Yatagarasu - Tumblr Posts
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.
“… 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.
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
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
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
I completely missed this in either format
But those few last pages.😍 my bl heart.
Guys, look! New chapter!
They look so cute eating ramen. ☺️
Source: Matsuzaki Natsumi-sensei's Twitter.
Wakamiya’ &Yukiya
Source: Matsuzaki Natsumi-sensei's
Karasu wa Aruji wo erabanai - ep 04
Or: how Lord Sumio made one of the hottest entrances in recent anime seasons that I've seen so far
You're going to serve this guy, Yukiya? He looks like a red flag to me. I like calculative bishie so I don't mind.
Their dynamic is literally "You're annoying but I'll still protect you even though you're probably stronger than me" I find that the prince's smile look more genuine when he's with Yukiya.
I’ve been waiting for you, Yukiya of Taruhi.
YATAGARASU: KARASU WA ARUJI WO ERABANAI (2024)
#02. the blockhead second son ⋆ ぼんくら次男
Wakamiya actually is sincere here.
I am so inept, I do not blame anyone for calling me a fool. But you know, Yukiya… I still consider myself a good judge of people. You will never betray me. Why? Because I doubt my enemies can offer you anything you would value more than the trust I place in you.
THAT DIALOGUE!!! It’s so well-written!!!!
Taruhi brothers, my beloveds.
I'm gonna miss Yatagarasu so much these three weeks. Just when we thought we were back...
Source: Yatagarasu anime's official account (drawn by Natsuki-sensei).
Natsuka's clothes.
He's so cute.
Source: Matsuzaki Natsumi-sensei's Twitter.
The light of his heart
Written for @fluffbruary Extended for the month of July: library | glimpse | trip .
Thank you for the prompt. This is the continuation of the fiction: The Favourite: Fragments from the last setting. Both Wakamiya/Nazukihiko and Yukiya’s characterisation might be OOC, but reading the third novel and mainly watching the anime, Nazukihiko’s resolve crumbles when it comes to Yukiya. This is my interpretation between the lines. Hence, fan fiction.
Here I am still focusing on Yukiya/Wakamiya ship whereas the Japanese audience, who have read all Chisato Abe’s novels and collection of stories, are already hard on Yukiya/Shigemaru train.
—
Fandom: Yatagarasu: The Raven Does Not Choose Its Master
Characters: Wakamiya/Nazukihiko, Yukiya, a very brief appearance of Sumio
Rating: T to slight M
—
Oh, I beg you, / always, always stay / the light of my heart, just as you have / illuminated my way / for an entire year!
— Daigobô Toshiô ( from “Japanische Jahreszeiten: Tanka und Haiku aus dreizehn Jahrhunderten”)
As soon as Yukiya rose to his feet, Wakamiya watched his every move and marveled at how his former attendant had grown up. Gone were the baby fats on the cheeks. The prominent jawline took over a once perfect oval face, and his eyes were bluer than before. He tied his hair on top of his head that flowed down his shoulders reaching the chest. Reddish brown, the same colour like his deceased mother’s, the second princess of the North. He kept his fringe. It suited the younger man, who turned 18.
He also gained more muscles due to countless rigorous trainings at the academy—hand-to-hand combat or otherwise— shapely powerful legs that brought into the fore. He was also a proud owner of a golden sword that dangled on his left side. The dainty stubborn boy was gone replaced by a cunning young military man ready to challenge the enemies of Yamauchi.
“Are you only going to stare at me the whole time? Or are you going to ask me what happened during my absence? If I have friends… Or how am I?” Yukiya licked his lips while he gazed at the Crown Prince, who, in turn, could not take his eyes off his personal guard.
Nazukihiko thought: Which you have. I know them well. You are enjoying your remarkable intimacy with Shigemaru, a fellow Northerner. It bothers me a bit, quite to be honest. And there’s Haruma, who looks up to you as if you were his god. He invited Yukiya personally after the young man successfully took the topmost award among the graduates at Keisoin.
This is strange. Words failed Wakamiya. As a true Golden Raven, he should not feel anything, like desire, at all. Hiding the blush on his cheeks, he shook his head and laughed softly to himself then turned his back to his distinguished guest. He focused his attention instead to the scrolls and books that he was reading at the moment laid out on the mahogany table next to the wall.
No more words exchanged, but heavy footsteps that made the nightingale floors chirp.
Read the rest on AO3.
(Images courtesy of Matsuzaki Natsumi and Studio Pierrot)
*Here I go again @ynxnyx