May 6, 2020
Finished reading Dungeon Meshi and want to scratch that slice-of-life-meets-isekai itch? Look no further, Drifting Dragons is your choice.
Before the review, a short rant. What is up with people who give up early and give bad ratings? Like, seriously, don't hand out 1's if you haven't read past 10 chapters.
Now, on to the review.
Story: 8 The plot is really creative, detailing the adventures of a dragon-hunting crew exploring the vast skies. It's quite slow initially, but the pace really picks up from around chapter 8 onwards. The events really allow the strong worldbuilding to shine through. It's fascinating to see how the
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entire world is shaped around dragons, dragon hunters and draking vessels, and dragon produce.
Art: 9. Arguably the strongest point of the manga. Painstakingly drawn and rendered, the beautiful art is highly reminiscent of Studio Ghibli's masterworks like Castle in the Sky and Nausicaa in the Valley of the Wind. No further words need be said - read the manga and be amazed.
Character: 7. The manga's weakest point. The cast is held together by a tight core of focused, well-written characters. However, many of the supporting members feel a little bland and forgettable. There was some attempt to address this in later chapters, but there's definitely a lot more room to develop the ostensibly "side" characters.
Enjoyment: 8. I genuinely enjoy this manga a lot. Maybe I'm a sucker for fantastical tales of exploration, but I found the dragon hunters' way of life refreshing. Though their line of work is unmistakeably gory, they nonetheless have great respect for the beasts they rely on for sustenance, and always try to kill as humanely as possible, and pray for the departed dragon's spirits.
In response to some other reviewers, I want to say that isekai manga is a place for people to explore a different world and a different culture. Don't bring your preconceived notions of right and wrong into it. I also want to point out that dragon hunting is very different from commercial whaling - it's conducted sustainably on a small scale and done humanely, with a firm attitude of "hunt only what you need, and waste not". It's easy for privileged people in their modern lives of comfort to look down on this "barbaric" lifestyle, but that just shows a lack of empathy for the economic realities faced by the constantly-poor dragon hunters who know no other way to support themselves.
Overall: 8. This is a great manga with excellent art and worldbuilding, and you should read it. Peace out.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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