Welcome to this week’s One-Shot Roulette! Last week’s edition was on our love for our pets, (and although “Ieva” was featured, my favorite was “The Smell of Happiness,” it was certainly something every panel…). When it comes to writing, one genre in particular is universally difficult to create: hard fantasy. And it will be the theme for this week’s column!
Hirano Ryouji
The week is more straightforward compared to last week with an emotional stress level of: 3/10 – although it’s long, with a grand total of 199 pages, making it comparable to a single volume of manga.
The emotional stress level is more of an indicator of how emotionally exhausting I consider the stories to be. Stories are given a number (0, 1, 2) and are then totaled for the week.
In order to make a convincing fantastical world for audiences to get immersed in, world-builders work tirelessly to construct their physical worlds as well as the internal logic that binds all its pieces together. These vast worlds offer completely new cultures to explore, each with its own deep history, the effects of which can be seen in every aspect of these societies.
Every long form medium has all sorts of rich worlds to explore but if you’re a fan of hard-fantasy looking for some manga to read, you may feel as hopeless as the humans in the grimdark universe of “Warhammer 40K”.
Mogusu
Since the airing of “Sword Art Online” in 2012, the fantasy genre in manga/anime has become plagued with the same copy-paste fantasy world, with their circular hub towns, JRPG progression systems, reincarnated protagonist, and harem of women to eventually pull in its inevitable gacha game adaptation. The genre has become synonymous with Isekai.
With the financial and producing nightmare that is the anime industry maybe it can be (slightly) forgiven but that’s exactly where fantasy one-shots come in!
As they’re only one-off stories, authors are able to mess with concepts or ideas without worrying about the giant iceberg that is world construction. However this often comes at a deep cost to the readers…
Have you ever felt that deep sinking despair after finishing an anime you really enjoyed? Congratulations you experienced PAD! Post-Anime Depression! It is a very common phenomenon not exclusive to anime. Reddit user /u/atfidali9001 expressed the shared sentiment with one-shots well when he asked: “Why isn’t this an actual manga. ****ing one-shots always hype me up to let me down.”
If you can’t decide, try spinning the wheel.
DISCLAIMER: To preserve the experience of the column, tags and disclaimers have not been included for individual one-shots. Stories may contain suggestive or sensitive content. Discretion is advised.
Although these warnings have been removed, an emotional-stress level will be provided to give a general idea as to how straight-forward or intense the content of the stories are. It is more of an indicator of the amount and intensity of emotions.
Featured this week is: “The Ruined Lamp” by the creator of “Snow White with the Red Hare”, Sorata Akiduki! This one-shot is the mangaka’s first in the five years prior to this one’s release back in 2017!
You would be surprised to know this is a one-shot rather than the first chapter of a full serialization with its fleshed-out world of genies and wizards brought to life with elaborate designs as well as the clean line work you’d expect out of a long time professional mangaka!
“The Ruined Lamp” – Sorata Akiduki (41 pages) – In a land threatened by monsters, the people are protected by magicians contracted with the “Lamps of Torn Flames”. Clara, a reluctant student at the school of magic, has been selected as a candidate to become one of the wielder of the flames.
“Three Stars Magic Restaurant” – Miyata Kouji (10 pages) – Whether you’re a zombie, youkai, or fairytale creature, come on down to Hell’s Kitchen where every dish is tailor-made to each customer!
“The Hero’s Party on their Way Back Home” – Hirano Ryouji (55 pages) – Stories only end once the heroes return home.
“The Girl With a Strange Disease and the Secret Medicine of Birdmen” – Mogusu (66 pages) – Plagued with the death mark, Amanda journeys to see the auroras before her terminal demise. After helping a member of the proud birdmen, can the two manage to obtain the village’s secret medicine?
“Isekai Truck” – COIN440 (28 pages) – You ever sit and wonder: huh, who created all these fantasy worlds? You ever sit and wonder: huh, who drives the trucks that teleports people to them?
If you’re feeling down with some Post-Fantasy Depression after all that reading, check out the new popular manga, “Frieren: Beyond Journey’s End!” Til’ next time on the One-Shot Manga Roulette.