It has been a very long time since we had told you about Outlaw Players, this manga taking place in an MMORPG universe and taking advantage of the very precise trait of the French mangaka Shonen. Note that the man is also behind the script for this work and these three new volumes again testify to the artist's knowledge of video games but also of everything related to pop culture, films, series in going through the anime.
These new volumes focus again on the small group of Sakuu as well as that of Providence led by the Empress Elica, determined to eliminate from the world of Thera the Venraids, a sort of immense secular dragons. So, over the pages, the author brilliantly passes from one team to another, this causing a real dynamism in the story as the groups are diametrically opposed in terms of objectives and of course mentality
We will also appreciate that in these volumes (mainly 7 & 8), Shonen tackles in filigree certain player problems, from the most basic (the management of his inventory) to those, deeper, like the relationship to the game, what you can find and feel better there than in real life.
If it will be interesting to see if these questions will have an impact on the rest of the story, volumes 7 & 8 are distinguished by several superb confrontations highlighting the trait of the mangaka, always as lively and precise when it comes to putting in scenes of fights with 1 against 10 or 1V1 during a tournament, another great part of any manga of this type. However, where some may abuse it by stretching their stories, Shonen gets straight to the point and wraps it all up in a handful of chapters. No time wasted and in the end an incredible fight between Sakuu and the very charismatic Wolgar, head of the Fenrir guild, which we already long to find later
In absolute terms, these new volumes of Outlaw Players do not really change the situation, there are many references to what Shonen appreciates, including One Piece via a pirate woman strongly resembling the character of Alvida, the structure follows a known pattern but the characters remain so endearing that we never stop devouring the different logs. What's more, Sakuu continues to evolve and after feeling the need to prove his worth without using his relic, he will realize that he still has a long way to go to be the undisputed leader he would like to be.
We will also appreciate, once is not custom, that Shonen takes us out during several boards of Tome 9 of Thera to plunge us back into the real world in order to linger on the creation of the game while offering us some information about the company Aegis. It will also be interesting to see if this passage will lead to a new plot, in parallel with the fantasy world, in order to mix genres and why not offer Outlaw Players a whole new dimension. Volume 9 gives us this impression, both outside and inside the game by mixing the genres again for a homogeneous result, however, making combat robots, zombies, magicians and other creatures seemingly coming from a Resident Evil or, as desired, a Berserk.
For all these reasons, Outlaw Players remains an extremely enjoyable series which improves over time and which, we hope, will prove more and more generous in the years to come.
> Buy Volume 9 of Outlaw Players
By Logan, Journalist igamesnews.com
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