Ever since “Date A Live” ended in 2020, fans have been speculating about new work by Date a Live duo, author Koushi Tachibana, and illustrator Tsunako. In January 2021, we received a glimpse of a new light novel that they are working on. The novel was supposed to come out in Spring before it got delayed to Fall 2021. Today, a new era for the author duo begins, with a gender-bender story called Ousama no Propose (King Propose), serialized in Fujimi Fantasia Bunko.
It’s not a new era just for them. Fantasia Bunko, as one of the top light novel publishers, is currently in a precarious position. Its flagship titles are slowly coming to an end (KimiSen, RokuAka), or have already ended (Date A Live), and fans are wondering what the future of the light novel giant is going to look like. Ousama no Propose may well mark the beginning of the new generation of light novels within the publisher, with Tachibana once again paving the way.
Ousama no Propose follows Kuga Mushiki, a boy who received a body of a powerful witch, Kuozaki Saika after she died. He soon realizes that he can turn back into his normal, male form, but it happens randomly. Saika’s servant, Karasuma Kuroe, is the only one who knows his secret. After all, it’s her whose kiss returns him back to Saika’s body when he accidentally switches. But, she also has an odd request. She wants him to attend school while pretending to be Saika.
That soon proves to be more difficult for Kuga than he thought. Saika was apparently quite popular and had a lot of people working under her. Kuga is stuck pretending and hiding the truth from everyone, including his own sister, who was a friend of Saika’s.
He was ordered by her servant, Karasuma Kuroe to attend the academy and pretend to be Saika. Unbeknownst to him, he has to kiss a girl in order to retain the female form whenever he turns male. Kuga has to be careful so that no one finds the truth, even his sister who is attending the same academy. The list also includes teachers, nurses, and everyone else in the school. Some of them may be suspicious, but no one can learn the truth.
A gender-bender story from Tachibana was a bit unexpected, as I thought he would stick to another harem. I have to say the story subverted my expectations. It is undeniable that the characters feel taken straight out of Date A Live, both in design and personality, but they do have some interesting aspects to them. DAL had a very unusual beginning, which made it feel like a soulless harem. However, it grew into something unexpected and I do hope Ousama no Proposal gives us something similar. It has a lot of potential to be both entertaining and unique, which I’m sure many light novel fans will appreciate.
Images: Official Twitter
©Tachibana Koushi/Tsunako/Fantasia Bunko