dark fantasy

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Lenni Reviews: “Dra-Q” Vol. 1, by Chiyo

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers due to gore.

Amelie Kurosaki is a high school girl hiding the fact that she is a vampire who must follow strict rules in order to continue living among humans. When attacks on humans seem vampiric, it puts Amelie’s secret at risk.

This volume doesn’t waste any time getting started. Main character, love interest, family drama, and rival love interest all plunked down in under 200 pages. It’s gory and has some dark humor, but the pace doesn’t let you sit with what’s happening for very long. You know the rules Amelie is given are presented to be inevitably broken, but I didn’t think all of them would be broken in the first volume. The plot is fun, the blood and gore are top-notch, but I almost felt dizzy by the end of it. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Magical Girl Dandelion” Vol. 1, by Kaeru Mizuho

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Tanpopo Ohaniami is offered the chance to be a magical girl and fight the Fiends that plague humanity. But the Fiend that has been her companion her entire life, Shade, doesn’t want her to get involved in this dangerous conflict.

This is gorier than I’d expected. Fiends eat people, and it actually threw me off for a second to go from the cute stuff to a severed head and body horror. Now, I love me a twist on the magical girl genre, and this is a compelling start. We have our plucky main character, hard-ass magical girl veteran, a supernatural sidekick, and hints of something bigger at play. Everything I like in an opening volume. The art fits both the cutesy stuff and the horrific, with some impressive creature designs. Just be aware that while this isn’t Magical Girl Apocalypse (at least not yet), it’s no Card Captor Sakura. It gets dark. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Centuria” Vol. 1, by Tōru Kuramori

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers due to violence and mild nudity.

All Julian has ever known is the brutal life of a slave. When he attempts to escape, he stows away on a slave ship in cursed waters. Julian encounters kindness and horror, resulting in his body being infused with the power of a hundred lives by a goddess and a newborn baby in his care.

It’s been a while since I dug into some high fantasy that’s not romance or slice of life. That being said, this is a pretty interesting yet standard-ish start to a dark fantasy. We’ve set up the small core cast and established some rules of this world and I would love to read more and get to know these characters more. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Mujina into the Deep” Vol. 3, by Inio Asano

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is suggested for mature readers.

Mai and Tenko face off, and we learn more about Ubeme. Juno is thinking of becoming a Mujina to escape the 9-5.

It’s sad that people care so little that it takes three months for a Mujina to be located after being killed. Yes, I get that they’re no longer legally people, but sheesh… It looks like there’s a big plot point here that has to deal with Ubeme’s past, as she was trafficked as a minor by a prostitution ring that was broken a long time ago, yet still being investigated. On top of that, it’s implied she’s losing her edge because she’s too attached to other people. That’s a pretty standard trope, but if it means that it wouldn’t take three months to find out if something happened to her, then go for it. She’s an awesome fighter, and seeing her in action is amazing. It’s a shame there wasn’t more of that from her in this volume. 3 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Dark Gathering” Vol. 16, by Kenichi Kondō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Yayoi’s plan (Operation Bellflower Regicide) reaches its final stage. Now, the graduates must to their part to weaken and destroy the god to save Ai.

Even though this volume stops to expound or flashback a lot, this battle does not disappoint. I actually started to feel bad for some of the spirits that didn’t make it. We’ve spent so much time with them at this point that it was a shame that some necessary sacrifices were inevitable in the fight. It’s amazing to see everything Yayoi has experienced and fought for coming together in a fantastically illustrated battle. This was so satisfying, even though it’s clearly not over. 4.5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “I’m the Grim Reaper” Vol. 3, by Graveweaver

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

As a result of interrupting an attempted robbery, Scarlet is revealed to be a reaper in order to save Chase’s life. They cut a deal, but Satan – as he says – always gets what he wants.

This volume dives heavily into the morals of what makes a sinner worthy of reaping, which kinda shows why Chase is marked. Even with his backstory, he’s a bit too keen on knocking people off. No wonder his ass got fired. This brought to mind The Good Place and what standards send souls where they need to go. Yeah, Scarlet has to kill at least one sinner to save herself from being sent to hell, but Chase’s “we’re gonna cleanse the world of evil” spiel is dangerous. They still make a great team and the battles are well done. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Tokyo Fears Rhapsody” Vol. 2, by Akira Sugito

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Hachiro is as enamored with the human world as ever and is trying to make a human friend.

Okay, it was way more entertaining for me to see Hachiro and Kosuke showing a bunch of elderly tourists around than is probably should have been. Even though this can get dark with bloody fights and such but the calm and funny moments are so endearing. I guess I have a weakness for lovable goodballs like Hachiro. While there is absolutely a bigger threat – not like in Villain’s Day Off where the invasion doesn’t seem to be taken very seriously – the parts with Hachiro are so much fun! Overall, it’s well balanced and I can’t wait to read more. 5 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “The Tree of Death: Yomotsuhegui” Vol. 1, by Masasumi Kakizaki

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review and is for mature readers. Trigger warnings for SA and suicide.

Former police officer Nawa Kanetsugu is determined to avenge the deaths of his wife and daughter; a quest that’s landed him in prison. Upon release, he’s still on his mission and encounters a strange girl named Ren, a death god, who feeds him the fruit of the Yomotsuhegui. This turns him into an immortal and Ren tasks him with helping her hunt down other dangerous immortals.

This is a strong series opener; the sides/conflicts are established, the threat is made known, and we get a disgusting antagonist Sakase. It’s very adult with violence and gore aplenty, but it doesn’t feel gratuitous. It suits the dark story. There is little levity, and we aren’t sure Nawa is even on the “right” side of all the tragedy surrounding the fruit. The art here is perfect for this story with some fantastic body horror; viscerally detailed when the bloodier and monstrous elements are shown. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Dark Gathering” Vol. 14, by Kenichi Kondō

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

With all the sites claimed, Yayoi, Keitaro, and Eiko prepare for a showdown with Yin Jiao. Their plan is in place, but this vicious god has incredible strength.

Yeah, this turned out to be as intense as I thought it would be. The art for the spirits is still 10 out of 10 terrifying and interesting to look at when you get into the details of their designs. The fights are awesome! We’ve been building up to this for so many volumes, and so far, I feel it’s paying off. Yayoi is so fucking clever and Yin Jiao lives up to all the hype behind him. I don’t even wanna say much other than just go read this. It’s horror gold. 4 out of 5.

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Lenni Reviews: “Kagurabachi” Vol. 3, by Takeru Hokazono

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*This book was given to me in exchange for an honest review.

Chihiro is after the enchanted blade, Shinuchi, which is up for auction at The Rakuzaichi, a black market held by powerful underworld figures: The Sazanami Clan.

I wish this volume was longer because Chihiro is so damn interesting. I love seeing what he comes up with to solve his problems. No spoilers but the more he does with his powers, the more I want to see him explore and use them in battle. It’s so creative and I can’t wait to see what happens next. There’s a bit of levity but Chichiro is very much about his business and the forces he’s facing are nothing to understimate. 4 out of 5.

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