In 2017, stakes are high inside the multiplayer online game known as "The World " when the online player killer "Tri-Edge" threatens the real life of Shino, a friend of Haseo, who punishes player killers.
This continues to be mediocre on all fronts. The art is okay, the storytelling is rushed (which can be a common habit with licensed tie-in manga), and the changes (to prevent spoiling the game, as listed in Volume 1's afterword) continue to result in some curious but not very interesting storytelling choices. There's nothing truly wrong with it, but I wouldn't recommend it either. If you're going to read G.U. instead of playing it (since the remaster has made the games far easier to obtain than before), the light novels would be a much much better way to spend your time.
The story diverges more and more from the one I'm familiar with from the video game series. There are quite a few cases of, "Wait, but I thought..." when reading because of BIG differences. And when I say "big" I mean dark changes. Like, really dark.
The art at times felt awkward, especially concerning Atoli and Pi (for very different reasons).
With Atoli, I felt like they made her outfit so low cut that her boobs actually shifted down her body. (Left: Game Atoli Character Art)
(Sadly, I can't find an image of her from the manga specifically, so you'll have to take my word on this one)
As for Pi... Her boobs definitely got bigger. Like, a lot bigger. At least a few sizes. I know she was busty in the game, but I feel like they took "sexy" and just made it "sexual"...
(Also, detail oriented me... They had Sakubo's hat as "Bo" with the moon up but the skirt from "Saku's" design... I don't know why, but it kinda bugged me).
Overall, I'd say I enjoyed it, but I have to say the game was better so far.
How cool would it be to be stuck in a video-game, everything you see and feel is virtual reality and you're fighting for your life? This story has such potential to be really awesome that I can't stop reading it anyway. Even though it's not particularly great. Mostly it's just frustrating.
There is so much drama in this book. And it is really hard to follow. You must have had to read some of the other series in order to be totally filled in with what is happening outside of the dialogue in this and the first book in the series.