The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid Volume 4 Review

The end is in sight for The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid, but there are still plenty of questions left to be answered where the story is concerned. With Volume 4 in hand, let’s find out what’s next for our cast! 

At the end of Volume 3, we saw the return of the rival maid group working under the current Demon King. They’ve now identified our heroes in the Cirsium Domestic Staffing Agency and quickly set a trap, hoping to put an end to their advances in collecting the former Demon King’s magic. 

Unfortunately, Ivy and Sumire run straight into the trap when they take on a new job. With only the two of them, they prove no match for their enemies and it’s not long before they’re both down for the count. Ivy then gets captured, which Sumire feels incredibly guilty about and vows to get her back home safely with the help of Rose and their boss. 

While the first half of this volume is taken up by the fight with the enemy, the second half revolves around the origin story of Rose and Ivy and how they met their boss. This is something I’ve been eager to learn about for a while now, especially when it comes to Ivy who was neglected when we previously dived into Rose’s history.  

Now that we’re getting toward the end of the series, mangaka Yagata Tanabe is beginning to tie up loose ends, which telling Rose and Ivy’s stories is evidence of. Both of them have histories that interconnect with the enemy group and that help flesh out both sides, which we desperately needed for the antagonists. 

What is a bit of a shame this time around is that Tanabe has done away with the episodic nature of the story for this set of chapters. Hardly surprising, given it would be difficult to wrap the story up without some longer confrontations between the two factions, but without it, I did feel like something was missing this time around. 

My biggest concern with the series has always been about whether it will deliver a satisfying conclusion. While it’s hard to shake the feeling that things have escalated too quickly (particularly when the Demon King’s underlings were barely in Book 3!) it’s difficult to argue that this is a bad direction for Tanabe to take the series. At the very least we’ve been given enough pieces in the manga’s runtime that none of these developments have come out of nowhere, even if they feel rushed. Of course, my opinion may change drastically with Volume 5, but so far so good. 

The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid Volume 4 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press where it continues to be translated by Eleanor Summers. The translation reads well and there are a couple of translation notes at the back of the book, although one is explaining Nekomata again (the species of our protagonist) which I don’t think we really need at this point. 

Volume 5 of the series is currently scheduled for a release in June, so still quite a ways off. This is a shame since it feels like #4 would benefit from being read relatively close to the final outing,  given its one long arc, but with everything going on in the publishing industry right now, I certainly can’t complain too much. 

Overall, The Splendid Work of a Monster Maid Volume 4 sets us on course for the conclusion of the series. With the antagonist group of maids finally making a move, we’re treated to some great action scenes and most importantly, some more backstory for our main characters. Perhaps not as compelling as the books that have come before, but still an enjoyable read.