Book of Octavinelle Shows Azul’s Abilities

Viz Media’s been handling the Twisted Wonderland manga adaptations since they started appearing outside Japan in 2023. These involve takes on the story of the player avatar, in these tales depicted as a young man named Yu typically, interacting with the students at the university inspired by Disney villains. Twisted Wonderland the Manga: Book of Octavinelle marks a run based on Ursula the Sea Witch’s house, from The Little Mermaid. However, while Azul Ashengrotto and his lackeys Floyd and Jade Leech do play major parts in this Twisted Wonderland series, the focus in this volume is instead about the affects of those members and Azul’s deals on the academy’s community.

Editor’s Note: There will be some spoilers for Azul, Floyd, and Jade and the Twisted Wonderland the Manga: Book of Octavinelle volume 1 story below.

Twisted Wonderland the Manga: Book of Octavinelle begins with callbacks to The Little Mermaid and an introduction to Azul, Jade, and Floyd. We see Floyd and Jade, fulfilling the Flotsam and Jetsam roles for Azul and guiding a “client” in to request some aid from the Octavinelle Housewarden. From there, we see Yuta Mito as the “Yu” protagonist from this story apparently having a dream about The Little Mermaid story, only from Eric’s side. From there, we see him attending a Potionology class with Grim, Ace, and Spade. The professor Divus Crewel then notes that it seemed like a lot of people at the school were getting suspiciously higher scores. Except when individual rankings come up, many of these people start sprouting sea anemone polyps from their heads because they didn’t get certain grade ranks and broke a “contract.”

As you can probably tell, Azul ended up helping a number of “poor, unfortunate souls,” and they’re all in breech of contract. And before we see Yu and begrudging ally Jack start a proper investigation, this manga shows us exactly how similar to Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam the Octavinelle characters Azul, Floyd, and Jade are. When confronting another person who is reneging on a deal, Jade “shocks” the victim into confessing the truth. Azul seems professional, wearing the same sort of innocent, benevolent mask before dropping it to show his short temper and ruthless nature. But then to finish things off, tasks Floyd with the finishing blow. It’s then that the “March of Absolute Obedience” comes in as Azul realizes so many people didn’t keep their end of the bargain and those anemone polyps are going to make them serve him as a result.

 I love the setup and execution of Twisted Wonderland the Manga: Book of Octavinelle, since it’s acting as a story that can make Azul and his minions Floyd and Jade as the focus, but it isn’t making them the stars. They aren’t even antiheroes. They’re the villains, which is fitting for a series inspired by Disney villains. The direction means we’re able to more clearly see the parallels between them and Ursula, Flotsam, and Jetsam. I feel like it comes across as something of a celebration of the source material as a result. We’re seeing firsthand how it’s paying tribute.

At the same time, it’s also a perfect excuse to allow all three characters to ham it up. With Twisted Wonderland taking place at a magical university, we’re seeing many students in classes. The game and previous manga sort of focused on Yu and Grim’s adventures as students, and since Ace and Space tend to always be allies and friends as fellow newcomers, some of the manga adaptations don’t get into how strong and potentially villainous people can be. The attitudes and ambiance might be right, but it isn’t always all the way there. Twisted Wonderland the Manga: Book of Octavinelle gets to be a celebration of what Azul is capable of and how Floyd and Jade can step up to assist with that. We’re watching how many people he convinced and scammed, how his powers made them all fall in line, and the menacing sides of the twins as enforcers. 

Twisted Wonderland the Manga: Book of Octavinelle really feels like a means of letting Azul, Floyd, and Jade go all out and be dramatic, while also paying tribute to The Little Mermaid story and villains. We’re seeing how closely their attitudes and abilities mirror that Disney movie. We’re watching how that fits perfectly into this world and reality. At the same time, we’re also getting the satisfaction of seeing them get to be the bad guys in a “safer” context so, if these three happen to be someone’s favorites in the game, it isn’t like they’re truly, 100% terrible.

Volume 1 of Twisted Wonderland the Manga: Book of Octavinelle is available now, and Viz Media hasn’t set a release date for the second one yet. The Twisted Wonderland game is on Android and Apple iOS devices.