Title: I Got a Chest Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too Vol. 1
Author: Kazuomi Minatogawa, Miku (Original Story), Rein Kuwashima (Character Art)
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 162
Genre: Isekai, Fantasy, Reverse Isekai
Publication Date: May 24, 2022
The Story
The story of I Got a Chest Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World, Too centers around a pudgy boy named Yuuya Tenjou. Every day, he is bullied by members of the Red Ogre gang, hated by his own brother and sister, and shunned by his parents. He is afraid to go out in public because people think he’s disgusting.
One day, his grandfather passed away and left him his house. His parents forced him to move into it just so that they could get rid of him. One day, he became frustrated and went on a rampage, breaking every mirror in the house; however, he stumbled upon a secret room with a door. This door leads him to another world where he ends up in the house of a great sage. Here, he acquires a massive amount of skills that he will need to put to use fast as an ogre shows up and tries to enter the house.
Yuuya kills it and gains 100 levels since he was level 1 and the ogre was level 300! That night, he experiences severe body pain and when he wakes up, his body has been transformed into something that looks like a handsome model! He goes back through the door and discovers that his skills from the fantasy world work in the real world, too (just like the title says!)
Yuuya is adjusting to the fact that people are now staring at him for all the right reasons. In fact, he ends up getting dragged into a modeling gig where he meets Miu. After filling in for a model that hasn’t shown up, he’s paid with clothes. In the other world, he also meets Princess Lexia Con Alceria who needed to be saved.
Two girls. Two worlds. I see where they are going with this!
Characters
Yuuya is a character that you just feel sorry for in the beginning. So much negativity surrounds his life all because of his weight. It takes body shaming to the ultimate extreme but now that he’s a top model-level hunk, things are a bit different. While this is meant for you to connect to the character, it has an underlying message about the perceptions of society and how they can influence individual opinions. It paints a stark picture that unless you’re good-looking, then you’re not really desirable. I know that’s not always the case but it is the general societal rule of thumb in our world and it’s been put on full display through Yuuya as a character.
Yuuya himself isn’t that bad of a character but he is a bit bland. The only aspect of him that’s a bit different is the fact that he’s still getting used to his new body and figuring out the rules of the other world he traveled to. Once that discovery period wears off, what kind of character is he going to be? He’s rather timid for obvious reasons but his only quirk is that he’s living by his grandfather’s words to be kind to others. I’m hoping he will branch out a bit and be a little more interesting as he develops.
Outside of him, we only get small touches on our supporting cast.
Miu is just a model who seems thoughtful. She obviously develops a bit of a crush on Yuuya once they work together.
Lexia is a princess born of a concubine who is hated by the royal factions so when she was rescued by Yuuya, it was during an assassination plot. She just wants to be seen as normal (Hey… that sounds like our main character!)
Yuuya’s brother and sister, Youta and Sora, respectively, spoke all of 10 words and you already know they’re trash-tier humans.
And we have our Reg Ogre gang member where if you’ve seen one high school delinquent, you’ve seen them all.
Final Thoughts
I Got a Chest Skill in Another World and Became Unrivaled in the Real World was a lot more interesting than I thought. I assumed that once he gained his skills, he would come back to the real world and go on a tear in an act of revenge. At least, that’s what the first chapter leads you to believe; however, when we do get back to the real world, we see that it turns into a bit of a slice-of-life story. The mixing of slice-of-life and fantasy is a pretty unique combo when they are separated as they are here. We’ve seen other series such as Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody and In the Land of Leadale try to mix the genres together within the same world and setting. Here, it keeps them separate and that makes it 100x more interesting!
Yuuya shows restraint in the real world but does use a few of his skills… mainly things such as Perception and Appraise to get more information on things. Of course, one has to wonder when he’s going to break out the weapon skills in the real world? It seems inevitable but, at least that’s the expectation. Since this story went a different direction from the start, it may not happen and that’s fine with me. Seeing two different worlds with, possibly, two completely different sets of stories and adventure are compelling enough!
This feels like a winner of a series to me! Can’t wait to check out the second volume!
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press
