At long last, one of the manga projects associated with Hololive Alternative is here!
Titled Holoearth Chronicles Side:E ~Yamato Phantasia~, chapter ‘0’ is available to read in English now via the official Hololive Alternative Twitter account. Although it wasn’t revealed straight away, Kousuke Kurose confirmed later on via his own Twitter account that he was indeed doing the art: he’s known for adapting Kumo Kagyuu’s original Goblin Slayer novels into manga form, among other things.
In terms of the manga itself, it will come out on an irregular basis. A release date for the next chapter will be announced when it’s ready, but at least chapter 0 makes a good first impression: first of all, it takes as its inspiration arguably one of the most interesting scenes from the animated PV. The fight between Shirakami Fubuki, Ookami Mio, and one of Nakiri Ayame’s minions also clearly demonstrates that a lot of thought has been put into the manga, as each one of them has special abilities that fit their character profiles.
As to why Fubuki and Mio are fighting against Ayame, chapter 0 of Holoearth Chronicles doesn’t exactly make this clear. In fact, the three characters are just about to cross blades properly when the story jumps back a couple of days, showing Fubuki playing a game. To be honest, the jump in time is a little confusing, along with the sudden scene change between the penultimate and final page.
That being said, this is only chapter ‘0’ of Holoearth Chronicles, so there’s plenty more time to explain. Kurose’s art is good enough to set any fans’ hearts ablaze, with the reception being mostly positive.
Moreover, it’s encouraging to finally see something concrete from the Hololive Alternative project: when Mizuryu Kei’s manga about Houshou Marine was seemingly canceled, that also took with it just about the only concrete thing attached to the mysterious endeavor.
Holoearth Chronicles gives us hope yet.