Sometimes, you just simply find something you click with. That’s why if you happen to find a genre you really enjoy, you’ll want to consume more of it. This can also be how the creation process goes: one thing is either successful or you love it, so might as well create new things with that premise.
It’s abundantly clear Shinkoshoto is WAY into isekai. Maybe too far gone into isekai, but is that going to stop Shinkoshoto from making more for people to consume? Apparently not, and this didn’t stop Square Enix from licensing another manga adaptation from this author with the reincarnation premise. After this did see a delay from its fall release slate, it’s now here, and I’m here to tell you…
…This might be a lot better than Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest.
In Strongest Sage, we have an all-powerful sage choosing to reincarnate in order to acquire the strength necessary to face a mysterious space threat. In My Isekai Life? Yuji Sano was your typical overworked corporate drone staring down piles of work when a pop up on his screen asked if he wanted to be summoned to another world. Thinking he might’ve gotten a virus, he tries to restart his PC, only for him to wake up in another world.
As soon as he shows up, he already believes he’s just dreaming and thinks if he dies he’ll wake up.
So the usual strengths and weakness of isekai are very much in this manga. Overpowered protagonist? Yuji ends up taming slimes, and those slimes end up discovering and then reading a bunch of books containing all sorts of powerful magic — which then transfers to him. So yes, definitely overpowered. Is a know-it-all due to modern knowledge? Too early to say. To My Isekai Life’s credit, he needs to figure out what this world is all about, since he has no understanding of currency, the world situation, etc. He does, however, learn he can tank his MP into the negatives with absolute destruction magic.
The harem of girls? Also surprisingly, not in this first volume at least. At best he just has a harem of slimes, from the usual cute slime to one with an eyepatch to one with a mustache. In the splash page there’s I assume a monster girl with horns with a slime on her head, but she makes no appearance in this volume. For all I can guess he’s going to transform one of slimes into a girl. But it doesn’t happen here, and generally we get a mix of folks, from the standard adventurers to the guild girl, and to the old man that runs the guild.
So to be clear, nothing about this manga is at all original. It’s just we’ll be following a man who is glad to escape the overworked life and live a new life while being totally overpowered. Him showing up essentially will overwrite some of the general class concepts (you’re supposedly locked to one class) and we’ll see what the narrative chooses to do with what he faces moving forward. And it does so in a strong manner that makes it readable and entertaining.
The art definitely sells most of the humorous elements, from the usual shock from others when Yuji shows his power to even the surprised shock from one of his slimes when he absolutely obliterates a dragon with one of his strongest spells by accident. Yes, by accident. But aside from the mob characters, everything looks clear and engaging, and so far the slime designs are a big selling point from this volume.
The only real thing aside from its genre trappings that hold it back is the lack of a clear goal. We can assume someone summoned him to this world, but maybe this story won’t explain it. If it chooses to maintain a humorous bent to it that’ll be fine, but if it decides to get serious then this might not work out too well. Overall, this manga was never boring, and that alone makes it worth following. But discovering it might actually have more potential than Strongest Sage? Will have to see where this series goes then.