Official Elden Ring gag manga turns dark fantasy into a comedy

Elden Ring, like every other Souls game, is built on a wealth of rich lore and world building, but that isn’t stopping developer FromSoftware’s parent company, Kadokawa, from transforming the dark fantasy realm into a comedic read.

The manga publisher — and one of the world’s biggest — has launched an official comic for the critically-acclaimed game, and it takes the form of…a comedy. Yes, it’s an entire gag strip and a series of laughs, with the first two issues now available for viewing for free (read from right to left). In fact, the hilarity is all in the name: the first two issues are titled You Thought This’d Be Serious, Didn’t You? and Probably Maiden. Utterly hilarious.

Manga enthusiasts will be pleased to know that the adaptation, which was first announced on Famitsu, is helmed by Nikiichi Tobita, the creator of A Cursed Sword’s Daily Life, an equally-lighthearted work that also turns dark fantasy into a comedy.

Naturally, the debut issues are filled with Elden Ring references and fourth wall breaking jokes. You’ll see quotes like “I’d at least hope for someone with enough sense to wear pants”, “It’s just a lot of new proper nouns here,” spoken by the confused protagonist, and of course, “Unfortunately for you, you are maiden-less,” with “maiden-less” highlighted in bold, strong strokes.

Yeah, it’s all pretty chaotic and hilarious. The English releases will follow the Japanese, with the next issue set for Sept 19, 2022. That’s going to be a fun, laughter-inducing read.

ALSO READ: FromSoftware debuts 19 minutes of jaw-dropping Elden Ring gameplay

This article was first published in Geek Culture.