Synopsis

In a world where he was suddenly summoned, ordinary high school student Makoto continues his journey with his non-human companions, a former dragon and a former spider. The beginning of his trials started when he encountered a “Forest Ogre”—a demi-human species with an elf-like appearance that dwells in forests—near the city of Tsige, where they were staying during their travels. The unfortunate hero who attracts trouble, Makoto Misumi’s hardships reach their peak here! (Source: Hanashi Media)

Makoto and the Depths of Hyumanity!

Managing to make inroads with Tsige’s top businessman successfully, the third tale in the Moonlit Fantasy finds that things won’t be all sunshine and rainbows for Makoto as he learns the terrifying psychology behind Hyumen supremacy.

The latest volume starts with a problem for Makoto. Having registered his business and bought land for his shop, he discovers that owning a business in a medieval fantasy comes with strings attached, which he’d rather avoid in order to stay under the radar. As a result, this volume sees Makoto put his business aspirations on the back burner and instead focus his efforts on other things in Tsige, especially the mythical flower known as Ambrosia.

With a lot of plot re-focusing, the start of this story gets off to a bit of a slow start. However, it picks up at a pace as Makoto and his companions are introduced to the Ambrosia’s protectors, the Forest Dwarfs. The dwarf’s village hides plenty of secrets, but chiefly among them is a Lich within their ranks. Famous for being the strongest type of undead, the battle that follows between the Lich and Makoto brings back echoes of the series’ previous epic fights with Tomoe and Mio. Eventually managing to subjugate the creature, Makoto opts to make him another one of his companions and name him Shiki.

Shiki’s introduction brings with him plenty of new world-building tidbits. Unlike Tomoe and Mio, Shiki used to be a hyuman and can bring hyuman-specific knowledge that the other two can’t. Ultimately, he imparts knowledge on special ascended hyumans known as Grants, which are hyumans that can travel to other worlds either by finding rifts or through the Goddess’s blessing.

The world-building is plentiful in this volume, and beyond the knowledge of Grants, there’s also important information given on the Demiplane. Growing at an exponential rate without explanation, the solution has a connection to Makoto’s archery practice. The author makes some nice connections in this segment, as they plausibly link Japanese archery styles alongside fantasy magic systems.

As the volume draws to a close, the final plot of the story puts Makoto through a new tragic test. Revolving around three hyumans that enter the demi-plane, he’s taught a tough lesson on the depths that a species that thinks it’s supreme will go through in order to get its way.

It’s the first time in the series that Makoto is forced to deal with death, but more importantly, having to deal with someone he calls family being killed. Through these scenes, we can see how far Makoto is willing to go to protect his family and seek retribution. A fine moment of character development, it clearly defines that there are few lines that Makoto won’t cross in order to do what he thinks is right.

Despite a slower start than its predecessors, the latest volume of Moonlit Fantasy makes up for it by its climax. While the strong world-building and fight scenes are all great, where this volume really comes into its element is with Makoto’s character growth. One of the most important scenes in the series so far, Makoto’s tragic realisation of the depths of hyumanity helps to define his character and the lengths he’s willing to take to ensure his aspirations become a reality.

I Give Tsukimichi Volume 3: 8/10