This is a strange one. It's some time after the end of humanity, and a war robot who shouldn't cooperate with humans is accompanying a human child who shouldn't exist, as they tour the desolate wartorn landscape of Earth in search of more surviving people.

The first volume was mostly setting up the characters and the mood, without getting far into the plot. There's a couple of episodes from their lives, including how the two first met; there are some really beautiful landscape shots which tell you a lot about the state of the world; there's just enough mystery there to make me intrigued; and by the end of the volume, there's even a third character.

The mood is a strange mix of very wholesome relationship between two completely different, well, people, juxtaposed with a world that feels anything but wholesome. The feeling of tragedy hangs in the air, but it never gets explained quite how it happened. The world itself feels broken down; as though the war against humans was what gave the others meaning, and now that it was won, there's nowhere to go anymore, just an eternal war over the remains of Earth.

I like it. I'm not sure how much I should steel myself against getting hit in the feels, though.

We meet Dion, with whom Mia has a heck of a history. Mia gets into a fight with a tree (it's a draw). Weaponized selfishness saves the day. And Mia doesn't get shot by an arrow, not even once. And despite what the narrator would have us believe, in the end it's Mia's past kindnesses that really turn things around.

Love the art style. Mia's faces in this volume have definitely reached Anya Forger levels.

Dion always surprises me by looking so young. His actions and general outlook always make me think of him as a grizzled veteran, not a super-talented youngster.

This being the first manga I'm reading since the anime, it's really hard not to hear Mia's line in the voice of her VA. (: It was really such a great fit.

The afterword mentions a spinoff manga centered on the maids and other side characters, which I didn't know existed until now. Alas, no official translation. (Yet?)

Endo and Kobayashi decide to muster as many forces as they can against the Witch, we learn about several more characters' dramatic backstories, one extremely cute ally is recruited, and we start delving into even deeper levels of the backstory, the myth of creation.

I think this volume is the first time we see Sieg being jealous (of Fabian, who turns out to get along really well with Liese). Sieg usually is a lot more grounded, compared to Lieselotte's inner struggles and her tsundere swings, but this is a nice reversal that really shows how far he's fallen for her. Also, Fabian is super cute here, both when he's wary and when he's relaxed.

Love how well the mangaka adapts the story for the medium here, for example in parts that in the novel were almost pure exposition, the manga illustrates them with examples and what-if scenarios and makes them lively and funny. And I cannot leave without giving them high praise for the faces; both those silly and those full of emotions are done so well!

I think my favourite part was Fiene beating up both Marquis Riefenstahl and Baldur when they start fighting over who decides who she's going to marry, while wearing a frilly dress, and then dressing them both down for not respecting that it's her and only her decision to make. <3 A close second would be the first meeting between Fabian and Cecilie, and the way she gets him, both his strength and his kindness. That was a really touching moment, and one I believe might have been expanded from the novel. The third would be Sieg asking Liese's family about what would make a good gift for her, and getting very Riefenstahl answers.

This time, there's not even a trace of the overall plot, no weird supernatural happenings, and even Kei/the director is there mostly for commentary. But it doesn't matter because (together with the last volume) this is one of the most fun fiction tournaments I've read, ever. There's straight fights, and dramatic fights, and fights with twists, and all of them are over before you know it and there's no shounen-style stalling while people prepare their best techniques. There's personal backstories, and drama, and motivation issues, and people fighting straight and people going far into the gray area and cheaters, and likeable characters losing and likeable characters hanging there by the thread and the one fighter who loves to throw in an "accidental" headbutt gets beat by somebody with a stronger headbutt and it's all glorious!

In this volume of "what if Pokemon but completely serious, and with family drama too", things keep getting worse. Saika's siblings keep getting weirder, Nagumi's sickness is worsening, we see what fate eventually awaits godeaters, and the government agent asking Saika to trust him and cooperate is throwing up red flags all around, too.

I feel like the strength of this volume were the flashbacks: Nagumi's past, and the relationship between Saika's mom and her adoptive dad. All the mystery's nice, but the past scenes had by far the most impact.

It's a confession! A confession! Also, there was some fighting and things blew up and stuff.
And as usual, the contrast between the confident sorcerer Zagan and the nervous wreck in love Zagan is delicious.

I love when Zagan channels his inner mad scientist.
"They're summoning a demon, which is a calamity that could destroy even dragons!"
"Oh yes, what a perfect chance to study demons before they come in actually serious numbers!"

@Almond-Magnum And once they fully understand all of the implications of the thing Chelsea can make another one that CAN be reproduced. But that should probably wait for a full series of studies on the impact of the elixir and the plant itself on society and the environment, which can happen later. For now she needs to make sure the blueprint has a self-destruct built into the seed because she'll only be using them as one-offs she makes on-demand, and if someone else gets their hands on one they likely won't put that sort of thought into it before trying to reproduce it.

"Any seed she can wish for" remains true even if she limits them. She can just wish for one that isn't limited next time.

@Rahul-Balaggan I can confirm. Thank you!

Volume 7 - Chapter 7:

The 2048px images don't load. I had to resize the browser and load the 1600px images.

@JPminer814-wx8u04r Try resizing your browser to load the lower-resolution images. 👍

@Zerio As GeorgeMTO noted, this series is no longer streaming one chapter a month in accordance with the Japanese releases. Instead, you can expect our regular streaming pace of a new chapter every two weeks for premium members, followed by the full volume available to everyone as an e-book. Stay tuned--we have more wild game goodness coming soon!

@Rahul-Balaggan Thx for fixing this!

I also noticed something similar happened to another series (I’ll Never Set Foot in That House Again! (Manga))

So Lefi is now acting like Yuki's wife without knowing...

It's my favourite tournament arc, ever! Marvel at the speed at which Mary smashes through opponent after opponent (while trying her best to lose and drop out as soon as possible)!

It's a big jump from the latest novel volume. We're back in the early days of the series where side characters had their own stories, and there was family drama and overcoming obstacles and emotions and stuff. Even though I like the newer novels, I still wish we got more of this early approach.

(The manga could have cut down on the little girls shower scene fanservice, though.)

I think the best part of the manga version is the amount of times Sacher's there in the background, totally nonplussed by whatever's happening at the moment. And I have to give extra points for the last page of chapter 8. Now that's how you use the angle of view for maximum dramatic moment.

@Zerio Just my opinion, but the visuals.

"What happens if it comes to fighting? Your lot gonna scamper on us?"
rotflmfao!
"Not happening; it's all I can do to keep this lot reined in as it is, show them a fight I agree is justified? Heh."

The mangaka did a very nice job showing the aura of demonic might held tightly leashed begging to be let loose.

I cannot believe that this was just 6 volumes. The story barely begun...the last 4 pages was just... so underwhelming.

I wish we could have gotten some more chapters of them dating or at least a ‘morning after’ scene but it was still a decent ending

Hmm... For that escape, I have to give Marielle a solid 'A' for planning and timing, a 'B' for sprinting in noble dress and heeled boots, and a 'C' for pickpocketing and ring retention.

Simeon also gets an 'A' for his wife-fishing skills. Dragging that much wet fabric through the water can't be easy!

@TheGrimLich Rats, the way they (and everyone else around them) were acting at breakfast, I thought for sure they had consummated the wedding. All that for a kiss? I'll never understand the mind of a present day Japanese Light Novelist. None of the Japanese men I worked with in the past acted like the introverted male characters in the current manga, anime and novels I'm seeing.