Looks like we are meeting more of the cast. I like the wide variety and while the houses/dorms confuse me a bit, I think it is interesting. Def Harry Potter vibes, so I'm sure that will appeal to some.

I really am enjoying this series, the characters are crazy but very funny. This series is a nice break for stress and it always makes me laugh.

Looks like this series is going all in on the dumb humor and the harry potter parody. I'm with it for now, but I worry it's a one-joke pony.

This was just as hilariously random as volume 1. Still loving the subtle nods to Harry Potter-this whole thing is just one giant joke in the best possible way.

For Libraries: Volume 2 is also quite perfect for a teen collection. Buy it and you're cool!

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Volume Two expands on the concepts of the series and the world that the characters inhabit, as well as introduces some new characters.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Volume Two
Written by: Hajime Komoto
Publisher: Shueisha Inc.
English Publisher: VIZ Media
Release Date: September 7, 2021

At the beginning of the volume, Mash is in a battle with a handsome young man named Lance Crown to save his friends and get Lance’s two silver coins. We get some brief backstory for Lance and his younger sister, Anna. Basically, it’s the cliché storyline of Lance wanting to become a divine visionary in order to save his sister who has a disease that is causing her to lose her magic. Of course, Mash uses his strength and speed to beat Lance and not magic, since he doesn’t have any. Lance becomes a rival for Mash but ends up being on friendly terms with him.

We then get a scene of Mash and his roommate Finn realizing they haven’t gotten their homework done yet. Lance comes in and helps them with it. The assignment has to do with a plant called a mandragora, which is noisy and has to be quieted down with magic before it can be used as an ingredient in potions. I couldn’t help but think of the mandrakes from Harry Potter. While this series has the characters subduing the screaming plant instead of putting it in potting soil, and the characters in this series don’t have to wear earmuffs to block the sound, I still found this concept to be a little too similar to something in Harry Potter. Although it is kind of amusing to see what happens with Mash and the mandragora that he’s trying to subdue.

Later in the volume, we see through a flashback sequence that the students are sorted into houses based on their personalities and attributes. Instead of putting a hat on their heads, the students at this magic school touch a unicorn’s horn. Again, borrowing an idea from the Harry Potter franchise, but the execution is a little different. But it was amusing to see how the unicorn sorted Mash into his house, especially since all that he seemed to have in his head were thoughts of cream puffs.

A new character named Dot Barrett is also introduced in this volume. He’s loud, brash, and likes to flip people off a lot. Even though he acts so tough, he’s actually a wuss when it comes to girls. He also appears to be a redhead and falls into the shonen trope of the loud redheaded male. Overall, I found him to be an annoying character. He gets humbled, at least somewhat, during this volume, but it didn’t really help improve my impression of him. Hopefully Dot can become a redeemable character over the course of this series.

Two of the dorms are sent out in a competition to dispatch the forest scorpions and collect the stones on their foreheads to earn coins. This competition introduces an adversary to the series, a second-year student named Silva. He’s a bigger guy who comes across as a bully, and it turns out he’s targeting Mash. It’s during a battle with Silva that Dot starts to become a little more humble, but Dot ultimately isn’t Silva’s target. There’s an impressive fight sequence between Silva and Mash, but of course, Silva is using magic while Mash is using his muscles and strength. But just as it looks like Mash is going to win the fight, it’s interrupted by the arrival of a forest scorpion. However, the interruption doesn’t last for long, thanks to Mash. After this, it’s not surprising to see the final result of Silva and Mash’s battle. We then learn that Silva was trying to do some dirty work for a group called the Magia Lupus, a small group of students who believe they are superior to others. Near the end of the volume, Mash accidentally stumbles upon their hideout on campus and this is how he, along with the reader, learn about the group and its beliefs. While Magia Lupus isn’t exactly the same as the Death Eaters, this series is borrowing the idea of a secret group of wizards who are the antithesis of what the wizarding world in each series represents.

While I found the second volume of Mashle: Magic and Muscles to be a more interesting read than the first one, I’m a little frustrated by the fact that this series still seems to be borrowing ideas and concepts from the Harry Potter franchise. I sincerely hope that as I read future volumes of this series, that I will start finding fewer parallels between this series and Harry Potter. I really want to see what Komoto can do with his concept of a magical school with his own ideas.

If you enjoyed reading the first volume of Mashle: Magic and Muscles, then I feel confident that you will enjoy Volume Two. However, if you were as frustrated by the Harry Potter parallels as I was after reading Volume One, then expect that frustration to continue with this volume.

Mashle: Magic and Muscles Vol 2 continues the mashup of Harry Potter and One Punch Man. Mash has no magic abilities in a world that requires them. In Vol 1, he wins entry to his country’s preeminent magic school, Easton Magic Academy (think Hogwarts) based solely on his phenomenal strength and quick thinking.

Mash has found a new frenemy at the school. His name is Lance. Lance wants to save his little sister, Anna, from the government’s clutches. Anna is sick and may lose her magic. Her parents will comply with the law and turn her in if that happens.

The plot this time is the rivalry between two of the three dorms in the magic academy. Mash’s dorm is Adler for those with courage. Lang dorm is for the ambitious who carry the bloodlines of famous magicians.

There is plenty of action along with a few laughs along the way. I enjoyed Mashle: Magic and Muscles Vol 2 but not quite so much as Vol 1. 4 stars!

Thanks to VIZ Media and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.

This series can be a great manga replacement for people who loved the Harry Potter world! Mash is a really fun hero, and watching him trounce everyone is a lot of fun. A great shounen story.

The more I read this series, the more I thoroughly enjoy it! As with the first volume, this volume was once again very funny without feeling childish. I adore our protagonist Mash and his never ending love for creampuffs. We were introduced to some new characters, got got some great insight into others. I am very interested to see where this story goes, and it's definitely something I will be recommending to others!

Mashle has been a joy to read during these times. It doesn't take itself too seriously while weaving in a more stardard shonen plot throughout. I love reading about the casts' antics and ridiculous situations they find themselves in, and I'm lookin forward to future volumes.

Our cream puff loving hero Mash Burnedead continues his adventures in volume two. While I didn't laugh out loud as much in this volume, we do get to meet more new characters in this school, as well as learn more about the house system within the school. World building! Some character growth! A cream puff party! Yes, we get to see Mash get sorted into his house, and it goes just how you think it would: determined by cream puffs.

This has got to be one of the funniest shonen manga I have ever read! It doesn't take itself seriously AT ALL, and yet, the story continues to be compelling! The constant imagery of cream puff pastries is making me hungry though.

This series is basically One Punch Man meets Harry Potter. There's magic, epic fight scenes, a schools for wizards, and Mash is hilarious. I have really high hopes for this series.