God Bless the Mistaken Volumes 2 and 3 Review

In early 2024, Yen Press brought us the first volume of Nakatani Nio’s God Bless the Mistaken. The mangaka was renowned for their previous series Bloom Into You, but rather than another Yuri story, their new work was a gentle slice of life. With several more volumes having been released since, let’s see if it continues to charm!

Volume 1 saw middle-school protagonist Kon moving into a shared house and learning all about the ‘bugs’ that his landlady Kasane researches as part of her day job. And Volume 2 opens with quite the magnificent bug taking place, where none of the doorways within the house connect to the rooms they used to, and rooms seem to have become duplicated?! Worse still, Kon and the other residents grow concerned that Kasane may be trapped somewhere within. So they set out to map out the labyrinth their home has become, in the hopes that Kasane is safe.

Having spent so much time living in his new home, Kon is starting to adjust to the chaos the bugs bring. However, as the volume goes on, we begin to learn that Kon himself is another by-product of the bugs and not exactly human either.

Since Kasane isn’t affected by bugs, Kon’s mysterious appearance as a new resident stuck out to her, while everyone was given memories as part of the bug that filled out Kon’s background. But now Kon himself is realising that when he thinks more deeply about his past, the memories don’t come to him. So, even if he’s accepted by those around him as your average middle schooler, he and Kasane know he’s some kind of long-lasting bug instead…

And it’s Kon’s story that plays a major part in Volume 3. Now aware that he is a product of a bug rather than a normal human, he’s struggling to figure out how to continue living his everyday life. Some contradictions with his personal information have led the school to decide to do a home inspection, and child services are also keen to send someone to ensure Kasane is giving Kon a fitting environment to live in. Amidst all this, who (if anyone) will he confide his secret in?

Where Volume 2 feels like an extension of the relatively light-hearted Iyashikei vibes we saw in the debut release, Volume 3 spends a lot more time on developing Kon and Kasane, both through exploring their outlooks on the world and how they interact with the surrounding cast. In some ways, this feels like it happens a little too late, as the series wraps up with its fourth volume, so there’s not a lot of time to tie off their stories.

And while we learn what makes Kon and Kasane tick, there’s still not a lot of time spent on their housemates. They’re given a chapter each at best, which is insightful but not particularly helpful in  forming the bigger picture. Which is a shame when they’re often right at the centre of incidents alongside Kon, but are left feeling relatively flat.

In some ways, I feel mangaka Nio was torn between making this something like Flying Witch, where it’s often the day-to-day incidents that are the main theme of the work, or making this a work that’s much more character-driven. And that’s a shame because we’ve ended up in this halfway house, when ultimately Nio has more than the skills to have accomplished either kind of story. The characters who are developed in God Bless the Mistaken are very interesting, but so too are the ‘bug’ events, proving that a heavier focus on either could have been fine. Honestly, even just a reduced number of side characters could have solved a lot of the problems.

Still, character development issues aside, this remains an entertaining read. It’s not without its problems, but it’s hard to deny that Nio has come up with an interesting concept that is depicted well in the art. And since no one can be injured due to the result of a bug (if it’s a dangerous one, like giving people the ability to fly, when it ends, people are magically placed safely on land) readers can simply relax and watch the fun unfold. As we saw in Volume 1, Nio puts a lot of focus on emphasising the impact of the bugs through the art, and there’s always a lot of detail to every page.

As mentioned, God Bless the Mistaken Volumes 2 and 3 come to the West thanks to Yen Press and have continued to be translated by Eleanor Summers with lettering by Rachel J. Pierce. Both releases read well and are problem-free. There are colour pages to open both releases, but not really anything else in the way of extras. No translation notes either, although there’s not really anything that feels like it would need them.

For those of you looking to complete the series, Volume 4 has already been released in English as of March last year, so it’s already there waiting for you!

Overall, God Bless the Mistaken shows its charms in these two volumes. While it often feels as if Nakatani Nio couldn’t pick a direction to stick with narratively, this one still has plenty to offer readers. Flawed doesn’t have to mean something isn’t fun.

Our review copies from Yen Press were supplied by Diamond Book Distributors UK.