Review by Frank Plowright
Very confusing cover credits don’t forge an instant identification with The One, Later On. From them you’d presume Miya Kazutomo was the artist, when in fact she contributed to the novels from which the comics are adapted, co-written with NAHAaTO (sic) while Nariie Shinichirou draws.
Open the book, and things don’t become much clearer. Shinichirou is an artist who concentrates on head and shoulders illustrations, avoids backgrounds and isn’t great on clarity when it comes to combat. We meet Sienna, a young elf menaced by a dragon, and saved by a human called Waz, somehow able to punch the dragon out. Other older elves are looking for Sienna, one guilty about having provoked a temper tantrum that led Sienna to confront the dragon.
It can be the case that cultural differences between Japan and the West impair the full enjoyment of manga series, and sometimes it causes wonder at editorial judgement. It’s not long into the story before the ten year old Sienna is offering to join Waz’s harem in return for saving her, and not long after we have a naked warrior elf at a pool. It’s passed off jokingly, but is all very gratuitous. Later on there’s a proposed marriage at fifteen, and an announcement that it’s perfectly legal to marry relatives on this world. Both are serious.
Moving on, a mystery is sustained about how a human can be so strong as Waz deals with a threat to the elf village, but an answer isn’t long in coming, and it’s the first time the story evolves beyond the appeal being dependent on Waz’s confidence and cheery personality. However, while it’s a step up, it’s not greatly original, even if it fills in why Waz is so powerful and accompanied by a baby dragon. It also establishes why Waz is wandering, the sadness inherent in the story wiped out by the comedic exaggerations.
Too much is random, for any kind of attachment to be made, and the running joke of a succession of women almost immediately being attracted to Waz is already running thin as the first volume concludes. The One Later On… so far shows little promise.
