Ototo adds a new shonen to its catalog with DanMachi : The Legend of the Familias by Kunieda and Fujino Omori. Between mythology and endless labyrinth, a young hero and a goddess make an agreement to create a recognized Familias, but the path promises to be long, very long.
DanMachi: The Legend of the Familias
Original title: Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darô ka
Alternative title: DanMachi
Authors: Fujino Omori (script) and Kunieda (art)
French publisher: Ototo Manga
Original publisher: Square-Enix
Release date : 08/09/2017
Number of volumes: 8 volumes in Japan
Status: Current series
Price : 6,99 €
In the cosmopolitan city of Orario, Bell Cranel is a dungeon adventurer dedicated to the goddess Hestia for just two weeks. Still inexperienced, Bell, head in the air, descends one day too deep into the labyrinth keep that makes the reputation of the city and comes across a gigantic Minotaur. As he succumbs to the blows of the beast, he is saved by Aiz Wallenstein, a famous adventurer of Loki's Familia, as beautiful as she is unflappable. She defeats the monster in less time than it takes to say whet and saves the young man. Bell immediately fell under the spell of the young woman but, in shock, fled without even saying a word. Consumed by regret, he does not know how to approach it and he persuades himself that to be worthy of his interest, he must become stronger and stronger. He then decides to dive all the more assiduously into the dungeon of Orario infested with ever more dangerous monsters. Meanwhile, Hestia worries more and more about him and wonders how to help him.
With this first volume of DanMachi, we find an effective shonen, punctuated by fights and mythological references. The gods of many pantheons met in the labyrinth city of Orario to found familias, a kind of guilds, with humans to whom they grant their blessings. Among the deities crossed in this first volume are Hestia, of course, Aphrodite, Hephaestus, Loki and Ganesh.
There is a certain video game vibe in the divine blessings bestowed upon humans and in the evolutionary system. The adventurers will do farming in the dungeon and the gods grant them more PV, PM, improved stats and spells. The diversity of characters, monsters and atmosphere in general are typical of heroic fantasy.
Hestia with impeccable plastic is quite funny and dedicated. Bell, for now, seems a bit basic and featureless as a hero. Even his motivations are basic. Hoping that his adventures will make him mature a little.
The drawings are not bad and effective, without being transcendent. The girls are cute, the guys… Guys, nice monsters and rather clean sets.
We can't say that the story of DanMachi: The Legend of the Familias is really surprising at the moment, but it is a quiet, enjoyable and rather benevolent read. And if you want to get an idea, it's here to read an excerpt from the first volume.
