Mr. Villain’s Day Off vol 1 by Yuu Morikawa

Mr. Villain, also sometimes called The General, is a leader in the Evil League, and normally, his job is to eradicate humans on Earth in order to conquer the planet for his people. But, Mr. Villain is very wise and particular about his mission. Earth isn’t going to be conquered quickly, so balancing his work life and his days off is extremely important. On one mission, he investigates several animals at the zoo and grows particularly fond of the fluffy, cuddly looking pandas. He then becomes a frequent visitor to the zoo and begins investigating other fuzzy creatures. While on his excursions, he comes into contact with the Rangers, the human protectors of Planet Earth, but as he’s maintaining his work-life balance, he calls a truce with all of them and refuses to do battle on his days off.

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This is a cute slice-of-life (with some repeated intro information every chapter as often happens with serialized content), and there are some pretty funny moments. Mr. Villain even promotes his brand of wisdom to an underling, so we know this is an important philosophy he has for everyone, not just himself as the boss. There are times when he helps humans (who almost all turn out to be Rangers), so despite being fearsome on the clock, he's a good dude overall and reminds us to help out our fellows once in a while.

Square Enix rates this for teen, but there's nothing in the first volume that makes this inappropriate for older elementary audiences. There is one panel with a wine bottle on a table, as Mr. Villain mentions enjoying culinary delights during his days off, but no one imbibes.

Sara's Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 5-12

Publisher: Square Enix
Publication Date: August 15, 2023
ISBN: 9781646092239 (Paperback)

​Tags: Rating: 8/10, Suitability: Elementary School, Suitability: Middle School, Suitability: High School, Manga, Humor, Slice Of Life, ​Square Enix