Taking over the world isn’t easy. It can’t be done in a single day, especially when hero rangers are defending Earth. Which is why even evil alien employees get time off to get away from their work at the Evil League.
And for one high-ranking official, their days off often involve pandas.
The titular Mr. Villain isn’t given a name. We do know he’s high up in the chain of command, and when he’s on the job or angry, he looks more like Dracula. According to his narration, that doesn’t stop some people from recognizing him when he’s off duty, but Mr. Villain plays dumb so that his private life stays separate from his work life. That way, he can go shopping or admiring the pandas at the zoo in peace. One person who does realize his true identity? The Dawn Red Ranger, part of the force fighting against the Evil League.
This is only the first volume of Mr. Villian’s Day Off, so it’s possible Red will become a more prominent figure. He does appear several times during the manga, but considering he also debuts with Mr. Villain in the opening chapter (and is featured on the cover), he’s far from being a deuteragonist or anything of the sort. The manga is made up of short chapters, often only single digits in length. In between each is a less artistically detailed page or two that serves as an epilogue or addendum, like how the first notes that Red became friendly after his and Mr. Villain’s first off-the-job encounter.
The main chapters, as the manga’s title suggests, focuses on days when Mr. Villain isn’t working, like visiting the zoo or picking up things at the local convenience store. It’s fairly common for episodic, lighthearted comedies like this to skimp on the world-building and let readers focus on the premise. This is the case here for Mr. Villain’s Day Off, but I feel it is too much “hands off” in regards to the Evil League, the Rangers, and such. We only see Mr. Villain at work doing typical office-type things, so I’m not exactly sure what the Evil League does out in the field for the Rangers to fight. Or even why humans have to be eradicated versus conquered. The Rangers’ identities (or, at least Dawn’s) don’t seem to be kept secret, so the manga isn’t relying on typical champions of justice vs evil standards, which would fill in some of the story gaps and perhaps lead to additional jokes.
But the manga isn’t all about the humor. His days off leads Mr. Villain to learn more about Earth and gain an appreciation of its inhabitants. There’s a real slice-of-life feel despite the fantasy setting, like being angry/depressed when a seasonal item is no longer for sale. His Evil League self starts coming out sometimes when he’s off duty, but most of the time, Mr. Villain is rather kind and calm. But yet his lessons and personal growth sometimes gets lost in the manga reminding readers of his panda obsession, and it’s hard to judge how much he has changed (if much at all) since arriving on Earth.
As for the art, well, it does have that web serialization look to it. It’s pretty straightforward, but I wish a lot of the interstitials — which often add a lot of context or provide an even funnier punchline — had been done in regular detail versus the simpler style they’re in. They’re more like pencil drawings because they’re extras versus part of the main story, but more often then not, I wish they were part of the chapter and not just an addendum.
So, all in all, I thought this first volume of Mr. Villain’s Day Off was just okay. This is a series very few people are going to hate thanks to Mr. Villain’s love for pandas and his scraggly appearance compared to his work self. But I think it’s also hard for readers to adore this series even a fraction as much as Mr. Villain loves pandas. Right now, the manga is in a weird place where it pushes jokes too much to be an easygoing, slice-of-life tale, and yet the manga isn’t hilarious enough to be reliably tickle your funny bone. I am curious as to whether Red will play more of a role and the other Rangers will appear because they may help inject a little more dimension into the story.