Thank you to NetGalley, Udon Entertainment, Ryo Mizuno, Atsushi Suzumi, and Hidari for the opportunity to read this manga in exchange for an honest review.

Taking place nearly 100 years after the original story of "Record of the Lodoss War," this manga features a new cast of characters with the return of Deedlit, the millenial high elf who helped bring peace to Lodoss a century ago. Prince Lyle of Marmo knows war is coming, and he wants to take up the mantle of the Knight of Lodoss to return peace to the kingdoms once more.

With the other princes of Marmo plotting, and war raging with the Kingdom of Flaim, twisty plots and betrayals loom on the horizon.

Adapted from the new light novel, this volume is the first of Crown of the Covenant, which will be made up of three volumes. This is an incredible manga for long time fans of the Lodoss War series as well as new readers alike. Steeped in high fantasy action, this manga is an excellent tale.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

So apparently this is a continuation of a series from the late 80s/early 90s. I had never heard of "Record of Lodoss War" before seeing this manga, so I had no idea what was going on. The series does a LOT of exposition in this first volume, but it gives you just enough information to understand how the world works. There is a lot of emotional weight that is lacking if you have never read the original series, however. It's not too terrible, I didn't even realize I was missing out on that until I looked up the series later. If it wasn't for the author's note, I wouldn't have known this was a continuation of an older series at all! This volume is very much a political drama, perhaps even more so then it is a fantasy. It's not a simple "Hero's Journey" type of story, though apparently that's what the original series was. I also enjoyed the art, it was very nicely done. Even though I haven't read the original, this first volume of the new series is compelling enough for a reader new to the world to want to continue reading.

tl;dr
Accessible for newcomers and longtime fans of the franchise. An intriguing intro to another adventure in Lodoss featuring a (mostly) new cast.

Thoughts
The original Record of Lodoss War franchise is considered a classic amongst anime fans (the artist of this manga even notes what a huge influence the series was on them). So how does this continuation hold up all these years later? Honestly? Pretty well. Fans of the original will likely be holding their breath to see Deedlit again, but the new characters all look very promising, and the storyline is an interesting one. We've got our usual tabletop-inspired party going on a quest, but the political twists and turns are what hooked me. The incredibly risky play that the siblings are making has me on the edge of my seat. The original story is covered in brief summaries for newcomers to follow along. It all moves pretty quickly, so newcomers have a bit of catching up, but shouldn't be lost overall. Art is attractive, with nicely balanced inks and tones, and some really lovely use of lighting with Deedlit's scenes. This book is clearly for longtime fans, but newcomers looking for a fantasy adventure with some political intrigue will have a good time here too.

First of all I want to say a huge thank u to Netgalley for giving me an advanced Arc of this book

Secondly all thoughts and words said in this review are my own.

When I started to read this I was intrigued by the story but as the manga continued I loved the pacing, the characters and the message. I love the Main character because though his journey and inner strength and moral code, you see a young lad who is determined to do what's right no matter what it takes with a love for a hero he wants to follow in the foot steps of to save his land and the people from war.

Loved so much I cannot wait to read more from this series ❤️

Review for this will.be done on my booktube channel nearer release date

This is a really solid fantasy story, even if you know nothing about Record of Lodoss War. If you do know something about Lodoss, there are a bunch of little call backs to the previous series. What makes it standout, to me at least, is the solid writing. I found myself invested in this royal family soon to be conquered by another nation, and the intrigued by the very different paths the siblings all choose to take.

Thanks Netgalley and publisher for granting me this manga easily!

For the first time in a long time, I’m glad to admit this manga is pretty decent like the main characters who are a prince and elf seemed to be interesting enough, especially if you like your royalty and fantasy tags. Now I will admit, there’s a lot of new characters popping up every so often but it still wants you to read more and more. I have no doubt this will become an anime in the future since it is quite an interesting story that sucks you in. Since it’s only volume 1, there’s not much to talk about as you really need more to find out the full story, The art is nice and storyline again for the third time, sucks you in!

Definitely people who are fantasy and royalty heads should check this manga out!

An interesting comic, a little traditional in certain things, especially in terms of women and the way they draw and behave at certain moments. But it's something I fight with all the time.

I was more interested than anything in the story behind it, I didn't really like the illustrations (be careful, they're not bad, they just don't suit my taste) and I think it has much more to tell us.

I don't have much more to say, maybe I would be interested in reading the sequel... but it's not a second part that I'm looking forward to too much.

Thank you Udon Entertainment for the ARC I read through NetGalley.

Thank you so much to Udon Entertainment and Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this manga. Honestly, for me personally, it's not that I did not enjoy this, I did with the art and the characters... however, I think for me personally, I need to read more into the franchise this comes from along with other aspects. Its a dense read that I honestly wasn't prepared for. In addition, I will not be reviewing it on my platform other than Goodreads and amazon because I honestly cannot give it a proper review other than this. I think it's perfect for someone who is familiar with the series and wants to continue on with a new perspective. Because of these points, I have to give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

This was awesome.
We have a lost legend and a boy who will do everything to take its place in order to defend his kingdom and its ways
A prince whom steps up to take his older brothers place on the throne
A traitor prince
A evil prince
A beautiful lady
A shy thief
Mythical creatures
Some Lord of the Rings feels

It is gorgeously illustrated
And I'm definitely buying this and the rest of the volumes!!!

A new era of adventure has begun in the fabled world of RECORD OF LODOSS WAR!

A great addition to the Lodoss War world. Loved it.

I knew nothing about the stories or characters before Record of Lodoss War - Crown of the Covenant Vol 1 so I can only give my opinions on this specific story and its characters. There was a lot of information to take in and many characters to remember. It was a bit difficult to keep up with the storylines at times because I couldn't tell what each character's motivations and intentions were. I liked Lyle's character and saw this story as more of a setup for his journey to find Deedlit and for the impending war. The artwork was detailed but along with the story itself it felt a little rushed. I think they did a good job with the world building and I look forward to continuing the series.

Thank you NetGalley and Udon Entertainment for the ARC. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Volume 1 of Record of Lodoss War - Crown of the Covenant is a very dense setup for the series. So many new characters from multiple kingdoms get introduced. This story takes place after the animated version most people are familiar with. If it doesn't sit well with you that only the elf from the old cast of characters will be in this series (and there is a whole lot of exposition before she shows up in this volume) this is not for you. If the thought of war returning to Lodoss depresses you, go listen to "Peace Sells...But Who's Buying?" instead. If you're ready for a new adventure through Lodoss War, then you're in for a treat. I'm still recovering from the information dump in this volume, so I am undecided if I want to read the second volume.

Record of Lodoss War: The Crown of the Covenant is a trilogy and adapted from the novel. The plot moves quite quickly, so the trilogy form could work. The problem is that it's mostly political shenanigans and whatnot and thus really hard to follow, when we don't know all that much about the world or the characters. Perhaps this is a companion to the novel then? There's been peace on the isle of Lodoss for a hundred years, but now it's in turmoil and at the brink of a war. The King of Flaim wants to unite Lodoss under his rule and Lyle of Marmo wants to find the high elf to help him. Lyle needs the hero back, “Knight of Lodoss”, to unite the people and probably needs to be that himself eventually. So, your basic fantasy setting with a slightly annoying main character and his super pure heart. I would've liked to read more about the political situation, but then again, this is shounen.

The art is OK, but nothing special. The rhythm is very fast even art wise. I wish more pages had been used to everything, since the plot is too complicated to work like this. This isn't a bad manga per se, it just needs more time.

It's so nice to see Lodoss back (though I know of course with Grancrest there's been other content recently). The politics are a bit overly complicated in this one (I'm not sure I fully understood why the four brothers are all doing totally different things here, at least yet) but it's charming and nostalgic, and the art is beautiful. I about cheered when my girl Deedlit showed up. She's looking a bit older and tireder here -- understandably -- but is still recognizably the same character after all this time. Interested to see how this all shakes out!

If you like adventure then you will like the 'RECORD OF LODOSS WAR!' Here we learn about the 'The Crown of the Covenant', the island Lodoss and it 100 years of peace. War returns when a neighboring kingdom threatens Lodoss.

The drawings were good but the story didn't flow so smoothly. I had to go back a page to reestablish the story line to my understanding. The lettering was 'iffy' when it came to clear reading but overall I enjoyed the read..

Thanks NetGallery for this ARC.

I have some very fond memories of watching the Record of Loddoss War OVA and TV series when I was in high school!

War has returned to Loddoss after decades of hard won peace brought about by the Knight of Loddoss and the Eternal Maiden. Now our protagonist, Lyle, must seek out the Eternal Maiden and convince her to join the war and being about peace once more.

The world building for this realm is so interesting and unique! The various countries all have different cultures and style of governance. The political structures are very intricate. This volume spends most of the time building up the political aspects of the war and why it’s happening.

Deedlit is just as beautiful as she was in the original series and I was so happy to see her again. There are callbacks to various characters from past series like Spark and Neese and Slayn. I will say I’m quite miffed that Shiris and Orson have not come up. They were my favourite characters and had such a tragic story. I hope they come up eventually.

If you love a good political fantasy or are a fan of the series then you’ll totally love this!

Thanks to Netgalley for a copy an honest review

I enjoyed ‘Record of Lodoss War - Crown of the Covenant’ Volume 1 it was a good quick read. I would highly recommend it and I am looking forward to reading Volume 2

Rating: 5 Stars