Publisher Summary
Kanzaki Rei is an avid gamer, but his debts are mounting up as the expensive medical treatments for his sister don’t come cheap… in a fit of desperation he follows a link in a mysterious email promising help only to find him transported into the dangerous world of his favorite videogame. For each boss he kills he earns money, keeping his sister safe, but he risks death with each confrontation!
Mangaka: Hana Shinohara
Translator(s): Motoko Tamamuro and Jonathan Clements
Letterer: Lauren Bowes
I received My Name is Zero from Titan Manga as an Advanced Review Copy (ARC) in exchange for an honest review!
Background
Created by Hana Shinohara, My Name is Zero is an isekai Seinen manga series that ran in Tokuma Shoten's Comic Zenon magazine from December 2013 to December 2014. The series was licensed by Titan Manga in November 2023 for an English release.
At first, I thought this was tied to a video game based on the cover (for some reason, I was thinking the Kiseki franchise), which actually caught my interest. However, the series is its own original IP. My curiosity was still peaked though!
Review
The story begins reminiscent of the light novel series Overlord. Rei Kanzaki was playing an online game and as he was sleeping, some markings appeared on his right hand. The markings spread across his body and ended up transporting him into the video game world he was just playing.
Starting off as a beginner at rock bottom, Rei has to work his way up. He meets Azusa, who informs him about the situation and tells him that several players are experiencing the same thing where they're transported to this world when they sleep. Now, Rei can take on quests to get out of debt in the virtual world with the help of Azusa.
Like many other isekai series, My Name is Zero exposition dumps instead of letting things unravel, which I don't enjoy. This form of storytelling impacts the story's pacing. There are expositions that even the story deems unnecessary to explain and wipes it away by saying, "Don't worry about it!" However, it goes in detail explaining things like configuring your menu screens (not joking) and specific items' value and effects. It seems like the author prioritized the wrong things to focus on.
The introduction of Rei's power was also handled poorly. He tells his Azusa that he can see people's deaths both in the real world and in the virtual world. The odd thing is that there was no indication that their actual world had superpowered people. Like the companion's initial assumption, the mangaka could have just given Rei that ability in the virtual world instead of having it apply to both.
I like how the abilities people have in-game is tied to their skills or traits from the real world, sans Rei's. For example, Azusa's skills are temptation and putting people to sleep since in the real world, she's skilled at flirting and drinking. These aren't superpowers but just traits picked up through experience. This is why I'm not a fan of Rei having real world superpowers. It's just unnecessary when everyone else is a regular person in the real world.
I don't like how the flashbacks were handled. Every time something major happens, they flash back to a few days prior where it's explained how Rei was able to do something or his reaction to something. A notable instance of this was when Rei uses a clairvoyant ability called Heaven's Road during combat. The subsequent chapter opens up with a flashback of Rei gaining this ability four days prior to the fight scene.
It seemed unnecessary because the combat chapter before the flashback already covered the ability. The only difference is that the flashback chapter mentioned how long the ability lasts for, but that could have been added to the combat chapter.
Final Thoughts
If you're a fan of isekai series where the user is somewhat trapped in a videogame world, you will enjoy My Name is Zero. Through several of its flaws, there's an interesting story that will be an enjoyable read for an afternoon. Since the series is only 2 volumes long, I'm curious to see how the story will wrap up.
Verdict: Buy It on Sale
My Name is Zero volume 1 from Titan Manga is available at all retailers
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