Ray White is enrolled into the Arnold Academy for sorcerers; however, he is the first "ordinary" at the school with aristocratic supremacy. Ray meets a couple friends all with different personalities/backgrounds and they group up for training in the Kafka Forest.
There is a rumor going around that a sorcerer named Iceblade will be attending the academy but no one knows who it is. Ray says he is from the countryside and no one suspects he is Iceblade, especially since during class he could barely use sorcery. You might wonder what Ray is doing at the academy, how did he get into the academy if he can barely use sorcery, and who might he become friends with but you'll have to read it to find out.

I love how Evi introduced himself as Ray's soul buddy. If you liked The Strongest Sage with the Weakest Crest or Misfit of Demon King Academy, you would probably like this one as well. We get action, mystery, humor, and what looks like a harem forming for our mc. The mc is hiding the fact he is strong, but it feels like there is more to it.

This is a pretty typical shounen story. The plot didn't have any surprises at all.
I appreciate that there is an equal ratio in the main characters between the girls and boys, and it's not just one token girl.

I enjoy stories where the main character has a mysterious background that'll eventually get revealed. I think it'll take awhile to get there though.

If you enjoy shounen, then give it a try.
3.5

I received an eARC of this title through NetGalley in return for an honest review.

This was a surprisingly uplifting shonen. This follows a kid named Ray who gets into this magical academy of sorcerers. On the outside, he appears to not have much of a gift, however that is a front to throw people off from his mission at the school. He is actually a highly powerful sorcerer who is having trouble controlling his gift, but his physical fighting skills are beyond the rest of the students. On the first day, he meets Amelia and makes a powerful friend with her. Soon after, he finds two other "misfits" to join his side as friends.

I say this was surprisingly uplifting because the characters all openly compliment each other without a second thought. In one scene, there is a girl who hides her elf ears and blue hair because she was made fun of all her life, however, the 3 other main characters see her and immediately tell her how cute and gorgeous she is. Part of that seems to be from Ray who has only been taught by his master how to interact with people, but it honestly makes an extremely uplifting way to show friendship in a manga. It is not even meant in a creepy way and comes off as heartfelt compliments.

The story itself seems interesting. It reminds me of the WebToon "Unordinary" but less dark and more fun loving. The magic in the world is interesting as it all about encoding and decoding magic to your will rather than pulling it from your energy as is a more standard approach.

I think this is a fun start to an interesting manga concept. I would be excited to read the second volume to see what happens next!

ARC Copy...hmmm promising so far but too early to see hmm. Story narrative style so far feels like light novels (makes me wonder if it was a light novel series in past life) and the magic system so far is interesting.

I should fess up immediately by mentioning that comics aren’t hugely my thing. I like them, but I have no urge to go out and learn more about them and find out lots of new comics. Indeed, I’d have never found this without Netgalley (so thanks to them).

This goes double for manga. I do know a bit about it, but mainly from parodies. Yeah, those parodies if you know what I mean, nudge nudge wink wink say no more.

Imagine therefore how I felt on opening this manga up and discovering the dialogue felt so wooden and over the top to be a parody in its own right. And the set up! A quirky mysterious outsider with a great destiny at the big magic school? Makes friends with a loud opinionated girl? I’m currently formulating a theory that the tendency to go “urgh this is so stereotypical” is perhaps more pronounced among fans who entered a fandom fairly late. Not sure it holds up, but there might be something there.

But hey, it was there in front of me, so I kept reading.

Then the magic happened.

There is something gripping about The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule The World. There is, not consistently but often enough, something immediate and visceral about its action scenes and art. There is a bite about the mystery that makes me want to know more.

In short, The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule The World is a fine story and I would like to see more of this manga. I doubt the story beyond this issue does anything earthbreaking or life-changing, but I’m going to guess it stays entertaining.

And that’s all I want really.

Okay just hear me out, this manga gives me Re Zero and Trapped in a Dating Sim vibes, which to me means that I really enjoyed this manga, and I will definitely continue with reading this manga series. I kind of really want an anime made from this manga!

This book was a lot of fun. Though it leans into cliches at times, the plot is engaging and the main characters are really likable. There are hints about the unique worldbuilding though the story doesn’t go into details as much as I’d like. Perhaps we’ll get more in volume 2. I really appreciate how the main character’s friends clearly don’t fall for his fake backstory, showing they’re not way smarter than he gives them credit for. I also really liked the sweet way their friendship develops. I'd definitely be interested in the next volume.

I am always a little hesitant with manga with male leads because they tend to skew a bit towards immature humor, but this one avoided that nicely.
I like the ensemble so far and look forward to learning more about each of them, especially Ray.

I thought this was an interesting premise. I enjoyed the art style. However the storyline didn’t peak my interest very much.

I gotta say lads, the art in this is super stunning but plot, character development and premise is a big yawn for me. Thanks anyways Netgalley and publisher for sharing Volume 1!

Thank you to NetGalley and Kodansha for this eARC. All thoughts are my own.

Ray is the first commoner to join the Arnold Academy of Sorcery. Full of nobles who think they are superiors, they disrespect and bully him, but thankfully he meets comrades who look past his background: Amelia, from one of the most noble families, Evi, a muscle head, and Elisa, a half elf. The four join together for the first academy assignment, and Ray can't be more excited. He finally has friends and can experience his teenager life because Ray has never had it before... in fact he has a secret—he's the Iceblade Sorcerer who fought in the war. Can Ray keep the secret and at the same time enjoy his school life? I can't wait to find out.

The Iceblade Sorcerer Shall Rule the World is a solid fantasy series, but doesn't offer anything new, really. Our main character is slightly simple Ray White, who begins his scholarly path in a magic academy. The boy's powers seem weak, but in reality it seems he can absorb more power from some weird creature inside him. At the same time he is some kind of a spy for the school, but needs to pretend to be a normal student. He makes friends and whatnot. This reminded me of Blue Exorcist and the series seems to have all the cliches packed in this one volume. We don't really get to know the characters enough to care, so I hope Sasaki actually puts effort into them having an actual persona soon. The beginning should've been slower to set the story better and also introduce us the characters.

The art looks OK, I'm not a fan of adding humor art into it, but it still works. The movement is well depicted and all too. I just wish series like this would offer something different instead of offering the same. It may work for those that are fans of the style, but to us rest this doesn't offer that much. Sadly so. Your basic adventure pretty much.

I would say this manga follows a typical storyline where the MC is not from a rich family and he enters the school of magic and he makes enemies and makes some friends too who follow his journey and there is character development as well which I enjoyed!

Well this manga has a typical shonen trope. It was so so. I enjoy every characters here, especially Evi and his dumb brain. The only thing I dislike about this manga is the bonus chapter . It will be so much better if the bonus chapter drawn in comic format

4.5 rounded up

This story follows our MC Ray White as he enters the Arnold Academy of Magic as an ordinary person, not from a prestigious family of artistocrats like the rest of the academy. He quickly makes enemies as well as a few selected friends, though they don't know about his mysterious past and identity.

This was VERY enjoyable - the characters were all incredibly likeable and unique to one another (though I will say some of the characters gave me Mushoku Tensei vibes in terms of design!). The fight scenes were actually easy to understand and very well drawn in a way a lot of shounen sometimes doesn't feel as clear. There was action, there was friendship, there was cuteness and there was the start of a plot I think I can really get into. Overall, I will be reading the next volume and hope it continues on the high note it started on.

<i>I received a complimentary copy of this volume by Kodansha via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, which I leave voluntarily.</i>

This was such a great read! I love the mystery behind Ray who is clearly is a very powerful sorcerer and also the most optimistic and fun loving personality. Evi and his obsession with muscles just made me laugh, Elisa is just adorable and I truly love Amelia's views on the world and the drive she has to prove her self worth. A well rounded group of friends taking on the magical world, a must read

It’s ok. The artwork is a little too chaotic for my taste. I like Ray but find Amelia annoying. The other 2 main characters have the promise of becoming engaging members of the story, but they will probably evolve more in future installments. I found the story line confusing. It starts out on a battlefield covered in bodies and then jumps to a prep school. I think I get what the author is trying to do but seems to be taking the long way around to get there. I doubt I will read the rest.

This was great fun to read. I love stories about the 'underdog' who isn't really an underdog. In fact the person has special skills which need to remain hidden. This book has this trope in spades and it is highly enjoyable.

Ray White is quite ordinary and yet he has been sent to a school which is for privileged children from noble families of power. These young people have magical power and they have come to learn how to enhance their power. Ray isn’t really one of them. On the outside Ray does not fit in, but on the inside he is an incredibly powerful being and sorcerer.

Ray finds he has to cope with his own power and navigate school life, make friends and find out who the dangerous spy is, and he had to do all of this without blowing his cover. This manga has echoes of Harry Potter, Daily Life of the Immortal King, and My Hero Academia. It was also just so much fun to read, with jokes, snappy comebacks and great characters.

If you like Manga then this is a really good one with more to look forward to in subsequent volumes. Definitely one to watch. I fell in love with the characters and I definitely want to read more.

Copy provided by Kodansha Comics via Netgalley in exchange for an unbiased review.

This was such a fun manga. Action! Magic schools! Battles with beasties using not so typical magical means! A team established in the first volume! Really if you are looking for something light and exciting, I can recommend this. The hint of twisty twisty more to come, something extra in the main character, and the more laid back slightly humorous tone were all worth recommending as well. Art-wise, it's not my absolute favorite style, but the dynamic poses in all the action scenes were certainly interesting. I would be interested in reading more of this series to see how I enjoy it. I really liked the included text chapter at the end. I felt that the text really fleshed out the characters more for me.

Really promising so far, I really love the art style; it’s so beautifully drawn !!! And I love the characters, esp Evi, and I’m very excited to see where their story goes and to meet more of them !!!