Aug 18, 2015
Starting off in the summer of 2014, I was a very bored person. I had no job, not much to do, and overall I was pretty bored. Then however after browsing around on my manga app for my tablet, I noticed that there was a new manga that I hadn't seen before; Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari.
At the time, there was only three chapters, so there wasn't much to go off of, but those three chapters alone, hooked me in for a ride I wasn't expecting. A ride that would lead me to probably, my favorite series in all of manga. (Just a little heads
...
up, much of my reasoning is backed by the light novel, so bear with me here. Also, some minor spoilers ahead.)
Story - 10
Starting off, you wouldn't expect much from the introduction; main character is forced into another world and is probably going to be wanting to get out because they are home sick. Well, that's a big FAT NO. It turns out that our main character, Naofumi, is off to a bad start which only gets worse as time goes on. The reasoning behind this bad start is quite unknown, in fact at the time of writing this, the manga itself hasn't even explained it in detail... yet.
So, starting off, we are looking at a main character who is broken and betrayed RIGHT at the start of his journey which sounds a bit cliche in a way, yet the manga pulls it off in unique way that eventually leads to quite possibly what Log Horizon would look like if you added in the corrupt politicians, plague, famine, death, etc etc. and the fact that the main character has a bit of a sadistic streak. So for that reason, and for what's coming up ahead, I score this section a 10/10.
Art - 9
For as much as I would like to give this section a 10/10, the art itself isn't all that unique. I mean yes, it's quite hilarious to see a manga version of (and I'm not lying here) Chocobos, and to see the occasional comedic relief panel, but for a manga that started in 2014 and is still on going here a year later with periodic releases of every month or twice a month (at least from what I can find raw or no), it's great, but not enough to give it a 10... Mostly because color pages are far and few between but are REALLY well done when seen.
Characters - 10
This is BY FAR the most interesting part of the story. The characters are unique in every sense imaginable, even the filler ones such as villagers have a unique story to them. Naofumi seems to be your typical Shounen character that would later develop into a Seinin guru of sorts, but they sort of skipped that whole starting off easy part. At first he seems hopeful and cheerful, but not even into the third chapter, that character is almost NEVER seen again. Right off the bat, our main character goes from happy, "Cool, I'm in a game!" main character to one that borders sadistic, yet caring and charismatic at the same time. This is especially shown when we meet our female lead Ralphtalia who would need a whole other section of her own when it comes to her development and relationship with our main character, but to keep it short and sweet: innocent, yet VERY "persuasive", even to the point she sometimes scares Naofumi. Then there's Firo who is also unique, however explaining her would spoil the fun in finding out who this third person of the main trio is.
Now that I've given a small overhead view of the main cast, looking over to the other 99.9% of the world of Tate No Yuusha No Nariagari, you have your run of the mill characters such as a black smith Naoufumi frequents who has quite the interesting back story, the magic shop owner, the apothecary, and the masochistic slave dealer that Naofumi has more than one run in with. All of whom have unique stories to them, and you begin to understand them more as the story progresses. (Sorry, but a lot of these things will be explained in later chapters, however there are subtle hints within what's out there at the moment.)
With the main story, it is QUITE clear people dislike... Actually, to be blunt, they HATE Naofumi, in fact, it gets to the point, the reader themselves pity him and grow to dislike the characters that hate Naofumi. However it gives a proper insight to how people think; "Our ruler says he is bad, so he must be bad." mob mentality, or as I prefer to call them, "Sheeple" since most of them, unless some sort of situation or event happens, have the same dislike of Naofumi as the ruler does. In fact the reasoning why this all started though, stems BEFORE chapter 1, however there's some pretty large spoilers in there, so I'll let the reader find out for their own... When the manga puts a spot light on it other than the small clues it gives out.
Enjoyment - 10
So as someone who was bored when they started this series, it would be fair to claim that there's a bit of bias as I write this section of the review, however anyone who has read the manga and/or the light/web novel (I am guilty of all three here...), would agree 100% that the story pulls you in within the first two or three chapters. It gets to the point, and we aren't just reading the manga, we are part of the manga and experiencing it first hand.
In fact, for me personally, it's gotten to the point that if there's no new chapters, I hunt down the raws for the manga, just so I can see how the story is progressing in the manga because I love this manga and series so much. It's one heck of a ride, and I hope people won't bail on it because of how long it takes in between chapters, which is reasonable considering most chapters are 35-50 pages a pop.
Overall - 10
Aside from the fact that the art is great looking, but common for the current time, this manga scores 10/10 across the board for me. The story is captivating and you can't put it down... well unless you reach chapter 16 since that's the latest chapter, but in a lot of cases people would go to Baka Tsuki to read the light novel online because the manga is slow to update, but it's glorious when it does.
The characters are amazing and unique, and you begin to understand them right off the bat, be it the Shield Hero Naofumi or the slave Ralphtalia, the chocobo Firo, or even John/Jane Doe that talks to any one of the trio since all of them have a unique story to be told, which makes it all the more enjoyable since it really feels like a JRPG or MMORPG where every character has something to say or tell.
So in the end, I score this series 10 out of 10 as the manga has plenty to offer, and if that's not enough the 378 chapter light novel that tells the ENTIRE story.
Also, for those who want a tl;dr version of this review: Read it, it's worth your time.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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