Comments of Aruosumente

Dude this is good. The shiver i felt in my spine, you can see how the events are connected and tangled. It's actually interesting. I absolutely suggest that you read this book

Look elsewhere for itd

http://www.mangago.me/read-manga/aruosumente/mr/manga/aruosumente/v05/c028/pg-8/

Kind of weird

i love this title, it seems original and interesting
it's only flaw would be that it is slow to come by, and i might want to wait for the next 10 year and a finished story, before reading it (that would be bad for the artist)
argh

The story seems simple in the beginning: Legna is an Oracle, a kind of fortune-teller meets courtier for the king (who is himself a teenager). In order to unlock the answer to his most recent dream, one in which someone intends to kill the king, Legna undertakes the Aruosumente, a dream trial where he must match up ten tarot cards with ten people in his life, so that he may turn the wheel of fortune and discover the would-be killer.

Except that's where things get tricky. Legna, it turns out, has been living in a little cocoon, completely shielded from the politics surrounding his own position as Oracle, the death of his father, and even the circumstances of Lante, the captain of the Black Guards and one of his fellow courtiers To complete the tarot-matching stage of the Aruosumente, Legna must begin unraveling the years he's spent turning a blind eye towards the complexities of the outside world, and in the process, reevalute his role in the court and the intentions of everyone around him.

Aki's art is fluid, simple, and mesmerizing, and her characters are a fascinating mix of expected tropes (the headstrong king, the strict but deadly loyal adviser, the day-and-night twins, the wiley scientist) and unexpected twists. Sometimes the twist is that Aki's not interested in making any one character too good or evil. Legna is loyal, inflexible, trusting, and blunt -- Aki is smart enough to not compromise on any of those traits in an attempt to appeal to the reader. The same with Lante, who starts off as if he's a joker hiding a heart of gold and tears, but turns out to be much more complicated, in part because that characterization is exactly who he is.

But where Aki succeeds the most is the knitting together of court intrigue and dream logic. Tarot cards are an easy crutch to lean on, as it adds perceived """depth""" and a pre-constructed way for your narrator to arrange the other characters in the story by traits they may not have yet displayed, but Aki uses it to her full advantage. At every turn Legna turns over another interpretation of the people in his life, especially Lante, and the tarot cards only underscore, never trample, on the plot. Legna goes through his trial like the protagonist in a video game, and part of the appeal of Aruosument is how very much it feels like an open world honeycombed with mysteries waiting for you to discover. Even when the story gets a little too videogamey (a shady conversation with a disgraced character in a dungeon, really?), there's always a little touch of humor or the unexpected. This is Game of Thrones meets Persona-4, and that's 100% meant as a compliment.