Publisher: Yen Press
Release Date: August 28, 2019
Price: $13.00
Creator(s): Dachima Inaka (Writer); Meicha (artist)
Format: 176 pgs., B&W, 5.1"x7.5", Trade Paperback
ISBN: 978-1-9753-8524-8
Age Rating: Older Teen
ICv2 Rating: 3.5 Stars out of 5
This is one of those stories that’s really quite funny, and yet hard to get into because the story is both a cliché and difficult to believe. The cliché part is, oddly enough, deliberate and part of the story, which adds a level of strangeness.
The basic premise is that a company is beta-testing a new online game that is designed for teens and their parents to play together, in order to get to know each other better, and that somehow this would be desired by both. In volume 1 of the story, there are NO examples given of this being desired by both. The humor comes largely from this, and also from the fact that the game traps players inside until certain goals are met. So, the normal cliché is a feature, rather than a bug, which is interesting, but still, the technology involved seems a bit advanced for the other things in the story.
The main character’s mom is way too clingy and doting, according to the main character, and from what the reader sees, that is true. Oddly, though, the game thinks she’s cool, and she has the skill to use two swords that are massively powerful. She’s just not good at choosing targets. The other human teens who have gotten dragged into the game are also not doing well at the "get closer to your parents" thing. Then, there’s the whole "the game’s not complete, and there are bugs" aspect. Being stuck inside the game isn’t exactly a fun time.
So far, there’s not much to the story other than these sources of humor. There may be more in later volumes. The artwork is nothing special, but not at all bad. At least some teens and adults will enjoy this.
--Nick Smith: Library Technician, Community Services, for the Pasadena Public Library in California.
