I wasn’t too impressed with Final Fantasy Lost Stranger when I first read it, but I was curious as to how the compiled version stacked up to Crunchyroll’s simulpub release.
The first thing I noticed? “OOOOH, pretty cover!” The front cover’s logo looks like a deep dark red that matches Shogo’s shirt and the inside of his front cape. Shine a little light on it though, and it’s really bright red foil lettering with the title in Japanese in the white space in the bar. I love looking at it, and the cover image to the right doesn’t do it justice.
Now, onto the story. Square Enix employee and Final Fantasy nerd Shogo and his sister, Yuko, a fellow employee, get transported to a Final Fantasy-like world. Gil, chocobos, White Mages, they’re here! Not everything is exactly the same, like the names of some races are being different from the games. But that’s nothing compared to the horror of realizing the spell Raise doesn’t exist. (Although, as I said before, Raise in the games only works on people who are knocked out, not dead.) Why is this so important to Shogo? Because Yuko is killed helping to save a child. But Shogo believes there is still a chance Raise exists, and he and his new companions (a White Mage, a Black Mage, and a Warrior) set out to find this fabled White Magic spell.
If you don’t like the isekai genre, this series isn’t going to change your mind. It starts off with an emotional bang, but it’s still a standard story about being sent to another world. Shogo is given a special ability, but he still has a lot to learn about using it and adapting to fighting as a warrior and not as a video game player who can just hit reset.
However, if you like the genre, the next question will be is whether you’re a Final Fantasy fan or not. References will tickle any series fan’s fancy, and it’s always exciting to find the next Easter egg. If you aren’t, you won’t want to choose this series over the many, many alternatives. Seeing Shogo’s party team up with others to take down a dragon and the beautifully drawn landscape are not going to hide the fact this is a spin-off of a major franchise.
Another question is whether this is going to be worth buying over reading it on Crunchyroll (assuming you have a membership). I read the first chapters of the two versions simultaneously, and there are some minor differences: some dialogue (some, I’m guessing, to match changes in the Japanese book vs magazine version), a few corrections, and minor lettering/layout shifts. Overall, though, it’s probably 99% the same or so minor it’s barely worth mentioning. Yen Press’ release includes a few added (and removed!) translation notes and the usual graphic novel extras like author notes. However, you are going to lose some colored pages; only the opening chapter’s colored inserts are included.
I know Crunchyroll has removed back volumes of Kodansha titles, but since this has different publishers on both shores, the back volumes of the series may be kept online for the foreseeable future. If you are happy with following along on Crunchyroll and don’t mind the chance of losing access to it one day, then no, Yen Press’ version doesn’t have enough changes or extras to warrant a purchase. For those of you in the Venn diagram of isekai and Final Fantasy fans, you might want to give this one a shot, but don’t expect anything unlike what you’ve read before.