Title: Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption Vol. 1
Author: miHoYo Comics
Publisher: Tokyopop
Language: English
Format: Digital
Pages: 320
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action
Publication Date: April 7th, 2026
Premise
Honkai Impact 3rd is a gacha game made by HoYoverse and was the first one they made that became popular. It was a 3D action game that, for its time, was mechanically impressive. Especially for a game that can run on a phone. The game centers around Kiana Kaslana as she works with the Valkyries to discover the secrets surrounding The Honkai. The Honkai is a force that comes up often and is the reason for a lot of the death and destruction in the world.
Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption is a prequel that takes place before the events of the main game’s story. The organizations in the game remain, including Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. The events center on different characters: the Kaslans, Kiana’s adoptive parents from the game; Theresa and the Valkyries; and Welt Yang.
Can You Read Second Eruption Without Honkai Impact 3rd Experience?
This is an early question I had going into the manga volume. I loved the game back when I played it actively, but I was curious if someone could use this as a jumping-off point to get into the game and its world. The answer isn’t so cut and dry as I was expecting. On one hand, you don’t need to know the story of the characters as they are happening in real time, and you get to have a glimpse into their lives. But on the other hand, there are references and terms, and characters that pop in that will confuse readers who are not used to them. They use the terms for the organizations and the characters constantly, which, unless you are familiar with them, might not have the best context within the dialogue.
Simply put, yes, you can read this without playing the game, but I do think you will still be confused. It’s not the recommended experience in my opinion, since this manga definitely reads like it was made for fans of the world and the lore of the game already.
Now that we have the housekeeping sorted away, it’s time to review the actual manga.
Story
The Tower of Babylon is a research laboratory in Siberia. The manga opens up with this research laboratory having its scientists killed. The killer is a pure white ghost, which signals an alarm that attracts members of the Schicksal and Anti-Entropy. Valkyries get sent to investigate it as well. When they do arrive, they figure out this pure white ghost is much more than they bargained for. This ghost turns out to be Sirin, the Herrscher of the Void. Facing down a Herrscher, the team led by Siegfried Kaslana joins with Anti-Entropy led by Welt Yang.
The overall story does a good job of showing the dynamics between the two teams. Many in Schicksal disagree with Siegfried’s idea initially since they think that Anti-Entropy intends to use the Herrscher of the void rather than to exterminate it. Even though they disagree, they trust the judgment and insight of Siegfried.
The pacing of Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption is quick. It goes straight into the action from the get-go, with little deviations that bring the perspective to individuals not in the middle of the thick of things like Otto, or even child Kiana. If there is anything I would say that could be improved with the story, it is letting the manga have more time to breathe. That could also help out with giving more knowledge on terms that newcomers to the series might want.
Art
The strongest part of Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption for me is the art. The artist of this manga did a phenomenal job penning the facial expressions, the body proportions, the stances, and even the giant weapons that the world of Honkai Impact 3rd deals with constantly. There is also fun homages to specific culturally impactful scenes from movies and comics. One of my favorite panels is also when we get a chibi rendition of Theresa and Patricia as they discuss some of their past together.
I love the impact frames surrounding the action of this manga. The artist did a fantastic job with integrating text impacts alongside the action. The text does not detract from the art, letting the full scene get shown off. The art does a good job of managing the space of a panel. Not everything needs to be filled up, and when a background is shown, it adds the dramatic flair of the personality of this manga.
Dialogue
The dialogue in Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption was, for the most part, well thought out. Each character has a different way of speaking, and it shows in how they phrase things. That said, some characters, like Patricia, have ways of speaking that feel awkward. I don’t know if it reads differently in Chinese, but it almost reads like it did not get translated 100% into English. For instance, one dialogue bubble of Patricia reads “The Cameras were never broken and monitored things as usual. But we couldn’t find the culprit.” There isn’t a need to have the “never” or even the “as usual” segments of the sentence in that bubble. It just adds unnecessary words that make it more confusing, rather than a speech pattern.
Second Eruption
Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption is a great read for fans of the series. The artwork is immaculate, and the action can constantly amaze you. There are some peak moments of the franchise in this story, like the awakening of a Herrscher, or even the events that turned Welt into the person he is today. If you are someone who is a fan of the Honkai world, this is a must-grab for your collection.
Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption Vol 1. will be available on April 7th, 2026, for you to own and read.
Honkai Impact 3rd is a Free-To-Play game available on Mobile Devices(iOS and Android) and PC.
Review Disclosure Statement: Honkai Impact 3rd: Second Eruption Vol. 1 was provided to us for review purposes by TOKYOPOP. For more information on how we review media/technology, please review our Review Guideline/Scoring Policy for more info.
