Some manga take themselves incredibly seriously, whether they have earned it or not. Others infuse a few moments of humor into the story to keep it lighter and faster paced. Then there are books like Mashle, which immediately leans into its main conceit, knows exactly the joke it’s making and never looks back. It manages to be funny, clever, dumb and familiar all at the same time.
Mash Burnedead lives in a world where people use magic as a part of everyday life. If you were born without a “mark” to show your magical prowess, you are expelled from society for the greater good. Mash was born without a mark and was abandoned as a baby. His adoptive father Regro Burnedead was born with very little magical talent himself, but when he finds Mash he decides to save him and raise him away from society. He encourages Mash to exercise and develop his physical strength since it is one of the only things he can do to help himself in their world. In doing this, Mash develops a near superhuman physique. After sneaking in to town one day against his father’s advice, Mash is discovered by a local detective with the magical police, Brad Coleman. The police raid the Burnedead house, but when they see what Mash is capable of with his strength, Brad offers them a choice. He explains that every year a single exceptional student from the Easton Magic Academy is revered as one of the gods chosen and they become a Divine Visionary. If Mash were to become a Divine Visionary it would legitimize him in the eyes of society and they wouldn’t have to live in fear. Brad would simply take whatever prize money and fame comes with that status for Mash.
I have read people describe this world as being like that of Harry Potter and that is an understatement. This is the world of Harry Potter, down to all the Professors looking like they were lifted directly from the movie adaptations of the books. The students are sorted into houses, the headmaster looks exactly like Richard Harris’s Dumbledore, they play a Quidditch-esque game on brooms called Duelo and there are plenty of character archetypes you’ll recognize from that world in the students around Mash. Instead of House Points, the students at Easton are all trying to earn coins on an individual basis. This is how they will work their way up the ladder to become a Divine Visionary, but there are unwritten rules about how you can take coins from others. This will lead to the main conflict in Mashle, the struggle for magical dominance over other students and taking coins from those weaker than you.
Hajime Komoto does a great job in this book creating a recognizable world for those in the know. Anyone who hasn’t read the Harry Potter series or seen the movies starts at a slight disadvantage for some of the jokes, but that isn’t the entirety of this book. It also has a lot of heart and Mash is a good person at his core. He tries to be a good friend to those around him, but he’s also a bull in a china shop and since he never knows his own strength, a fair amount of chaos follows him. This leads to more visual gags and some exaggerated takes from other characters. Watching Mash bluff his way around not using magic by being strong and fast doesn’t get old.
This is an ongoing series, so a library adding this to their collection should be aware that they are in for at least 5 more volumes (at the time of this review) and likely more to be translated yet. The violence in these books is “magical” in nature and mostly cartoonish in execution. There is no reference to anything sexual and there is no profanity. VIZ Media rated it T for teens and that is absolutely a fair assessment. It does a good job of balancing some of the over the top gags with moments of humanity and compassion. It is as silly as it is mysterious and this volume should hook readers who want to know more about the wilder world of magic outside of just the Academy. The tone is reminiscent of One-Punch Man and The Way of the Househusband for readers trying to find read-alikes.
Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Vol 1 Vol. 01
By Hajime Komoto
VIZ, 2021
ISBN: 9781974728718
Publisher Age Rating: Teen
NFNT Age Recommendation: Adult (18+), Older Teen (16-18), Teen (13-16)
