Manga Review: Last Round Arthurs 2 Original story by Taro Hitsuji, art by Yuzuriha
Rintarou Magami was born with “broken” abilities. Able to instantly learn any subject, innately better than anyone around him at physical activities (especially fighting), and with monstrous magic should he ever need to resort to it. 21st Century life was nothing but boredom for him. That is, until the Dames du Lac invited him to a certain international school.
It seems that the world is about to suffer catastrophe as the old gods and monsters return, making magic out in the open and mythic times come again. In this, Britain’s darkest hour, King Arthur will return to lead humanity. But there’s a catch. There are multiple descendants of Arthur, all of whom are in some respects his reincarnation. So there is to be the Last Round, a competition to determine which potential Arthur is the true king. Each candidate is supported by a “jack”, a reincarnated knight of the Round Table.
After studying the situation a bit, Rintarou decides to throw his support behind Luna Arthur, the seemingly weakest of the candidates, as it will be more exciting to fight for the underdog. Luna seems to be a frivolous young woman with a self-centered streak, and routinely uses her jack Sir Kay (reincarnated as a woman) for fanservice to make money.
This short manga is based on a light novel of the same title, and apparently streamlines a lot.
In this second volume, Rintarou and Sir Kay go up against Arthur candidate Felicia and her jack, Sir Gawain. Gawain might not seem like the most powerful knight as his superstrength only works in the morning, and it’s the middle of the night. But Felicia’s Excalibur (each candidate also has a version) casts light equal to the morning sun, powering up her jack!
Rintarou is forced to resort to his ace in the hole power, much to his delight.
After a dating shenanigans interlude, it’s time for the fight against the most powerful candidate and his jack, Sir Lancelot du Lac!
Good: The author has done some decent research, diving into more detail of the Arthurian cycle than a lot of King Arthur takeoffs do. There’s some exciting duel scenes.
Less good: Sir Kay is strictly here for fanservice and to fail so that Rintarou can look more awesome. It’s mentioned that against any ordinary human she’d be a champion sword fighter, but in this contest it’s all clothing damage and “sexy” poses.
And overall the light novel tropes are strongly evident; broken powers, which the characters stop to explain to their enemies mid-battle, childhood friend “romance”, badly paced plot.
The Arthuriana doesn’t overcome the weaknesses of this series, so recommended only to Arthurian completists.
