After several years of living by himself in a new world, Ryoma is leaving his life as a hermit behind and has started traveling with the Jamil family. The Jamils are a family of magical beast tamers and are so impressed with how many slimes Ryoma has been able to tame, in some ways he’s done more “research” on slimes than anyone before him! But the Tamers’ Guild is less impressed given how un-flashy slimes are, and how difficult it would be for Ryoma to use his slimes to complete tasks and advance up the ranks in the guild. So instead, Ryoma joins up with the Adventurers’ Guild and finds the perfect use for his slimes, cleaning!
Having now experienced this part of the series twice, once in anime form and now in manga, I do think that the manga has better pacing than the anime did, although that might also have to do with the fact that in a single half hour I can read a manga volume that would take several episodes to adapt. I believe there were also a few scenes that were cut from the anime that help develop the characters a bit more deeply; I mentioned that in the first volume you got a better sense of Ryoma’s previous life on Earth (and how that shaped some of his more-alarming stats in this next life) and here in the second volume you see the Jamils’ discussing what they’ve noticed about Ryoma and how some of his un-child-like reactions have them genuinely concerned. It is nice to know that that kind of background detail was something that original author Roy took into account, and it makes me wish the anime had incorporated those items a bit more gracefully as well.
I must admit however, I do think that the anime adaptation had the manga adaptation beat in the art department as I’m still just not a big fan of Ranran’s style (ignoring a couple instances of truly awkward CGI in the anime). The pages feel a tad too crowded, the faces are wide with oddly shaded eyes, and a half dozen other little details simply aren’t to my taste. It’s a shame since the art is such an integral part of any manga series, original or adapted, although I’ll also admit that I find the character art of the original light novels also a little lacking.
Even though I’m trying to view this manga on its own, it’s hard not to be swayed by my feelings on the anime which I was tired of by the end. I often enjoy “slow life” stories, and I’m certainly game for lore-dense fantasy stories, but By the Grace of the Gods just feels a little bland to me. It doesn’t have especially lovable characters or interesting circumstances to really keep my attention and that was the case for both the anime and manga for me. Between this, the anime, and the short story at the end (which admittedly may read a bit differently from the light novel series proper, I’m assuming Sheldon Drzka translated that portion in addition to the main manga portion of this volume but they aren’t one of JNC’s translators on the light novel series), I think the manga is probably the best way to read this story with better pacing than the anime and not having the LN’s clunky language.
In the end, simply put, this series just isn’t “sparking joy” in me and I’d rather spend my time reading series that do. A second anime season has been announced and I may end up watching that but, with so many series coming out these days, it will really have to compete for my time and interest.