HAREM DAYS: THE SEVEN-STARRED COUNTRY (Koukyu Days: Shichijoukoku Monogatari), by Momo Sumomo. First published in 2011 and first published in North America in 2018.
PLOT:
As a young girl, Hisui's life was changed forever when her parents were killed and her beloved older brother Kohaku disappeared. She was taken in by a wandering performance troupe, and nowadays is acclaimed just as much for her convincing drag performance as she is for her martial arts. When they are called upon to perform for the handsome young emperor Ryusei, he selects her to join his harem as an entertainer. Hisui finds herself flustered by the emperor's attentions as well as his resemblance to her long-lost brother. Soon enough, though, she finds herself caught up in a deadly conspiracy that threatens the emperor's life.
STORY:
Harem Days owes an obvious debt to The Story of Saiunkoku, with the similar premise of a poor yet strong-willed young woman brought into the court of an emperor to solve his problems. That's where the similarities end, though. While Harem Days is not without its charms, neither its heroine nor its premise is quite as strong as the series that inspired it.
Hisui isn't a bad protagonist - she's a skilled actor, strong, nimble, loyal and kind. Yet she's also a bit too reserved for her own good, to the point where she seems a bit lost in her own story when she's not performing. It also doesn't help that her dilemma - finding her long lost brother - is a bit more rote as far as shojo manga is concerned and thus isn't as compelling as something"wanting to become the first female politician in the kingdom." It's a perfectly good motivation, but it's not quite as intriguing and as the story goes on it feels less and less relevant.
Then there's the matter of Ryusei. He's much more of an obvious copy of his Saiunkoku counterpart, right down to the similar names. While Ryuuki showed his true colors fairly early on, it's harder to get Ryusei pinned down. It's hard to tell how much of his actions are motivated by genuine attraction and interest in Hisui versus selfishness and willingness to exploit her flexibility as a palace outsider to rout out problems. Harem Days plays up the possibility of romance between them much more blatantly, but it's hard to get too invested in that considering Hisui spends a lot of time pondering if Ryusei might not be her long-long brother. Nothing kills romantic tension quite like the prospect of incest!
I don't want to seem too down on this series, as I suspect some of these issues are just the unsteadiness that comes with the early chapters of a new series. If Sumomo can take the time to better define her leads and distinguish her series from its inspiration, Harem Days has the potential to become something special.
ART:
Sumomo's art isn't going to set the manga world on fire, but she does bring a certain polish to her work. The characters designs strike a good balance between suitably ornate and generically attractive. There are brief moments of elegance (especially during Hisui's performances), but for the most part the panels and pages are tidy and easy to follow. It's simply good, solid, middle-of-the-road manga art.
PRESENTATION:
Sadly, if there's anything that really drags this book down, it's the translation. Media-Do seems to struggle with getting high-quality translators - hell, they don't even credit their translators. As such, the dialogue can be a little clunky at times and the whole thing reads like it needed at least another pass to smooth things out.
RATING:
With time (and hopefully a better translator in the future), I think that Harem Days could make the most of its premise while improving on its currently lackluster and mildly unfocused characters. Even in this state, it's still one of the stand-out titles in Media-Do's library and shojo fans should give it a look.
This series is published by Media-Do. This series is complete in Japan with 14 volumes available. 6 volumes have been published digitally and are currently in print.
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