D-Frag! Volume 16
ディーふらぐ!
D-Fragments 16

–> Purchase D-Frag! Volume 16 from Amazon.com

It has been far too long since I was in the world of D-Frag. Sadly, I didn’t have time to reread the previous volumes before jumping into this new one, but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying this fantasy game parody story.

NOTICE!!! In the interest of full disclosure, I should mention that I am the adapter for the official English translation of the True Tenchi Muyo! novels, which are also published by Seven Seas.

SPOILERS

The Story, in Brief

Chitose summons Funabori and Takao to the Kazama residence since Kenji, Roka, Tama, and Sakura are trapped in the cursed, VR game. The two are sent into the game due to their holy powers. The two enter the game and become ninja. They discover Kenji has cursed armor on that he cannot remove. Outside, the Kazama parents come in to find their house in chaos. Kazama-Dad decides to go into the game as a ninja to help his son. Takao goes off to do some training to help

Working together, the group work to fight the evil curse. As a result of its defeat, Kenji’s cursed armor disappears. Takao returns to find everything resolved. Kenji worries about her reaction. However, she’s relieved he’s back to normal.

Video Game RPG Lunacy

Haruno-sensei decides to have some fun with the fantasy RPG video game genre in D-Frag! Volume 16. To be more specific, Haruno-sensei does a parody of the MMO RPG. Within the confines of the game, the characters from the manga do their normal thing. At the same time, it is fun seeing them in their game form. As such, the normal hijinks have a different feel, but are still just as fun.

I’m still disappointed that Chitose is still weak vs. the supernatural. Sure, she had a bit of the old fire when she brought in Takao and Funabori. But other than that, she still can’t handle supernatural things. That’s been the one mistake Haruno-sensei made with the series. Maybe it will be fixed one day.

Beyond that, not a lot to talk about in the volume. Characters having a random adventure that parodies an RPG MMO doesn’t evoke a lot of discussion.

Omake

The main omake chapter in D-Frag! Volume 16 deals with Hata-chan visiting the Kazama residence and discovering Roka, Takao, and Roka’s sister living there. Then it goes into a discussion on Calpis. Never had it, so it doesn’t mean anything to me. But I don’t mind.

The other omake is a page from Hata-sensei, and then an aftermath to the story, where Takao and Funabori need to go to the bathroom.

Final Thoughts and Conclusion

In the end, D-Frag! Volume 16 is a fun romp, even if there weren’t a lot to talk about.