The Fall 2023 Manga Guide

The Frontier Lord Begins With Zero Subjects

What's It About? 

After decades of war, Dias returns home as a hero and is rewarded with his own domain. When he arrives at his new lands, however, they turn out to be little more than endless grassy plains without even a single subject. Literally put out to pasture, Dias is stumped as to how to live any life other than a soldier's. But when a horned girl named Alna crosses his path, Dias takes his first steps to be the lord of a not-so-empty frontier.

The Frontier Lord Begins with Zero Subjects manga has story and art by Yumbo based on the original novel series by Fuurou and character designs by Kinta. The English translation is by Henglee Lim, with lettering by Kai Kyou. Published by J-Novel Club (September 13, 2023).

Is It Worth Reading?

Rebecca Silverman
Rating:

Well, that's refreshing – manga adapter Yumbo flat-out says they had to rearrange bits of the original light novel and cut other parts. We all know that happens in the novel-to-manga process, but there's something nice about seeing it admitted because it reminds us that this is an art, not a science. And while I haven't read the source material for this series, I have to say that it doesn't feel too terribly like an altered version of something else. The story flows well, the world-building makes sense, and the whole thing is generally enjoyable. Can you guess that things have been eliminated? Yes, particularly in the beginning when it feels like Dias is summarizing events, but it isn't a barrier to entry.

It's also much less of an overt power fantasy than expected, although the trappings are all there. Dias, a soldier for a warmongering kingdom, is granted a “reward” for his performance in battle, but when he gets to his new domain, it's a lot of nothing – just fields. Or at least, that's what the indigenous inhabitants want him to think; the onikin (humanoids with horns that can assess a person's truthfulness and trustworthiness) have been living there for what's implied to be centuries, hiding out from the humans who want to remove them. Because Dias is a good-natured himbo, the onikin accepts him reasonably quickly, welcoming him as a neighbor, giving him a yurt and survival skills, and a hot fifteen-year-old wife. What? I said it had all the trappings of a particular type of fantasy.

What's most interesting about the book is the culture of the onikin, which draws much inspiration from indigenous Asian cultures. We don't get much about it, but the designs are interesting, and the artist's love for the sheeplike animals they raise is evident. And it's tough to dislike Dias, who is genuinely out there trying to make the best of his situation – he's not comfortable with his wife Alna's age (he's waiting at least three years until she's a legal adult by human standards), he'd like to be a good fief lord, and he wants to stay true to his principles. That may turn out to be more challenging than he thinks because the kingdom knows precisely where he is, but there's a good balance between easygoing slice-of-life and action-hunting scenes that make this a story I wouldn't mind reading more of.