The Eminence in Shadow (Volume 12) – Somewhere Awfully Familiar!
Shadow made quick work of Ragnarok, the ruler of a world of magical beasts, and then killed Mordred, however, the Black Rose was collapsing. Then, it vanished along with Shadow and Beta. Where had they gone?
The Eminence in Shadow (Volume 12) – Somewhere Awfully Familiar!
What happened?
Ragnarok ended up being a giant dummy with nothing more than brute force. Sure, it was some incredible brute force, but Shadow made quick work of defeating it before returning to find Beta, Epsilon, and Rose fighting Mordred. Well, they had been fighting, but since Mordred was so sure that Ragnarok would destroy everything, he indulged their curiosity and explained the situation. The Black Rose was a gateway between worlds and the Cult of Diablos had offered to manage the gate for the Oriana Kingdom. The price was a royal child, however, Rose’s father refused which is why they went after him.
Mordred was distraught when he saw that Shadow had defeated Ragnarok so he ate some of its flesh and transformed into something far more powerful. Of course, it was nothing to Shadow who destroyed him with [I Am Atomic]. Then, the Black Rose started to collapse, sucking Shadow and Beta into another world. As Cid stared at this world, he realised that there was something oddly familiar about it, although it was not quite how he remembered it. Something had happened to Earth and it likely had something to do with the magical energy flowing through the air.
After defeating a nest of weak magical beasts, Cid and Beta pretended to be unconcious so that they were found by a survivor group. To Cid’s surprise, the leader of the search party was an old school friend from his past life, however, she was in her twenties now. Akane Nishino had somehow acquired some magical powers of her own that allowed her to fight back, but the world was in a mess and Cid was determined to work out exactly what happened here, while also stopping Beta from learning that all of his ideas are stolen from this world…
What did you think?
So, the fight between Shadow and Mordred was not nearly as flashy as the anime, but that was fine. There was also the rambling exposition from Mordred which is clearly very important to the story even if it wasn’t the best way to deliver it. Anyhow, the manga has now moved beyond the second season of the anime. It has taken a slightly different approach, plus we finally got the opening scene from season one where Cid saved Akane in his previous life. This is a great twist to the usual Isekai stories with the main character going back to his original world in his new body.
I can’t wait to see what sort of chaos Cid causes in this world and I can’t help but wonder if everything happening on Earth didn’t happen at the same time Cid was reborn into the new world. Does that make Cid the catalyst or simply someone who was in the wrong place at the wrong time? Only time will tell, but this is a great revelation and gives this story even more potential than it already had. I remember feeling this way after the anime gave us a brief glimpse at the end of season two, and this was even better.
I had to laugh as Beta tried on all of Mr. Tanaka’s fetish gear that he had hidden under his bed as Cid stood with Mr. Tanaka’s skull watching on. This volume ended with Akane about to tell Cid what happened to Earth which is a massive tease, because as soon as I saw the post-apocalyptic setting, that is all I’ve wanted to know. Now, I have to wait until volume 13 comes out which isn’t until September 2025. Of course, there is always the chance that the movie – Eminence of Shadow: Lost Echoes comes out first, but there doesn’t appear to be any concrete dates yet, and it was announced back in 2023. Damn it, I need more!
Series Information
| English Title | The Eminence in Shadow |
| Japanese Title | Kage no Jitsuryokusha ni Naritakute! |
| Genres | Action, Comedy, Fantasy, Isekai, Magic |
| Demographic | Seinen |
Anime
Season One
| Season | Season One |
| Released | Fall 2022 |
| Animation Studios | Nexus |
| Episodes | 20 |
Bonus Posts
| Analysis | How Much Does Cid Know? |
| Lists | Five Best Fights |
Season Two
| Season | Season Two |
| Released | Fall 2023 |
| Animation Studios | Nexus |
| Episodes | 12 |
| 21 | The Lawless City |
| 22 | The Haven |
| 23 | The Hour of Awakening |
| 24 | The Mask of Falsehood |
| 25 | He Who Pulls the Strings |
| 26 | John Smith |
| 27 | Something Precious |
| 28 | The Dragon’s Tears |
| 29 | The Key |
| 30 | Caged Bird |
| 31 | Determination |
| 32 | Highest |
Manga
| Series | The Eminence in Shadow | |
| Author | Daisuke Aizawa | |
| Artist | Anri Sakano | |
| Volumes | Ongoing | Chapters |
| 1 | We Lurk in the Darkness and Hunt Down Shadows | 1-4 |
| 2 | I Am Atomic! | 5-8 |
| 3 | Hidden Normie Technique | 9-12 |
| 4 | Battles Are Like a Conversation | 13-16 |
| 5 | A Memory I Never Want to Lose | 17-21 |
| 6 | What Beautiful Swordplay… | 22-25 |
| 7 | A Fancy Bandit Slayer | 26-29 |
| 8 | The True Aberration!!! | 30-33 |
| 9 | He Who Destroys All and Rebuilds It Anew! | 34-37 |
| 10 | You Stole What I Hold Most Dear! | 38-41 |
| 11 | Everything’s Falling Into Place! | 42-45 |
| 12 | Somewhere Awfully Familiar! | 46-49 |
