Title: Dragon and Chameleon Vol. 5
Author: Ryo Ishiyama
Publisher: Square Enix
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 176
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Sci-Fi
Publication Date: November 18, 2025
The Story
We open up with a stare-down between Fugaku and Garou (as Miyama). The rules of their battle have been set. Whoever gets the most votes in chapters 1, 3, and 7 of their new series will win the competition. All that remains is to work on their new series and launch it in Orochi Magazine. For Fugaku, he is going with a series called Vajra, and Garou is going with a series called Blue Sky Brigade. While the deadline is approaching, they are sidelined with strange noises in their brand-new studio. It becomes a paranormal mystery that eventually gets solved.
With the mystery out of the way, both series launch in Orochi. The readers are instantly captivated by Vajra, and all hope seems lost, but one by one, the readers continue reading through the remainder of the magazine and discover Blue Sky Brigade. It receives a lot of hype and ends up winning the votes by a very narrow margin. With victory in hand, they know that they can’t let their foot off the gas, but Fugaku instantly recognizes the storytelling method that Miyama is using and counters him, stealing the votes by a landslide in the third chapter.
With the battle tied up, it all boils down to Chapter 7; however, Garou is a genius and recognizes his own flaws. With three days until Chapter 6’s deadline, he suggests something nearly inhuman! Will his plan work out?
Characters
Hmm… reflecting on this volume, there wasn’t much in the way of character development to be had here. Of course, we know that Garou is in love with manga to an almost unhealthy level, so he is going to go as hard as he can. Fugaku is in the same boat. He is just the super villain mangaka who acts as the mountain for Garou to overcome.
We did get a little bit of development with Kenzaki and Rion, though. When they have to continuously redo their work, they begin to question whether or not they are skilled enough for “Miyama.” Of course, old man Seiichiro gives them a bit of sagely advice to restore their confidence, but to see them crack a bit was a nice touch… especially with Rion, who had been portrayed as this emotionally wild and impenetrable fortress with nerves of steel. To see her worry and question her skills showed a nice human side to her… even if she was vulgar about it the entire way.
Final Thoughts
This arc started heavy as we got through the first two rounds of their battle; however, after Garou (as Miyama) failed in the boot camp, I thought that this series would have continued with the unpredictability, but I was wrong. With Garou taking the first round and Fugaku taking the second round, it led us to the predictable rubber match between the two. Yeah, it’s a cheap way to get drama, but what would have been even more dramatic would be for Garou to lose both rounds, sealing the victory, but have those losses at such a close margin that it preserves his confidence. This would have also propped up Fugaku to be an even stronger antagonist for Garou to overcome, thus extending their battle and helping his team grow.
The downside to my armchair booking is that it would mean having Garou lose twice in a row within the first five volumes of the series. There are only so many times you can put your main character’s back up against a wall before readers start predicting that he will keep losing until the end, when that breakout moment would surely happen. So, it’s a tightrope to walk, but whether the answer was for him to lose or for him to go 1-1, I would have hoped for something a little less predictable. If it wasn’t a best 2-out-of-3, then I would have probably had Garou win the first two, only to get slaughtered completely in the last round… or maybe something even wilder that something happens to his team, and they are forced to go on an early hiatus.
I could sit here all day and come up with scenarios, but the bottom line is… going 1-1 and setting up the rubber match is just too vanilla for a competition like this. I would like to see more chances taken, but aside from that gripe, I couldn’t find anything else to dislike about this volume. The character development with Rion and Kenzaki was pretty good, the little paranormal mystery was just a fun filler, and Fugaku is truly coming off as some sort of super villain of the manga world, which is a good thing.
Lots of stuff to enjoy, but for now, we will see how the rubber match goes in Volume 6!
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