Title: Dragon and Chameleon Vol. 4
Author: Ryo Ishiyama
Publisher: Square Enix
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 176
Genre: Slice-of-Life, Sci-Fi
Publication Date: August 12, 2025
The Story
Garyo (as Miyama) is preparing his storyboard for Orochi Magazine; however, he is told that he will need to recruit some assistants. He knows that he can’t just get any old assistants, as they need to specialize in backgrounds, crowds, and digital art to blend with his unique style.
First up is an assistant named Yamato Kenzaki. He is a genius at drawing backgrounds; however, his current pace is too slow for his mangaka. Plus, he’s not very good at drawing crowds and action lines. These problems outweighed his stellar background, but even those became a problem as his mangaka complained that they were too detailed and distracted readers from the rest of the art. With that, he was let go from his assistant duties. Practically giving up, he attends a drinking party where “Miyama” is attending. Even in his drunken state, “Miyama” recognizes his talent, but when he passes out, it’s up to Kenzaki to bring him back home. While there, he reads “Miyama’s” manga and falls in love with it!
Next, Orochi introduces “Miyama” as a wild card and loose cannon. A girl named Rion Honesaka. She has a very sharp tongue and makes it known that she won’t work for anyone, but her digital manga skills are second to none. She challenges “Miyama” to a manga triathlon, where if he wins, she will become his assistant. Needless to say, with the amount of focus placed on her, you know what the outcome is going to be.
This only leaves a final slot for an assistant. As “Miyama” is going through applications, he spies one from the legendary mercenary himself, Seiichiro Hiiragi: an assistant who stepped in and saved Doragon Land when it faced a staff shortage when several assistants called out sick. He is known for his masterful and quick techniques that have served many mangaka well over the years; however, the caveat is that he wants a work-life balance and is only willing to be a part-time assistant on a one day per week basis! Will it be good enough?
Finally, Orochi feels that in order to kick off her new magazine, there needs to be a lot of hype. Not only is she putting all bets on “Miyama,” but she’s also not leaving things to chance. She can snag one of the most famous mangaka in the world right after his 9-year series, Kiyudan, wrapped up! We are introduced to Ikki Fugaku, who looks to be “Miyama’s” main rival, and our new main antagonist!
Characters
We have several new characters to get to, so let’s waste no time and jump right in!
First up is Yamato Kenzaki. As mentioned above, he’s very talented with backgrounds, but when he gets fired, he feels that his weaknesses are too great, and he begins to stop believing in himself. It isn’t until he meets “Miyama” that he realizes that there is still a place for him in the world of manga. His character isn’t exactly the deepest, but it’s a simple story of finding yourself and realizing that you are more talented than you perceive yourself to be. It also carries the adage that “one man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” I’m not calling Kenzaki trash by any means, but his former mangaka thought he was; his skills were perfect for “Miyama.” It’s a lesson that tells you that just because you don’t fit in somewhere, it doesn’t mean you won’t fit in somewhere else. There’s always a place for you somewhere in the world.
Next, we have Rion Honesaka. She used to be bullied, but her mother never stood up for her. She saw her mom as weak and spineless, so she decided to always be strong. This led to her being a bit of a rogue, where is only trusts herself. This also led to her brash attitude, and why she doesn’t like working for others. However, “Miyama” is quite infectious, but it doesn’t mean that she’s going to suddenly change her ways. And so, we have another “scream at the top of their lungs” character. I don’t like these. So, needless to say, out of the three new assistants, she’s going to be my least favorite of the bunch. I always find these types of characters annoying.
Next, we have the legendary mercenary, Seiichiro Hiiragi. He’s an older man with a wife and daughter. His days of being on the “battlefield” are behind him. All he wants to do is provide for his family, but deep down, he wishes he could return to the weekly manga schedule, slaving away and breaking your soul for the sake of putting out the next hit series. Will this old soldier ride off into battle for one last hurrah? We’ll have to see. I like Seiichiro. Despite being a veteran with incredible skills, he’s a little kid at heart. He loves manga more than anything, but his years have matured him to be wise, yet respectful of others, regardless of their age or personality. He’s going to play the role of the wise sage here, and I love these types of characters!
Finally, we have Ikki Fugaku. Of course, if he’s going to be the main rival/antagonist, he’s going to have to be a prick, and a giant prick he is. He enjoys walking around with a harem, indulging in drinks, and carrying with him an ego the size of Jupiter, yet still manages to give passionate speeches at colleges to young, aspiring manga artists. He doesn’t lie, though. He fuels their minds with the sacrifices one needs to make to achieve their dreams in the world of manga. He doesn’t paint a pretty path for them to follow, but he does so in a way that stirs their hearts. He’s a natural extrovert who is passionate about manga, but his ego isn’t the type that says, “I’m better than you.” (Well, it kind of does). Instead, I think he’s using his experience to harshly criticize those who aren’t on his level. He’s the type who feels that if you haven’t walked the path that he had and haven’t learned what it means to sacrifice to be at the top, then you are nothing but trash. In a way, he’s the same as Garyo… just much, MUCH harsher about it. This should be a fun villain to watch get toppled.
Final Thoughts
Even though this felt a bit like a filler volume to introduce us to new characters, this also accomplished the goal of setting up the next major obstacle for “Miyama” to overcome. Even though Doragon Land was mentioned, I’m surprised we didn’t see “Gyaro” (aka the real Miyama) in this volume. It’s fine, though, because to set up this next arc properly, we needed to know the players involved. In that sense, dedicating a mini-arc for each character was a smart move. It gave us a chance to get to know them, and this is something a lot of series don’t do.
Oftentimes, when a series wants to expand the cast, they’ll just throw all of the characters onto a single page, label them with their names, and expect us to get to know them immediately. It’s like “Here they are, they’re part of the story now. Have fun.” This series avoided that by giving us proper introductions, and because it was handled this way, I didn’t need to go back and look up their names for this review! I was able to recall them from memory because we were introduced to them properly one at a time! What a novel concept this is!
Even with Ikki, we were also given a proper introduction, and while, yes, it did take an entire volume to introduce these new characters, it was well worth it in the end. Now, we have the next arc set up where it’s Ikki vs. “Miyama” to see whose new manga is going to propel Orochi Magazine into the spotlight. We were even given some foreshadowing of how the magazine will be received through the news that broke about Ikki’s next series, and having some background characters question what the magazine is, but then following up by saying, “Who cares? Ikki is in it!” This is the perfect setup to have “Miyama” shock everyone with his series.
Come for the Ikki, stay for the “Miyama!” That’s the premise they are going with here. Now, let’s see if things work out because this series has already thrown us a couple of curveballs in the form of setbacks. We’ll see if the third time is the charm!
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This item was purchased for review.
