It’s an outdated saying you can select your mates, however you’ll be able to’t select your loved ones. However what do you do when your loved ones takes your mates away? That’s the scenario Ichika finds herself in as a part of her isekai expertise, and never essentially in the best way you assume. (Or would assume, should you hadn’t learn the sequence title.) Since highschool, Ichika, now a pre-med scholar, has seen a boy named Cecil by way of an outdated hand mirror. Although the picture was blurry, his voice got here by way of loud and clear, and the 2 shaped an in depth friendship, although Cecil additionally developed romantic emotions for the older Ichika. Ichika instructed her sister Karen, a yr older than her, all about Cecil, a factor that may come again to hang-out her later when each Karen and the hand mirror disappear at some point. Bereaved by the double lack of sister and buddy, Ichika tries her greatest to maneuver on… after which, a yr later, the mirror reappears, pulling Ichika by way of.
Comfortable reunions, nonetheless, usually are not the norm for this sequence. Ichika is shortly noticed by a really acquainted lady, who runs as much as her and cheerfully calls her “Karen.” Whereas Ichika is bewildered, her sister turns to a grown-up Cecil and introduces him to “her older sister Karen.” When Cecil calls her “Ichika,” the actual Ichika realizes that one thing has gone terribly unsuitable, and never simply with the timeline. (That is later defined as one of many unusual results of world crossing; timelines not often match up.) It seems that the older sister she adored was by no means who Ichika thought she was, and he or she’s given some harsh classes in a actuality she by no means needed.
In one other world my sister stole my identify is a little bit of a twist on the normal isekai villain story. Karen is clearly a villain and all of her actions are centered on herself and ensuring that she, and he or she alone, will get what she needs. When she fell by way of the mirror and realized that the Cecil her youthful sister was gossiping about was a good-looking prince, she instantly started utilizing the tales Ichika instructed her to persuade him that she was the lady he fell in love with, and he or she’s not comfortable that the actual Ichika has surfaced. Her plan to make the perfect of issues to this point solely includes maintaining Cecil and Ichika aside and marrying Ichika off to Cecil’s brother Noah, however it’s not exhausting to think about her going additional if she feels she must. The story reveals Karen’s ruthless internal self, simmering simply beneath the floor, and it appears solely believable that, if push got here to shove, she’d resort to extra merciless or drastic measures to take away her little sister.
Fortunately for Ichika, she won’t be as sensible as she thinks. Cecil, who in fact can’t be utterly remoted from the actual Ichika, makes a number of feedback about how he needs her sister was extra like her, with the implication being that he’s seen that his fiancée isn’t the girl he used to know. There are additionally a number of hints that Cecil won’t be solely who Ichika thought he was, and the tense relationship between him and Noah feels extra significant than it appears. Isn’t Karen the one one mendacity about her identification? She was capable of pull off her deception as a result of the mirror’s picture wasn’t clear, so it looks as if that may go each methods. Noah is unquestionably bitter about one thing, and his character doesn’t make it seem to be it’s all about who’s the inheritor and the reserve. There’s lots of intrigue right here, whilst Ichika makes an sincere effort to dwell her life as greatest she will be able to, all of the whereas harboring the thought at the back of her thoughts of methods to discover a approach again to her world.
Ichika is a brilliant particular person, each in intelligence and character, which helps maintain the ebook from feeling bleak. She is upset in regards to the scenario, particularly Karen’s remedy of her, even going as far as to order that Ichika not be taught magic as a way to strengthen her personal place, however she is just not going to only sit again and settle for it both. She research, she learns, and he or she thinkswhich is probably an important factor. She tries to type out her personal feelings as she strikes ahead, with the primary ache being that it seems she didn’t know her sister in any respect. Though the textual content doesn’t hammer residence the purpose, that’s nonetheless the worst a part of the entire expertise for Ichika. It’s a betrayal of her complete life up till now, and he or she struggles to cope with it.
In one other world my sister stole my identify is a pleasant twist on the everyday isekai villain story. Karen’s villainy isn’t overdone and Ichika may be very likable, however doesn’t really feel like a wimpy dishrag of a personality. The artwork may be very good, detailed with out being overwhelming, and the default is a pseudo-Victorian search for the backgrounds and costumes. With a not solely sudden twist on the finish of the amount and a few main questions in regards to the princes nonetheless hanging round, this looks like the start of a sequence that you simply’ll simply get hooked on.
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