How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom

Plot

Kazuya Souma is a young man who is suddenly transported to another world where he is informed by Albert Elfrieden, the king of the Elfrieden Kingdom, that he is abdicating the throne to him. He is also informed that he has been betrothed to Albert's daughter, Liscia. Deciding he is going to rebuild the country's struggling economy, Kazuya gathers talented citizens who are going to help him with the reform.

Characters

Main characters

Kazuya Souma (相馬 一也 / ソーマ・カズヤ, Sōma Kazuya)

Voiced by: Yūsuke Kobayashi (Japanese); Alejandro Saab (English)

Summoned to another world to reportedly deal with the threat of the Demon Lord's Domain, Kazuya instead finds himself with the throne of the Kingdom of Elfrieden and the hand of Liscia Elfrieden forced on him. Now acting king, Kazuya begins radical reforms in order to improve the standard of living in the kingdom. In the One Week War, Kazuya finds himself in a civil war between himself and Dukes Georg Carmine and Castor Vargas while also having to fight the Principality of Amidonia. Through a series of military strategies, Kazuya emerges victorious and annexes Amidonia (although this was unplanned on his part) to create the Unified Kingdom of Elfrieden and Amidonia, otherwise known as the Kingdom of Friedonia. He then forges a secret alliance with Empress Maria Euphoria of the Gran Chaos Empire. Although he cannot do much combat, he is capable of wielding dark magic. Before his summoning, he was an avid reader.

Liscia Elfrieden (リーシア・エルフリーデン, Rīshia Erufurīden)

Voiced by: Inori Minase (Japanese); Anairis Quiñones (English)

The crown princess of the Elfrieden Kingdom and Kazuya's first fiancée, Liscia was at Kazuya's side from the very beginning. Initially dissatisfied with the unannounced engagement, Liscia soon softens and eventually develops deep feelings for Kazuya. Following the end of the One Week War, both Kazuya and Liscia affirm their love for each other, which results with the beginning of a series of nightly activities. Liscia is tolerant of Kazuya's many female admirers, even encouraging him to take more wives. However, she remains adamant about wanting to remain the first wife.

Aisha Udgard (アイーシャ・ウドガルド, Aīsha Udogarudo)

Voiced by: Ikumi Hasegawa (Japanese); Emily Fajardo (English)

Daughter of the Chief of the Dark Elves of the God Protected Forest, Aisha is one of the five people discovered during the gathering of the Gifted People, the first policy Kazuya implemented upon his impromptu accession to the throne. She serves as Kazuya's bodyguard and falls deeply in love with him during the landslide incident that struck her home. Following the One Week War, Aisha becomes Kazuya's second fiancée in recognition for her actions in that war concerning the hostile Principality of Amidonia. She is an accomplished warrior and big eater and Kazuya thinks of her as a cute pet.

Kingdom of Elfrieden/Kingdom of Friedonia

Hakuya Kwonmin (ハクヤ・クオンミン, Hakuya Kuonmin)

Voiced by: Kazuyuki Okitsu (Japanese); Howard Wang (English)

The Prime Minister of the Elfrieden Kingdom (now the Kingdom of Friedonia), Hakuya is one of the five people discovered during the gathering of the Gifted People. He serves as Kazuya's right-hand man and has extremely great insight into the human psyche. He is casual friends with Jeanne Euphoria, the younger sister of Maria Euphoria, the Empress of the Gran Chaos Empire.

He has respect for the philosophies Kazuya references, seeing the wisdom Earth holds.

Poncho Panacotta (ポンチョ・パナコッタ, Poncho Panakotta)

Voiced by: Masaaki Mizunaka (Japanese); Jim Foronda (English)

The Minister of Agriculture and Forestry of the Elfriedon Kingdom, Poncho is one of the five people discovered during the gathering of the Gifted People. Due to his vast knowledge of edible delicacies, he was a key player in ending the food shortages in the kingdom. Kazuya has given him the name of Ishizuka.

Tomoe Inui (トモエ・イヌイ, Tomoe Inui)

Voiced by: Moeka Kishimoto (Japanese); Emi Lo (English)

A member of the Mystic Wolf race and one of the five people discovered during the gathering of the Gifted People, Tomoe possesses the rare ability to speak to all manner of beasts and animals. When it was revealed that she could speak to a demon, Kazuya immediately recognized her as extremely valuable and she was adopted by Albert and Elisha Elfrieden in order to shelter her, in the process, becoming Kazuya's sister-in-law-to-be and Liscia's adoptive sister.

Halbert Magna (ハルバート・マグナ, Harubāto Maguna)

Principality of Amidonia

Gaius Amidonia (ガイウス・アミドニア, Gaiusu Amidonia)

Voiced by: Tetsu Inada (Japanese); Brandon Potter (English)

The last sovereign prince of the Principality of Amidonia, Gaius Amidonia the Eighth is one of the major players during the One Week War. Having trespassed the southwestern border of Elfrieden, Gaius laid siege to the city of Altomura. In a clever plan crafted by Kazuya, Hakuya, and Georg Carmine, Elfrieden was able to outwit Gaius, forcing him to flee back into Amidonia proper. In the subsequent battle, Kazuya himself ended Gaius's life but not before Gaius instructed his son to keep the flames of vengeance burning. Gaius's death resulted in the Elfrieden occupation of Amidonia's capital city, Van.

Julius Amidonia (ユリウス・アミドニア, Yuriusu Amidonia)

Voiced by: Kenji Nojima (Japanese); David Matranga (English)

The son of Gaius and the older brother of Roroa, Julius Amidonia is the prince who hastily inherited his post from his father prior to his death. However, after negotiations with the Gran Chaos Empire ended and Julius was given back his country to govern, rebellions soon rose up due to his ineffective and harsh leadership. Julius himself was driven out of the country, fleeing to the Empire, and with Roroa's intervention, the Principality of Amidonia was annexed into Elfrieden with the added bonus of Princess Roroa's hand in marriage.

Gran Chaos Empire

Maria Euphoria (マリア = ユーフォリア, Maria Yūforia)

Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto (Japanese); Dawn M. Bennett (English)

Known as the Saint, Maria is the Empress of the Gran Chaos Empire. Having held up the Declaration of Mankind's Common Front Against the Demon Race, simply, the Mankind Declaration, she is Kazuya's idealistic opposite. After the One Week War and the annexation of Amidonia, Kazuya and Maria forged a secret alliance in order to prepare for a full-on war with the Demon Lord's Domain.

Jeanne Euphoria (ジャンヌ = ユーフォリア, Jan'nu Yūforia)

Voiced by: Yui Ishikawa (Japanese); Michelle Rojas (English)

The younger sister of Maria, she was the one sent by the Gran Chaos Empire to take part in the negotiations of the Kingdom of Elfrieden and the Principality of Amidonia. Since then, she has been in constant contact with the Kingdom of Elfrieden (now the Kingdom of Friedonia) through the broadcasting jewel, especially with the prime minister Hakuya Kwonmin with whom she shares a close relationship, despite having rarely met him in person.

Star Dragon Mountain Range

Tiamat (ティアマト, Tiamato)

Also known as the Mother Dragon, she is an ancient dragon who is the ruler of the Star Dragon Mountain Range. Her age is unknown, but also possesses the title of Old One, which she does not have the authority to explain. She has great magical powers including transformation into a human form, a form of telepathy, and teleportation abilities.

Ruby (ルビィ, Rubi)

A red dragon who called the Star Dragon Mountain Range home. She was one of the dragons that bullied Naden directly due to her appearance and abilities. During the Storm Crisis in the Star Dragon Mountain Range, she was beaten by the other dragons as they blamed her for Naden's disappearance. After Naden's return, she was the first to decide to help Naden in order to restore her pride in herself. Despite her inability to utilize her wings in the storm, with the assistance of Halbert, she plunged into the storm and aided Naden for several moments before carrying a message to the other dragons. As during these events Halbert rode on her back, Ruby was no longer considered chaste and was contract partnered with Halbert with the blessing of the Mother Dragon.

Pai Long (パイ・ロン, Pai Ron)

A white dragon and the only one that Naden considers a friend. Pai often shows concern for Naden and constantly supports her despite not fully understanding Naden's obsessions with human culture.

Sapphire

A blue dragon and one of Ruby's companions when bullying Naden.

Emerald

A green dragon and one of Ruby's companions when bullying Naden.

Media

Light novels

Written by Dojyomaru and illustrated by Fuyuyuki, How a Realist Hero Rebuilt the Kingdom originally started as a web novel in 2014 on Shōsetsuka ni Narō, but it was subsequently deleted and resumed on Pixiv. The series was later acquired by Overlap, who published twenty volumes of it as a light novel under their Overlap Bunko imprint from May 25, 2016, to December 25, 2024. Digital English light novel publisher J-Novel Club announced their acquisition of the series on February 23, 2017. The print version is published by Seven Seas Entertainment.

Manga

A manga adaptation of the series by Satoshi Ueda began serialization on Overlap's Comic Gardo website on July 10, 2017. The series is also licensed in North America by J-Novel Club. As of June 2026, fifteen tankōbon volumes have been released.

Anime

An anime television series adaptation was announced by Overlap on April 17, 2020. The series was animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Takashi Watanabe, with Gō Zappa and Hiroshi Ōnogi penning the scripts, Mai Otsuka designing the characters, and Akiyuki Tateyama composing the series' music. The first half aired from July 4 to September 26, 2021, on Tokyo MX and BS11. The first half ran for 13 episodes. The second half aired from January 9 to April 3, 2022. The first opening theme song, "Hello Horizon", was performed by Inori Minase, while the first ending theme song, "Kazanear", was performed by Aimi. The second opening theme song is "Real-Eyes" by Inori Minase, while the second ending theme song is "Lights" by Aimi.

Funimation licensed the series outside of Asia. On July 30, 2021, Funimation announced the series would receive an English dub, which premiered the following day. Following Sony's acquisition of Crunchyroll, the series was moved to Crunchyroll. Mighty Media licensed the series in Southeast Asia and streamed it on iQIYI and Bilibili and also aired on Animax starting on March 9, 2022.

Reception

Rebecca Silverman of Anime News Network described the first novel as "feel[ing] a little bit like a thoughtful isekai", and wrote: "It's a bit too fond of info-dumps and has some narrative issues with voice, but generally speaking, if you've ever wanted to see the summoned hero do more than fight the bad guys and win the ladies, this is the book you've been waiting for".