I'm standing on a million lives vol 1 by Naoki Yamakawa

Illustrated by Akinari Nao

Yusuka is a major video-game fan who doesn't really care about planning for his future or getting into a great high school. One day after school, he finds himself transported into another world with two very cute classmates. They have already been in this fantasy world before, and they help get Yasuka situated. The Game Master shows up with half a face and incomplete sentences, and spins the class wheel for Yasuka to land on farmer! Yasuka's classmates are a warrior and a Wind wizard, so he definitely needs to work hard to catch up to their strength. The three of them need to complete this round, then await being transported again for the next round, where another player will join them. This will continue until they beat all ten rounds of the game. If they fail, their lives, and the fate of everyone in Tokyo is on the line!

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From the summary and the cover photo, I thought this was going to be way different than the other RPG stories that are being published currently. However, I was pretty disappointed to find it was pretty much like all the rest. I had envisioned something more to do with the million lives that are referenced in the title, but rather, it's about the characters feeling slightly responsible for the population of Tokyo - and even then, it is barely referenced on maybe 2 pages that they're fighting for the survival of all of Tokyo. Yusuka isn't a typical hero who is super involved and really wants to save everyone. Rather, he's kinda going through the motions and doesn't have a lot of emotional content one way or the other. He's not mad that he's been abducted, but he's also not happy to be inside a game. Most of the emotion in this title is conveyed through the outline in the speech bubbles, not so much through the dialogue or expressions of characters. I also don't know that it is super important that Yusuku is a huge video game nerd, as it doesn't come into play helping him be a better gamer inside the RPG world. 

Nao's illustrations are really awesome though, which makes it a shame that the storyline doesn't do its share of lifting. Nao makes some really interesting choices with character costumes, and there is so much detail to the scenery and environments behind characters. 

Kodansha rates this for Older Teen. There is one scene where girls are bullying another girl by holding up her shirt and taking naked photos of her, but it's mostly implied. On page, there is a bit of under-boob, but not the entire chest shown.

Sara's Rating: 6/10
Suitability Level: Grades 10-12

Publisher: Kodansha
Publication Date: May 28th 2019
ISBN: 9781632368218 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 6/10, Suitability: High School, Manga, Isekai, Fantasy, School Age, Kodansha