Sasaki steps in to rescue a young girl–and winds up an employee of a secret government paranormal agency!
Creative Staff
Story/Art: Buncololi/Pureji Osho
Translation/Adaptation: Alice Prowse
What They Say
THE GRAND ADVENTURES OF A MAN AND HIS BIRD―DIMENSION HOPPING BETWEEN WORLDS! “…How did I end up working for a secret government department that essentially functions as a psychic police force?! I only wanted to save that woman from a thug… Peeps, didn’t you say there’s no magic here?” “I did. But perhaps this world possesses something similar to magic that operates under a different set of rules.” “Haah…I wish I could just focus on eating French’s food and learning teleportation magic and doing business with the Hermann Trading Company. At least the other world seems pretty peaceful―right?”
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
The previous volume was very high fantasy with Peeps’ magic and Sasaki’s sojourns into the Western-medieval-style otherworld. With Volume 2, we take a turn into sci-fi as Sasaki encounters psychics on the streets of Tokyo. By “psychic,” the narrative refers not to a clairvoyant, but someone more along the lines of an X-Men mutant, an individual with innate superpowers. Poor Sasaki has the ill luck to stumble upon two such individuals battling it out, and he uses his magic to prevent one from murdering the other.
As it turns out, the girl he saves is a member of the Cabinet Office Paranormal Phenomena Countermeasure Bureau. Basically, a secret government agency comprised of psychics that counter rogue psychics. Their policy is to require all law-abiding psychics to join the agency (lest they be deemed rogue), and because Sasaki’s magic looks a whole lot like psychic superpowers, he’s immediately coerced, er recruited into the agency. The only silver lining is that psychics are limited to one superpower each, and because Sasaki’s only manifested one spell before them, he’s able to hide the fact that he’s not a psychic and actually much more powerful than they realize.
So most of this volume is spent introducing the Bureau, psychics, and two of Sasaki’s new coworkers, the combat-happy Hoshizaki and their intimidating section chief Akutsu. This world-building requires a lot of explanations, but fortunately, the manga is not nearly as long-winded as the light novel. The mangaka also presents information in a relatively digestible manner. And to give readers (and Sasaki) a break, but the middle chapter’s a quick trip to the fantasy otherworld before resuming Sasaki’s deep dive into the secret world of modern-day psychics.
Once you’re done slogging through all the rules of this new supernatural system and the government agency that goes with it, the book rewards you at the end with an action-packed chapter and a half. It’s along the lines of an X-Men battle – if an X-Men battle had a clueless middle-aged office worker thrown in for laughs.
Despite the glut of new details to keep track of, I enjoyed the continued adventures of Sasaki and Peeps, with one exception. I mentioned in my review of Volume 1 that I found the manga’s portrayal of females problematic, and Volume 2 is no better in that respect. This volume introduces a new male and a new female character. The male character, Section Chief Akutsu, is Sasaki’s age and has a dignified bearing. Hoshizaki, on the other hand, has no dignity at all. She’s very young, kind of thoughtless, and oozes fan service with her large bust and short skirt. And Sasaki’s middle school age neighbor returns to show that she really does have a very unhealthy, very creepy obsession with Sasaki.
Extras include the first four pages printed in color, the creator afterword, and a bonus short story by Buncololi.
In Summary:
Sasaki stumbles upon humans wielding supernatural powers in Japan! No, they’re not mages, but they assume he’s one of them, so Sasaki gets dragged into the hidden world of modern psychics. It’s a lot of information to plow through as the story morphs into sci-fi, but the narrative keeps things entertaining, if heavy on the fan service.
Content Grade: B+
Art Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B
Age Rating: 13+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: May 23rd, 2023
MSRP: $13.00
