Creative Staff
Story/Art: Nakatani Nio
Translation/Adaptation: Eleanor Summers
What They Say
Middle schooler Kon lives in a world with periodic exceptional phenomena, more commonly known as bugs. He works as the unofficial assistant to his landlady Kasane Himesaki, a leading researcher in the field, and they study the effects and impact of these mysterious abnormalities. Some of the bugs bring fun, others intrigue, and still others cause inconveniences to their daily lives. In their ever-changing world, there’s only one thing that’s certain—the most ordinary moments can be the most extraordinary of all!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
There is a supernatural phenomenon hitting a small Japanese town known as ‘bugs.’ These bugs can give humans the ability to walk on air, change the shape of small animals, and do all sorts of things that haven’t been discovered yet. Outside of these supernatural bugs, there is not much to see or do in this town. Most buildings are empty. The few people that still live in the town are always happy when people pass by. Though there is a school the number of students and teachers is on the low end. Yet no one appears to be unhappy. Our main protagonist Kon is a young 15-year-old who is living with roommates in this small town for reasons we are unaware of at the moment.
His landlord – Kasane – is the primary researcher of the bugs in the town. Though she is much older than him, they both are alone in this small town, which makes their bond strong. When Kon goes to school he does appear to have some friends, and the series spends much time on mindless chatter between them. By introducing the supernatural element, readers may be led to believe this is going to be a science fiction or fantasy series. And while elements are there, the manga is mostly focused on the lives of these people in a dying town. “God Bless the Mistaken” may even be inspired by the rising crisis in Japan where towns are aging out and dying, as younger people flee to big cities like Tokyo and Kyoto.
Though it is not outright stated, it is subtly suggested that this is one of those towns that society is moving on from. There are still people there, yes, but they are dwindling in numbers and few choose to be there. Our protagonist Kon seems to be making a go out of his situation, but it is already hinted that he is not in this town entirely by choice. Future books may enlighten us as to why he is here, but for the time being we can only guess. His room mates also appear to have came here from out of town, with their reasons for being there also a mystery.
In Summary:
The first volume of “God Bless the Mistaken” is all setup and no payoff. That doesn’t mean it isn’t worth reading. On the contrary: the silent nature of the series is making me think that this may become a very good slice-of-life drama. The building blocks are all here, they are just being placed on top of each other very slowly. This is the kind of series where reviews of further books will determine if it is worth investing in the future. For the time being, I’m going to be cautiously optimistic, but we ultimately still need to see where this is all going.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: C+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: A
Age Rating: Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: Feb 27, 2024
MSRP: $13.00
This review was done with a review copy provided by the publisher. We are grateful for their continued support.
