Eight mighty island warriors battle to become king. The deciding factor? The one who comes last, of course Eight islands represented by their best warriors must battle it out in a tournament to decide their king. To win this battle of endurance, it's not the last one standing but the last one coming that matters The tournament to choose the next king of the islands is about to begin. The rules are simple--whoever comes first loses Participating warriors protect their mighty swords with armor that grows larger and more elaborate with each tournament. But one warrior has returned from studying abroad with a technique certain to force a pleasurable eruption Is there a competitor alive able to withstand it? Or is this deft warrior destined to become king?
Summary:
For this short series, I absolutely loved and devoured the 2 volumes!! The first volume could be self-contained and was absolutely wonderful, from the vivid world-building to the lively, well-rounded characters to the gorgeous artwork. Oh, and the spice, definitely the spice.
Full review:
This surprised me so much in so many ways, and it was absolutely MARVELOUS! Yes, marvelous needed to be in all caps, it was that good! Going into this, I expected it to be pretty silly and not take itself very seriously plot-wise. Boy, was I wrong. So much love and attention went into not only the art and relationships, *wink wink*, but the world-building was off the charts! I really did not expect that, not from a spicy BL manga, but this series delivered.
Even the (seemingly) ridiculous concept worked so well in the setting; the whole thing was pretty down-to-earth. We even have Matthew to thank for establishing that, to the outside world of the archipelago, this tournament is completely weird! His point of view made things feel even more grounded and oddly realistic. There was no use of H logic, like, "Well, this is good to go right off the bat, let's stick it in!" and took the time and care to explain that you can't just dive in, so to speak, that some preparation is needed, especially if one is not used to— *ahem*.
Don't get me wrong, that was plenty of goofy moments and hilarity; this manga kept me in stitches, giggling, laughing, rolling off my seat guffawing. Not to mention the majority of the characters were well fleshed out in this volume, and the ones that were only touched on - no pun intended - I had hoped were more even developed in the second volume. And did I mention the art? It was stunning! Between the island, the men, their armor, everything was very detailed and beautifully drawn!
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