Former receptionist and already considered a has-been at 32, Rick Gladiatol took up adventuring too late to become an A-rank. Despite his low mana, the training his teammates gave him has turned Rick into a heavy-hitter. Attempting to move up to E-Rank during the trials, Rick finds himself repeatedly targeted by the noble Diarmuit family. His self-esteem is already low, but Rick might also be up against an unstoppable force this time in this power fantasy manga.

The Ossan Newbie Adventurer, Trained to Death by the Most Powerful Party, Became Invincible has a story by Kiraku Kishima and art by Ken Ogino. English translation is done by Jameson Taber. Published by One Peace Books (September 23, 2025).

Erica Friedman
Rating:

We meet Rick Gladiatol in the middle of his story. Already 32, he missed his chance to develop mana at a young age, and will never truly be a top-ranked adventurer…or so he thinks. But we can see that Rick is so far overpowered beyond everyone around him that he is a little boring, honestly. Rick's punch bend steels, he breaks things impossible to break, dodges unseeably fast attacks, so his “aww shucks, I'm not that good” feels more like a weird delusion than a sympathetic self-image.

As an 'ossan, I was hoping that Rick would be a 50-something derp of a guy, but this ripped hero in the prime of his life, trained by an overpowered team, is a little hard to feel bad for. Until the Diarmuits repeatedly attempt to insult him in ritual combat. Then we can at least side with him because bullies suck.

And, in that, we can see who this book is really for — a 30-something office worker looking for a power fantasy in which he's the nice, absurdly overpowered yet humble nice guy he already is, he thinks, as he flexes in the gym mirror, and fantasizes about saving a pretty girl from an abusive drunk on the train home.

And to be honest, this volume succeeds in doing this exact idea very well. Rick is humble to the point of being a bit of a dolt, while his buxom elven teammate Reanette is supportive. Having been through training that he considers “hell,” Rick isn't able to extrapolate that his experience is unusual and his abilities are high-level. Instead, he is subject to the kind of derision from the upper class and upper ranks that an “average good guy” has to endure. As a power fantasy for someone whose fantasy is raw power, defeating expectations, while staying a regular guy, it'll satisfy someone out there for sure.

Kevin Cormack
Rating:

I'll admit I missed last year's anime adaptation of this fun manga, though I heard good things about it from my friends who watched it. Therefore, I came to this with minimal familiarity with the concept. There have been a few fantasies over the past few years with older-than-average protagonists, and that's quite refreshing. I'm thinking of Banished from the Hero's Party, Uncle From Another World, and even Kaiju No. 8. Perhaps I mainly appreciate them because of my closeness in age to the protagonists…

In this case, our hero with the deeply improbable name “Rick Gladiator” (though oddly transliterated as “Gladiatol” here), is essentially Medieval One-Punch Man. After fourteen years working as a Guild Receptionist, at the age of thirty, he embarks on a brutally punishing two-year training regime that causes him to max out all of his physical stats and become almost god-like in strength. Not that he realizes this, due to his planet-sized inferiority complex.

The story follows Rick as, despite his deep-seated anxieties, he breezes through his E-rank adventurer exam despite mockery from those who underestimate his truly broken abilities. It's one of those wish-fulfillment fantasies where comically conceited nobles and upper-class adventurers get taken down a peg or ten by a plucky underdog. It's a story that can only exist in an already overpopulated genre, with tropes so heavily codified they may as well be set in stone. At least it's quite amusing, though Rick's fight against obnoxious sword-fighter Angelica tends to focus almost entirely on dynamic upskirt shots of her underwear, which is extremely distracting.

Side character Reannette, the dark elf, is interesting, though we don't get to know that much about her. Her involvement in his training seems to be one of the reasons Rick's now so hilariously overpowered, along with the rest of her party, who seem to have pushed him to the limits of human endurance.

Art-wise, it's decent, with the antagonists suitably hateful with their shit-eating grins, and some very pretty girls to even things out. The linework is clean and uncluttered, with some real feeling of weight behind certain action scenes. It's pretty fun, if slightly derivative of other similar tales. I'm unsure if I'll seek out any more of the manga, though I'm tempted to give the anime a try at some point.