What happens when an unstoppable Mash meets an immovable Carpaccio?
Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Hajime Komoto
Translation: Nova Skipper
Lettering: Eve Grandt
What They Say:
Carpaccio is in possession of a fabled wand, rendering him effectively invincible. Mash is fighting against his toughest opponent yet.
The Review
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
As if Carpaccio hasn’t been gassed up enough, chapter 53 opens with a short excerpt about his extremely rare and powerful wand – known as a Master Cane, only 13 exist in the world. These ancient wands only chose those with the intrinsic aptitude to wield them, blessing the user with godly abilities. Mash would soon learn the strength of these primordial weapons.
Mash’s explosive entrance backfires, reflecting his attack right back at him. As we learned from the last chapter, Carpaccio’s wand transfers any damage he takes back onto his opponent. With nothing but physical attacks in his arsenal, this is quite literally the worst match-up for Mash. And with nary a scratch on him, Carpaccio sees it fitting to drop a condescending monologue on Mash and Finn.
The topics of fate and birthright are common themes in Mashle, and that’s still the case here. It’s no mystery that the world of Mashle is built around antiquated practices, social constructs, and power dynamics. From the day he was born, Carpaccio was chosen by the Master Cane. From his very first breath, he was destined for greatness. Like Abel from the Magia Lupus arc, Carpaccio has only known what it means to be strong and can’t relate to those who are weak. While we know Mash to be stupidly strong, he is the embodiment of what it means to be weak in this world. Magic = power, so in Carpaccio’s eyes, someone like Mash is useless. Carpaccio shifts his affronts onto Finn, who despite having magic, is barely skating by. Compared to his brother Rayne, Finn is a failure. A disgrace.
To an extent, Mash agrees with him. It’s important to know where one stands and know when to quit. Sure, from Carpaccio’s perspective, Finn defying him might be a pointless struggle. But despite recognizing he was outmatched, Finn held strong against that overwhelming pressure. It may be stupid, and his efforts may be wasted, but Mash wasn’t going to just stand there and let Carpaccio talk shit from his high horse.
Mash unleashes a flurry of rapid blows. Carpaccio once again thinks his efforts are futile. After all, no one has ever laid a finger on him. But after enough strikes, Carpaccio notices the goddess statue representing his wand was beginning to crack. Nobody had ever pushed him to such a limit. Ending his combo with a devastating uppercut, Mash lands a clean blow on Carpaccio. The tables have turned. Now it was Mash looking down on Carpaccio, wondering if he would stand against him, the same way Finn had done so.
In Summary:
Continuing my line of thought from last chapter, this week’s climactic moment is nothing new to the genre, but it still works so well. Komoto has done a great job of executing one specific theme throughout Mashle – defying fate through Mash’s rebellious fists. Time and time again, we’ve seen Mash beat the odds, defying expectations. And each time is just as hype as the last.
Grade: B+
Source: Shonen Jump app, Manga Plus app