Lycoris Recoil Volume 1 Review
The original anime series Lycoris Recoil aired in Summer 2022, winning the hearts of many viewers with its chaotic but likeable cast of characters and intriguing story. While we wait for more animated projects (which have been announced), the series has continued to pick up steam with a wide range of spin-off manga and light novels. Today I’m here to take a look at the manga adaptation by Yasunori Bizen to find out if it captures the charm of the original work.
The story takes place in an alternate Japan where crime is prevented by schoolgirl assassins known as Lycoris, who lurk in the shadows, unbeknown to the population at large. Takina Inoue is one such Lycoris who was on a mission to intercept a large exchange of firearms. However, her rash actions to save a colleague put other Lycoris at risk and led to her promptly being sent away from headquarters.
Takina finds herself being sent to a small café called LycoReco where elite agent Chisato Nishikigi works. Takina is hoping to learn from Chisato and get accepted back at HQ as soon as possible, but she’s disappointed to find that Chisato is nothing but a happy-go-lucky idiot who spends her days helping people in the neighbourhood and refusing to kill any of her enemies (she uses non-lethal rubber bullets). They approach their missions in such different ways that it soon becomes a problem on the job. Takina is happy to kill whoever and Chisato sees no point in senseless killing.
It’s fair to say that these two characters are complete opposites. There’s no denying that Chisato is an extremely skilled Lycoris, but Takina is frustrated by the fact she doesn’t take her job seriously and instead works in the café. Chisato, on the other hand, feels Takina is too serious and needs to learn to chill out and enjoy life. And it certainly wouldn’t hurt for her to try thinking about the people she’s helping! Will this mismatched duo be able to learn anything from one another?
Lycoris Recoil is part action series and part slice-of-life that’s happy to jump between the two extremes at any given moment. Outside of following Chisato and Takina’s daily life, there’s a much bigger story brewing, one involving that very firearm exchange from the beginning. Behind the scenes, a terrorist organisation is preparing a plan that could be about to turn Japan on its head.
The fact there’s so much depth to the story, while also having such a cheerful atmosphere, is one of the things I liked the most about the anime. It prevented it from ever becoming too grim or bogged down, so I’m glad to see that artist Yasunori Bizen has managed to capture that same feeling so well for the manga. And that’s not all; the artwork in general is superb. With the anime being an A-1 Pictures series, I was worried a manga would never be able to live up to the same visual style but thankfully that’s not the case.
Bizen’s art is very detailed for both the cast and the backgrounds. They capture the charm of the characters well, depicting their differing personalities and reactions in a convincing way. With action scenes being a large portion of the work, I was also pleased to see that these flowed well and that Bizen was happy to make use of two-page spreads where suitable.
Even if you’re unfamiliar with the original anime, I think this is an excellent way to experience the story. Or if you’re someone who has watched the anime, I’d still recommend this as a way to revisit it since this is such a good adaptation of the material. It’s not often that a manga like this captures the charms of the original so well, particularly not without feeling rushed or like something’s missing.
Lycoris Recoil Volume 1 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and has been translated by Kiki Piatkowska with lettering by Adnazeer Macalangcom. The release reads well and is in keeping with the anime while capturing the differing personalities of our two leads really well. This release also contains several colour pages at the beginning, which is always an excellent addition. Hopefully, that continues in the future volumes!
The manga is ongoing in Japan with five volumes, although from reading ahead in Japanese I know it’s not terribly far from the end so I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended before reaching ten. Here in English, Yen Press have #2 scheduled for release in February with #3 following in June. However, in January they are also publishing the Lycoris Recoil: Ordinary Days light novel, so there’s plenty of this franchise to keep you going.
Overall, Lycoris Recoil’s first volume perfectly captures the charms of the original work offering a great opportunity for those looking to revisit the story or complete newcomers looking for a captivating action series. There’s plenty to enjoy here as you watch over the mismatched protagonists.
Our review copy from Yen Press was supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.
