Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody: Volume 9 manga review

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Volume 9 cover image

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody focuses on Ichiro Suzuki, a 29-year old gaming programmer.  Worn out from a “death march-crunch time” (when coders live on caffeine and pull twenty-hour days), Ichiro takes a nap, and later he awakens in a parallel world that resembles some of the fantasy RPG worlds he had worked on.  What looks like the menu screen of the game he was working on before he fell asleep also appears before his inner eye.  Now a 15-year old, Ichiro takes the name, Satou Pendragon.  With no way to return to his world, Ichiro/Satou becomes a high-leveled adventurer, armed with a myriad of different physical, cognitive, and magical abilities and weapons, so he sets out to uncover the secrets of this new world.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody, Vol. 9 (Chapters 51 to 57) continues “The Muno Barony” story arc.  Satou has just met Lady Karina Muno, the daughter of Baron Muno, and now, she joins his small family, making them a party of nine.

Needing to deliver a letter from the Witch of the Forest of Illusions, Satou and his party travel to the village of the forest giants.  Satou soon learns some of the villagers, including three children, are still recovering from the poison of the hydra's toxic breath after a series of attacks.  As Satou gets to work on brewing an antidote, Karina ponders how she can enlist the giants' assistance in ridding her hometown, Muno City, of the demonic presence that plagues it.  But the forests giants seem to hold an old grudge against the “Muno” name.

[This volume includes a special Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody prose short story, “The Hungry Prima Donna,” written by Hiro Ainana and illustrated by Ayamegumu.  This volume also includes a special bonus comic, “Karina and Raka.”]

THE LOWDOWN:  The Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody manga is new to me.  I am also unfamiliar with the light novel series written by Hiro Ainana and illustrated by Shri.

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Graphic Novel Volume 9 is easy to read, even for a newcomer like me.  It is also a pleasant read; I would even use the word “neat.”  Mangaka Ayamegumu has fashioned a comic full of endearing and sweet characters who move about a world that is more charming than it is dangerous.

The pacing and rhythm of the story is good, and Jenny McKeon's English-language adaptation makes for a breezy read.  I don't know what the light novel series is like, but the manga Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody seems harmless enough to be appropriate for at least 10 to 12-year-old readers.  And they will probably laugh the “big breast” jokes.

I READS YOU RECOMMENDS:  Fans of manga set in RPG-style worlds will want to try the Yen Press title, Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody.

B+
7 out of 10


https://yenpress.com/
https://twitter.com/yenpress
https://www.facebook.com/yenpress/
https://www.instagram.com/yenpress/
https://yenpress.tumblr.com/
https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/23045551-yen-press