Creative Staff:
Story & Art: Hajime Komoto
Translation: Nova Skipper
Lettering: Eve Grandt
What They Say:
Mash has an appetite for destruction Doom as we wrap up this arc of Mashle. The Sinister Sibling is served up on a silver platter and can’t help but wonder as he gazes up at Mash, “what was he cooking?”
Content (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The journey was long and arduous (and Mash-less for quite some time), but we’ve finally reached the end of the Sinister Sibling arc. The final battle is unconventional by most standards, but that’s par for the course in Mashle.
Surrounding Mash with 100 copies thanks to his mirage magic, Doom thinks he’s all but won. Alas, Doom forgot to consider who he was up against. This isn’t your run-of-the-mill power-scaled protagonist – Mash lets his muscles do the talking. In the blink of an eye, Doom’s clones disappear one by one. By the time he’s realized Mash is playing a jacked-up game of whack-a-mole, he’s already sent plummeting through the fortress floor. But the real Doom gets a special finisher – in a beautiful homage to Japanese pro wrestler Kotaro Suzuki, Mash delivers a devastating neck-breaker TKO.
With that, Doom accepts defeat. As it turns out, he doesn’t have the same evil ambitions as his brothers or Innocent Zero, he was simply looking for someone he could fight at his full potential. Doom feels satisfied in his defeat, but there’s still one question on his mind… what does someone as strong as Mash aspire to be? Surely, someone that strong can take anything their heart desires. But we’ve come to learn Mash is a simple lad, and his answer reflects that – he wants to be a pastry chef. Time and time again Mash has humbled his power-hungry opponents, showing them that to satiate that craving, you’re better off with a tasty treat than a tedious tussle. As Mash puts it,
“Hurting people doesn’t make anyone happy. But everyone feels better after a nice dessert.”
A line as simple as that is enough to stir something in Doom, as he contemplates following in his brother’s footsteps and becoming a pâtissier himself. Mash is victorious, and there’s no better way to celebrate than with a delightful lead color page, showing Mash and friends eating to their heart’s content.
In Summary:
Mash vs. Doom serves up a delicious final course, delivering on a recipe that’s equal parts action-packed and full of laughs. But we’re not done yet… the final boss lies in wait. Does Mash have what it takes to defeat Innocent Zero and save the world?
Content Grade: A
Art Grade: B
Text Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Shonen Jump app, Manga Plus app
Release Date: January 29th, 2023
