The Underworld Delivery Service

As part of our deep dive into online suppliers of Japanese goods, we're spending some time digging through DLsite, home of all things doujin. Now, while there are 18+ titles available, I'm going to concentrate on the all ages, English language goodies you can find.

I picked up the first copy of The Underworld Delivery Service because the art style was cute and the story looked fun. There are 6 short volumes available for just over 50p each, which I think is absolutely fair for 11 pages of colour and black white illustrated story. 

Demon girl Ranse has her own business sealing and storing rogue demons that have been defeated by warriors in other worlds. Returning home with one such package, she's attacked out of nowhere by a member of the Underworld Police unit "Strafe" - turns out the demon she's contracted to seal is a first-class criminal that needs to be taken into custody, but Ranse isn't about to lose business just because the law says so.

The colour pages are nicely done, featuring a cel-animation style that's simple but attractive

The story flows well and while the translation has some minor grammatical issues ("payed" should read "paid") it's actually not bad for fan work, and it gives me hope that the rest of the translations by the Translators Unite group will be at least as good as this. Some of the dialogue is a bit blunt and could have used a little flair, but all the meanings are clear and the jokes survive intact. 

Volume 2 provides an improved translation and introduces a new character via a misadventure in the human world, the demon-child Mao-chan. While there's only one story in this issue, there's a lot more pin-up pages of Ranse, which I appreciated as I do enjoy girls with bat wings!

The art is simple but very cute, with expressive faces and consistent body proportions, it feels like a pro effort. The humour and wider world would slip nicely into something like Disgaea, so if cute little devils chasing money are your thing, you'll likely enjoy Ranse's charming adventures.

The Underworld Delivery Service is available from DLsite and you can pay easily via their official partner DLpay

If you like the artist's work, you can visit their official website here: Hizaki Tomoko