For me, there are four concepts that predominate throughout the narrative of the Yuusha de Aru franchise: Religion, The Passed Baton, the language of the flowers and the value of the sacrifice. Hero History Apocrypha used them all with mastery.

This review cover only the first volume of the light novel (but the score is for the work as a whole). And it will be divided in two parts, one without spoilers and other with spoilers.

Part 1 - without spoilers:

I admit that when a spin-off for this franchise I love was announced, I was a little afraid. Afraid that maybe it could change something in NoWaYu. Or worse, change that perfect ending of Yuusha no Shou. What I didn't expect was the amount of things Hero History Apocrypha would add to the franchise as a whole. Mainly to the concept of religion and the language of the flowers.

The first volume chronicles the backstage of the NoWaYu events. What was happening in the Taisha as all the events that led to the change of ages unfolded. How each news about the heroes was received and the shock it brought. The chronology of the story is very well located since the first chapter. In addition to showing us how Taisha really looks like from the inside, the work also brings a lot of new information about the religiosity present in the main plot of the franchise. A simple reference to the book "The Science of Near-Death Experiences" was enough for me to understand that this novel wouldn't be a common work in the franchise.

Despite belonging to the Yuusha de Aru franchise, Hero History Apocrypha is not a action genre work. It is actually about humanity, religion, psychology and politics. And as such, it wouldn't work if it were not for the excellence of its narrative and its characters. The first part is divided into three different narrations, by Aki Masuzu, Yoshika Hanamoto and Hinata Uesato. They are the Miko who guided Doi Tamako and Anzu Iyojima, Chikage Koori and Wakaba Nogi respectively, and a brilliant feature of the narrative is the differences between them. Each time the narration changes, it is as if you are reading something entirely different. Aki has a super relaxed way of being, but is radically shaken by unfortunate events. Yoshika is serious and has very strong ideals. Hinata is very intelligent, but has a very low self-esteem. Reading monthly may not be enough to notice, but if you read at once, you'll be shocked to feel so strongly the personality and pain of each of these girls. Among them, I need to highlight Yoshika Hanamoto. She is very different from the other characters in the franchise. Owner of a strong personality, she does no blindly accept everything Taisha dictates. She questions not only the institution, but even Shinju-sama himself. Okay, I know that other characters have already done this in the franchise, Like Fuu Inubouzaki in YuYuYu and Sonoko Nogi in Sonoko in Reminiscence (追憶の園子 Tsuioku no Sonoko), but Yoshika's case is different. She has a religious outlook that comes from before Shinju-sama's presence was known. And she doesn't give up what she learned during her life. Such a character could only exist before Anno Domni, when people still had much more knowledge of pre-Shinju religions. Due to her vast knowledge, she doesn't faithfully accept everything dictated by Taisha and supposedly by Shinju-sama. Even after so much material and among so many incredible characters, Yoshika manages to be a breath of fresh air within the franchise.

Part 2 - With spoilers:

In just five chapters, the work narrated how the events of NoWaYu affected the Miko of the Taisha, and subsequently, how it led Hinata to assume the leadership position within this religious, political and technological institution. And as you would expect, the pain of loss is very severe. Even more because one of the strongest points of the work is the depth of the narrative. Each passage is narrated in a very crude way, without preparing the reader before. It is outstanding how each describes their pain, fears and frustrations. An especially strong one is when Yoshika go out to search the dead body of Chikage. It takes place on a day of heavy rain, and because of that, Yoshika had to go through a flood with the water hitting up to her waist, and as she suffers from aquaphobia, she needs to overcome her biggest trauma. This confrontation is described by Yoshika of a very visceral way. No media other than a book could achieve such a strong narrative. Takahiro's writing skills are more developed than ever here.

Now, about how this first volume masterfully used each of the main concepts:

•Religion: The concept of religion created in the franchise was explored in its best within this spin-off. Yoshika says several phrases that can be interpreted as small explanations of how Shinju-sama's presence affected the world. She also says several terms that had not been used before. For exemple, the possible name of the religion that worships Shinju-sama. And by being a great scholar, Yoshika makes many analogies, paradoxes and explanations about psychology in religion. There are passages in which she explains perfectly how situations of severe stress can lead communities of people to irrational violence. This is something that could easily be proven today, with all this COVID-19 situation. Besides being a character of extreme importance to understand several other events of the Yuusha de Aru franchise, Yoshika is such an extraordinary chracter that she even questions wheather people really have equal values. There's a passage where she says: "What if the damage is done? Just leave it. Even if a city is destroyed, it's not like someone dies. Since seeing Heroes as sacred is part of your Shinjuist doctrine, Koori-sama's life must be more important than a human life, no, dozens, even hundreds of them!"

•The Passed Baton: "Even if they died... Anzu-chan and Tamako were still here. What they left behind would still have meant for posterity." What dou you want to leave behind? What messages? What teachings? The passed baton (託されたバトン Takusareta Baton) is perhaps the strongest and most subtle concept in the franchise. Each novel and anime always makes use of this concept, always showing how small acts of courage can lead the world to a better future. As the struggle and death of each hero was not in vain. In Hero History Apocrypha, this concept presents itself when the characters face the pain of loss in order not to let any death be for nothing. Near the end, the novel uses this concept in a way that makes it connected with all the arcs of the work. Yoshika incites revolt and leadership at Hinata. From there, Hinata starts to be a leading figure in the Taisha, until the end of NoWaYu reaches, when she, together with Wakaba, decided what to do to improve Taisha for the next generation of heroes, when not even human sacrifice would be enough to sustain the wrath of the heavenly gods. These improvements were presented in WaSuYu and later in YuYuYu. Therefore, Yoshika was also responsible for the heroes of the future having managed to defeat the heavenly gods. Again, the passed baton.

•The Language of the Flowers: My personal favorite concept of the franchise. As it is an extremely comprehensive concept, I won't explain it here. I really found it amazing how this novel used it. Chapter four and some parts of chapter five shows how Yoshika faced the grief of Chikage's death, and in one of his last appearances in the novel, Yoshika appears near the tomb of Chikage, in a place filled with red spider lilies and just a single white spider lily. The symbology behind this landscape is really impressive. The red spider lily is Chikage's representative flower throughout the franchise, and it is a sepulchral flower, which means it grows near tombs. Among many things it represents death, abandonment, loss and longing. But is can also represent the afterlife. This flower never reveals its petals and leaves at the same time. For this reason, there is a chinese legend about two elves: Manju, who kept the petals, and Saka, who kept the leaves, but they never met, because the plant never gives flowers and leaves at the same time. But the elves were curious to know each other, so they defied the orders of the gods and made a meeting. Because of this disobedience, the two elves were punished, being separated for eternity. This legend is reflected in Yoshika, who never knew Chikage. And when Yoshika decided to find Chikage, that was not allowed. And they were separated forever and ever. On the other hand, the white spider lily represents chastity and purity. The lily is also the flower that represents the genre of works about love stories between girls in Japan. So I want to acclaim something that made me very happy in this novel. That it was finally verbalizing a girl's love for another girl. This franchise has a lot of queerbait. Most, in fact, I would love to see becoming true (I think all of them, actually). The franchise even went relatively far a few times, with Washii and YuYu, and even further with Wakaba and Hinata, but this time, it was openly stated that Yoshika was passionate about Chikage. It was probably a simple posture of respect that became idolaty and, finally, became love, which after became something even stronger. It was not subjective, it was obvious. And it was beautiful!

•The value of the sacrifice: I don't know if this is exactly a franchise concept. Not officially, at least. But an important fact is that power comes at a cost in Yuusha de Aru. Shinju-sama is not omnipotent. By observing Yuusha de Aru's plot well, you can see that the more power you use, the more things are lost in return. This goes for heroes, Taisha and Shinju-sama. This is very clear in the girls' transformations. In Hero History Apocrypha, this was explained a litle more with Yoshika's questions and in the final part, in which it shows the fire sacrifice with more details than in previous works. Literally Hinata was measured to have the same value as several Mikos. And that is how this wonderful first volume ends. Showing all Hinata's dissatisfaction with the sacrifice. And how she even plotted to take over Taisha's leadership. Uesato Hinata is a Miko!