New Manga Impression: The Man Picked up by the Gods

Synopsis

Ryouma Takuma was an unlucky 39-year-old man who had grown up to be highly strong but had ended up in as an office worker along with other streaks of bad luck. One night he dies in his sleep and meets three gods who offer him a second chance as a reincarnated child in a new world. His only mission? To live freely and be himself.

The Good

The biggest highlight of the series is that Ryouma does not become a hero character. As an isekai fan, this writer has pretty much gotten tired of the protagonist being some type of hero expected to bring big changes or have a special mission from a god or other being. Series like these? The ones that actually slow down and take in the alternate world without being a filler work? They make for some lovely and refreshing work. Sure, action and adventure is great, but it’s also nice to have some exploration and character layering done as well.

The characters are also a highlight of the series and not just the main character. They all have a fun quality to them and the way that bring in the plot without completely dragging both it and the main character together is a plus. Even the slimes have a cute quality to them though there isn’t much given to them other than on how they work. Honestly, the series so far is just a charming work to read for a different pace of isekai stories.

The Bad

While the story and characters overall were great, there were still some character tropes to be found and a few holes in the story. An example would be on how convenient the reason behind Ryouma being transferred to the new world was. Another was the hint that Ryouma would be considered as rather special in the new world. These has been done before but as minor issues with the series they can be easily ignored with how many positive points there are to the work so far.

Conclusion

With just three chapters, this is series that has a lot of charm to them and a refreshing take on the isekai genre. Well in hindsight not a lot is different but there is a nice change in pace for once. All the characters have been enjoyable so far and the world-building of the series has some interesting points to them. Basically, if you want a series that doesn’t immediately dive into a sort of action/adventure story and actually does some steady pacing and exploration, this is the series to check out.

Rating: 8/10