The Splendid Work Of A Monster Maid Volume 3 Review Anime UK News

Volume 2 of The splendid work of a monster maid showed us that protagonist Sumire can complete missions even when her skilled teammates aren’t around, and introduced us to a team of villains. With Volume 3 in hand, let’s find out what awaits our heroes next!

At the start of this episode, we find Sumire and the others sent on a new mission, which sees them working for a family of Egyptian mummies. Rather than just being tasked with cooking or cleaning as domestic staffing agency Cirsium usually is, this time they are employed to look after the family’s young son (who remains unnamed). At first glance, it seems like a simple task but unfortunately, the young master turns out to have a legit attitude and quickly falls out with the group.

Thanks to Sumire being a black cat (whom the mummies believe to be a reincarnation of their goddess), she manages to smooth things over and save the group from being fired. Now, with renewed determination, they begin to search for the boss’ stolen magic, but things are thrown into chaos once again when the Young Master begins to use it…

– Advertising –

Other stories in this volume see the group working for a demon who gives people an unforgettable drinking experience in his private bar (and aims to make Rose one of his minions!), and the three make a trip to an underwater resort at the request of an old friend. It’s a nice collection with a diverse selection of characters and stories, just like we’ve seen in the previous two books.

And just like in the previous two volumes, these stories are given the page time necessary to invest the reader and they all end up revolving around a different member of the domestic recruitment agency Cirsium, so that each in turn is under the projectors. The only character we don’t see much of is the boss but, given that he played a significant role towards the end of Volume 2, that’s not a problem.

The biggest issue for me is the fact that the rival maid group we met at the end of Volume 2 doesn’t play a big role this time around. In the end, we don’t even see them again until the end of this book! It’s disappointing not only from the point of view of having introduced them in the previous version and not using them as a waste, but also because the manga reaches its conclusion in volume 5. There is not much time left for integrating these characters and making sure we readers care about them, especially when it comes to a group of four and not just one or two new additions to the cast.

Now that we’re just over halfway there, here’s where The splendid work of a monster maid begins to show some roughness. I liked the premise from the start and mangaka Yugata Tanabe does a great job of giving us a great variety of characters and situations the trio find themselves in.

I would have been happy to see this continue to the conclusion where presumably the three and their boss face off against the current Demon King. But throwing out this enemy group and doing nothing with them feels random and upsets the otherwise nice balance of the series. Hopefully they’ll play a bigger role in Volume 4 and can convince me that their inclusion wasn’t so bad. Of course, if you’ve enjoyed the series so far, that’s by no means a deal breaker. The positives of the beautiful artwork, likable actors, and interesting stories far outweigh any minor concerns I have.

The splendid work of a monster maid Volume 3 comes to the West thanks to Yen Press and continues to be translated by Eleanor Summers with letters from Lys Blakeslee. As always with this series, the translation reads well without any note issues. Volume 4 of the series is currently slated for release in December, so not too long before we can get our hands on more of it!

Globally, The splendid work of a monster maid Volume 3 continues to deliver a variety of interesting stories and characters as Sumire and the team travel to recover the stolen magic. While the enemies introduced in Volume 2 are underutilized, that doesn’t stop this one from continuing to be an enjoyable read.