Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody

Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody (デスマーチからはじまる異世界狂想曲, Desu Māchi Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyōsōkyoku) is a Japanese light novel series written by Hiro Ainana. The first volume was published in March 2014.

A manga adaptation by Ayamegumu ran in Age Premium until the magazine ceased publication, and was then transferred to Monthly Dragon Age. Both the light novels and the manga adaptation have been licensed for publication in North America by Yen Press. An anime television series adaptation by Silver Link and Connect aired from January 11 to March 29, 2018.

Plot
Ichiro Suzuki is a 29-year old gaming programmer who was tasked with fixing several bugs in two MMORPGs his company is preparing for publication. However, he becomes extremely worn out as he is working during the weekend. After taking a nap, he mysteriously wakes up in another fantasy RPG world as a 15-year old named Satou Pendragon, a nickname he uses while running beta tests, and with what looks like the menu screen of the game he was working on appearing before his inner eye.

However, before he could grasp his current situation, an army of lizardmen ambush him and launches an all-out attack on him. In desperation, he uses all three of his special 'Meteor Rain' attack options at once and wipes them all out. As a result, his level jumps from 1 to 310, maximizing his stats immensely. With no way to return to reality, and as a high-leveled adventurer armed with a myriad of different physical, cognitive and magical abilities and weapons, he sets out to uncover the secrets of this new world, earning the trust and affection of many people in the process.

Web Novels
Hiro Ainana first published Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody as a web novel on the user-generated content site Shōsetsuka ni Narō in 2013.

Light Novels
Hiro Ainana republishing it as a light novel with illustrations by shri. The first volume was released by Fujimi Shobo in March 2014. Thirteen volumes have been released to date.

North American publisher Yen Press announced its license to the novels on May 20, 2016.

Manga
Ayamegumu began serializing a manga adaptation in Fujimi Shobo's Age Premium magazine in December 2014 Age Premium ceased publication with its 49th issue on July 9, 2016, and the manga was one of five titles that were transferred to Monthly Dragon Age.The manga has been licensed by Yen Press.

Akira Segami launched a prequel manga, titled Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody Ex: Princess Arisa's Otherworldly Struggle (デスマーチからはじまる異世界狂想曲 Ex アリサ王女の異世界奮闘記 Death March Kara Hajimaru Isekai Kyōsōkyoku EX: Arisa Ōjo no Isekai Funtōki), adapted from the short story by the same name in Death March to the Parallel World Rhapsody: Ex, in Fujimi Shobo's shōnen manga magazine Monthly Dragon Age on February 9, 2018. The manga ended on July 9, 2018.

Anime
An anime adaptation was announced via a wraparound band on the fourth volume of the manga on December 10, 2016. The television series is directed by Shin Ōnuma at Silver Link and Connect with scripts written by Kento Shimoyama, while Shoko Takimoto designed the characters. MONACA composed the music at DIVE II Entertainment. The series aired from January 11 to March 29, 2018 on AT-X, with further broadcasts on Tokyo MX and BS11. It ran for 12 episodes and covers the first 3 volumes of the light novel. The opening theme is "suraidoraido" (スライドライド Slide Ride) by Run Girls, Run! while the ending theme is "Suki no sukiru" (スキノスキル) by Wake Up, Girls!. Crunchyroll streamed the series, while Funimation is streaming the simuldub.