A Poisoned Heart

That's your excuse for all your bad habits. The smoking, the excessive consumption of sleeping pills, making people drag you around in a coffin. . .

In the seventh volume of No Longer Allowed in Another World, Annette, Tama and Nir have learned it's Archibishop Elton running a secret prison beneath the castle that holds Otherworlder children and sends them out on missions. But Elton is a dear friend of Annette's, can she find the strength to confront him?

Well she better, because he's beaten up Sensei and thrown him in a cell, and dispatches Yamada's crew of do-gooders with ease. Sensei at least has the fairy whistle he was gifted, so he can call on Solulu - stress-eating after dealing with him a couple of times - to free him, but in typical fashion, he's more interested in what's going on inside Elton than actually stopping the guy.

Annette does get it together, but her big plan of using light magic against a goblin doesn't work, because the holy robes Elton wears negate the effect. She's still able to protect Itsuki, an Otherworlder she mentored when he first arrived, though it leaves her badly injured. And that's when Sensei shows up. It's a little strange because writer Hiroshi Nota has Sensei praise Annette for her convictions, then tell Elton that he's 'furious.' But all that results is him trying to dig into Elton's motivations.

I'm not expecting Sensei to start throwing punches, but at least exhale some cigarette smoke in the Elton's face if you're really that angry. It feels like something that was set up for the splash page as a big "oooooh" moment, but there's no pay off. Sensei's always demanding people tell him their life stories and motivations, being furious has nothing to do with it.

At any rate, the backstory is that when Elton was first assigned as a representative of the Church to Blau Kingdom, people didn't want a goblin around. Except Queen Saphira, a child then, who believed all races could be friends if humans just opened their hearts to others. Elton tried to make it a reality, even reaching out to an Otherworlder named Kaoru, who got sent here without any special skill and embraced apathy and cynicism. Which are very cool attributes, but not helpful for surviving a medieval fantasy kingdom. Elton eventually got through, and after being intensively trained, Kaoru was assigned to Saphira's guard.

And then Kaoru and Saphira caught feelings, a bitter pill for Elton, who loved Saphira for her kindess and acceptance. So he sent Kaoru off in an attack against the Dark Lord and decided all Otherworlders were good for was attack dogs. Elton, understandably, gets pissed at Sensei pulling out all his hidden pain and crimes, but his freak out leaves him vulnerable to a combo attack from Annette and Nir. Even that doesn't quite end things, as there's one last reveal that paints Elton and Annette's boss, His Holiness, in a ominous light.

So Annette stands on her own, even when Sensei isn't backing her up. Nir continues to grow in bravery and skill. Tama, doesn't get much of anything (and trend that will continue into the next volume.) There's possibly something put in play with one of the Fallen Angels, who makes a last second save and was someone Saphira and Elton know. Maybe he'll get involved again later, assuming the apathy and cynicism haven't overtaken his heart once more.

Sensei does actually finish the story he writes based on Elton's pain, but the people of the kingdom have developed their own idea about Elton and who he his. Sensei bows to popular opinion, so it's another unpublished work.

The Rot Underneath

This is why you have to be very careful playing keep-away with a dragon.

Volume 6 of No Longer Allowed in Another World picks up where volume 5 left off: A heartbroken Sensei hurtling across the desert in his dwarf-engineered motorized coffin, seeking death after the disappointing reunion with Sacchan. Instead, he barrels into a mystical tunnel that serves as the only entry to the 'forbidden land of Orange,' home of the fairy queen. To reach the Queen requires passing 3 trials, which only one great hero has ever managed. What chance could Sensei have?

Well, let's hear it for dwarf construction.

Sensei reaches Oberyth's chamber, who tells him the Faeries wish for peace in the world, and wants to know how Sensei would go about that, a trusting heart or absolute power. Sensei provides his usual response, of desiring only death and finding the idea of saving the world exhausting. Somehow this, combined with the fact Esche saw fit to give Sensei her blessing, convinces Oberyth Sensei might just be what the world needs. After all, the last hero was a believer in good versus evil, and that certainly didn't bring peace to the world.

(We only see the hero who made it previously in shadowy outline, but I really think the sword he's wearing is the one Nir has, which I still suspect belonged to the Fallen Angel of Dejection, who I also suspect is Nir's missing dad.) 

In addition to promising Sensei he'll be reunited with Sacchan at the end of his adventure if he keeps living, Oberyth gifts him a whistle to call on the faeries for help. More specifically, one fairy. Weep for Solulu, who is given that miserable task and soon set to work fixing statues Sensei knocked over, when she isn't being used as bait.

Returned to his friends, Sensei and Co. travel to Mittwoch, where they once again encounter the daughter of the late Dark Lord, Waldelia, who is. . .chilling out and laying low with her dragon, Ryuka. When she travels into town for supplies, she's approached and drugged by what turns out to be an Otherworlder named Itsuki, who then uses his "cheat" to trap the dragon in a way that it will gradually be broken down by enormous tree roots. Annette mentored Itsuki when he first arrived, and she's happy to see him. Less happy when Waldelia catches up, out for blood.

Even with how much Annette and Tama have leveled up, they're still outclassed, so it's fortunate Sensei got Solulu to free the dragon, who keeps Waldelia from killing anyone. (Although Sensei stumbled across the scene with Itsuki and Ryuka while trying to hang himself, so apparently Oberyth's pep talk didn't do much for him.)

Itsuki may not feel too grateful, because failing to kill the dragon means he's going to be punished. Before he can say more, he's drawn away through a magic portal. Seeking help, Annette leads them to the Kingdom of Blau, ruled by Queen Saphira, with the aid of Archbishop Elton, the only goblin in the church. Given his size, as he towers over Sensei, and is at least twice as broad in the shoulders, I would have pegged him as an orc, but whatever. He says he's a goblin, sure, fine. Godly living agrees with him, I guess.

Elton says he'll look into it, mentioning a group of evil Otherworlders, but Annette is unwilling to wait, even when Sensei declines to help. Which is Annette trying to actually live up to her idea of protecting others, rather than just relying on Sensei, though I feel she doesn't give herself enough credit. She, Tama and Nir find their way into a mysterious dungeon, where they run into some trouble from a big, armored guy with a kendo stick. (Related to a previous comment of mine about the Isekai Jackpot Truck running people down like it's GTA, the dungeon is at least two stories tall, full of cells, and if the one cell we see is any indication, holding a half-dozen child Otherworlders per cell. Are we sure it wasn't a Isekai Jackpot Atom Bomb?) Fortunately, Yamada, the paladin Otherworlder they encountered two volumes ago, shows up on a rescue mission. But, he leads the group of Otherworlders Elton warned them of? That's weird.

Well, Sensei's come to the same conclusion from a different direction, since he's been watching Elton and Saphira closely. Too closely for Elton's taste. . .

Greed and Sacrifice

You've heard of cat cafes, this is the, well, I don't want to say logical progression, but it's definitely a progression of sorts.

It's been 9 months since we looked at volume 4 of No Longer Allowed in Another World, but volume 5 picks up with the main cast in the dwarf stronghold in the desert, currently under siege by the Fallen Angel of Dejection and his armies. The dwarves have the aid of one of Annette's fellow priests, an elf mage named Wolff, but when the battle starts anew, he freezes up when instead confronted with the Fallen Angel of Greed, a young woman he once mentored with who drains his strength and abducts him.

Castle under siege, the dwarves can't spare manpower for a rescue, so it's down to Annette, Tama, and Nir. Sensei gets left behind because their ride (the curly-haired guy from the previous volume, now reformed and running a bus service) refuses to give a lift to the guy who killed his scorpion/motorcycle. But an elderly lady with some connection to Wolff insists they go, so Sensei gives in, if she'll explain why.

As it turns out, the elderly woman (Hikari) and the Fallen Angel (Yuriko) are sisters. In their world, Yuriko was the elder sister, and Hikari the younger. Hikari was always sick, and Yuriko's parents forced the role of caretaker on her, even pulling her from school. When the Isekai Jackpot Truck hit her, Yuriko figured she finally had a chance to be seen for herself by Wolff, and tried her best to unlock her cheat. Except then Hikari appeared, seeming to instantly seize Wolff's attention. Bitterness and resentment bloomed, and here we are, Hikari with a skill that lets her take what she desires, while believing she killed her sister when her skill unlocked.

Sensei finds the whole tale wonderful, demanding to know what it was Yuriko desired, specifically. He especially likes the part where Wolff focused his efforts on Hikari because she asked him to. Because she knew what her sister sacrificed for her in the other world, and wanted Yuriko to be able to live as she pleased, then and now. But, it's too beautiful a tale to be penned by him, so he rips it up and sends them both back home (Hikari restored to normal when Yuriko releases all the lifeforce she's taken.) 

Except they wake up back in their home, Hikari in bed, Yuriko sitting by her side. So Hikari's back to a life of debilitating illness? Wouldn't they be better off still in Zauberberg? Hikari was healthy there, and now her youth is restored. Yuriko can just, you know, stop being one of the Fallen Angels. It's funny, because at the end of the volume, Wolff expresses doubts about His Holiness' plan to bring Otherworlders here to fight for them. These people supposedly weren't happy in their worlds, but who decided that, or that they'd be happier here (a point Sensei made when her first arrived)? Setting aside how many Otherworlders are becoming criminals, warlords or general nuisances themselves, many aren't finding greater happiness here than they were are home. All true, but I'm not sure Sensei sending some of them back to the same old lives is doing them much good, either. Sometimes a fresh start really is needed.

But hey, that's two Fallen Angels down. And the Fallen Angel of Dejection crashes the proceedings, so Wolff can finish him like he said he would! Or not, the guy's armor being immune to magic. And he's strong enough to just catch Tama's best attack with his hand. But Nir's sword is able to shatter the Angel's weapon, and the guy withdraws, looking pleased about the whole thing. Which leads me to suspect he's Nir's dad, and that used to be his sword before whatever got him so dejected happened.

Then, right at the end, Sac-chan, the young woman Sensei intended to commit suicide with, makes an appearance. And he's ready for them to throw themselves out a window together right now, but she says he's not the same man she knew, and they can't be together. So she leaves, rejoining the remaining Fallen Angels, but Sensei takes it well.

Or not. 

Burning Leaves and Burning Sands

Depends how good a dancer they are, and if you're in the mood to laugh at another's misfortune.

Having defeated one of the Seven Fallen Angels and repaired Tama's relationship with her father, volume 4 of No Longer Allowed in Another World finds Sensei and the others having stopped in the village of Toneriko, located in the shadow of the great tree Weltenbaum. But the village isn't doing so well, since a gang of Otherworlders set up a casino across the river, and have begun selling the leaves of the great tree as a narcotic to their fellow Otherworlders. Even one of the locals, a woman named Esche believed to possibly be a witch, has opened up a bar beside the casino and is raking in the money. She's even snared Sensei, not that he was a difficult catch.

Fortunately, an Otherworlder named Yamada, who fancies himself a protector of justice and honor, has arrived to trounce these wicked Otherworlders. And he does, even destroying their casino. Sensei's not impressed by Yamada's binary view of the world. As the villagers refuse to listen to Sensei's explanation of Esche's actions and run her out, then offer to pay Yamada to protect the village while they get down to the business of selling Weltenbaum's leaves as a drug, it would seem Sensei's correct.

Sort of. It's presented to us that all the money Esche made was essentially protection money she gave "Boss" to restrict his business to Otherworlders and leave the villagers alone. But right about the time Yamada destroys the casino, Boss was already planning to have his guys abduct some of the villagers and forcibly get them addicted to the drugs and gambling. So Esche's approach of conciliation was about to fail. Because Boss was never going to honor his word past the point it suited his purposes. That the villagers turned out to also be opportunists, simply lacking the vision to see the chance until someone else did it first, doesn't make Boss less of a scumbag or a threat.

Anyway, it turns out Esche was much more than she appeared, and the villagers are shit out of luck. Sensei, on the other hand, receives a gift to ease his distress. From there, the story ventures to yet another new region, the Samstag Desert. This is a Nir-focused story, since he's from here originally and brings the party to the orphanage where he grew up. Things are rougher than you'd expect, even for an orphanage in the middle of a freaking wasteland. Another gang of Otherworlders terrorize the region, making me believe that damn Isekai Jackpot Truck has been running people over like it's playing Grand Theft Auto, plus there's a terrible beast roaming the sands at night.

On the plus side, someone keeps leaving baskets of food on the door every night. Nir, who's struggling to match the stories he's told the other orphans of his being a great warrior, takes some solace in helping Mr. Saito collect food from an oasis for the kids. The orphanage comes under attack by the gang, and Nir demonstrates his courage, although not in battle exactly.

It's a pretty good arc, as Noda shows Nir's been defining courage too narrowly, thinking of it simply as someone who will charge into battle and crush enemies. When Sensei begins to take apart Mr. Saito's image of himself, it's Nir who leaps to the man's defense, and his own, since the things Sensei says are the same things Nir thinks of himself. We also see that even when Nir's down on himself, Annette and Tama each give his confidence a boost in their own way.

There's also the aspect that Sensei isn't necessarily correct about everything. Up to this point, his instincts have been right on, whether it was sensing the truth that there was something behind Suzuki's actions in volume 2, or that there was more to the story of Tama's estrangement from her father in volume 3, or recognizing Esche was not the collaborator the villagers believed her to be. I don't know if that's because he's from another world, and so he sees this one without preconceived notions of its inhabitants, or some innate sense for conflict or character arc that marks him as a writer. Probably the latter, since he admits that, in being so quick to label Mr. Saito a coward, he misjudged the man.

Takahiro Wakamatsu shows off his design skills more in the desert section of the book. Boss and his gang are sort of a bunch of stereotypical gangster types, with the dark coats and fedoras and thin mustaches. Not much to them. The guy leading the desert gang seems based off the Kuwabara character from YuYu Hakusho, but at least it makes him stand out visually, and his cheat skill to somehow turn animals into vehicles, is at least weird and kind of cool. Also, Wakamatsu draws a damn nice werewolf. Someone should send scans to the folks drawing that Werewolf by Night book and see if they take a hint.

Bring Out the Claws

No Longer Allowed in Another World volume 3 is devoted to the catgirl Princess Matilda. Or as, the regular cast knew her, Tama. While Tama's locked away in her castle, forced to play her father's understanding of a princess, Sensei questions one of the former servants as to the backstory there.

Matilda felt stifled by her father's strict notions of proper gender roles, being told to go sit in her room and read while her brother trained as a fighter. When her brother and mother died in a rockslide, Matilda tried to take her brother's place as the warrior who would protect the kingdom after their father. But that notion didn't gain any purchase with her father, either.

All of which comes to a head rather dramatically when one of the 7 Fallen Angels, the outworlders who killed the Dark Lord and have decided to rule the world themselves, shows up. Determined to assist her father in battle and told she has no place there, Tama rushes in, almost dies, and costs her father his arm.

At which point, with the outworlder, whose power is to gain the abilities of those he eats, having declared himself the ruler of the land, Sensei decides to get involved. Of course, he's less interested in confronting the outworlder than satisfying his curiosity, though I suspect we're meant to read it as him hiding his concern for others beneath his search for inspiration. Either way, you figure you know how this will go after the previous volume. Kaibara even goes to the trouble of relating his story before coming to this world, so now Sensei can use his gift and banish him.

That's a solid burn, not gonna lie. Kaibara was a spoiled rich kid that grew bored with having everything money could buy and decided he wanted to eat people. At least Arcade's boredom lead to him building a massive murder-themed amusement park. That shows a little creativity, artistic flair, engineering knowhow. Kaibara can't even bother to put on pants, walking around in a robe and speedo like it's Dipshit Bro Summer.

While writer Hiroshi Nota avoids having the battle settled by the main character using his special ability, and even has Kaibara make a joke of the notion that normally he'd lose to Tama now she's resolved her inner conflict and unlocked her power, he can't resist instead having it settled by the hostile anti-hero who seems destined to experience a face turn. Tama's ultimate attack does a lot of damage, but not enough, and Kaibara transforms into a fairly disturbing form (although it reminds me a little of Evil Queen Bloated Pulsating Sweaty Malformed Slug-for-a-Butt from Earthworm Jim), only to have the Dark Lord's daughter show up and annihilate the guy.

There's a nice 3-panel sequence of Kaibara's head flying, and what he seems as he it rolls. Probably could have done just three panels of his perspective and then the big shot of his head gazing up at Waldelia, but it's still an effective page.

Wants to Write, Stuck Editing

If the uncomplimentary comparison fits. . .

Volume 2 of No Longer Allowed in Another World starts with the main cast learning the "Dark Lord of Wrath" was defeated a week earlier by 7 otherworlders. Which raises the question of why Sensei arrived in Zauberberg on that same day. Obviously the Savior Acquisitions Department of the Isekai Organization is not being kept in the loop by the Savior Progress Department.

As it turns out, the two things may be linked, as another otherworlder (though not one of the 7, since they're going to be naming themselves after Deadly Sins, because of course they are) arrives in town, proclaiming that they'll be running things now, and this town is his.

I don't know if there's a significance to how artist Takahiro Wakamatsu draws some of the outworlders, like Suzuki, as having adopted the fashions of Zauberberg, while others stick with the clothes of the world they came from, like the imbecile playing hype man up there. I feel like he's going to become some recurring joke sidekick antagonist. Which would be fine if it results in Tama kicking his face in.

Suzuki's "cheat" skill is to make others obey him, which he quickly turns against Annette and Tama, leaving Sensei and Annette's fellow priestess, Ysha, to handle things alone. This is Hiroshi Noda's way of having someone new to react with shock to Sensei's blithe dismissal of danger and unsettling attachment to harm, and also a way to add a little additional conflict, since Ysha's the one who greeted Suzuki upon his arrival, and she can't understand why he's turned out this way. Which piques Sensei's interest, and ultimately reveals his skill, which might just save the world. . .from the people who just saved the world.

From there, a new character gets added to the party. Nir's a fast-talking con artist and thief, who might know how to wield the sword he carries. He's a little cowardly, and more than a little cynical, which contrasts him with the aggressive and impulsive Tama, or the emotional and adoring Annette.

The volume ends with a visit to Tama's home country, where we finally learn her true name - Matilda - and that she's the princess of the kingdom. Her father's an overbearing, emotionally constipated goon, so he relies on emotional extortion to get her to obey rather than, you know, actually trying to understand his daughter. Sure hope there's someone intrigued by the frailties of the human condition that can help these two. . .

Dying It All Again

Somebody's spending too much time on certain online forums.

I'm not generally into the isekai genre of manga, where a character dies and awakens in some new (more fantastic) world, but No Longer Allowed in Another World seems to be the exception. A failed writer, who's only referred to as Sensei, is planning a double suicide via jumping in a raging river, when he gets hit by a truck instead. Awakening in Zauberberg, he learns he's expected to be some great hero, a task he has no desire to accomplish.

Sensei does, after nearly dying and in the process saving a cat-girl, decide on one thing he needs to do. The girl he was committing suicide with may have crossed over to this world as well, but not in the same chapel as him. He wants to find Sacchan, so they can get things right this time. As it turns out, she's thrown in with another group, but he doesn't know that yet.

I think what I enjoy about the manga is what I enjoy about the FallOut games. Not choosing the most unsettling or confrontational dialogue options. Or not only that. Hiroshi Noda writes Sensei with zero interest in any quest to defeat the Dark Lord, or great destiny. Besides finding Sacchan and successfully dying, he's content to wander the landscape with the few oddballs he's encountered and see if inspiration strikes. It's the way I prefer to play those sorts of games, wander around and look for weird stuff. If it intersects with the main plot, well, I guess I can deal with that. It might send me someplace new, to see more weird stuff!

We're told by a priestess that most otherworlders are abusing their "cheat" skills for their own personal gain. I would argue none of these otherworlders were asked about being dumped in this world and being expected to save it. As Sensei points out, what is the "Isekai Jackpot Truck" to decree someone will be "happier" in another world?  Point being, even if Sensei had any cheat skills - and other than his Poisoned status being transferable, none is revealed in Volume 1 - he doesn't seem inclined to do that. He'll ask Annette for money to buy a poison flask, or a coffin that she and "Tama" can drag him around in. But success there owes to Annette being either smitten with him, or having her outlook on life reawakened by his peculiar attitude.

That's one part I feel Noda doesn't really make clear. Tama's reasoning for sticking around is simple enough: Sensei did (inadvertently) save her life, so she figures she owes him. Annette had grown disenchanted with muttering the same platitudes to otherworlders. Sensei's complete rejection of the "gift" startles her, tot he point she resigns from her post to follow him. Possibly it's a protective instinct, since he seems incredibly weak and actually needs her protection (ignoring the part where he doesn't want protecting.)

Takahiro Wakamatsu adopts the Western medieval fantasy look for Zauberberg - Sensei notes on first awakening that if this is Heaven, it certainly skews Western in its aesthetic - but filtered through a manga style. Big, European style castles with high stone towers and Western-style dragons with great leathery wings and large legs and arms, rather than a more serpentine appearance. But knights wield oversized, Final Fantasy style broadswords, and the martial artists are girls with cat tails and ears who otherwise look human.