Kunon the Sorcerer Can See Highlights Ingenuity and Hard Work

Yet another manga and light novel series handled by Yen Press and turned into an anime is Kunon the Sorcerer Can See. It’s picked up the series ahead of that debut. It’s also one of those stories about hard work, determination, and passion driving a character forward. As the title suggests, its hero is someone who finds himself blind from birth, and so decides to study magic to ensure he and others can see with spells. 

Editor’s Note: There are some mild spoilers for the first volume of the Kunon the Sorcerer Can See manga below.

Kunon Gurion inherited his blindness, but not in the way we would normally expect. In the series’ world, anyone who is descended from a hero might find a part of them missing. In his case, he can’t see because way back in his bloodline, a hero existed. While people around him offer him status, opportunities to marry into the royal family via his fiance Princess Mirika Hughlia, and special treatment due to that chance circumstance, all he wants is to be able to see his loved ones. When a water crest sigil is discovered on his body, his “luck” increases further, as it means he would be able to use magic. When a tutor offhandedly mentions a water bubble he made is about the size of an eyeball, he realizes that maybe he could use this new ability to give him the ability to see. 

Instead of this being a story where Kunon is magically gifted and immediately able to accomplish his goals, Kunon the Sorcerer Can See manga shows how his hard work gradually means he makes steps toward his goal. This is a fantasy, so it wouldn’t need to be realistic. However, it is. It’s practical. We see him first learning a most simple and rudimentary water spell that involves creating a sphere. But Kunon is a seven-year-old who’s been largely sheltered. His stamina isn’t there, so we see how it starts by him just building up the strength to master that basic version of that spell.

We also see how Kunon’s progress means he gradually gets closer to his goal, while also perhaps understanding how he could develop the skills he needs. After learning A-ori and developing those water orbs, he learns how to specialize them to do things like affect properties or even create a rainbow. Then when he does start to develop the ability to sense, we see it starts small by discerning possible colors. So much so that initially is seems like a sensation, but improves given the degree of contact.

Said progression is also great since we can see how getting the chance to do things for himself, rather than be coddles, and learning to music helps him grow as a person. As the Kunon the Sorcerer Can See manga starts, he’s quite depressed. He’s thrust into situations because of the “honor” of being a visibly marked descendant, then due to possessing a crest. But actually learning and using magic grants him these new opportunities. He can be more independent. He becomes stronger. He “falls in love” with magic as he learns to use it. Even his arranged marriage fiance, Mirika, immediately notices how this causes both a physical and internal change. It also seems his relationships with people around him other than her, like his tutor, develop further because of his now opening up. 

The first volume of the Kunon the Sorcerer Can See manga shows how strong this young man can be, and the progress he can make when he gets the chance to be himself and put forth effort. While he does seem adept and clearly people in-world are going to refer to him as a prodigy, those of us reading get to see his hard work. We watch the effort he puts in and the passion he develops for magic. It also means a possible opportunity that gives him what he wants, but perhaps could help others who might choose to use it down the road.

Volume 1 of the Kunon the Sorcerer Can See manga is available now, and Yen Press hasn’t said when we’ll see volume 2 yet. The company also handled the light novel. An anime is in development.

The post Kunon the Sorcerer Can See Highlights Ingenuity and Hard Work appeared first on Siliconera.