The Beast Player is a recently translated older Japanese series by Nahoko Uehashi. There is also apparently an anime based on this story called Erin but I sadly can’t find any way to get a hold of it at the moment (I hope this changes and it will become available again).

Elin looses her father, then her mother at a young age, and the latter of which in a very traumatic way by wild Toda, giant dragon like creatures. Her mother had loved and cared for the “tamed” war Toda of her village, and yet when something happens to some of them, she is accused and led to this awful fate. But looking back on these final moments with her mother combined with what she has learned in the past and continues to learn in the present, Elin begins to uncover secrets about her mother’s people, the giant beasts called Toda and the Royal Beasts, and how the kingdom is manipulating beasts for political agendas. Elin is able to interact with the beasts in ways that no one has seen before and therefore unwittingly gains the interest of the rulers of the kingdom. While she doesn’t want to get tangled up in politics and just wants to be able to learn more about the beasts and grow her bond with them, she may not have much of a choice.

I saw someone make a comparison of this storyline to Studio Ghibli movies and I could agree with that, it is very focused on humans’ interaction with our land and the other living creatures who inhabit it and how we are similar to and differ from these creatures. Of course, when looking at such a connection, we see both the dark and light sides and there is a lot about the selfishness and blind ambition of humanity but also about those humans that stand against that darkness no matter what. I could see Elin being a main character in a Ghibli movie. ( )

The first few pages, I thought something was familiar about this book--but the more I read, the more it solidified. I had watched the anime based on this book, Kemono no Sōja Elin, or "Erin," first in the 2000s and remember walking away from that anime heartbroken, mended, joyful, saddened, touched, and a little older. I am glad to see that the anime captured the emotions in the book effortlessly for one of the rare times.

I am so glad to have discovered this in English. Lovely, lovely book and series. ( )

Actual Rating: 4.25 stars

It was a struggle to get into this book. Translated works are usually pretty iffy for me - tone is an important part of a novel for me, and sometimes translations end up feeling robotic. This was the case a little for The Beast Player, but it’s still one of the better translated books I’ve ever read. And the plot more than made up for the slightly stilted dialogue.

This book dealt with ethics, I guess you could say. What animals are capable of, what rights they have in terms of interacting with humans, and to what extent we as people should exert our control over them. We all know how I feel about animal behavior, so I genuinely loved that aspect of the book. It’s easy for us to try to humanize our pets and it doesn’t always end well. This book was very careful to remind the reader that animals are animals - they have different motivations and understandings of the world around them than we do.

And of course it dealt with more than that too. There was some political drama too. And on that front, I gotta say: uh the book just kind of ends? Like right smack dab in the middle of something?

So heads up on that. ( )

The Beast Player is a setting similar to feudal Japan in my mind. Especially with the parts played by the Toda warriors. The descriptions of Elin's world are exceptionally beautiful, in-depth, and make it easy to imagine what it would look like. The Royal Beasts are also described with great detail but leave a little to the imagination - to me they would look like a wolf griffon only significantly larger. The Toda lack in-depth descriptions other than being serpents but I imagine them similar in appearance to Haku from Spirited Away but less beautiful and I'm not entirely sure if they do have legs.

I really enjoyed Elin's time with Joeun and the in-depth detail Nahoko Uehashi described beekeeping - my brother-in-law keeps bees. Joeun fed Elin's curiosity into the mysteries of nature works and how creatures function. In her time with Joeun she discovers a passion for the Royal Beasts after seeing them for years on their trips following the seasonal flowers for the bees. Despite her young age, Elin is exceptionally bright, her inquisitive mind leads her to discoveries and unusual methods others hadn't thought of. It is because of this Elin finds herself studying to be a beast doctor and caring for a Royal Beast cub. The cub is near the brink of death and Elin's methods not only save the cub and create a bond but defy the ways that the Royal Beast Canon states Beasts should be cared for. The reasoning behind the Royal Beast Canon, the Law's existence, and the context of Elin's mother's death is not revealed until the tail end of the book. The story is told to characters before this point but not disclosed to the reader which was a little frustrating.

The only thing that really broke up the seamlessness of the book in my eyes were the other points of view. Although it all tied together in the end it was a little jarring to switch to someone completely new and in a different setting. That's the only reason I hesitated to put this book at a 5 but I would put it at a 4.5-4.75. I would agree with the statements that compare The Beast Player with a Studio Ghibli movie - it could definitely be one. The story would most closely resemble that of Princess Mononoke, where the balance between the worlds of humanity and nature is in a state of unrest.

I would highly recommend The Beast Player to readers who enjoy books about animals (and the relationships humans have with them), fantasy, and Japanese mythology. I purchased this book because I didn't initially realize The Beast Warrior I requested from NetGalley was part of a series and I am VERY glad I did. I would definitely not suggest reading them out of order. ( )

“...there were times when she felt herself become a prick of light in the vastness of the night sky, times when all living things, people, beasts and insects, dwindled to equal points of light twinkling in the darkness.”

*jenny slate scream* ( )