Series · Kodansha
The Beast Player Vol. 1
Graphic Novel
Oct 29, 2025
Ten-year-old Elin loves her brave and beautiful mother, a gifted beast doctor charged with the care of the Toda-the fearsome giant serpents that the kingdom's warriors ride into battle. Their modest but happy life together is shattered when a mysterious illness fells the entire stable of the prized serpents overnight, and Elin's mother is saddled with the blame. Before she knows it, Elin finds herself cast out from all she has ever known, alone in a faraway land, with only her mother's words and the kindness of strangers to guide her. A sumptuous manga adaptation of the hit fantasy novel series, The Beast Player, by Nahoko Uehashi.
$10.99
The Beast Player Vol. 2
Graphic Novel
Oct 29, 2025
Back on her feet-at least physically-after her harrowing ordeal, Elin adjusts to her new life with the kind old beekeeper Joeun. Fascinated by his bees and their mysterious ways, she's excited when he tells her they'll be going high up into the mountains for the summer to follow the bees' favorite wildflower blooms. But when Joeun loses his footing in a deep ravine inhabited by wild toda and even fiercer beasts, Elin will have to figure out how to save them both.
$10.99
The Beast Player Vol. 3
Graphic Novel
Oct 29, 2025
Elin, now 14, has become a seasoned hand on Joeun's farm. But her peaceful life is turned on its head when Joeun's son shows up from the royal capital, urging him to return to his former post as headmaster of an academy for the country's elite. Life in the capital would take them far away from the beasts and animals Elin loves, to where people look down on her Ahlyo heritage. Worse yet, as a girl, she won't be allowed to attend the academy, and will soon be expected to find a suitable marriage match...
$10.99
The Beast Player Vol. 4
Graphic Novel
Oct 29, 2025
When the headmistress of the Kazalumu School learns that Elin has observed wild Royal Beasts in their natural habitat, she invites her to meet a special new arrival at the sanctuary-the young cub Leelan, recently injured in an attempt on the Yojeh's life. Alone, terrified of the light, and refusing to eat, the traumatized cub cowers in a darkened pen, growing weaker by the day. Elin is sure she can find a way to help it, and the headmistress begrudgingly gives her one month to try. But with time quickly running out for the frail little creature, Leelan's life is entirely in Elin's hands…
$10.99
The Beast Player Vol. 5
Graphic Novel
Oct 29, 2025
After Elin miraculously saves the ailing cub Leelan, enticing it to finally eat with a harp modified to sound like its mother, the faculty at the Kazalumu School are left with a stark choice. The matter is certainly important enough that the Yojeh would expect to be informed, but such a revelation would no doubt draw the wrong kind of interest-both in the exploitation of Royal Beasts, and in Elin's heritage as an Ahlyo. But as Elin continues to study and care for Leelan, unaware of the political storm her work is inviting, she will uncover far more explosive revelations-knowledge long ago buried and forbidden. Knowledge that might tie back to her mother.
$10.99
