Yea these sort of volumes seem so drawn out and very wordy. Reminds me when an anime/anime-game has do many characters and they all need to say something even if it’s repeated or not pushing the narrative at all. When that happens it really slows everything down and I lose interest and it pulls me out of the flow. I think it’s more so whenever Kobayashi talks all philosophical with another character, which is cool at times and insightful but when done over and over and I get bored fast. Imo I’d just cut down the dialogue a little or make chapters that have more climactic feeling where I feel nervous for the characters, there’s really no suspense whatsoever here. Other slice of life haven’t gotten boring like this for me so those are the reasons I think I thought that.
After finishing I think these chapters just have so much dialogue and not much happening on the pages otherwise. Like when this much taking happens I am not looking at the drawings as much since they’re smaller and less detailed because they need to fit all the talking in the panels which again didn’t really have any impact for me.
Wish there was a couple more chapters or silly light stuff (going bowling, going fishing, traveling etc.) the meta dragon stuff as much as I want to like it, feels tacked on and not as heavily worked through for as to why are we learning so much about these kinds of dragons and yet we never really see much development specific to these types (chaos, harmony, and frick tbh I can’t even remember what type Lucoa is called again)
So in the end I like parts of the volume but mainly because of the characters and not all chapters were as good as each other. Mainly the middle and end was bad didn’t even have the energy to read the bonus 2 chapters (again butt ton of dialogue)
The wacky weird and somewhat wholesome slice of life adventures continue for our office working heroes and the dragons that love 'em living in modern corporate Japan. But just as things seem to be treading a familiar path along comes a surprise villain to shake things up. Loki, the master and creator God of the Holy Sword bonded to Kobayashi has dark schemes afoot and he isn't above some light kidnapping of beloved ones to force his chosen pawns to play his game. Left with no choice, it seems that Tohru AND Kobayashi are going to have to enter his Battle Arena Trials and even worse, possibly face off against dear close friends turned foes!
Great cliffhanger that's got me super invested for the next part! Really enjoyed the short bonus isekai story that may have involved a young Takiya! (and also hinted why Telne-chan is so obsessed with being cute!)
Seeing more of Elma’s grandmother and how much Elma wanted to spend quality time with Tohru, without actually saying it, was very cute. It was interesting to meet Lucoa’s sister and seeing the sisters interact, along with some unique interactions with Shouta, and I really hope to see more of the new character. I really like how this quirky slice of life series has been gradually turning into an intense adventure series over the course of these several volumes. I’m very curious going into this next volume since I’m wondering just how intense Loki’s trials could get.
This volume seems like a setup for a bigger arc coming next. Everything about it is working towards a future volume. From the Elma wanting to get training and Kobayashi connecting better with the holy sword, this feels like elements which will be touched upon in a future installment. Its entertaining and showcases this series still has a lot of gas left in the tank with what it hopes to accomplish.
3.5 Stars. A surprisingly interesting volume but also a tad disappointing. The bonus story at the end was a unique change and seeing the mini dragons was entertaining as well however finally showing us Lucoa's sister and her seemingly being a clone character was a big letdown.