“The Gambling Den of Madness”
Creative Staff:
Story: Kei Kamiki
Translation: Christine Dashiell
Lettering: Erika Terriquez
What They Say:
The God of Destruction Magu Menueku has been summoned by the Chaos Cult. Humanity’s last hope is the honorable Holy Knights! The battle to save mankind…took place hundreds of years ago… But now a girl out in the country named Ruru releases the legendary god of destruction who had been trapped in a magical jewel! Will the natto-eating, destruction beam-blasting Magu-chan fill the world with complete chaos? This heart-warming, destructive comedy series is ready to explode onto the scene!
The Review
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Money makes the world go round. It’s about time that Naputakuu learns about the spirit of money. He has been working in a restaurant and getting paid. But he has no idea what to do with that money. He blindly has been giving it to Uneras for random trinkets and steroids. He won’t give up on his dream to be a chef but he doesn’t have any idea on how to obtain ingredients.
Naputaaku asks Rin to get him ingredients. But her laziness gets in the way of anything and just tells him to go buy it himself. Naputaaku makes a great Pikachu face as he struggles to understand the concept of buying goods. Ren takes him to the grocery store where Naputaaky finally discovers that money can be used to trade for goods and services. This is the beginning of the end for Naputaaku’s sanity and his previous journey. Everything that Naputaaku has worked for is down the drain. He begins a new quest to obtain money.
Naputaaku’s quest is what nightmares are made of. He was better off when he didn’t know what money was good for. He was becoming a reliable character as he made boundless leaps. It did make for an entertaining chapter as he wanted to steal the world’s riches. It all starts when Ruru makes a silly comment about winning the lottery. Naputaaku takes this to heart and buys lottery tickets. It all starts fun and games as you win the first couple of times but then you lose everything. Naputaaku doesn’t descend to madness but utter foolishness. Naputaaku goes to Uneras in one final chance to get money and falls into the deepness of the gambling world. Remember, the house always wins so don’t gamble your money away.
This is the second week in a row that Magu-chan makes me think of pop culture references. Naputaaku’s craving for money turns to desperation as he attempts to cheat against Uneras. Izuma makes an uncharacteristic appearance dressed in a black suit with sunglasses. He is called by Uneras to take Naputaaku to the underground to the mines to work. As I was reading this part, one sound came strongly to mind. It was zawa zawa and it should have been on that last panel to signify there’s danger afoot. This is from the manga Kaiji where the protagonist, Kaiji constantly gambles away his life and ends up in brought situations. Having Naputaaku being dragged into the underground to hard labor was heavily reminiscent of a popular arc from that series. Naputaaku learns his lesson and returns to society a broken man in a similar fashion to Kaiji.
In Summary:
Learning about money is such an adorable moment but also the first step to losing your innocence. Naputaaku has grown to be a leading character in this series. He was taking steps to become a fine man of society. There has to be a chapter where he experiences the evil of humanity and hits rock bottom. This chapter nailed it and made a fine example of losing it all. There was a small taste of the famous gambling manga, Kaiji, to hit the gravity of the situation perfectly.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shonen Jump
Release Date: December 6, 2020