Title: Record of Grancrest War Vol. 2
Author: Ryo Mizuno (Story), Makoto Yotsuba (Story/Art), Miyuu (Character Art)
Publisher: VIZ Media
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 160
Genre: Fantasy, Battle
Publication Date: February 12, 2019
The Story
Volume two of Record of Grancrest War continues the battle between Lord Theo’s forces and Lord Lassic’s. Aishela ends up distracting some of them, including Captain Petr, while Siluca ends up taking on Morena after we are treated to a bit of a backstory between him and Lord Lassic. Moreno is actually overpowering Siluca when Theo disobeys her orders and comes to her aid. Not only does he show up but he takes advantage of Moreno’s fatigue and bests him! When it’s announced that Moreno was captured, Lord Lassic actually surrenders and pledges service to Lord Theo!
Lord Lassic says his aim is not to be emperor. He still has his ambitions but feels he can still achieve them even if it’s by serving Theo. With their forces bigger, the plan to take back Theo’s hometown of Sisterna begins but in order to do that, they need to switch to The Alliance because Sisterna is a Union town and they cannot attack it by being in the same faction.
While Moreno and Lassic are out to begin discussions, they are attacked by an Aether Salamander, who is setting off explosions within the town. Theo evacuates everyone to the castle while Siluca goes to deal with it the Aether being herself. She ends up using up the last of her power to douse the Salamander with a water spell, defeating it. Afterward, she receives everyone’s gratitude but the fate of the discussions are still unknown.
This volume was pretty action-packed between the battle against Lassic and the Aether Salamander. Despite it all, we saw an advancement of the plot as we now know Theo’s ambitions and what has to be done in order to carry those ambitions out. With this series only having 10 volumes and 46 total chapters, it’s pretty clear that taking back SIsterna is the end goal of this series. If not, I’m not really sure what kind of swerve they’re going to pull off in order to change up the end goal. With the way everything is being built and this series already 20% over after two volumes, I can’t imagine there would be a huge swerve planned but I could be wrong.
Characters
Siluca had some great character development this volume as she realized what her weaknesses are and how unfairly she was treating Lord Theo. She offered her apologies and promised to bring more decisions to Theo instead of just making them herself. Theo coming to save her had such a huge impact on her to the point where the steel-hearted Siluca was even moved by it. It will be interesting to see her working in tandem with Theo as opposed to just leading him on by the reigns.
I, honestly, thought that something like this would happen eventually. I was just shocked that we ended up seeing this turn of events this early on into the series. I would have thought that they would have taken a bit more time to allow this relationship to develop a bit more. That’s a little unsettling as it gives things a rushed feel to it. Hopefully, nothing else feels this way throughout the rest of the series.
Moreno’s backstory was pretty nice. Lassic took interest in him after observing him during his training. It was odd for a mage to wield a sword but Moreno wanted to be able to fight on the front lines with other means aside from magic. Together, the two of them agreed that they would fulfill Lassic’s ambitions together which is why when Moreno was captured, Lassic immediately surrendered. You could tell the bond the two of them share is pretty strong. Even though they are not related, you get a feeling that the two of them could be brothers.
We also got some backstory on Petr. He was a simple child that couldn’t read or write but Lassic took him under his wing anyway. He taught him literacy as well as how to swing a sword. Petr was a fast learner and quickly rose through the ranks, eventually becoming a Captain. Despite this, he’s still not sure of himself on the battlefield and that easily allowed Aishela to take advantage of that by seducing him in the only way she knows how. You couldn’t really call that a fight between them but it was still hilariously entertaining!
Theo also received some development and he did so in a good way. In the first volume, he was really portrayed as one of those passive main characters who didn’t like fighting or get his hands dirty. One volume later and he’s jumping into battles with no regard, taking command of the situation, giving orders, and acting as a noble Lord should. Theo found his backbone rather quickly which makes him a more likable main character. He still has his innocent charm about him and he acknowledges his own weaknesses but the fact that he’s aware, working to improve them, and can take action to earn people’s respect are all great qualities of a good main character! I’m starting to like him a bit more now!
Overall Thoughts
After a great start, this was a very strong follow-up volume to Record of Grancrest War. The world Is established, our characters got fleshed out a bit and we now have (assumedly) an end goal in sight. The path is laid out for our characters. All that is left is to sit back and watch their journey along that path.
The action in the volume didn’t disappoint, even though it was mainly refined down to Siluca vs Moreno and Siluca vs Aether Salamander. Although the Salamander fight was very short-lived, it sold the fact that Siluca had used up all of her magic and she needed to settle this with one big spell otherwise, she along with all of the villagers, wouldn’t stand a chance. Of course, Aishela raising the chaos levels helped amplify Siluca’s magic so she did have some help.
Still, I have a feeling that the talks with the Kings will end up having a snag. Things are going a little too smoothly so I believe a little bit of conflict is needed here. We’ll see if I’m right in the third volume!
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This item was provided for review by Viz Media
