World’s Fair or Fyre Festival? Only time will tell.
Creative Staff
Story: Fuse
Art: Mitz Vah
Translation/Adaptation: Kevin Gifford
What They Say
Let the good times roll!
It’s festival time in Tempest, and this demon slime knows how to throw a party! After reconciling with Hinata and the Western Holy Church, Rimuru’s pulling out all the stops to prepare a massive bash in his nation of monsters-with a little help from his many friends and allies! It’s the perfect opportunity to debut his new demon lord title while showing the world everything the Jura-Tempest Federation has to offer. Will this big event go off without a hitch?
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Rimuru, in his infinite wisdom on how to make his nation live up to the standards he was used to during his life in Japan, decides to host a grand festival to celebrate his ascendency to a demon lord. As he rolls out plans to his staff, and us readers, it quickly becomes clear that the activities he has planned go far beyond a festival and into something greater.
At no point in this volume does Rimuru realize that what he is proposing is an exposition the likes the world he now lives in has never seen. He decides to construct several permanent structures that would further act as attractions for his nation, drawing commerce and travelers. He has basically reintroduced the idea of a world’s fair to the denizens of his new world. He is building both Disney World and Rome, focusing not only on technology but on magic, entertainment, art, and culture. And food, don’t forget the food.
Helping him make his dreams come true is the entire cast of characters that have appeared in the series thus far. Nobody is left forgotten as nearly everyone gets a name drop at some point during the proceedings. The entire volume is dedicated to providing a step-by-step rundown of all the things Rimuru is developing for the world’s biggest party. It’s an exhaustive account of conversations, deals, and plans. There’s almost no conflict, just plenty of planning and execution of said plans.
If this sounds horrifically boring to you then you might be pressed to move on to the next volume. Yet I was caught up in watching all of the relationships that Rimuru has formed bear fruit as he hammers out the details of his country.
The enjoyment comes from watching Rimuru casually interact with his friends in his new position of power, and how they tend to geek-out over the mundane and not-so-mundane. His early dismissal of Fairy Queen Ramiris changes when we learn what her power is and soon she could easily be counted as one of Rimuru’s staunchest allies. Likewise, the sketchy merchant Mjollmile brought on board to be the brains of a massive operation. Rimuru casually strolling into Fuze’s office and dropping invitations brought a smile to my face for the audacity of it all. Rimuru’s joy at turning heads becomes the readers, and it is fun to watch that scenario play out.
A reminder that the entire story is being recounted, even if it’s not quite clear on that part, comes when Rimuru occasionally interjects that certain elements of his kingdom eventually become one thing or another. It takes some of the suspense out of the idea his kingdom might ever suffer a massive defeat when he speaks of looming traditions being born. Given how overpowered everyone is in the story the idea of defeat should never really cross the reader’s mind at this point. This series is akin to a giant bowl of ice cream, sure you get the occasional brain freeze but it’s just a big puddle of sugar. Failure is literally not an option.
But yes, this volume is entirely nitty-gritty. I expect to see very little of this animated one day. There’s almost nothing in the way of action in this volume until the final pages where a surprise reveal about a longtime member of Rimuru’s team results in an unusual battle taking place. Even then, that conflict is more of an interpersonal issue and not about power levels or raw strength.
This volume follows the same format as previous ones, with color opening pages and an author’s note to end the volume. The only other extra is a brief, single-page comic.
In Summary
Only the patient need apply. An entire 300-page volume of set-up for a giant exposition the likes the world has never seen. If you like fantasy logistics then this is the volume for you. Perhaps it’s a testament to the strength of the world-building that I stayed engaged in the nitty-gritty of Rimuru planning his big debut as a Demon Lord. It’s a good chance to bring in all of the characters we’ve seen thus far and how they’ve progressed into ridiculous powerhouses. The narrative just stops right before the festival kicks off, which will surely annoy the less patient reader. I can only imagine how Fuse’s editor must have reacted to the news that this downtime in the action was going to be a full volume of content. Exposition for the exposition, if you will. Now, can we please get on with it?
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: 13 +
Released By: Yen On
Release Date: June 23, 2020
MSRP: $15.00 US / $19.50 CAN
