“Encounter in a Winter Wonderland” and “Muscar of Fate”
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):
It’s wintertime and winter brings all sorts of fun. As luck would have it, Ruru wins a trip to a ski resort. It’s wonderful having a free mountain getaway with some friends and gods and enjoying snowboarding or skiing. Ren and Napuutaku tag along because Ruru is the sweetest girl and she invites them for all they have done for her. Ren is going to use this opportunity to show Ruru how cool he is but that always the worst-case precognition. He snowboards but the snowboard conveniently breaks and he hits Ruru and sends Magu-chan tumbling away into a giant snowball. Some things will always remain the same and that is that Ren will get nowhere in his attempts to woe Ruru.
The god hiding in the shadows finally makes his grand appearance. Muscar of Fate, the third pillar as his name suggests has the power to control fate. He was the mastermind behind releasing the two rankless gods and having Ruru win the trip to the ski resort. He has been meticulously preparing to wage war against the Holy Knights. He wants to recruit Magu-chan to his cause but a certain slow-witted girl keeps interrupting his serious discussion. Ruru’s unpredictable nature causes his plans to go haywire. Its not enough to have one idiot ruin his plans. Add another idiot to make things even crazier. Ruru is a lovable idiot but Izuma is a special idiot who is completely unpredictable and needs extra attention. He thinks that curry is some sort of enemy at first until he tastes the exquisite dish.
Ruru’s attitude towards all of these gods is exhilarating. No matter what obstacles the gods bring towards her, she always puts on a positive face and tackles it head-on. Ruru shows gratitude towards Muscar for making her win the trip. She doesn’t understand he didnt do it for her benefit and it was part of his evil plan. Muscar also brings up an interesting topic as he says that he can witness the future and plan for it but Ruru was the one element that he couldn’t foresee. Ruru was a bit quirky for no reason but now, she has some special history that can be used to explain why.
In Summary:
It’s been a while, but the series is getting a refreshing long-needed direction with the arrival of Muscar. The status quo was a bit stale and needed a factor to shake things up. There’s a well-mixed blend of a gag manga and a battle manga. It has the gags that the series is known for but is elevated to a new level by the action and story development that Muscar brings with him. The art style was a bit rough around the edges in the beginning. But the art style has been making leaps and bounds and is now working with the series instead of against.
Content Grade for Chapter 33: C
Content Grade for Chapter 34: B
Art Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shonen Jump
Release Date for Chapter 33: February 28, 2021
Release Date for Chapter 34: March 7, 2021
