Final Exam, table for three, please!
Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Hajime Komoto
Translation: Nova Skipper
Lettering: Eve Grandt
What They Say:
Domina Blowelive demonstrates his tremendous power against the Saint Ars Divine Visionary candidates, hoping to eliminate the competition early. But will his scare tactics work on Mash and the gang? Not likely.
The Review
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Last week’s double-spread revealed that Domina Blowelive, the number one student at Walkis, decimated the Saint Ars candidates ahead of the Final Exam. This week’s chapter gives us a glimpse at just how one-sided that confrontation was. Blowelive’s introduction is cool and all, but it feels a bit overplayed. Komoto’s decision to hide his magic abilities makes sense given that he wants to save them for the fight with Mash. But Blowelive’s personality leaves a lot to be desired. The very stern “power is king” trope has been recycled again and again throughout the series in characters like Orter and Carpaccio. There’s really nothing interesting about Domina Blowelive at the moment.
As it turns out, Mash doesn’t seem too concerned with Blowelive either. The Trimagicathlon opening ceremony introduces the candidates from each school, save for the fact that Saint Ars withdrew from the Exam. Just to get his point across, Blowelive exposes the bloody wands from his Saint Ars victims in an attempt to incite fear in the Easton crew. How do they react to his barbaric taunts? Well, Mash, Dot, and Lance enjoy a miniature tea party, completely ignoring Blowelive’s show of force. It seems Domina didn’t get the memo – intimidation tactics don’t really work on these guys.
In Summary:
Aside from the wonderful tea party gag at the end, “Mash Burnedead and the Trimagicathlon Divine Visionary Final Exam” is an unimaginative chapter. Domina Blowelive doesn’t exactly get me hyped for the final exam, so I hope Komoto has a few tricks up his sleeve.
Content Grade: C+
Art Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A
Source: Shonen Jump app, Manga Plus app
