Title: Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Vol. 6
Author: Aya Megumu (Art), Hiro Ainana (Story), Shri (Character Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 164
Genre: Shonen, Fantasy
Publication Date: January 22, 2019
The Story
Volume six of Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody followed up the slowest volume of the series with another painfully slow volume. It wasn’t as slow as volume five as we did get some action but that action was very short-lived and barely did anything to break up the monotony of the slow pacing.
Satou sets off of his journey and is given a special bell by the Red Helmet Ratman as a way of saying thanks for saving him and his people. During their journey, they come across a speeding carriage being chased by wolves. As they’re fighting the wolves, a three-headed hydra shows up and kills the merchant that they were chasing. Only the brother and sister of the merchant were the survivors of the incident. They report the incident in the first town they come across.
While staying the night there, Satou heads out into the Forest of Illusions and meets the Witch of the Forest of Illusions. A misunderstanding happens when her apprentice attacks Satou for trespassing but when the Witch sees the bell, she regards Satou as an emissary of the elves and begs for forgiveness. The Witch teaches Satou a lot about alchemy and he leaves.
Those were the only interesting parts of the volume as the rest of the book focused on Satou learning alchemy, pottery, buying supplies, more alchemy, more buying supplies, chit chat amongst the townsfolk, more buying supplies, making magic tools, oh and buying even more supplies. The only “cliffhanger” that we get is the reintroduction of a VERY minor character that was introduced way back in volume one… the thief from Seiryuu City that tried to swindle Satou. He returns and they have a small brush with each other outside of an alchemy shop. After Satou is prepared to leave, so is the thief.
Characters
Honestly, there wasn’t much character development here at all, unless you want to count Satou increasing his skills and gaining nobility amongst the rat men and the elves. I could forgive the slow pacing if we had gotten some actual development of our cast of characters but it seems like this series is just stalling for time in the most uninteresting way possible.
Final Thoughts
I have no idea who thought it was a good idea to continue the pacing like this. Sure, we got some action but it was completely overpowered by the slow nature this series has turned to. The first few volumes had a great balance of world building, character development, and action to keep you turning the pages. What happened to all of that? It seems like character development was thrown out the window in favor of camping trips, buying supplies, learning skills, and buying even more supplies. Sure, we did get a little bit of lore expansion with the Witch but it didn’t really feel all that impactful because all Satou did was learn more about alchemy, which he was already learning on his own. They just wasted an opportunity to set something major up in order to present the same exact situation from a different perspective.
I understand not every story can be fast-paced but there has to be to some give. You can’t halt the pacing for this amount of time and expect your readers to remain engaged. Something has to give and I hope that it does next volume.
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
