing each other to be Wakamiya’s consort. Exalting the other. You know, “Don’t take me, take her! She’s worth it!” “No, not me, take her instead! I am nothing compared to her!” kind of thing.

The thing about Hamayu is that she exudes a masculine energy. In the anime, maybe it is the strength of the voice actor Hiroki Nanami, she can make Asebi red on the face.

Whereas in Chisato Abe’s character correlation chart from the fan book, Hamayu finds Masuho “cute, pretty, adorable (かわいい! かわいい!)”

Masuho, on the other hand, “I hate to admit it, but she’s a good woman. ‘Please be happy, or I won't forgive you!’”

Straight from my shipping heart:

In a way, I don’t think Wakamiya would have an issue with it as he pointed out, “But I will not allow you to complain or to become intimate with any other man.”

Besides, he keeps on leaving Hamayu to search for an adventure, err, to make sure that the inhabitants of Yamauchi are safe, with Yukiya.

I am not sure how far will Masuho practise her becoming a nun in the novel. Nor I don’t know (yet) how far will she be and her amorous adventures in the book series. (There were talks of an unrequited love…) But for the sake of asking a hypothetical question, in Japanese Buddhism, celibacy is a personal choice.

When the Japanese Buddhist Saint Hônen (1133-1212) was asked whether a Buddhist religious person should be celibate or not, he said: «If it is easier for him or her to express faith by reciting the Buddha’s name alone, he or she should be celibate. If it is easier to do that with a spouse, it is better to marry. What is important is only how one expresses one’s faith in reciting the Buddha’s name.»

So, yes, I am not joking. I ship them!

“… but sorry I hate you…”

Anime vs Manga, Chapter 36 & Episode 13

I’ve been waiting to post this manga cap.

Wakamiya looks so happy in his own little world. ☺️

I love this kind of peace.

Source: Matsuzaki Natsumi-sensei's Twitter.

Doesn't help Yukiya was broadcasting it too, his face changed before he got close enough.😆

Parallelism #1 Episode 5 vs Episode 13. Wakamiya getting punched by his beloveds. He must be thankful that Yukiya is smaller than Hamayu.

Parallelism #1 Episode 5 vs Episode 13. Wakamiya getting punched by his beloveds. He must be thankful that Yukiya is smaller than Hamayu.

🤣

his reaction (:O) was literally me when i saw that hamayu was there the whole time

Yatagarasu:Karasu wa Aruji wo erabanai

烏は主を選ばない #yatagarasu

that MUSIC during the reveal of asebi's hidden actions contrasted with her "innocent" expression(mannerisms with the cherry blossoms billowing elegantly around her made me all the more creeped out and

after a rewatch and reread of what I can find in English, I'm developing a soft spot for Natsuka.

What can I say, I'm weak for the strong silent type that works in the background. 🤭

Natsukahiko is more expressive in the manga

Dropping hints

And the dirty work.

and all that hair. I can't stand when mine gets to my waist.

Pretty 😳

Source: Matsuzaki Natsumi-sensei's Twitter.

another reason to read the yatagarasu manga is so you don't miss all the funny yukiya faces

Looking back I find it pretty funny now where the powerful brothers Lord Natsuka and Wakamiya play adversaries in order to fool their prospective enemies. No wonder Wakamiya behaves like a normal teen when big brother starts to “reprimand” him by not listening to him at first but playing with his cup of sake. Then he gave this all-knowing look toward Natsuka as if he were saying, “Good acting, bro! Love it! Look how Lord Toru falls for it.”

His Favourite: Fragments

Written once again for @flashfictionfridayofficial using the prompt #FFF260 fear is a sickness as prompt. There could be spoilers if you haven’t seen the 13th episode.

—

Fandom: Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Characters: Wakamiya/Nazukihiko/Crown Prince/Golden Raven/Kin’u, Yukiya, Hamayu/Sakura-hime/Sakura, mentions of Sumio, Lady Azusa, Lord Genya

Word count: 1090

—

“IF you want to die, then you can do that all by yourself. I will not stand here idle for your assassins to kill you.”

Yukiya then poised to leave the courtyard, nudged his horse, and flew away.

“We will meet again. I know it,” Wakamiya said shortly before the boy’s departure feeling so sure of himself.

“In your dreams, maybe. I am not planning to come back here at all,” the boy faced his master as if forgetting something. “Of course, everything will be different if you decide to give up your claim to the throne. Let your brother Lord Natsuka rule for they want him. Then I promise I will be yours forever… to serve you.”

Wakamiya’s breath hitched for a second.

Yukiya never thought of it much: the longer he stayed with his young master, the easier it was to love him.

But when he thought of the downside of serving Wakamiya, he never longed to be a part of a farce they called the imperial court with so many schemers wanting to get ahead of each other by stomping everyone’s feet.

Yet, deep inside, the Crown Prince only had to say the word and Yukiya would fold at once.

“I know it because I am a kin’u. One day I will ask for you and you will come back to me.”

Yukiya gaped at Wakamiya as if he grew horns over his head. He stood there not moving but focused his eyes on the prince. The whole time Sumio was only waiting for his cue after His Highness stopped him earlier from interrupting the boy’s tirade.

“I am saying this because I worry about you. I do not want you to die.” Pain etched on Yukiya’s face.

A kumquat flew in the air. Yukiya caught the candied fruit with his right hand and looked grumpily at his now former young master. Wakamiya in turn fixed his gaze on the boy longer than he had intended to do until he vanished from his sight. A final goodbye at the moment.

~~

“Sit down, Your Highness! You make me more than scared than I should be,” Hamayu poured sake on her cup and downed it at once eyeing at her husband.

Wakamiya circled the open hearth in the middle of the vast room of the study, unmoored, confused, and agitated. He should not have given his permission in the first place. Guards were watching the Sunrise Palace preventing him to leave. Even Sumio threatened to break his leg if he tried to escape from his chamber. There was a coup happening in the Northern Territory and His Serene Lord Genya and his entire family were in the middle of it. The rebels took hostage of his grandson, Lord Kiei, and his wife and their two children ages 4 and 7. Yukiya was rumoured to be imprisoned somewhere outside of the city when he, despite Wakamiya’s protestations, returned to visit his family in Taruhi then decided to join his grandfather’s force to quell the uprising. When Sumio came back to report what happened, he was devastated. He knew that it would come to this. Years ago, he had a premonition. Yukiya graduated at the top of the class from Keisoin Academy and there were plans to celebrate it at the palace, a special ceremony only for him. But as days and hours went by the idea of postponing it was imminent. The young man’s hardships began now.

“Would you let me suffer here too, Hamayu?” The Crown Prince asked his spouse, his face and no doubt, his heart, was in anguish as well. The Golden Raven was supposed to be above it all, but fear was a sickness of the heart.

She stared at him with her huge blue eyes that reminded him of the young man he should have welcomed in a few days but would not be able to. Sighing, she touched his thin, yet strong, shoulders. The Sakura-hime had not seen her husband so down that it broke her heart seeing him like this. He claimed that he did not have feelings, or that his love for all Yatagarasu was equal, but it was clear that as the soul of the youngest son of the head family, he had. And it was clear who his favourite was.

“Go ahead, Nazukihiko, I will manage it from here,” Hamayu squeezed his hands and kissed his lips signalling her assent.

That afternoon a handsome young lady was seen leaving the Sunrise Palace with her dainty feet as if she were floating then vanished into thin air.

~~

When Wakamiya found Yukiya, he was unconscious. The face bloodied and swollen from the beatings, the young man’s long reddish-brown hair laid out on the dirty ground was sticky both from trickles of blood and dust that accumulated from days of torture and non-washing. The prison was long abandoned, but the smell of fear and deprivation lingered in the air.

No doubt the Yamauchi army’s higher-ups interfering with the negotiations between the rebels and the camp from Lord Genya helped. It was a dispute that should not happen in the first place. Fate had it that the families from Taruhi Village were spared. Thank the mountain god.

In a separate building of the governor’s mansion Yukiya recuperated. Lady Azusa, his mother, was overjoyed and thanked the prince for the young man’s salvation.

~~

“Am I not disturbing you?” A familiar voice, albeit fuller, addressed Wakamiya catching him by surprise. “The Sakura and Sumio let me enter without fanfare. I hope it is all right. How long has it been? Three years?” There was still bandage on his head, but his body, now fully grown, remained intact. The young man’s crooked smile always got the prince every time, the mischief and the cunning when Yukiya first entered the service under him.

Nostalgia be damned.

“Yukiya!” Wakamiya stood there as if frozen, but his happiness was palpable.

Yukiya stepped toward him. Without saying a word, he went down to his knees, half-closed his eyes, bowed his head, and began to speak.

“Please welcome me again as your servant. I promise to serve you and Yamauchi with loyalty, respect, and love for all eternity until the day I breathe my last. I am ready.”

At the end of Yukiya’s speech, Wakamiya’s right hand hovered on the young man’s head then exhaled.

“I accept.”

And the course of the history of Yamauchi had changed forever with the Prince and his favourite vassal.

tbc

Old book covers

As I said, there were other cover arts before Natsuki-sensei's.

Unfortunately, I couldn't find the artist that did these. If anyone knows, please let me know. They are so pretty.

If there is something that I find surprising is how dark Asebi's hair was on the cover of the first book. It seems like her hair is gets lighter every time there is a new adaptation, considering how she looks in the both the manga and the anime.

I love how every book has a different distinctive color (even books 2 and 5 have different shades of blue).

Episode 13: Ravens shouldn’t wear kimono; Chapter 36: The End ( Manga vs Anime)

Did Yukiya have a “vision” how evil Asebi was/had been?

His Favourite: Fragments

Written once again for @flashfictionfridayofficial using the prompt #FFF260 fear is a sickness as prompt. There could be spoilers if you haven’t seen the 13th episode.

—

Fandom: Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master

Characters: Wakamiya/Nazukihiko/Crown Prince/Golden Raven/Kin’u, Yukiya, Hamayu/Sakura-hime/Sakura, mentions of Sumio, Lady Azusa, Lord Genya

Word count: 1090

—

“IF you want to die, then you can do that all by yourself. I will not stand here idle for your assassins to kill you.”

Yukiya then poised to leave the courtyard, nudged his horse, and flew away.

“We will meet again. I know it,” Wakamiya said shortly before the boy’s departure feeling so sure of himself.

“In your dreams, maybe. I am not planning to come back here at all,” the boy faced his master as if forgetting something. “Of course, everything will be different if you decide to give up your claim to the throne. Let your brother Lord Natsuka rule for they want him. Then I promise I will be yours forever… to serve you.”

Wakamiya’s breath hitched for a second.

Yukiya never thought of it much: the longer he stayed with his young master, the easier it was to love him.

But when he thought of the downside of serving Wakamiya, he never longed to be a part of a farce they called the imperial court with so many schemers wanting to get ahead of each other by stomping everyone’s feet.

Yet, deep inside, the Crown Prince only had to say the word and Yukiya would fold at once.

“I know it because I am a kin’u. One day I will ask for you and you will come back to me.”

Yukiya gaped at Wakamiya as if he grew horns over his head. He stood there not moving but focused his eyes on the prince. The whole time Sumio was only waiting for his cue after His Highness stopped him earlier from interrupting the boy’s tirade.

“I am saying this because I worry about you. I do not want you to die.” Pain etched on Yukiya’s face.

A kumquat flew in the air. Yukiya caught the candied fruit with his right hand and looked grumpily at his now former young master. Wakamiya in turn fixed his gaze on the boy longer than he had intended to do until he vanished from his sight. A final goodbye at the moment.

~~

“Sit down, Your Highness! You make me more than scared than I should be,” Hamayu poured sake on her cup and downed it at once eyeing at her husband.

Wakamiya circled the open hearth in the middle of the vast room of the study, unmoored, confused, and agitated. He should not have given his permission in the first place. Guards were watching the Sunrise Palace preventing him to leave. Even Sumio threatened to break his leg if he tried to escape from his chamber. There was a coup happening in the Northern Territory and His Serene Lord Genya and his entire family were in the middle of it. The rebels took hostage of his grandson, Lord Kiei, and his wife and their two children ages 4 and 7. Yukiya was rumoured to be imprisoned somewhere outside of the city when he, despite Wakamiya’s protestations, returned to visit his family in Taruhi then decided to join his grandfather’s force to quell the uprising. When Sumio came back to report what happened, he was devastated. He knew that it would come to this. Years ago, he had a premonition. Yukiya graduated at the top of the class from Keisoin Academy and there were plans to celebrate it at the palace, a special ceremony only for him. But as days and hours went by the idea of postponing it was imminent. The young man’s hardships began now.

“Would you let me suffer here too, Hamayu?” The Crown Prince asked his spouse, his face and no doubt, his heart, was in anguish as well. The Golden Raven was supposed to be above it all, but fear was a sickness of the heart.

She stared at him with her huge blue eyes that reminded him of the young man he should have welcomed in a few days but would not be able to. Sighing, she touched his thin, yet strong, shoulders. The Sakura-hime had not seen her husband so down that it broke her heart seeing him like this. He claimed that he did not have feelings, or that his love for all Yatagarasu was equal, but it was clear that as the soul of the youngest son of the head family, he had. And it was clear who his favourite was.

“Go ahead, Nazukihiko, I will manage it from here,” Hamayu squeezed his hands and kissed his lips signalling her assent.

That afternoon a handsome young lady was seen leaving the Sunrise Palace with her dainty feet as if she were floating then vanished into thin air.

~~

When Wakamiya found Yukiya, he was unconscious. The face bloodied and swollen from the beatings, the young man’s long reddish-brown hair laid out on the dirty ground was sticky both from trickles of blood and dust that accumulated from days of torture and non-washing. The prison was long abandoned, but the smell of fear and deprivation lingered in the air.

No doubt the Yamauchi army’s higher-ups interfering with the negotiations between the rebels and the camp from Lord Genya helped. It was a dispute that should not happen in the first place. Fate had it that the families from Taruhi Village were spared. Thank the mountain god.

In a separate building of the governor’s mansion Yukiya recuperated. Lady Azusa, his mother, was overjoyed and thanked the prince for the young man’s salvation.

~~

“Am I not disturbing you?” A familiar voice, albeit fuller, addressed Wakamiya catching him by surprise. “The Sakura and Sumio let me enter without fanfare. I hope it is all right. How long has it been? Three years?” There was still bandage on his head, but his body, now fully grown, remained intact. The young man’s crooked smile always got the prince every time, the mischief and the cunning when Yukiya first entered the service under him.

Nostalgia be damned.

“Yukiya!” Wakamiya stood there as if frozen, but his happiness was palpable.

Yukiya stepped toward him. Without saying a word, he went down to his knees, half-closed his eyes, bowed his head, and began to speak.

“Please welcome me again as your servant. I promise to serve you and Yamauchi with loyalty, respect, and love for all eternity until the day I breathe my last. I am ready.”

At the end of Yukiya’s speech, Wakamiya’s right hand hovered on the young man’s head then exhaled.

“I accept.”

And the course of the history of Yamauchi had changed forever with the Prince and his favourite vassal.

tbc

The Raven and his Master (Yukiya & Wakamiya)

I completely missed this in either format

But those few last pages.😍 my bl heart.

MangaDex

Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai - Vol. 2 Ch. 12 - A Spring Storm - MangaDex

Read Karasu wa Aruji wo Erabanai Vol. 2 Ch. 12 "A Spring Storm" on MangaDex!

Guys, look! New chapter!

They look so cute eating ramen. ☺️

Source: Matsuzaki Natsumi-sensei's Twitter.