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Niehimetokemono
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"To be the source of energy for the King, whose powerful fangs and razor-sharp claws would terrify any creature... That's my destiny!"

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Niehime to Kemono no Ou (贄姫と獣の王, Sacrificial Princess and the King of Beasts) is a shoujo manga by Yuu Tomofuji. It was serialized in Hakusensha's magazine Hana to Yume from 2015 to 2020, with 15 released volumes. It has a CD drama with Aoi Yuuki and Kenjiro Tsuda as the leads, and an Animated Adaptation with Kana Hanazawa and Satoshi Hino in the main roles was aired from April to September 2023. There's a sequel, Shiro Usagi to Kemono no Ouji (白兎と獣の王子, The White Rabbit and the Beast Prince), which started in 2022 and is still ongoing.

The world where this story happens is divided in two nations that are barely allowed to interact: Yoana, the nation of humans, and Ozmargo and the nation of monsters. Sariphi is a young Yoana girl who has been raised by a rather cold family, with one purpose: to be sacrificed to Leonhart, the King of Ozmargo. He is believed to be a cruel monster, who has demanded for young human girls to be sacrificed to him for years; Sariphi will be the 99th one. She's not afraid, however: Sariphi considers her life to be rather dull and knows her parents only raised her so their biological daughter Maria wouldn't be a sacrifice, so she just sees it as her fate.

When Sariphi meets Leonhart, she faces him without any fear. Much to her surprise, she realizes that the King is quite different from everyone's image of him: he's actually a very quiet man-beast who releases the women offered as sacrifices in secret, and seems to have quite the issues. He's surprised and intrigued by Sariphi's gentle fearlessness and, rather than pretending to sacrifice her and then allowing her to leave, he takes her as his Queen Consort...

Tropes used in Niehime to Kemono no Ou include:


  • Beautiful All Along: Leonhart's human form
  • Brooding Boy, Gentle Girl: Leonhart is a massive brooder with many issues and a secret human heritage, Sariphi is a kind teenage girl whose kindness and lack of fear are key to the plot itself.
  • Fearless Fool: Saliphie talks back to Leonhart's courtiers when they point out how thin she is, pokes the King's soft paws, refuses to plead for her life even when she's told to, tells Leonhart to his face that she doesn't mind being eaten by him...
  • Half-Human Hybrid: What Leonhart actually is, as he had a human mom and a beast dad. It's a great source of shame and insecurities for him.
  • Human Sacrifice: 99 young girls (Sariphi included) have been offered as this to King Leonhart. Subverted in that none were actually sacrificed.
  • Interspecies Romance: But of course! Leonhart's decision to marry Sariphi rather than sacrificing her kicks off the whole plot.
  • Spoiler Opening: The anime seems to assume that the viewers have read the manga already, and tosses around spoilers like Leonhart's human form and the existance of Ilya, Sariphi's Unlucky Childhood Friend