My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! Volume 2 Review

At the start of the year, I took a look at the new isekai offering My Isekai Life: I Gained a Second Character Class and Became the Strongest Sage in the World! Volume 1 from Square Enix Manga. Now Volume 2 is here just in time for the anime adaptation to debut, but does this instalment prove an entertaining read? Let’s find out!

As we reunite with protagonist Yuji, we find him in the middle of a test to join the adventurer’s guild. He’s already proven he’s plenty powerful, but the last section of the exam is to make sure the adventurers are prepared for lookout duties and will stay on guard even in the middle of the night. To judge this, the guild sends in some of their best agents who can stage attacks and work out who’s prepared and who’s in danger of getting themselves killed. 

Naturally, because Yuji has so many slime companions it doesn’t take long for him to spot this agent and capture him, which earns him top marks on the exam! The guild leaders continue to be completely flabbergasted by Yuji’s skills, but there’s certainly nothing to complain about, so they let him join the guild as an H-Rank adventurer with a special classification as a B-Class scout. 

Being an H-Rank rather than starting at the bottom as an I-Rank means Yuji has a better selection of quests to choose from. He starts with some simple herb collection and monster subjection quests which, thanks to the slimes, he quickly completes and sees his rank rise to G-Rank! After this, Yuji sets out on a multi-day quest to collect some flowers the guild requires to make into medicine. 

So far, so by the books for this isekai adventure. This volume contains three chapters and while the first one is largely focused on the exam and Yuji raising his rank, it’s the other two that prove more interesting. On his quest to collect the flowers, Yuji encounters a new monster that he adds to his roster, and discovers a cursed magical stone that’s causing damage to the local environment. It’s clear that this will be the start of plenty of problems to come for our hero too, which I think we’ll see the pay-off for in Volume 3 and onwards. 

I’m still unconvinced that this series has anything original up its sleeve, but after reading Volume 2 I found myself even more attached to the slimes that accompany our hero and that’s enough to hold my interest for now. I like that all of Yuji’s monster companions can talk and have distinct personalities, which again is not that original but I think the author does a good job at utilising this for entertainment value. 

Another positive this time around is that the artwork has improved since Volume 1. I still find myself thinking that the human characters around Yuji look a bit off-model compared to him, but Yuji himself is more expressive this time around. His chin is also a little more rounded, so I found myself less distracted by the artwork and could get absorbed in the story more easily. 

As previously mentioned, My Isekai Life Volume 2 comes to the West thanks to Square Enix Manga and continues to be translated by David Evelyn. The translation reads well with no issues to note. Once again this release includes a colour page and a short story from the original author. Volume 3 of the series is scheduled for a release in October, so it’s looking like we won’t be getting any more of the series before the anime concludes. 

Overall, My Isekai Life Volume 2 proves an improvement on the series debut in the art department but where the story is concerned, it’s still not doing anything to stand out in the market. However, if you enjoyed Volume 1 or simply like the sound of the premise, then there is plenty to enjoy here, thanks to Yuji’s monster companions.