On the one end, I do appreciate a series that really likes to just cut out all the fat. When Death Flags starts, we don't get any set-up or preamble about our protagonist's past life or how he found himself in the circumstances that he does. He just wakes up in a video game as a character, and that's it. Granted, the revelation that Kazuki is playing as a character who is fated to die does mean that there is a strong amount of urgency that probably takes over the need to learn the specific circumstances that led him to where he is now. However, not only is that urgency not felt as strongly throughout these first two volumes, but I think the story accidentally trimmed off some of the meat with that fat because outside of his circumstances, I know next to nothing about our protagonist at all.

Kazuki is a very boring, nothing character who is strictly driven by his survival and he needs to spend most of the story riding a very thin line. He is trapped in a game with a predetermined path so a lot of circumstances are predictable, but he doesn't wanna follow the story too closely because his character is fated to die once it reaches a certain point. But he can't completely change this narrative because otherwise there are too many variables in place for him to count for. What if he ends up completely changing the story and his ultimate fate is still sealed? Then there are fewer opportunities to prevent it from happening at all. That is the most interesting thing about the story, navigating around this corridor while also dealing with variables he had never thought possible.

If the character Harold is supposed to kill somebody or be a terrible person, then Kazuki has to put on an act or find a solution that will bring about the same outcome without anybody getting hurt. The second volume especially starts playing around with multiple potential story deviations that make things difficult. A lot of them are tied to the overall politics and agricultural worries of this fantasy land, which are more talked about than shown. But the dialogue is very snappy and engaging, which does a lot to carry the very simple characterization. I think it is a testament to the fact that I don't really care about our protagonist, but the narrative is strong enough that I want to see how the solutions or workarounds lead to an ideal outcome.

The problem is that this lack of context doesn't just apply to the background of our main character, as there are other variables that have less of a well thought out explanation. This wouldn't be a problem, except these other elements also act as obstacles to the overall goal and they feel a lot more manufactured than the actual politics of this fantasy world. For example, while our protagonist feels like himself, the story also makes it clear that he is in the body of somebody that can still act out or speak in their own way. At first, it was funny when Kazuki tried to say something kind only for it to come out as harsh because Harold is ultimately an abrasive character. That created an interesting little snag where Kazuki had to find new ways of communicating to people in less than ideal ways.

But there's no real explanation for why this happens, it just does and it isn't always consistent. It usually gets weird when other characters start chiming in and giving their points of view on the situation. This isn't a video game as much as it is a fully realized world where all the characters have their own thoughts. So is the communication issue stemming from two personalities fighting for supremacy? Also, a lot of the side characters almost treat Harold like he is much more of a kind soul than his abrasive nature would let on, and it creates the illusion that he was always the kind person that our protagonist is now acting like. But if that's the case, then why is he so adamantly abrasive against the main character's wishes? It's really weird, but the story doesn't really explain it because it just wants to focus on working around the politics of this world. I appreciate the story for focusing on its strengths, but it also feels very lazy that it keeps ignoring these issues that do affect those same political talks.

Now, because politics and agriculture are the main focus of the narrative, this is a very wordy manga. Unfortunately, wordy manga like this don't have the best presentations and Death Flags isn't exactly breaking the mold in that regard. The character designs are very generic, there aren't really a lot of different stylistic changes or comedic flourishes simplifying the design of the more comedic characters. The only visual note that stood out to me was when the story wants to portray that dichotomy between what Kazuki wants to say and what Harold actually ends up saying with the former being white and the latter being black. That helps him stand out compared to everybody else. But aside from that, it's not a very visually interesting story even if the sharp writing is the main strength.

This is a tricky one to recommend because I feel like it is catering to a specific type of isekai fan. It's not exactly doing anything different than what other isekais have done before, but it's trying to hyper focus on one particular aspect of those types of stories. I think that the story of a man trying his best to work around very specific politics and events in order to make sure that he doesn't meet an untimely end is a solid one. But it feels like so much effort was put into that element of the story that everything else kind of falls to the wayside a little bit, including our main character who has nothing to him outside of his plans. It's like when someone prepares you a nice meal that you've had before. This time, though the base of the meal tastes a little bit better than what you remember, the sides and the drink feel a bit lackluster compared to what you've had before. Ultimately, it feels like a very lopsided type of story that I can see myself reading more of for the sake of seeing what other twists and turns are introduced, but ultimately, I also feel like I am not missing anything major by stopping after volume two.