Spear Hero Manga Point by Point

On the strength of its scenarios and characterizations, saying little about the quality of its writing, author Aneko Yusagi’s Rising of the Shield Hero fantasy novel series earned a devoted global fan following, considerable international criticism, and multi-media adaptations including manga and animation. The unbridled popularity of the core novel series compelled a spin-off sequel that reversed the roles of the original series’ protagonist with one of the supporting characters. The Reprise of the Spear Hero novel series made supporting character Motoyasu Kitamura the protagonist and turned former protagonist Naofumi Iwatani into a minor supporting character. And predictably, the Reprise of the Spear Hero novel series was subsequently adapted into manga by illustrator “Neet.” In continuing its English language translation of Yusagi’s franchise, One Peace Books has recently published the first volume of the Reprise of the Spear Hero Manga Companion.

The 176-page initial manga volume contains the first four manga chapters that adapt the first half (chapters 1-8 of 15 plus epilogue) of the first Spear Hero light novel. Also split between the chapters are six illustrated pages of character profiles and seven pages of text scenario and setting summary from the Shield Hero novels. And the manga concludes with a two-page prose text story by author Aneko Yusagi narrated by minor supporting character Kuro. The manga’s first four pages were published in color during the series’ original Japanese serialization. The interior pages of the English translation are entirely monochrome. Visual sound effects are unaltered and frequently translated. The English language translation is free of typos and grammar errors, although it does exhibit the arbitrary oddity of retaining the deliberately malformed Japanese honorific “-tan” while all other honorifics are translated to English language equivalents. The book also exhibits two minor discrepancies inherited from the original novel & from the series’ complicated translation history. In the former case, Motoyasu realizes that he can’t recollect who raised Filo. Yet just two pages later, without any interim explanation, Motoyasu is certain that it was Naofumi who discovered and raised Filo. In the later case, the fairly sanitized text summary of the Shield Hero narrative and the supporting character profiles identify Princess Myne by the designated title “Witch” when the surrounding manga story and other translations from the same publisher use the more common and exact title “Bitch.”

In addition to the periodic use of the pejorative “bitch,” the translation also uses one other curse word one time near the end of the volume. Nudity is limited to just one shot of the young girl Filo’s bare buttocks. The story contains no overt sex, but the story should still merit caution for sensitive readers as it casually and cavalierly revolves around potentially offensive subjects including rape, pathological misogyny, and offhand death threats and murder for intended comedic effect.

The manga’s illustrations consist entirely of close-ups and medium shots, thereby reducing the need for detailed background art. Foreground characters look fine. Average readers preoccupied with the story and dialogue won’t consciously notice that backgrounds are typically impressionistic suggestions or just hazy screentone fog. The illustration plays to the artist’s strength and emphasizes the most important aspect of the story. So the art design can be considered somewhat minimalist yet effective.

Despite including 15 pages of illustrated prose the book is still a brisk read that functionally illustrates and summarizes the first half of the first Spear Hero supplemental/spin-off novel. Despite the book’s best effort to contextualize its story for new readers, this manga is not an ideal starting point for readers new to the Shield Hero franchise as this book contains numerous subtle setting details that aren’t explained which the reader is assumed to be familiar with. Moreover, the book is somewhat difficult to recommend even to casual fans of the Shield Hero franchise. The original light novel that this manga is based on is easy reading and contains more detail and more story than this abbreviated manga summary does. Particularly since the entire Spear Hero spin-off adds little new or substantial to the Shield Hero universe, and the manga is specifically designed to be a quick summary of the novel, the manga is essentially only useful as a sort of “CliffsNotes” synopsis to an already insubstantial novel. The manga provides the benefit of exactly five pages of illustration of Kuro in her “angel” form and the bonus two-page “Kuro” short prose story but otherwise little else that’s unique or valuable to any but the most ardent Shield Hero fans that devour every aspect of the franchise’s media.