A life like in video games, anyone? Since May 4th, Delcourt editions offer you The extraordinary apothecary, a manga adaptation of Yuka Tachibana's novel "becoming a reader", illustrated by Fujiazuki.
A synopsis that does not do justice to the manga
"Sei, a workaholic, finds herself mistakenly summoned to another world during a ritual that aims to summon a Saint who can eradicate all demons. After his arrival, only the other girl summoned at the same time is taken to see the Prince. After leaving the palace, Sei starts working in a research lab and discovers this new life. »
A sensational starting point
The first volume of The Extraordinary Apothecary is quite surprising. The reader is directly immersed in the action when Sei, the protagonist, is propelled into another world, called Slantania. Summoned at the same time as her, another young woman monopolizes all the attention and Sei, at first furious, then takes the opportunity to explore the surroundings. It is there that she realizes that this new world, despite its different functioning, still has some similarities with hers. Indeed, she quickly discovers a laboratory that creates potions and is invited to join it. Thus, from the first volume of The Extraordinary Apothecary, Sei finds her place in this unknown world and becomes a researcher in singles. The simple is the term used in the Middle Ages to designate medicinal herbs, taken up by the manga. But of course, Sei and his potions are special, they are of a higher level than others.
A second part a little less exciting
Following this, The Extraordinary Apothecary goes in another direction, which perhaps excites the reader less: romance. It was to be expected since it is a shojo but the beginning suggested that The Extraordinary Apothecary would be different. Well no, Sei is no longer the hard worker that no one looks at, no in Slantania, she is very successful. The other half of this volume is devoted almost entirely to her romance with Captain Hawks.
An original concept
Beyond the narrative a little too predictable, the concept of the manga is very interesting. If in the Isekai, the protagonist often finds himself projected into a video game or a parallel world, as can be seen in Living Legend or Re: Zero.Well, in The Extraordinary Apothecary, it's a bit of both. Not much is known about this world except the notion of miasmas (monsters that grow and invade their world) that only the saint (Sei and the other maiden) can eradicate. A parallel world, then. However, it doesn't stop there. This world is more like how a video game works than our world. To put it simply, the abilities of its inhabitants are evaluated by level and progress according to knowledge. Cooking, lotions, potions, see their level progress over the course of the story. It is a concept that has potential and we hope that Fujiazuki will exploit it! Not much is known either about Sei's former life, which is a bit annoying. We don't know why she's there, why she's not trying to go back? The summary tells us that she lives only for her work, yet she does not seem worried about the repercussions of her absence… She remains an endearing and captivating character. It's well written and realistic and we can't wait to see it move forward. She is very dedicated and conscientious in her new job and spends hours and hours trying to improve the level of her lotions in the lab.
An end that revives the suspense
The last page quickly recalls the universe in which our protagonist finds himself. We discover the update of his level and abilities gives hope for a return of the action initially presented in the next volume, to the detriment of romance. This first volume of The Extraordinary Apothecary leaves the reader in suspense, we want to know more about Sei and what will happen to her in this new world and in the old. We want to discover this new world and learn the old life of Sei… But what we want above all is to know the role of the young protagonist within these two worlds! The first volume of The Extraordinary Apothecary, reveals a shojo isekai rather well written, with a lot of potential. An endearing protagonist, who does not let herself be defeated and quickly finds her place in a world that is not her own, charismatic secondary characters and a sensational universe? Nothing could be more engaging. A potential, which we hope, will be exploited as it should in the next volumes! The first volume is available since last week so don't wait any longer!
