Cover Image: Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Vol. 3

Mashle: Magic and Muscles, Vol. 3

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Member Reviews

Shonen anime is exactly what Mashle is, though it reminds me a bit of Harry Pottér. The fact that he is strong and wields cream puffs to his relative adds light to this adventure filled manga. It is also filled with lots of laughs!

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Still very funny and I'm laughing constantly, but we do have bad guys and some mystery going on which is cool.

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I really am enjoying Mashle Magic and Muscles. It's very funny and has crazy characters. I hope it continues to make me laugh, would recommend it.

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Mash is still making his way through magic school and deceiving everyone with his magic by being strong. This volume had a lot more action in it. The class had to take a special exam in the forest against another class and battle them with magic. This volume wasn't as compelling as previous ones but is consistent with the comedy and story line.

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This was a really fun volume! I loved getting to see Mash team up with his Adler buddies to fight everyone. I really enjoy this series and I can't wait to see where it goes in the future. Highly recommend that everyone check out this manga!

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Mashle: Magic and Muscles V.3 has silly, unlikeable characters who seem to have little self-control or ability to stay on task. If my ADHD son were at magic school, I think this is what it would look like. It is a Harry Potter parody with references to bizarre coin collecting by dorm and the disconnected punishments for infractions that are not punishment-worthy. This is not a cutesy manga, but is full of lots of battling with spells and muscles.

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I am definitely still not disappointed in the exploits of Mashle. This book was just as random and entertaining at the last two.

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I was disappointed by Mashle: Magic and Muscles Vol 3.

Mash and his dorm mates fight the Magia Lupus bullies on their home turf one on one. There is no other character or plot development. I actually like the bonus comic about magically creating a pot mouse better. Other than that, you can completely skip this volume of what is usually an excellent series. 3 stars.

Thanks to VIZ Media and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

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Mashle: Magic and Muscles Volume Three focuses on the interactions between Mash, Lance, Finn, and Dot.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Volume Three
Written by: Hajime Komoto
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: November 2, 2021

At the beginning of the volume, it’s clear that Lance and Dot aren’t getting along, although it seems like that Dot is the one provoking most of the disagreements. Dot’s hatred of good-looking guys is a running theme throughout Volume Three, and we see him obsess over Lemon at various points in the volume. But just as the two of them are about to try to duel each other with magic, Lemon comes bursting into the room. She takes the four guys to a magic scale, which displays how many gold coins each dorm has. It’s shown that Lang Dorm has the most, and Lemon provides some background about Lang Dorm about how they’re getting all these coins and their motivation.

We then get a scene of Mash having to clean the owl huts as punishment. While the headmaster tacitly approves of Mash’s actions, he still has to give him some form of light reprimand. Lance comes to help out… not because he cares about Mash, but because Mash is a target due to the fact that he has a gold coin. As they work, two students from Lang Dorm try to ambush them in order to get Mash’s coin. They’re not just Lang Dorm students, they’re also the sixth and seventh fangs of Magia Lupus, a secret organization on campus. During this section, Lance gets a lot of focus with his fight against the seventh fang. It’s pretty standard shonen fare, though. The antagonist believes he is superior to the protagonist and underestimates the protagonist’s abilities… but after a hard-fought battle, the underdog comes out on top. Even though the outcome of this fight was predictable, at least there was enough action going on to help the reader stay interested and engaged with what was happening.

After Lance’s fight with the seventh fang, we see Mash taking on the sixth fang. Of course, it’s not surprising that Mash can use his brute strength to overtake his opponent rather easily. At this point, another character makes an appearance, and they’re another member of Magia Lupus. From a line of dialogue from this new character, it’s hinted that they may be like Mash… no magical talent, just brute strength.

Lemon gives Mash a good luck charm and asks him not to do anything too risky… but of course, that’s too much to ask of him. Mash is accompanied by Lance, Dot, and Finn on a mission to try to track down Magia Lupus. When Finn is asked why he’s coming along, he keeps whining that he’s scared to be alone. So, he doesn’t want to be alone because it’s scary, but he’ll accompany the others, who are potentially heading to a dangerous situation. But this works for Finn’s character, though. He’s basically in this story for comic relief and to serve as the “scaredy-cat” character. A story involving Lemon and the Magia Lupus forces Mash to do something risky, and it leads to the four of them finding a hidden dueling field.

First up, Dot has a magic battle with a student who has been assigned to try to stop the four of them from proceeding. Dot demands to take this guy on, since he’s a good-looking guy, and we know Dot’s dislike of them. Dot manages to pull out a surprising defeat, but magic is used to separate the four protagonists, and they are facing off against different antagonists. Lance is up against an antagonist that seems to be high up in Magia Lupus. Dot and Finn end up together, and they are up against two opponents. And Mash ends up with the mysterious person who appeared after the fight with the sixth and seventh fangs.

The majority of the rest of the volume focuses on Lance’s fight. While we get the expected action panels, there’s also some backstory provided for Lance’s opponent. This backstory really helps the reader to better understand the opponent’s mindset and explains why he acts the way he does. This battle doesn’t quite finish in this volume, though. The very last chapter sees the fight between Mash and the mysterious stranger just getting underway… but the very last panel seems to indicate that Mash has cracked the mysterious stranger’s mask. Maybe we’ll get to find out who the mysterious stranger is during the next volume.

We also get a hint from a meeting the headmaster has at the bureau of magic that a group of six of death row’s notorious inmates have escaped from Hecatrice, which is a prison. This is all we get on this, but I expect that this is hinting at an important plot point that will come up later in the series.

There’s a bonus comic that runs throughout most of the volume, and each page of the bonus comic appears between chapters. It focuses on a lesson in transformation magic (basically, the transfiguration that’s seen in the Harry Potter franchise), and it’s rather amusing how each character handles the assignment. Of course, the most amusing one was Mash, and his transformation sequence is at the end of this bonus comic. I thought this was a nice touch to add to the volume, and it gave me something to look forward to as I finished each chapter in Volume Three.

One thing I appreciated about Mashle: Magic and Muscles Volume Three is the fact that there was very little here that was instantly conjuring up the Harry Potter franchise for me. The only thing included here that made me think of the other franchise was the bonus comic about the transformation magic class. With this volume, it’s starting to feel like Komoto is finally starting to find his footing to help make Mashle: Magic and Muscles feel more like its own entity instead of simply borrowing from Harry Potter. I hope Komoto can keep this up with Volume Four.

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The art in the action scenes redeems this volume - some of the full page spreads are jaw dropping. And the moments where the characters are just dumb is funny. But it's hard to get excited by the conveyor belt <a href = "https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/RuleOfEscalatingThreat"> Rule Of Escalating Threat</a> and the Harry Potter parody is wearing a bit thin.

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The humor of Mashle is unmatched. Komoto knows his audience and I love how Mashle doesn't take itself too seriously. This volume was another great addition to the series, and I'm looking forward to future volumes as well.

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I continue to enjoy Mash and his group of friends as they continue their adventures at magic school. We start to see some of the goals of other parts of the school, and how that directly affects Mash and the crew at large. Our rag tag bunch has to do their best to collect more coins, and I can't wait to see how things turn out for them.

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Volume 3 continues with the heartwarming and hilarious story that is Mashle. Once again, it shows that it doesn't take itself too seriously, which I really enjoy. Everything is so ridiculous and freshing, and I continue to be pleasantly surprised by this series. Here's hoping that the next volume is just as great as the rest!

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This series is so ridiculous, I love it! There really is no other shonen manga like it. It doesn't take itself seriously at all, and yet, it sort of still does? I never know what to expect with this series and it's a real treat.

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Mash Burnedead's story continues in Volume 3. Now that he, somehow, has allies, they defend their one coin against House Lang's attempts to take it away. Yes, there are cream puffs and we also get a mouse specially featured in the story. Once again, Mash demonstrates how something unlikely can happen if you just get swole enough. (I received a free copy from the publisher via Netgalley).

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