Random Thoughts on Fire Emblem if: the Crown of Nibelung

Adaptation of the Revelations route of Fire Emblem Fates, but from Leon’s viewpoint. (Yes, people, it’s not the Birthrights route. MAL is wrong.)The manga is strictly for those who have played the game or those who have prior knowledge of the game’s story, since otherwise I doubt it makes much sense.

If you are not familiar with FE14, here is a short intro: the game itself is divided into three routes, one is if Kamui sides with Hoshido (Birthright), one for siding with Nohr (Conquest), and the final is when he/she sides with neither (Revelations). This manga is based on the third and true route of the game.

(As a note, I will be using Japanese names in this review. Scroll to the bottom if you’re not familiar with them.)

So I finished the 17 chapters in one afternoon and I dare say that the first half was pretty good, but the second half broke down. The first half centers on the Nohrian siblings’ lives and how Kamui found out she was actually of Hoshidan lineage. It expands on Leon’s feelings towards Kamui and how strongly he feels for his family. I like this half a lot, since it shows a side of Leon that was not really apparent in the game. Also, Zero and his his under the belt jokes strikes again. Then, the second half focuses on Leon’s behind the scene work on how he and Marx came to Kamui’s aid in the fight against Nohr. It has a lot of politics involved and it’s really fun to watch the Nohrian siblings interact with their retainers, which is only present in snippets in the game. Their conversations are great. The little details the mangaka puts in added to make the story feel more real. I also like how the mangaka doesn’t try to shove the entire cast into the story.

What was really weak is that the story is way too rushed. The political struggles between Macbeth and Marx got shoved aside towards the end, and Takumi turned from a prick to a nice boy in the drop of a hat. Suzukaze spends a good portion of the story just sitting in Elise’s room. King Garon did pretty much nothing but Groan. Also, the story ended with Anankos sitting on his grand throne just saying that he will turn the princes into sacrifice just as Kamui and co are walking to the final battle, and then the narration cuts to ‘and then they lived happily ever after’ and I was like…wait a minute…?

And no Scarlet x Ryoma. Boo. Actually, I was also expecting some kind of Kamui x Leon or Kamui x Suzukaze but judging from the length, it’s hard enough to add in a properly developed friendship to the story, so yeah.

It was also interesting that out of all the possibilities for a manga adaptation, they chose female version of Kamui and told it from Leon’s perspective. As far as I know, Leon is voted the most popular male character in Fire Emblem Fates, and Kamui is the number one most popular female character despite being the player’s avatar. So this manga was pretty much just to please the fans…? Because I already fell for it.

Also, I’m so sad I don’t see Kamui’s deer-dragon form in this manga. She’s so cool poking people with her antlers in the game. And no scenes of Aqua singing or dancing. Boo.

So if you’re curious as to what happens before the ‘they lived happily ever after’, here’s the spoiler:

Kamui leads the army of the Hoshido and Nohr forces through ‘wonderland’ AKA the fallen kingdom of Valla, where Mikoto and Aqua’s mother, Shenmei, were originally from. During the course of their travels, they met the resurrected version of both moms, plus the former Hoshidan king, Sumeragi, and had to fight them to free them from Anankos, the first dragon and the real perpetrator behind the invisible soldiers, whose only goal is to see that both Nohr and Hoshido annihilate each other completely. It is revealed that Kamui and Aqua are princesses of Valla.

If you still remember that random old guy Gunter Kamui was asking about early on in the story, that guy comes back to meet them in Valla and later, they found out that he was possessed by Anankos. Kamui defeats him.

Kamui and co fights her way to Anankos, where King Garon was summoned and killed in front of everyone so that Anankos could regain his full power. After a very long and annoying boss fight, the gang defeats Anankos once and for all (if you don’t count the Heirs of Fate DLC) and finally returns to the surface. The path to Valla is sealed, and a new Valla is created with the help of Nohr and Hoshido. Kamui is crowned the new queen of Valla and now she can live happily ever after.

At least this manga served the purpose of getting people interested in the game, but it’s going to need a lot more to be a good adaptation. However, it was still an enjoyable read and a refreshing viewpoint on the story I replayed like… twice. Four times if you count Birthrights and Conquest. It’s also fun to see the sides of the characters I haven’t seen before (Ryouma with his hair down! Finally dude doesn’t look like a lobster!) as well as spotting the other playable units in the background.

I like this manga but it’s not something I can recommend. What do you think of Crown of Nibelung? Do you like it? Was it confusing? Let me know!

 

(A note on the names:

Kamui – Corrin

Leon – Leo

Marx – Xander

Zero – Niles

Suzukaze – Kaze

Aqua – Azura

Shenmei – Arete

Macbeth – Iago)