New Manga Impression: I Shall Survive Using Potions

Synopsis

Due to a god’s mistake, Kaoru Nagase finds herself caught up in a mysterious phenomenon which resulted in her death. To make up for their mistake the god offers Kaoru a new life in another world and in return she asks for a number of things to ease her transfer, one of them being, having the cheat ability to make any potion.

The Good

The biggest highlight to be found with the series so far is the way that it built its foundation all the way from the start. It’s intelligent in how it handles the main character’s transition from the real world to the fantasy realm which is almost never down in isekai themed stories. Usually, the protagonist simply asks for a certain thing or is given a short exposition and foundation for themselves before they are shipped off to the new world. What makes this series’ start so interesting is that there is an actual consideration for the friends and family.

Majority of the time the friends and family characters are barely known or basically don’t exist in order for the character to better forget the real world. The fact that we get to see Kaoru saying her goodbyes to her friends and family gave a nice depth to the series without being overly dramatic. What really makes all of these aspects works is Kaoru’s general character. She has the qualities of the strategic/manipulative character, but the way that the story works around it makes it work.

She’s not the only character who makes the story interesting however as the guild members also show some potential to them though they are basically extras. Other than this, there is some solid exposition on the structure of the fantasy realm and a lot of potential going on here.

The Bad

It seems like the moment that Kaoru has awakened in the fantasy realm, the pacing that went so well, in the beginning, took a complete 180 turn. Not even a full two to three chapters into her entering the new world and get the greedy nobleman trope. What’s more, the nobleman had the most generic look there is. While the way the story handled it wasn’t bad, it would have been nice to have seen more development over her settling in and all.

Then there is the exposition work of the fantasy realm. For the most part, it works in terms of structure. In terms of the story portrayal, however, it makes certain scenes rather chaotic and a bit too wordy. What’s more, with how much information is dished out in certain information, there are different pages that have a little too much going on. Simply put, the series had could have done better in its pacing and panned itself out a little more to settle the character before having her become a figure of interest in the fantasy realm.

Conclusion

Usually, with isekai stories, protagonists don’t really have much shown on their past other than to present an underdog quality to them. The fact that the story not only gave an interesting personality builds for the protagonist but also presented a solid transition between the normal, and fantasy realm makes for one of the strongest foundations in isekai themed stories. As stated, the pacing and the exposition work could have been done better but so far the series has a lot of potential and issues that can be ignored.

Rating: 7/10