By Tappei Nagatsuki and Shinichirou Otsuka. Released in Japan as “Re: Zero Kara Hajimeru Isekai Seikatsu: Tanpenshuu” by MF Bunko J. Released in North America by Yen On. Translated by Sarah Moon.
First of all, I appreciate that we have a new translator for the short stories. The plan seems to be to release these volumes one month after the main volumes till we catch up, so putting all that on the same person would be a strain. Secondly, of course, we’re getting this a bit late. This volume first came out in 2014, in between Volume 5 and 6 of the regular series. It also introduces us to Liliana, someone who appears as a major supporting character in the 5th arc and who we are expected to have known about from this story. So, kinda like the Index SS books. Also like the Index SS books, it’s great to see these licensed anyway. They provide a lot of really good fluffy fun, introduce a character who’s important later, and give important backstory to two more supporting characters. And, perhaps most importantly, it gives Subaru a chance to really get in a ton of tsukkomi. Especially in the first story. Comebacks for all.
There are four short stories in this book. Two of them were written to appear in my nemesis, Monthly Comic Alive, and two of them are original for this book. The first, which ran in Comic Alive over 3 issues right after the 3rd volume came out, has a traveling bard named Liliana arrive at the mansion, looking to compose a song about a hero that hasn’t been composed yet. She also, unfortunately, has some people trying to kidnap her, who also come to the mansion. The second story has Subaru trying to give Rem a day off, after seeing how she basically does everything in the mansion, and Rem’s struggles to actually not work. This appeared after the 4th novel. Then we get the two original stories. The first shows Priscilla, having just chosen Al as her knight, returning to her newest husband, and Al learning what said husband has planned for her. The other one shows Emilia falling asleep and ending up in a parody of Alice in Wonderland.
The biggest thing I noticed while reading this book, which I would not remotely have noticed had I read it in publication order, is just how long it’s been since we’ve had Rem in this story. The second story is all about Rem, of course, and the first one has a heaping helping of her. She gets to show off her strength, speed, and pure adoration of Subaru here, and her fans should eat this up. Liliana’s introduction is also good, and she and Subaru have an instant boke/tsukkomi relationship that feels different from the one he already has with Emilia. Emilia’s Wonderland story is mostly silly, but the Priscilla story may be the best in the book. We get another good look at Al’s own “talent” in beating the odds, and we get to see exactly why Priscilla is one of the chosen candidates and why people absolutely revere her. She’s an arrogant, abusive ass, but she earns every bit of the adoration she expects to receive.
So yeah, this was fun. Nothing really serious, apart from bits of the Priscilla story. Fans should love it.
The post Re: ZERO ~Starting Life in Another World~ Short Story Collection, Vol. 1 first appeared on Manga Bookshelf.
0 Comments