Hey all, Dani here.
Welcome to Manga Monday review number two. Yep, I have so many backlisted manga reviews that I’m starting to double up on Mondays so I can try to catch up. It just means a little more blog prep to set myself up for the future, but that’s okay, because as long as I have bullet points of thought jotted down for the reviews they don’t actually take too long to write up. I spend a lot more time with my Recommendations, Discussion, and Weekend Writer posts.
I hope you are all having a lovely Monday, and let’s just go ahead and jump into the review.
Book Details
Art by: Kunieda
Original Story by: Fujino Omori
Character Design by: Suzuhito Yasuda
Format: paperback
Pages: 176
Publisher: Yen Press
Publication Date: May 19, 2015
ISBN: 0316302171 (ISBN13: 9780316302173)
Summary
Bell Cranel is just trying to find his way in the world. Of course, in his case, the “world” is an enormous dungeon filled with monsters, below a city run by gods and goddesses who have way too much time on their hands.
He’s got big dreams but not much more when a roll on the random encounter table brings him face-to-face with the girl of his dreams–but what does a beginning adventurer have to offer a brilliant swordswoman? And what if the lonely goddess who sponsors his solo adventuring gets jealous…?!
My Thoughts
Rating: 4 stars
Why do I find myself becoming interested in manga/anime series where I am definitely not the intended target audience? By that of course I am referring to the sub-genre of harem manga/anime where you have a singular male character who attracts the interests of numerous female characters. There are a number of series that do this. Another one that I enjoy is How Not to Summon a Demon Lord, and my fiance Damian is a big fan of the series Monster Musume.
Some of these stories still have pretty decent story lines to them, even if the main plot is technically “boobs.”
I would probably classify this particular series as one with a little more story to it, because yes, Bell is saved by an awesomely badass female fighter in the dungeon, and he wants to get stronger so he can prove himself to her…because clearly he has a crush. But he also wants to get stronger to better support the goddess who sponsors him.
In this first volume Bell is still a really new beginner adventurer, and he definitely gets into more trouble than he can handle by going too far into the dungeon, not having the best fighting skills, and really not even having money to improve his gear. He even has to sit in a tavern and listen to other people discuss his failures, without realizing that the person they’re talking about is right there.
I just, I feel bad for the guy, and I hope that he can achieve his goals. So, while this wasn’t a super action packed or amazing first volume, it was definitely enough to hold my interest and get me to continue on with the series. I’ve actually read the first three volumes and now need to get my hands on some more, because they are rather quick reads.
Where to Get a Copy
You can grab your own copy of this book from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Books-a-million, Book Depository, or your local independent bookstore through IndieBound.
You can also check with your local library.
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