Title: Parallel World Pharmacy Vol. 1
Author: Sei Takano (manga), Liz Takayama (original story), keepout (characters)
Publisher: One Peace Books
Language: English
Format: Digital
Pages: 174
Genre: Isekai, Fantasy
Publication Date: May 30, 2023
The Story
Kanji Yakutani lost his sister to a brain tumor at an early age. Because of such, he has devoted his life to studying medicine. As a professor, he takes on way too much responsibility from looking over theses, conducting industry-leading research, offering consultations, lectures, guest speakers, attending symposiums, and more all while trying to advance his own personal research. All of this catches up to him and he dies in his sleep from overwork.
Suddenly, he finds himself in the body of 10-year-old Farma de Medicis. Farma was struck and killed by lightning and, I am assuming that Kanji died in his world at the same time and his soul was transplanted into Farma’s. Farma now lives in a medieval-style world where medicine is not terribly advanced and healers are all directed by spirits tied to different elements. Before he died, Farma was attuned to water but now that Kanji has inhabited and taken over his body, his element is null and it seems his magic reserves are unlimited… meaning he is on the same level as a God (as described by his tutor Elen).
He also has a gift where he can see people’s ailments with a divine eye. Combining the power of the eye with his ability to create anything his mind can imagine, he vows to use his new life to advance the medicine of this world!
Characters
Most of Farma was covered in the story section but there are some additional quirks. He is part of a noble family and his father is an Archduke who is the personal physician to the royal family itself! That’s some pretty hefty pressure to live up to. In addition, since this is Kanji, there is an instant change in his attitude and demeanor that people take notice of but… don’t really question too much. They simply see it as a sudden change. Another thing that’s odd about Farma that only Elen has noticed so far is that his body doesn’t cast a shadow. With his ability to create anything he can visualize, there are some questions raised… such as when he diagnoses his younger sister with chicken pox and makes an antiviral for it… or how he made an ointment to cure his mother’s back pain. It’s going to be tough to try and keep all of this a secret but he’s going to have to!
Eleonore (or Elen for short) is/was/is again Farma’s personal tutor. She was his tutor until she discovers his element change. She fears him as a God and quits… then gets talked into coming back when he makes medicine to cure her fever. She vows to keep his element change a secret but even she doesn’t know that he’s from another world. She does help him out by explaining (or re-explaining from her perspective) the way techniques and elemental attunement work in this world. She’s a bit ditzy but she’s a fun character. She does cower from Farma by wearing full body armor but what do you expect from someone with a medieval mindset that can’t wrap their heads about things that aren’t supposed to happen in their world?
Bruno de Medicis is Farma’s father and the highest-respected noble in the land as far as medicine goes. His title of Archduke isn’t for show as he is called in to treat the Empress herself when she has fallen ill. He is very strict and stern and will not tolerate failure under any circumstance but he’s also inept in the world of medicine. While he follows divine incantations and seeks spiritual healing outside of written medicine, just because he doesn’t know of modern-world cures, he comes off as a quack. For example, he knows that the empress has Tuberculosis (or the white plague as they call it) but opts to ease her pain until she dies simply because there is no cure at this point in time. Farma knows there is a cure and when his father finds out he’s making one, he calls it blasphemy, accuses him of trying to poison the Empress, and even tries to kill Farma. This is how blinded he is by the times. He also does not possess an open mind, either. He may be smart within his realm but on an overall scale, he’s nothing more than a fool!
Final Thoughts
I highly enjoyed the first volume of Parallel World Pharmacy! The beginning was a little too convenient. I always find it rather displeasing when someone goes to another world and easily accepts it. It doesn’t seem natural at all. There should be more of an emphasis on disbelief along with the character trying to make sense of everything. Kanji/Farma does question it but accepts the reality way too quickly. He doesn’t do an investigation and just goes with the flow… oftentimes without much resistance or curiosity. That would really be my only complaint and it’s a pitfall of not just this series but a LOT of isekai series these days. It feels as if authors are rushing to get the character to the other world and once they are there, screw the discovery part, just move the story along. LET THE STORY BREATHE MORE!
But again, that is the only negative. Everything was handled really well. The goal of the manga is simple… to have Farma help as many people as possible. Of course, there is the alluding to the fact that people might find his powers evil and try to have him killed, or the fact that he might find resistance when introducing brand-new drugs to the world, so it’s not as simple as just having people swallow whatever he gives them. His family seemed like a convenience because they are family but what is going to happen when he goes out and deals with commoners and/or peasants? How will that reflect on the family or even himself? There are a lot of interesting directions this series can take and it’s presented in a way where it’s not just a bunch of medical terminology thrown at you. There is some but it’s only during the parts where it matters the most!
The isekai genre has felt as if it overstayed its welcome a long time ago. Many think that isekai creators are digging below the barrel for ideas but then comes a series like this which restores your faith in the genre by reminding us that there are still good stories to be told. Judging by just the first volume, this should be one of those good stories. It’s not just happy and quaint, either. There is a sense of danger and drama that lends itself to a pretty interesting premise.
If you’re tired of isekai, then take 1 volume of Parallel World Pharmacy and call me in the morning!
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This item was provided for review by One Peace Books
