Multi Mind Mayhem Vol. 1

Another entry into the Isekai genre, Multi Mind Mayhem tales the novel approach of not exactly ressurecting an unfortunate road victim, but instead trapping 2 souls in the body of a young boy named Bard, who resides in a medievil world.  And so, our young protagonist houses the soul of a modern-day Tokyo student named Masaharu Oka who was hit by a truck (the number one cause of Isekai-related deaths) and an elderly samurai named Oda Sanai Sadatoshi who grants him experience in battle and an almost perverse love of money.

By utilising the knowledge, experience and drive of the two souls he's inhereted, Bard begins to plan his ascension in life, firstly working toward creating a source of sugar for the local residents (from simmering beets) and starting a business. There are shades of Spice & Wolf in the way young Bard invests his time and money into certain commodoties to increase his overall assets, each venture leading to greater wealth and renown. His unusual success soon attracts the attention of a hostile neighbouring kingdom, and unwilling to allow their old enemy to prosper, forces are put into motion to take down the young Lord before he can grow too powerful.

There's a real old-school charm to this book, with artist Honoji clearly creating the bulk of the work without many assistants or CGI backgrounds - the linework is organic and mixes heavy blacks with rough-looking linework in a similar manner to Otomo's Tekkonkinkreet, though without the masterful angles. Despite the "indie" look of the book, everything flows in a pleasing manner, with expressive faces and energetic layouts. 

Since this is an isekai, we have a two girls interested in our hero; Bard's maid, Seillune, who is dutiful and acts like an older sister, and Selina, the local Beastman female who runs a trading company who aids Bard in his business ventures. She has dog-ears and a tail, which fascinate the spirit of Masaharu, who died absent-mindedly debating whether cat ears were better than dog ears when he crossed a road became a smear on a truck's grill. The two girls form an easy emnity as Seilline does everything she can to keep the busty Selina away from her master.

Bard, aware of the dangers his success would doubtless bring, soon hires a band of mercenaries who become pivotal to the first battle at the end of the book. In truth, they're all a bit faceless in their introduction, and the book could have done a better job in bringing these characters to the foreground. As it is the final battle feels a bit messy and formless, and shows that for all his skill, Honoji could use some practice at conveying larger scale battles. The book hails from 2015, with the only other artist credit I could find being from a 2013 MMORPG adaptation (Onigiri) so I think it's just an artist in his early period, and at the very least he shows a lot of promise here. It's jut a bit rough around the edges.

All that said, the book is entertaining, the story moves along at a fair pace, and it's genuinely interesting to see how Bard uses the abilities of the two other souls in his body to overcome the obstacles he faces. It will be interesting to see in what way the three individuals in one body might interact or overlap, but for an initial offering there's plenty here to enjoy.

It's great to see more niche examples of an over-saturated genre from a small publisher, so if you're a fan of isekai, interesting ideas and fun characters, you'll find much to like here. A solid start.