A new year means it's time for another round of Dealer's Choice, where the only theme unifying the reviews is their refusal to fit into most of my usual themes and my desire to talk about them anyway. We're starting off with yet another Yuu Watase title, but this one is a little different from the rest.
ARATA THE LEGEND (Arata Kanagatari), by Yuu Watase. First published in 2008 and first published in North America in 2010.
PLOT:
Arata Hinohara is a miserable teen who is bullied and shunned by his classmates. Arata Hime is a restless young man forced to conceal his true gender in order to take over his family's traditional role as a magical protector of the land. Things go badly for this Arata right away, as the princess he's tasked with protecting is brutally murdered by one of her twelve generals. Arata is framed for the crime and tries to flee, only to stumble through a tear in time and space so he can switch places with Hinohara. While Arata Hime adjusts to modern Japan, Hinohara is stuck in a strange world as a fugitive for a crime he did not commit with only a serving girl to guide him and a mystical weapon said to possess the power of a god. It seems that the only way Hinohara can get home is to survive long enough to clear his counterpart's name and save the kingdom.
