Hey all, Sam here.
Welcome back to Manga Monday, which means it is time to review another volume of a manga I’ve been reading. I still have an okay stockpile of volumes to talk about from various series, since I read them pretty quickly…but I should probably start thinking about picking up a few more to read in the near future, especially since a few of them I’ve been reading (including the ones I tried out for Dewey’s 24 Hour Readathon) have more volumes out that I haven’t snagged yet.
Like today’s manga…Volume 5 comes out tomorrow, so if I get it, then I’ll have two more reviews before I need to switch to another series.
Actually, there’s a lot I would like to read, whether that is manga or novels or light novels or graphic novels. So, I’m really hoping that my reading weekend that I have planned for May 26-May 29th will be productive. There are so many incredible stories coming out, stories that I want to read and adventures that I want to go on. And I’m very much looking forward to reviewing all of these stories in the future.
Let’s get started.
FRIEND OR FOE?!
After being transported to another world by an orb that calls itself “God,” Tsukina used her newfound magical powers to open up a cozy book café. Now that she’s settled in, she’s started dating Il, a handsome soldier. However, Tsukina can’t relax just yet. Othel’s powerful neighboring countries are making some suspicious moves, and as tensions rise, a new savior arrives at the castle. Is he there to help the kingdom, or is he a new enemy for Tsukina to worry about?
My Thoughts
Rating: 5 stars
This easily could have just been a two volume series, with Tsukina opening her book cafe and then being the reluctant savior who stopped the other savior from destroying the kingdom, and finding a cute romance along the way. But, honestly, I’m glad it continued past that point. But obviously with there being a major arc ending, it becomes a question on whether or not there will be a smooth transition to a new story.
And I think this volume did a pretty good job with that. We start to see more and learn more about the neighboring countries of this world, even though their portrayals could have been handled a little better.
I think the relationship between Tsukina and Il is cute, but it feels like it’s moving so quickly, and part of that is because we’re not actually following them in their day-to-day lives. Sometimes we skip weeks or so in between scenes, and so we’re probably missing all sorts of interaction that really builds up their relationship and bonds them together. I mean, it’s obvious to me that they are a good match, and the scenes we do see make their compatibility clear, but I also would really like to see their developing romance even more.
What I think is really interesting about the transition to this story is that the character known as God brings another Savior to this area of the world, after Tsukina took care of the last one, who was unstable. This new Savior is male and he seems very nice and eager…but he also seems like he misinterprets the fact that Tsukina is simply being polite around him and others.
This leads to another potential Savior issue…because this new Savior does not seem like he’ll take the truth well…aka he’ll see it as a rejection. So this is a love triangle gone wrong, basically. Tsukina is obviously in love with Il, but Youta could easily become another Savior who Tsukina will have to deal with in order to protect her life and happiness in her book cafe and with her new home.
I don’t know. This is still just a really cute series. I wish there was more activity at the book cafe. I’d just love to see a whole bunch of oddball visitors coming to the cafe and being helped by Tsukina, but despite the book cafe being in the title of the series, it is a minor background focus.
I guess we’ll see if we get more guests to the book cafe as the series continues.
Well, that is all from me for today. Thank you so much for stopping by and I’ll be back soon with more geeky content.
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