Not so alone after all.
Creative Staff
Art: Dashio Tsukimi
Original Story: Ceez
Character Design: Tenmaso
Composition: Ryo Suzukaze
Translator: Leighann Harvey
Lettering: Elana Pizzaro
What They Say
To the high elf Cayna, legendary Skill Master from the past, nothing is insurmountable—not even a terrible truth about the world of Leadale. After bouncing back from the shock, she’s ready to set off on a new journey to the northern Kingdom of Helshper. But the trek may prove more perilous than it seems. How will Cayna and her company manage to deal with dangerous obstacles, vicious bandits, and even…a haunted well?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Cayna has lapsed into a bout of depression brought upon by the knowledge that the game she finds herself now magically transposed into went offline sometime around the time of her natural death. She will never see her fellow gamers again, but technically she should never see anyone ever again because she dead-dead.
This doesn’t mean she is cut off completely from those that care about her. Her surrogate-come-actual fantasy children care deeply about her and go into fits of antics to wake her from her depression. It was unnecessary because Cayna snaps out of it when she does finally come to the realization that she has been given a second chance and might as well make the best of it.
So she continues to do odd jobs way below her level. Some of it is out of a desire to not draw too much attention to herself, but the rest happens to be just what was available. So she decides to take up the offer to join the caravan heading north. Especially since they’re planning on stopping back in at the village that Cayna stayed at previously.
What follows is a cute but low-stakes adventure down a well. Nothing Cayna takes on feels dangerous because she is so overpowered. She can solve most people’s problems with ease. When her caravan runs into bandits on the road she neatly disposes of them. She doesn’t even hesitate to straight-up merc the mage leading the bandits. The caravan remains impressed at her skill. So impressed that the mercenary leader who is guarding the caravan challenges her to a friendly sparing match afterward.
Cayna realizes after, thanks to her mental digital assistant, that the idea was planted in the guy’s head by an outside source. It’s a very subtle act of magic, and while not outright hostile should be concerning… yet it reminds Cayna of the old days. Even though she was thoroughly convinced that all the former gamers are gone. So if the mystery person a player or NPC? Guess will find out.
In Summary
Leadale is pleasant. Just… pleasant. None of the challenges facing Cayna feel life-threatening, the problems she solves for people are usually of a low-key if somewhat melancholic nature. Cayna is a decent enough lead, it’s just that I can’t garner much sympathy for a dead rich girl who is lucky enough to live her best life after death in her favorite game. However, with the abundance of stunning original fantasy manga out there, you can do far better for cozy or dramatic in this genre.
Content Grade: C
Art Grade: B +
Packaging Grade: B +
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: Mar 21, 2023
MSRP: $13.00 US / $17.00 CAN
