Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town


By Toshio Satou, illustrated by Hajime Fusemachi: character design by Nao Watanuki and translated by Andrew Cunningham (SQUARE ENIX)

Here’s a quick simple reading treat to cheer you up: a classic Comedy of Errors – more like misconceptions – to whisk you away from grim reality for a while.

Written by Toshio Satō (Satou) with illustrations by Nao Watanuki, Tatoeba Last Dungeon Mae no Mura no Shōnen ga Joban no Machi de Kurasu Yō na Monogatari is a series of ranobe – or Light Novels – recounting the adventures of a naïve, super-powerful innocent in the big bad outside world. Set in a traditional fantasy/fairy tale realm, the saga has generated seven prose volumes since debuting in February 2017. The popular hit has spawned the usual tranche of spin-offs including an upcoming anime TV series and a manga interpretation by Hajime Fusemachi. This last began digitally in manga magazine Gangan Online and since its start in September 2017, has filled three physical-print tankōbon volumes. This is the first to make it into English…

One aspect that might possibly grate on western sensibilities is the motif of incredibly lengthy titles. Opening chapter ‘That Day Was Like the Arrival of a Really Well-Mannered Super-Typhoon’ sees male ingenue and shy village hick Lloyd Belladonna arrive in the bustling metropolis and capital city of the Azami Kingdom. Although the weakest and most inconsequential inhabitant of his far-distant hamlet of Kunlun, the kid has finally succumbed to his lifelong ambition: to try and enlist in the mighty army of the Realm. Lloyd has no illusions of his unworthiness and inability, but he must follow his dream…

On the advice of his village Chief – a witch named Alka – the boy imposes himself on Marie, the Witch of the East Side unaware of her dubious past or the inescapable debt the urban sorceress owes Alka. There’s lots going on that Lloyd doesn’t understand, but he’s kind, hardworking, diligent and so very humble. He also knows a little magic.

He uses it to clean and tidy with inconceivable efficiency but in the civilized world it’s a rare commodity. The boy Belladonna also has one more advantage that he’s blithely unaware of. Kunlun rests at the ends of the Earth. It’s a village of heroes stretching back into antiquity standing at the edge of a region of horrors: a Bastion against evil where fighting monsters is second nature to all. Back there, he might be a feeble figure of pity but it’s only relative. In the outside world, he’s a being of incredible physical power and speed, with fighting strategies bred into his unbreakable bones from the moment of conception…

Thus, the bewildered waif and his reluctant landlady Marie set about making his dream come true, but as the boy accidentally progresses through ‘That Encounter Was Like a God Came in on a White Horse’, ‘This Stroke of Luck Was Like Finding a Wish-Granting Magic Flower Growing in Your Backyard’ and ‘This Shock Was Like Seeing a Jewel That Could Save the Realm’s Economy Flung into the Ocean’ – fixing environmental disasters, routing invading horror-beasts and even curing a cursed princess without noticing – it becomes clear that the only thing impeding Lloyd’s progress is his own crushing lack of self-belief…

Even joining the elite Azami Military Academy he attributes to luck and kindness, not the sheer power the tutors are desperate to recruit and utilise. However, as malign forces gather around the imperilled city-state, Belladonna might be the only factor capable of staving off irreversible doom if only the veteran warriors can convince him of his own worth…

To Be Continued…
Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town volume 1 © Toshio Satou/SB Creative Corp. Character Design by Nao Watanuki. © Hajime Fusemachi/ SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD. English translation © 2020 SQUARE ENIX CO., LTD.