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ヴァルトラウテさんの婚活事情 [Waltraute-san no Konkatsu Jijō]
神々しき美貌をもつ戦乙女(ワルキュリエ)のお姉さんと、彼女に一目惚れした人間の少年。相思相愛な二人のはずが、一人は『奥手』、一人は『天然』という超面倒なカップルで!? 北欧コメディ!
- GenresLight NovelFantasyHumor
280 pages, Paperback
First published September 7, 2012
2 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Kazuma Kamachi
240 books152 followersKamachi Kazuma (鎌池和馬) is a Japanese-born light novel author and the original creator of the Toaru Majutsu no Index light novel series and Toaru Kagaku no Railgun, its spin-off manga series.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 9, 2015
I never thought I'd see a romantic comedy based on Norse mythology. I mean, the gods, and Ragnarok and so on don't exactly inspire the idea of a sweet love story. Nevertheless, this is exactly what Kazuma Kamachi – author of A Certain Magical Index and it's spin-offs, among other materials – has managed to create.
In The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage, the Valkyrie Waltraute, fourth of the nine Valkyrie sisters, is on a routine mission when this boy named Jack comes up to her and asks her to marry him. Waltraute is, of course, annoyed, but she isn't evil. She won't hurt this innocent child, and instead opts to give him a test she is sure he will back away from. She tells him that if he manages to climb Yggdrasil, the World Tree that connects all nine realms together, and can make it to Asgard, she will marry him.
She goes on her way to Asgard via the Bifröst Bridge, confident that she has cleverly averted this crisis, when to her shock, she discovers the boy is attempting to climb the tree. She watches in fascination, for she didn't think he had the heart to try it.
Well, I can't say much more, but suffice it to say that one thing leads to another, and the original challenge is only the beginning for Waltraute and Jack in this exceedingly sweet story.
To be specific, that is one of the two main draws. The story is just so sweet and nice that you find yourself cheering both for Jack and Waltraute. Despite actually using much of the Norse mythology, and keeping the gods (with some exception to fit the story) mostly in character, Kazuma still manages this sweet rom-com type of narrative.
The other drawing point is actually a partial goal the author says in the Afterword that he set out to do when writing this work, which was to introduce the reader to the interesting topic of Norse mythology. I'm not an expert by any means, so don't look to me as an information source on this subject, but from what I do know, the story had much of the Norse myths pretty accurate. Again, the only real exceptions were those necessary to tell the story. For instance, the Valkyries are stronger than any of the gods, because they are invested that way by Odin, so forth. This was necessary for the idea of Waltraute being able to protect Jack from threats, and for the slap-stick elements to work as well.
Also of humor was the fact that the gods are genre-aware. What I mean is that they all know that they're in a light novel, and the type of story it is, as well as the “air-time” they have is actually a topic for debate in a funny chapter.
The only really sad part is that this is a one-volume work. I don't know if anymore will be written about these characters by Kazuma, but I hold out hope he does eventually give us a sequel, as that would be awesome. There is a cross-over with the other works of his, but I don't know if that is canon, and I really want a true sequel.
Highly Recommended.
In The Circumstances Leading to Waltraute's Marriage, the Valkyrie Waltraute, fourth of the nine Valkyrie sisters, is on a routine mission when this boy named Jack comes up to her and asks her to marry him. Waltraute is, of course, annoyed, but she isn't evil. She won't hurt this innocent child, and instead opts to give him a test she is sure he will back away from. She tells him that if he manages to climb Yggdrasil, the World Tree that connects all nine realms together, and can make it to Asgard, she will marry him.
She goes on her way to Asgard via the Bifröst Bridge, confident that she has cleverly averted this crisis, when to her shock, she discovers the boy is attempting to climb the tree. She watches in fascination, for she didn't think he had the heart to try it.
Well, I can't say much more, but suffice it to say that one thing leads to another, and the original challenge is only the beginning for Waltraute and Jack in this exceedingly sweet story.
To be specific, that is one of the two main draws. The story is just so sweet and nice that you find yourself cheering both for Jack and Waltraute. Despite actually using much of the Norse mythology, and keeping the gods (with some exception to fit the story) mostly in character, Kazuma still manages this sweet rom-com type of narrative.
The other drawing point is actually a partial goal the author says in the Afterword that he set out to do when writing this work, which was to introduce the reader to the interesting topic of Norse mythology. I'm not an expert by any means, so don't look to me as an information source on this subject, but from what I do know, the story had much of the Norse myths pretty accurate. Again, the only real exceptions were those necessary to tell the story. For instance, the Valkyries are stronger than any of the gods, because they are invested that way by Odin, so forth. This was necessary for the idea of Waltraute being able to protect Jack from threats, and for the slap-stick elements to work as well.
Also of humor was the fact that the gods are genre-aware. What I mean is that they all know that they're in a light novel, and the type of story it is, as well as the “air-time” they have is actually a topic for debate in a funny chapter.
The only really sad part is that this is a one-volume work. I don't know if anymore will be written about these characters by Kazuma, but I hold out hope he does eventually give us a sequel, as that would be awesome. There is a cross-over with the other works of his, but I don't know if that is canon, and I really want a true sequel.
Highly Recommended.
June 25, 2017
I think this is the most fun I've ever had with a book.
This is my first book by Kamachi, and his way of comedy is exactly up my alley. When compared to other funny books like Discworld, Kamachi isn't the one aiming for jokes or having a huge build-up to make you laugh your ass off, instead it is just the pure nonsense or stupidity of situations that makes you chuckle - the only thing is that these situations never end, which leads to me having fun with a comedy book the whole time I read it, instead of having to drag through a serious but badly written story passage to get to the next gag.
This book was meant to an introduction to Norse Mythology, and I have to admit it does its job pretty well. I am a sucker for norse myths and vikings, but I've never had the heart to go grab a book abaout myths. This novel gives you all the infromation you need to get started with Norse Mythology, but at the same time it uses all the facts you get to turn them around and incorporate into hillarious situations that are kida believable, due to the mythologic background. But by far the funniest thing about this book is that it doesn't give a shit about the fourth wall. It destroys it in the beginning of the novel and steps over the ruins of said wall about every page or so, for example in situations like
Hah, you are lucky that this novel isn't an action novel or my next attack would be deadly. But since this is a Love-Comedy, you will only be mildly injured!
Also, the concept of the story itself is something I have never seen before, except maybe in Goethe's Faust. Not kidding here. We watch Waltraute watching the little boy, and a lot of story is simply that: Her and other seeing the boy interact with others and commenting on it. It is strange, but the very first thing that came to my mind was the Prologue of Faust Pt. I.
So, this book is actually a strange one to recommend. Everyone that likes Japanese Light Novels, Comedy or Norse Mythology could read it, but I guess only if you come for the comedy, you will be completely satisfied. But if this review made you curious about this novel although it might not be the perfect book for you, I suggest you give it a try nevertheless. It is available only in japan, which means you can find semi-legal translations all over the internet.
This is my first book by Kamachi, and his way of comedy is exactly up my alley. When compared to other funny books like Discworld, Kamachi isn't the one aiming for jokes or having a huge build-up to make you laugh your ass off, instead it is just the pure nonsense or stupidity of situations that makes you chuckle - the only thing is that these situations never end, which leads to me having fun with a comedy book the whole time I read it, instead of having to drag through a serious but badly written story passage to get to the next gag.
This book was meant to an introduction to Norse Mythology, and I have to admit it does its job pretty well. I am a sucker for norse myths and vikings, but I've never had the heart to go grab a book abaout myths. This novel gives you all the infromation you need to get started with Norse Mythology, but at the same time it uses all the facts you get to turn them around and incorporate into hillarious situations that are kida believable, due to the mythologic background. But by far the funniest thing about this book is that it doesn't give a shit about the fourth wall. It destroys it in the beginning of the novel and steps over the ruins of said wall about every page or so, for example in situations like
Hah, you are lucky that this novel isn't an action novel or my next attack would be deadly. But since this is a Love-Comedy, you will only be mildly injured!
Also, the concept of the story itself is something I have never seen before, except maybe in Goethe's Faust. Not kidding here. We watch Waltraute watching the little boy, and a lot of story is simply that: Her and other seeing the boy interact with others and commenting on it. It is strange, but the very first thing that came to my mind was the Prologue of Faust Pt. I.
So, this book is actually a strange one to recommend. Everyone that likes Japanese Light Novels, Comedy or Norse Mythology could read it, but I guess only if you come for the comedy, you will be completely satisfied. But if this review made you curious about this novel although it might not be the perfect book for you, I suggest you give it a try nevertheless. It is available only in japan, which means you can find semi-legal translations all over the internet.
September 14, 2014
This was a highly amusing book, probably because it doesn't take itself seriously. This has the usual stereotypes and tends to break the 4th wall regularly, but that's part of the entertainment. Oh, and apparently it also aims to function as an intro to Norse myth.
Recommended if you just want something light and easy to read without the drama.
Recommended if you just want something light and easy to read without the drama.
May 9, 2025
Cliched and unfunny anime tropes with a Norse saga pastiche and the utter incompetence at using mythology to provide anything outstading or worth remembering.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews