Lycoris Recoil and its concept regarding teenage girls acting as assassins isn’t exactly new in manga and anime, as we’ve seen it brought up in series like Gunslinger Girl And Tista. While it may not be as dark, dramatic, or heartbreaking as its contemporaries, it stands out as something special because of the mix of drama, humor, and understanding of people’s abilities and motivations. Although we have already had many opportunities to see so much since the animated adaptation, Press on the yen resuming the manga allows us to appreciate its nuances even more.

Editor’s Note: There will be some mild spoilers for the first volume of Lycoris Recoil manga below.

In the case of Lycoris Recoilwe encounter Lycoris Direct Attack agents in the middle of an incredibly dangerous situation. A group of them is in confrontation with a criminal organization which has captured one of the members. We see a lone Lycoris called in to help and defuse. Before this happens, communications are cut off and Takina Inoue uses her weapon to kill all enemy agents. Erika is saved, but the group is dead, her fellow agents are angry with her, and she finds herself assigned to work alongside another lone agent named Chisato Nishikigi at the LycoReco cafe.

The first part of what makes Lycoris Recoil What works so well, right from the start, is the contrasting personalities. Chisato and Takina, as members of the Lycoris Division, are orphans trained as agents and assassins. Their age is designed to hide the fact that they are individuals capable of handling and defusing the most dramatic and dangerous situations. Takina is incredibly serious about her job, but we quickly see that she acted to protect her ally and friend even if it broke the rules. Chisato is considered a prodigy and someone Takina should learn from, but she is more like an ordinary young woman, extremely friendly and bubbly. Her outreach involves not only working at the cafe – their cover – but also working to help the community in addition to government-ordered missions.

But the biggest contrast lies in their methods. Chisato believes that all lives matter. Even those of the threats she addresses. So once Takina, and by extension the reader, sees her in action for the first time, her supposed status becomes much more believable. Even in the initial volume we get to see how the mind works here and there is more to it. In doing so, it even feels like Takina might start to be intrigued by her and her methods.

Because it’s a manga adaptation of Lycoris Recoilwe can better appreciate the subtleties of these kinds of moments. When we first see Chisato in action during her first mission with Takina, the art captures her incredible dodging methods. We can see more clearly what they are doing in the photo that caught the attention of a criminal group. This makes it easier for us to notice and understand what these agents are doing. In fact, I think it also helped to better see what kind of person Yoshimatsu was when he first appeared.

It’s just great to see Spider Lily’s story told in another format. Perhaps retelling stories gives us an opportunity to focus and appreciate things we might have missed before. The manga adaptation of Lycoris Recoil It seems like this could be an opportunity to better appreciate the characterizations, as well as understand what these agents pick up on and how talented they are.

The first volume of Lycoris Recoil the manga will be available in English via Yen Press on October 29, 2024, and the second volume will be start February 18, 2025. The anime is streaming on Crunchyroll. Yen Press will publish the Lycoris Recoil: ordinary days light novel on January 21, 2025.