Hakaishin Magu-chan
Magu-chan: God of Destruction

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An ending can redefines a story, whether better or worse.

Some great series have been ruined by their bad ending, some series have been saved by their good endings and this manga's ending has elevated it to further beyond. This series has saved me from the hell of bad endings in this industry that came out recently. So many series have bad endings that made me lose faith in the ending writing skill of the authors. The ending of this series should be in the textbook of "How to write a proper ending".

While the art style is unpleasant for many people, it is more than enough ... to convey the story to the readers, which is about a girl found an destruction god and begin their journey together everyday. This manga is chill with a slice of life story, which is enhanced by its great comedies and jokes. The jokes in this manga focuses on the interactions between multiple gods and their respective humans who are in charge of taking care of them (one god stays with one human). Throughout the story, we will see that the gods, who are supposed to be higher beings, befriend and live a (not so) peaceful life with the humans and learn from them days by days.

I have read this manga ever since it comes out on Jump, every week and it keeps me laughing with every chapter. This could be a 8 for me, I thought it would be a comedy series with a light-hearted ending. However, like many other people, I was blown away by its ending. It doesn't follow some ordinary route, it goes further than that and elevates this series so much that could leave a mark in the hearts of the readers. I won't spoil how it goes but the ending is just phenomenal, so emotional that can touch people's hearts and redefines this series in an excellent way.

As of this review, this shounen jump manga has ended. It wasn't the most outstanding, but I looked forward to the new chapter every week. It's super chill, had some bits where I would laugh, and overall a wholesome read to wind down from all the action packed series in shounen jump.

Although it seemed like the series could've continued a bit more, it was probably axed. HOWEVER, usually when series are axed, the ending is abrupt and hardly makes sense. I have to say, following this series since its first chapter, the ending was perfect and had a tearful goodbye.

I really hope this manga ... won't be the last from this author. I'll be looking out for more of their works in the future now!

Short version
- Overall (5/10):
‘Magu-chan: God of Destruction’ is a wholesome comedy slice of life, which remained behind it’s expectations. The author clearly missed adding some kind of goal or a redline to bring out the full potential of his/her great characters. 60-70% of the manga are boring/generic one-chapters, but the monster designs and the bigger, wholesome arcs definitely helps to enjoy it until the end.

Long version
- Story (3/10):
To start with the worst part, let us begin with the story. Our protagonist, Ruru, finds a supernatural being similar to an octopus, Magu-chan, at the shore of the little island where she lives. From this moment ... on our two characters (and later more) explore the daily life of a demonic creature learning about humans and their creations. And to be honest, that’s all. Of course, from chapter to chapter their little microcosmos is expanding, by adding new characters (humans and supernatural lifeforms) and situations, but after a while you get the feeling it’s heading nowhere.
Yes, you get some great arc’s, really feel-good ones, partly sad ones or funny action ones. But without a clear goal all these just happen to introduce maybe 1-2 characters to the plot, which later get their own (not so) funny one-chapters. And these comedy mainstream slice of life chapters are 60-70% of the whole manga. Most of them are not or just barely funny (of course, there are exceptions) which you probably will totally forget in a couple of weeks.
The mangaka definitely knows how to introduce characters, build up a story and create dramatic arcs, but this manga has just too little of them. So if 60% of the story is meaningless cliche one-chapters then it’s hard to enjoy and you will get bored.

- Art (6/10):
On the other hand, the character designs, looking at the cute demon gods, were outstanding! Generally the art was mostly sloppy, yes, but every time a new character got introduced it was refreshing. It was like experiencing a new Pokémon game and every time you encounter a new mon, you get excited. But as I said, everything else was most likely average. The designs of the humans, paneling, shading and background were all good, nothing disturbing or extraordinary. The lining is slacky which sometimes dims the dramatic, wholesome and/or serious moments, but works good at the funny parts. While the action scenes were not so well choreographed either.

- Characters (7/10):
In my opinion the most important part of a good slice of life is the good chemistry of the characters. And to be honest, this worked out amazing! It was the main reason why I enjoyed following this manga until the end, even with the boring story parts. Every character has its own gimmick and bond with another. For example, we have the stupid hero and his non-human trickster master. We have a money/gambling loving seastar (Neputaaku the best!) and his rivalisation with Magu-chan, or the main part: our protagonist Ruru who sometimes scolds and sometimes is grateful for what Magu-chan did.

- Enjoyment (6/10):
Altogether, to fully enjoy this manga it definitely needed a better written story or comedy. However, the strong characters and the bigger arcs (2-3 chapters) save a lot. Everytime a new character appears it boosts the fun for a short time. While the longer arcs always lead to well written wholesome moments, but just too few of them. There were also a couple of really funny one-chapters, but again, 5 out of almost 80 chapters, is just poor. However, at least for these highlights it is worth a try.