The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap Vol 1 Review

Here we have yet another one of those long-winded, but attention-grabbing, light novel titles! The White Cat’s Revenge as Plotted from the Dragon King’s Lap was originally a light novel by Kureha and with character designs by Yamiyo. This manga adaptation, by Aki, is a delightful shojo, isekai series about a young lady who’s always been overlooked and, instead of becoming a beloved hero, continues to be snubbed, even after being summoned to another world!

Synopsis:

Ever since they were kids, everyone has always fallen all over themselves to faun over Ruri’s ditzy, but adorable, friend Asahi. Asahi, meanwhile, sticks to Ruri like glue, which means that she catches no end of grief from Asahi’s jealous admirers. Ruri has come to resent her oblivious friend, but none of her efforts to put distance between them has been effective. Even when Asahi is suddenly summoned to another world to become the Priestess Princess of a magical kingdom, Ruri can’t get a reprieve from her since the magic spell drags Ruri there too! Everyone at the palace is immediately enamored with Asahi and her closeness with Ruri quickly draws the ire of the Kingdom’s Crown Prince. Soon, Ruri finds herself banished from the kingdom over false charges and left alone to die in a forest full of monsters. This is the final indignity! Ruri is fed up with Asahi and her entourage of sycophants and she vows to get revenge on them all… Somehow!

Review:

Despite the title, Asahi lets go of her plans for revenge fairly quickly; partially because, no matter how angry she is, she’s not really a spiteful person by nature, and partially because Asahi genuinely doesn’t seem to realize all of the trouble that she’s causing. There is also reason to believe that some kind of charm spell is influencing the behaviour of everyone around Asahi and causing them to worship and adore her. Even Ruri, who seriously can’t stand Asahi, rejects that possibility that Asahi herself might be responsible for this spell, as she doesn’t think her frenemy would do something so underhanded. Since the charm, and not any specific person, is responsible for Ruri’s misfortune, it’s really for the best that’s she decides to move on from her half-assed revenge plan.

So, instead of spending her time plotting and scheming like the title would imply, Ruri spends most of this volume learning about the fantastical world she’s landed in and how the magic there works. Turns out, fairies are the beings who are actually responsible for carrying out feats of magic and humans simply borrow their power when they cast spells. Different people have an affinity with different fairies and the types of magic you can perform, and your level of power, is determined by which, if any fairies, are drawn to you.

Well, as it would happen, Ruri’s enemies are lucky that she’s not very serious about pursuing revenge, since her essence is so appealing, it draws all kinds of fairies to her in swarms – meaning, she’s incredibly powerful!

I think it’s safe to say that Ruri is the actual Priestess Princess that was summoned and that everyone just mistook Asahi as the person with this special destiny because of the power of the charm that’s been placed on her. I found this to be an intriguing and fun setup: What happens if no one recognizes the Chosen One as the Chosen One and some flighty idiot is placed into their role instead? Well, I can’t imagine it will go well for the kingdom in question, but, in the mean-time, this mix- up gives our heroine the freedom to wonder around and explore the strange world she finds herself in, instead of being shackled to a grand destiny right out of the gate.

The story has a laid-back feel, as Ruri slowly learns more about her new powers and makes new friends and allies, ones who are able to actually appreciate her for her kindness. This volume was a little exposition heavy, with a good chunk of time taken up explaining about fairies and how various kinds of magic work, but I really enjoyed learning about all of the weird little details of this world; like how everyone can make magical space pockets to store things in and how these space pockets are overseen by the gorgeous, Time Fairy, who kind of just puts people’s stuff into random pockets after they die!

Strangely, both the white cat and the Dragon King mentioned in the title barely feature in this volume at all. Ruri acquires a bracelet that gives her the power to turn into an adorable little kitty-cat, but only makes use of it towards the very end of the volume. The Dragon King also only shows up towards the end, so I don’t have much to say about him or his potential romance with Ruri at this point. I did find the Dragon King’s retainers, who are all desperate to see their King settle down and get married, to be hilarious, however. They’re ready to spring into action and start planning the wedding at the smallest of hints that their liege might be just the slightest bit interested in someone! I foresee a rocky road to romance ahead for our two leads.

This volume spent a lot of time on set up, but I found it to be a cute and delightful fantasy story and I’m excited to see where things lead, now that all the characters have been fully introduced and the plot can begin in earnest. I’ll definitely be picking up volume 2 and I’d recommend this to isekai fans and anyone looking for a whimsical and humorous fantasy story.

Final Score 7.5 out of 10

What did you think of this manga? Has anyone read the light novel? Let me know if you think this was a good adaptation in the comments!

You can find more information on this manga by visiting Yen Press’ website.

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If you’re looking for more isekai manga series with female protagonists, check out some of these other reviews:

• The Dark History of the Reincarnated Villainess Vol 1 Review
• Fiancée of the Wizard Vol 1 Review
• Ascendance of a Bookworm (manga) Vol 1 Review
• My Next Life as a Villainess: All Routes Lead to Doom (Manga) Vol 1 Review
• I’m the Villainess, So I’m Taming the Final Boss (manga) Vol 1 Review
• I Was Reincarnated as the Villainess of an Otome Game but the Boys Love Me Anyway! Vol 1 Review

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