Showing posts with label
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody.
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Showing posts with label
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody.
Show all posts
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Vol 3
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Twenty-nine year old Satou had only closed his eyes for a brief nap at work, but when he opened them he found himself in a game-like alternate world. Fortunately, thanks to some excellent luck, his level is high and his wallet is full. After successfully saving the elf girl Mia from the evil Zen, he's set off on a journey to accompany her back to her village. Satou is enjoying his break from work and touring a brand-new world, but such a journey couldn't possibly end without a little adventure, right?
Okaaaay, I'm not going to lie, I'm loving the light novel of this more than the manga. I feel like the manga is a lot slower, among other things. The light novel is fast paced, there's lots going on and I feel like this works better as a light novel. However....yes. There's a however....I feel like this volume is a bit slower than usual.
Satou's having some weird visions which I'm sure are going to pop up in the next volume and he spends a good chunk of this volume gaining and levelling up a tonne of new skills which, again, I'm sure are going to come in to play next volume although some of them where used this volume. We spend this volume moving on from the previous setting and venturing out in to the world. We get some more tidbits of how the world works and the history of it, and we visit various towns and cities...uncovering a plot as we go along.
We even get to learn some more about how the magic works, and meet a couple of new characters that might come in handy later...or next volume. I'm sure you can see what I'm saying here. This volume, to me, felt like a transition volume. We move from one setting to another, a lot of things have been set up, some connections made, some new skills gained and so on. There was a good pace to this volume but not much really happened until towards the end of the volume, making this slower than the previous two volumes and it didn't grab my attention as much. The plus side is the knowledge we've gained and the set up for the next volume and presumably the next story arc!
There may or may not be some trouble ahead, and it looks like Zena will be back next volume which should prove interesting! I think things are going to pick up again next volume, but this volume on it's own was a tiny bit of a drag compared to the others so far. Although I did end up dubbing Satou King of the Life Hacks after this volume! We must all learn from him.
Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Vol 2
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Satou has broken free of the demon's labyrinth, rescuing Pochi, Tama, and Liza. And after liberating two more girls from slavery, one of which has a surprising knowledge of Japan, he's on his way in to a new adventure as it's now long before a new character makes an appearance and a rescue mission is launched in to place. But once the missions complete...where's Satou's next destination?
Okay, so I fiddled with the synopsis a bit to give you a smidge more information without spoiling the volume! For a good chunk of this volume we're getting to know the two new members to Satou's group, as well as a couple of other new characters. We have Arisa and Lulu from the end of the first volume, the former being the one that knows all about Japan! They're sisters and the newest members of the group! We have Nadi and her elf boss Yusaratoya, who run the general store! We also have Mia, another elf, and Nana right towards the end who I'm sure we'll get to know in the next volume!
So we get a few new characters to spice up the plot, which I enjoyed. It was nice to meet these new characters, and see their interactions with our favourites from the first volume. It's kept the story fresh and intriguing, I think. Volume 2 picks up not long after Volume 1 ended, and there's a little flashback to fill in the gap. Thanks to Arisa we get to learn a lot more about the world, and how it works thanks to her knowledge, which makes it all the more fascinating.
In this volume, Zena is present but she kinda takes a backseat, and Arisa takes to the stage as it where. There's a tonne more of her, as we get to know her and see her settle in to the group, we get to know Lulu a bit, but I'm hoping to see more of her in the next volume, along with Mia and Nana!
There's lots of action and adventure in this book, to go with the new characters, plus a new part of the world to explore that comes to life from the page. Sure there are some slow parts as the group's dynamic adjusts and everyone settles in. But there's some brilliant action sequences. I feel like I'm enjoying the light novel more than the manga, there's more information and more background on the world, characters and plot. Theres more detail, and I just find myself reading the light novel and getting lost in the story, whereas with the manga I feel like there's something missing and it's not as engaging. The characters come to life a lot more too!
The story progresses in this volume, as the ending wraps up this particular arc rather nicely, and our characters set out on a new journey with new characters. I'm intrigued to see how the story is going to continue! We've got new characters to get to know, and more of the world to see plus the whole deal with Satou and why he's there and what his purpose is!
Death March Vol 2
Rating: 3/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
Satou's caught in an underground labyrinth. Zena's also lost, and her only companions are three beast girls. Demons abound as Satou and Zena try to get to safety!
In this volume, Satou and the three beast girls are stuck in the labyrinth and need to work their way towards the exit, fighting monsters as they go. Zena is trapped in another location and it isn't long before the two groups meet up to face off with the big bad. This volume of the manga covers the last half of the first light novel and leaves on that same intriguing ending.
At this stage...I feel like I might be leaning towards the light novel more than the manga. There's some little details missing from the manga that are in the light novel and on one hand it's kind of expected, but on the other...I feel like Satou's character works better in the light novel where you have a better understanding of him. In the manga I find it easy to forget he's actually 29, and his age was what made him interesting and stand out to me in the light novel.
This series has such colourful and enticing covers, and the art in both the manga and light novel is fun and cute. I really do like the artwork! The story is brilliantly paced and you can breeze through it easily, and I enjoyed the dungeon adventurer vibe to this volume of the manga. I'm a sucker for that kind of thing though!
Of the characters, I'm really enjoying the beast girls in the manga, I loved them in the light novel, and I love them in the manga. I'm so eager to see more of them, and I've loved how Satou has taken them under his wing and helped them level up and everything. I'd like to see more of Zena fighting too, because I'm so curious about what she can do!
The ending of this volume leaves you intrigued and wanting to find out what the deal is with this strange new girl, who quite clearly knows something that Satou doesn't. I'm definitely interested in finding out where this story is going to go and what's going to happen next, I'm just not sure whether to go with the manga or the light novel!
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Death March Vol 1
Rating: 4/5
Buy or Borrow: Buy
Source: Copy courtesy of the publisher!
29 year old programmer Ichirou Suzuki is on a time crunch to finish a colleagues work on a buggy game, in order to complete it all....he goes on a 'Death March' and he was way more of an aptitude for all nighters than I do these days! When it's all over he finally gets to take a nap....but wakes up in another world. As would we all, he assumes he's dreaming...but this dream is....strange. It would appear he's in a kind of game..similar to the one he was working on before his nap, and so he throws himself in to 'playing the game' using Meteor Shower to give himself a head start on the riches and titles. But it soon becomes apparent that everything is a little...too real. Too authentic. Perhaps he's not dreaming after all....
And so he begins his adventurous journey. There's dragons, knights, heroes, and labyrinths....and the odd moment of seriousness!
First things first, this is my first time reviewing a Light Novel for you guys, so in case you're wondering what exactly that is..... a light novel is a Japanese YA book of sorts. The books are targeted at teens and they're typically no longer than 40k to 50k words! They usually have illustrations too, and I do love the manga type illustrations in these!
So, this caught my eye because of the synopsis...I was so intrigued and curious and so I threw myself in to reading this, nearly as soon as I received it! I read this in one sitting, which actually isn't that hard for LN's, but I became completely engrossed in the world of this book! The opening paragraph was intriguing and pulled me in to the story immediately. Death March is fast paced, moving from one event to the next, although during the labyrinth portion of the novel, I was kinda disappointed that we skipped some scenes! Sure there isn't much action during some parts, as our adventurer gets his bearings in this new world and learns how everything works, but set up is necessary and I'd rather that than be completely confused! I think the balance between that and action for a first novel was well struck. Plus it's intriguing enough that it keeps you reading during the slower parts.
I loved the world of this book, it was vivid and engaging, and I completely slipped in to this world and got lost in it. It was a bit of a jolt when I finished the book and came blinking back in to reality. I'm so intrigued by the world, and I'm hoping we'll get to explore a lot more of it! There's hints that previous Japanese people, like our MC, have visited this world before and at the end we're left with the proof that he's at least not the only one! The world is very fantasy, with elements to it from other places, and Satou interacts with it like it's a game..with a map and storage and so on.
I loved the characters, Satou reacted exactly how anyone would....keep telling yourself it's just a dream until the last possible moment when you then have to question what the hell is going on. Seriously, I don't know about you guys but if I was in his position...I'd be milking the dream theory for as long as possible to avoid fully freaking out and losing my s***. His commentary was entertaining, especially as you know it isn't a dream and he's like "well this is a dream" a lot in the beginning. I liked that he just wants to keep his head down and doesn't want to reveal his level, and I really liked how he took the beast girls under his wing!
Speaking of, I loved Tama, Pochi and Liza and how they bonded with Satou and his relationship with them. He's like a big brother/father to them, which is kind of adorable. I'm intrigued to see more of them, and hopefully with Satou taking care of them, we'll see them and their personalities develop as they become more their own people, we kind of started to see that happening as they gained some confidence around him and he taught them to defend themselves.
While I enjoyed the opening, and getting to know the world, I think my favourite part was towards the end. The first two thirds of the book are setting up and building up to the next phase as it where. Then for the final third we have the Labyrinth which I really enjoyed as we got some action, and got to see some character bonding and it added another layer to the world of the book as well as setting up some intrigue for the possible bad guy and given Satou a title that might come in handy! The very end also set up for an intriguing second volume as we become aware that Satou might not be the only person from back home in this strange world!
Overall Death March volume 1 is entertaining and engaging, and at times it's a little bit silly but it also has it's serious moments. Satou provides an entertaining narrative as well as a bit wry and sarcastic at points. The world pulls you in and is built up around you very vividly. For a first volume, it worked perfectly! Bring on volume 2!
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