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dlamp-dictator · 3 years

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Thinking About Masters of Ragnarok

Recently, I bought a few volumes of The Master of Ragnarok & Blesser of Einherjar manga from Amazon’s Comixology website after I came into some extra money this month. I remember watching the anime and more or less enjoying it, but I also remember there was a bit of controversy about the anime as well. And being a bit bored and wanting something easy to read and chew on I decided to give this series a second shot. I only bought the first 3 volumes of the manga and haven’t rewatched the anime yet, but I’m starting to remember what drew me to this story and setting in the first. I find myself both fascinated and a bit disappointed by what I’ve read so far. I think this series is pretty good for what it’s worth, but there are some clear flaws in it.

But first, that synopsis.

During a Test of Courage in a local forest and shrine, high school student Yuuto Suoh and his childhood friend and crush Mitsuki Shimoya test a superstition involving the shinto shrine’s mirror. In his hubris, Yuuto is spirited away to the world of Yggdrasil, a Bronze Age land with a Norse-like mythology and culture. With Yuuto’s only connection to his world being his solar-powered smartphone and the modern world knowledge it holds, he strides to survive in this brutal and violent world of Yggdrasil and return home to his friend and crush.

So, with that out of the way, let’s discuss some of the bigger issues of this series.

Criticisms

For an Isekai series that got an anime in 2018 there’s actually very little problems I have with the series, at least going by its manga adaptation. Most of the issue I have are more detailed and a nitpicky than the usual problems I have with a story or narrative. I’ll say again, overall, I do like a lot of what’s in this story, there’s just a lot of things in it that nag at me. That said...

The Exposition

At least in the manga, this series is very exposition heavy. There’s a lot of explanation and discussion about war tactics, Bronze Age methods and logistics versus the Iron Age methods and logistics that Yuuto is introducing, agriculture practices, political systems within the clans, and so on. This isn’t a bad thing, as it gives a lot of context to the world and shows use the author doesn’t just have this world in place for the Bronze Age aesthetic. However, I feel like I’d enjoy this series a bit more if I read the light novel proper.

As pretty and nice as some of the images are accompanying the exposition and as good as the story is in some of its more political-based dialogue it still feels like a lot of reading for what is at its core a comic book. As if the medium of manga didn’t translate that well from the original medium of the light novel. I remember the anime being a little better about this, though I can’t say how due to it being so long since I’ve read the thing. This isn’t a deal breaker by any means and if you like the more detailed world building of shows like Log Horizon then I’d say this is still a good manga, but... just know this is more reading than what most manga would entail given how most contemporary Isekai titles are.

The Setting

For all the talk of how brutal the world of Yggdrasil is there’s a real lack of blood and gore shown in the manga. Not that I wanted to see cute girls or soldiers getting impaled by spears and swords, but it feels like either the artist isn’t comfortable drawing that aspect of the world, or doesn’t care to show it. Either way, it creates a dissonance with how seriously Yuuto is taking the situations he’s in. As much as he abhors the violence and need to be violent in the dog-eat-dog culture of Yggdrasil we never seeing that blood and violence outside of a handful of on-screen deaths of prominent enemy commanders, and those aren’t really played to the brutality of the world. Again, I don’t want to see a bunch of blood and guts, but the repeated mention of the harsh realities of violence and the lack of actually seeing it in a repelling way creates dissonance in the setting.

Again, I get the feeling this is done better in the light novel, where you have a chance to go into detail about some of the cruel aspects of the world. And I don’t just mean describing the blood and guts. Things like showing the refugees of a country Yuuto’s Wolf Clan conquered being fearful of him, having Yuuto’s generals demand to loot and pillage after conquering a region with Yuuto refusing, having Yuuto trying to give proper burials to allies and enemies a like. Just more of a show on those cruel aspects in this world would be nice.

The first arc does this very well, with Linnea being terrified of Yuuto when she’s brought to him in chains as a captured general before Yuuto tries to manipulate and guide her into peaceful surrender, only for him to collapse in relief and exhaustion once Linnea is out of view and Yuuto marvels on how difficult it is to mask kindness with a heavy hand in this world. However, after this arc things just feel a little less tense. Maybe its because I watched the anime long ago and know how things end, maybe it’s just the manga not writing/drawing in details that would make some of these scenes more tense, I don’t know. But the setting feels just a touch flaccid.

Character Diversity

I know this is a harem-esque Isekai series, but with how seriously the manga is taking Yuuto’s situation I feel like there should be some diversity in the main cast gender-wise. Don’t misunderstand me, I like cute girls as much as the next guy, but with a setting playing things as serious as they are it doesn’t really make sense that the characters closest to Yuuto would only be his harem, especially given how violent the world of Yggdrasil is. It would make sense to have a few male generals or male warriors around his age in his circle. This would not only allow Yuuto to have more male characters he could be casual with, it’d also give us characters that could be violent, rowdy, and flawed without it being a turnoff if they were female.

Yeah... I know how that sounds, but that’s just how the marketing works these Isekai/harem series.

Given what I know of the characters, Sig or Ingrid could definitely be guys and nothing would really change that much in terms of the narrative. Sig is played off more as an innocent and loyal daughter to Yuuto rather than a potential lover, and turning that innocent daughter into a son would work, especially with Sig being the brawny warrior of the group. Ingrid is the group blacksmith and has a rather tomboyish and casual attitude that needs to constantly be reigned in by Yuuto so he can keep up appearances, and making her a guy would actually let Yuuto not hold back much in how he addressed her. It’s possible the light novel gives him some male allies to let into his main group, but I kind of doubt that.

Yuuto’s Age

Yuuto feels a little too young to be as smart as he is. I had a similar issue in the Taboo Tattoo manga, but given how humble, mature, and intelligent Yuuto is, him being only sixteen makes no sense. Especially when you consider he’s been in Yggdrasil for two years since arriving. I know the competently smart child/teenager is a convenience that a lot of manga, anime, cartoons, and comics have that the audience just accepts, but this manga also takes a lot of this deadly eat-or-be-eaten world serious, so seeing a mere child lead a clan of warriors with only his stolen knowledge of the modern world and Google feels real out of place. The manga explains that he was humbled by a mistake he made when he first came to Yggdrasil that got someone close to him killed and he took his situation much more seriously after that, but I feel that his maturity and his age don’t really match at times. I understand that hardship can force someone to mature quicker than expected, and the responsibility of leadership means he had to shape up fast if he didn’t want more deaths on his hand, but him being just 16 makes his wiser and mature decisions and actions feel a little suspect. Him being around his late teens or mid twenties would feel a bit more appropriate.

Honestly, this whole main cast could be a few years older with the exception of Sig, Chris, and Al, as their younger ages are actively discussed and utilized in the story.

And... well, it’d make all the sexual tension feel less awkward too.

Yeah, I’m gonna’ have to go there. It’s no secret that Master of Ragnarok has a lot problematic issues in some of the topics it discusses. And while I’ll defend a few, this one I won’t. Some of the girls trying to actively make themselves sexually available for Yuuto feels real uncomfortable. Yuuto is probably the oldest of the main cast with the exception of Felicia and he’s 16. Now, I’m not against characters of a young age exploring their sexuality, there are too many western sitcoms and movies that both poke fun at and discuss that topic for me to grandstand, but Master of Ragnarok has some of these girls clearly trying to jump on Yuuto’s dick.

In their defense, characters like Chris and Al are actively trying to get into a political marriage with Yuuto so their clan can be under Wolf Clan protection, and Felicia is within Yuuto’s age group and has known him long enough for marriage and even casual sex to be discuss given the world setting. And to Yuuto’s credit he always refuses for both story reasons and reasons more in line with harem anime tropes of keeping the main character celibate while enjoy the fawning, but it’s still very uncomfortable to see girls just barely around 14 trying to bang and marry the dude.

Smaller Issues

That’s it for the big stuff, but I’ll just post a few smaller issues I have. Nothing too big, but things that either aren’t as problematic as the above issues, or things that just bug me personally.

I don’t like how the majority of male characters in the story are villains/antagonists, it just feels very generic.

The only male ally we actively see is in his late 20s and that bugs me greatly.

Not a nitpick, but I would had liked it if Yuuto’s knowledge came from some personal interest in old world war strategies instead just actively trying to google search the best solution for all his problems.

Praises

I know I went into a lot negatives, but I do enjoy this manga series. There are a lot of aspects I found interest and explored in fun ways. To that end...

The Framework

This is an Isekai story that is more in the middle of the journey than the beginning, and I actually like that fact. It saves the audience a lot of time since any seasoned anime/manga fan knows the tropes of most Isekai already and jumping straight into what makes this one different from others is a nice change of pace. Despite my synopsis above, this manga actually does a two-year time skip after the starting incident and we’re planted firmly into Yggdrasil’s world right as Yuuto wraps up a big battle.

Granted you will be a bit lost if you aren’t familiar with the tropes of most Isekai, and the large gap in time can feel like a lot of potential character development was lost, but I like that I can just jump in and see the bigger moves being made right at the start, though I’ll admit that’s a personal thing.

The Setting

While I have my issues with how the artist treats the setting, I love how writer handles it. I appreciate that Yggdrasil a Bronze Era world rather than a generic Holy Roman/German-esque European nation. It actually helps justify some of the odder aspects of typical harem anime tropes by sticking them in a setting where a harem, a war-like culture, and other practices are somewhat appropriate. It’s not too odd to have a young ruler with a few girls and mistresses. As unnerving as I find these girls being so promiscuous, I’ll admit this was probably normal given the times, assuming Yuuto was just a bit older.

I also like the fact that Yuuto takes advantage of the fact that his knowledge of strategy and war has some real weight. This is a world where the basics of strategy is to have your strongest fighters up front and push back the enemy’s strongest fighters, sometimes with some supporting arrow fire. Yuuto’s knowledge of phalanxes, hammer and anvil, and other strategies makes him a near god of war in terms of commanding ability, and that his intelligence is the key to making him a rising political figure in the world.

Yuuto’s Phone

I almost feel like Master of Ragnarok’s writer saw In Another World with my Smartphone and knew they could do something better with that concept. While Yuuto Google searching his problems is a bit silly, the effects it has in improving the lives of his clan are hard to argue against. Yuuto’s claim to fame is the tactics and methods he learns by trying to kickstart his Bronze Age clan in the Iron Age, and the methods and practices he learns to try and keep things under control helps make the world feel more realistic.

I also like how Yuuto’s phone can only get reception in what is essential a holy shrine where he was originally transported, as well as his cell phone being charged via-sunlight. This does a lot to explain just how he still has access to the internet and Mitsuki despite in a different world and time period. A nice touch overall.

Smaller Praises

While I had little in terms of small issues with the series, I have many small praises I want to give the manga and story. The above points were just the ones I could go into detail about, but here are just a few of the smaller things that impressed me.

Yuuto not having the titular Einherjar blessings was a smart move. I hear in a lot of writing circles that they want to see an Isekai where the protagonist has just their wits to get them through the world and this is probably the closest we’ll get to that idea done successfully, at least in a more action-based series.

I didn’t talk about her, but the character Linnea is a well-written character in this series. She’s forced into being a vassal of Yuuto, but is shown to be a charismatic ruler in her own right, able to motive her clansmen, command armies, and only being weak in terms of strategy and combat skills compared to Yuuto.

As much as I wish the cast had more males in it, the female harem all have a role outside of typical harem stuff. Sig is the frontline warrior, Felicia is familiar with the lore and setting of Yggdrasil, Chris and Al are spies and assassins, and Linnea is a great co-ruler/adviser of her people. Even Ingrid is a great blacksmith and is able to comprehend and push out what is for the Bronze Age advance technology with little trouble.

I know I wrote off the artist quite a bit in my criticisms, but I do enjoy the way they’ve drawn the characters. They have a bit more life to them than the anime counterparts accord to my memory.

Conclusion

Overall, I like this manga series a lot. I’m only 3 volumes in and I know the light novel has over 20 volumes with the 15th coming out around April of this year here in the US, but I don’t know if I’d read it. I’m already deep into a few manga and want to finish some other Comixology stuff I’m reading.

Anyway, that’ll be it for me. Next time... might talk about some Warhammer II stuff, don’t know.

#master of ragnarok #your dictator is speaking

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