When it comes down to it, this entire half-cour so far has been about one thing in a meta-sense: tying up loose ends. What ever happened to Eris? How do Roxy and Sylphie deal with being married to the same man? How does Rudeus act as a father? Will Cliff and Elinalise finally get married? What ever happened to Sara? What’s going on with Ariel and her precarious political position?

In a sense, this episode is more of the same. We start with Pursena and Lina’s graduation—and learn about the deal they made. With no man able to beat either of them (and thus prove themselves a worthy husband for the chief of their respective tribes), they’ve decided that one will become a tribe leader while the other gets the one thing neither ever expected: freedom.

While it seems like the two give their all in the brawl, it’s hard not to wonder if Lina lost because of a subconscious want not to be her tribe’s chief. After all, she’s not really broken up about losing—and clearly has some sort of plan about what she wants to do out in the world. And it’s nice to see that, once she no longer needs to be the prideful next chief of her tribe, nearly the first thing she does is apologize to Zanoba for her actions years before—even if he’d already long since forgiven her.

In another, “tying up loose ends” plot point, we touch base with Norn and see how she is continuing to grow into her own—and has done so without Rudeus even noticing. But what’s most important, for both this episode and the story moving forward, is checking in with Nanahoshi.

With Nanahoshi succeeding in summoning an oddly seedless watermelon from Earth, she is one step closer to getting home. The next step is to build the targeting system—and to do that, she needs to consult an expert. Said expert happens to be Perugius Dola, a heroic figure of myth and legend—and Rudeus is invited to come along. While an invitation to meet Perugius would no doubt be appealing in general, what gets Rudeus off his butt is the same thing that sent him on his last dangerous adventure: Zenith.

This season of Mushoku Tensei has done a great job of defining Rudeus’s priority in life: his family—be that his birth family or the one he’s making with Roxy and Sylphie. He wants nothing more than to laze about and spend time with them. However, when it comes to keeping them happy, he wants to go the extra mile—especially with his mother, who has not only lost her husband but also her ability to interact with the world as she used to.

Even though Zenith’s condition seems to be improving all on its own, she is far from the woman we got in the first season. Consulting someone not only strong in magic but also with more than 500 years of life experience would be invaluable. Even if Peruguis can’t cure Zenith, he might be able to point Rudeus in the right direction. So, of course, Rudeus and his gaggle of friends and loved ones are on the move once again.

…and I am sure nothing crazy or exciting will happen along the way

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Mushoku Tensei: Jobless Reincarnation III is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.

Manga based on board game launched on March 28

Shogakukan‘s web manga site Coro Coro Comic published in advance the final chapter of writer Makoto Fukami and artist Shūsaku Namikawa‘s Chōgen Market Heroes: Menko Reverser Kakeru (Transcending Limit Market Heroes: Menko Reverser Kakeru) manga. The final chapter will be free to read on the website on August 22.

The story is set in a world where heroes are part of various companies, taking down villains plotting ruin on the world. The story begins with protagonist Kakeru Ginga, Japan’s best player of a hobby game called “Ultra Menko.” As a child, his skill in the game put him in the limelight, but 10 years later, he works a normal job and longs to be a hero. When he meets a genius named Dengaru, it awakens his old passion and the drive within him to become a hero.

The manga is an adaptation of the board game Chōgen Market Heroes by designer Creatures, which shipped in Japan on June 12.

The manga launched on the Coro Coro Comic website on March 28. Shogakukan published the manga’s first compiled book volume on June 26.

Fukami is best known for the script for the Psycho-Pass anime. Fukami also wrote the script of the 2016 Berserk anime series, the revisions TV anime, the 2019 Blade of the Immortal anime, and the 2022 Black Rock Shooter: Dawn Fall anime. Most recently, he was the head writer on the Heavenly Delusion anime and the Kinnikuman: Perfect Origin Arc anime, and he penned the screenplay on the Psycho-Pass Providence ;anime film. Fukami, with writer Norimitsu Kaihō, and artist Etorouji Shiono ended the Deep Insanity: Nirvana manga in March 2023. Fukami and Takuya Fujima launched the Takuaka! manga in Houbunsha‘s Manga Time Kirara Carat magazine in April 2023. Fukami and Shinjirō ended their Kensen Hyōkyoku manga in May 2023. Fukami, Ryō Yoshigami, and Natsuo Sai recently launched the Police Tribe K-9 manga in Akita Shoten‘s Young Champion magazine in March 2024.

Fukami and artist Seigo Tokiya previously collaborated on the Magical Girl Spec-Ops Asuka (Mahō Shōjo Tokushūsen Asuka) manga, which launched in Square Enix‘s Big Gangan magazine in June 2015, and ended in February 2021. Square Enix released 14 compiled book volumes for the manga. Seven Seas Entertainment is publishing the manga series in English. The manga inspired a television anime adaptation that premiered in January 2019. Crunchyroll and Funimation streamed the anime as it aired in Japan.

Fukami and Tokiya are also currently collaborating on the Succubus & Hitman manga, which launched in Akita Shoten‘s Champion RED magazine in February 2020, and is ongoing. Seven Seas is releasing the manga in English. The pair also launched the Gakuen Sensuikan-tai: Mermaid Girls (School Submarine Fleet: Mermaid Girls) manga in Big Gangan in May 2024, and recently ended on April 24.

Source: Coro Coro Comics

Of all the things that Red River could safely abridge, I have to say that I agree with their choice to pare down Zannanza’s medically induced abduction of Yuri. It’s definitely still uncomfortable here, but not nearly as much as in the manga, with his physical acts scaled back so that he “just” kisses her against her will. (Well, along with kidnapping her.) Given the source material and ’90s shōjo‘s willingness to go all-in on scenes of sexual violence disguised as “love,” this is one update I can get behind.

Apart from fidelity to the manga, I could see an argument being made that toning this bit down makes Nakia look at least slightly less powerful and evil. As we saw with Tito, her colored waters have the power to completely overwhelm someone’s good sense and natural inclinations, meaning that Zannanza is either stronger than Tito was or the rose water is weaker than the black water. The point could also be that Zannanza is too wholly good at heart to be swept up in Nakia’s magical schemes, which feels more likely. As Kail’s younger brother and the sibling he’s closest to, Zannanza is the person Kail appears to trust the most. He has him training Yuri in the art of sword fighting, which means that he has complete faith that Zannanza won’t randomly decide to actually kill or injure his concubine, something we can’t brush aside given that Tito and his sisters, whom he also trusted, tried to murder her and that Nakia is actively after her head. Zannanza is the one person Kail trusts implicitly.

That’s what makes it so frustrating that Zannanza makes it incredibly easy for Nakia to use him. She may be mustache-twirlingly evil, but Nakia’s not an idiot, and she sees through his gallantry to the feelings underneath. He’s basically Tito 2.0 for her, a different trusted individual she can twist to her will with magic, only this time she’s using his sexual feelings for Yuri to get Kail to dump her. Or to fight with his brother, clearing the way for her son. It’s hard to say; not only is she ambitious, but she’s also remarkably indiscriminate as long as she gets what she wants. It’s a good thing the king is astoundingly oblivious to her machinations, because Nakia is not subtle.

Of course, that could be put down in part to the production values here. When Zannanza’s eyes first turn red, my immediate thought wasn’t “he’s been possessed”; it was “MECHA ZANNANZA!” Later he gets more of a cat-eyed look, but that first shot was comedy gold. It’s part and parcel with the questionable visuals this series indulges in, from Yuri’s amazing increasing hair volume (though in all fairness, that’s a manga issue, too) to the truly weird way Zannanza jumps out the window, with a bonus of the Mitanni soldiers just repeating the same two motions to beat on Zannanza later on. On the plus side, Yuri’s large, round earrings do look a lot like Hittite collections I’ve seen in museums, albeit with colors more in line with Byzantine jewelry, but that could be an issue of age combined with creative license. In fact, many of the bits and pieces of Hittite life – jewelry, cups, swords, Nakia’s staff – are decently accurate, and we must find joy where we can with this adaptation.

The war about to commence seems likely to be the third campaign between the Mitanni and the Hittites. Mattiwaza was actually Shattiwaza in the historic record, but the instigator of the fights was either Kail’s father or Tushratta, Shattiwaza’s father. More interestingly, Puduhepa, who is the likely inspiration for Yuri, came from Kizzuwatna, the city where Yuri and Zannanza currently are. That’s a point in the manga’s favor, of course, rather than the anime’s, but if I can’t get you to read the manga based on how lame this adaptation is, at least I can point out the cool things it does with history.

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Red River is currently streaming on
Crunchyroll.