Owari no Seraph: Ichinose Guren, 16-sai no Catastrophe
Seraph of the End: Guren Ichinose - Catastrophe at Sixteen

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This is technically a prequel to the Seraph of the End manga/anime. The story follows Guren and the trials and tribulations he must endure due to the Hiragi clan and how he seeks to overcome them.


The story really humanises Guren a lot more than what you see in the manga - where he barely shows any emotion - and overall made him not only more relatable, but a much better and in-depth character than Yu. You also get much more acquainted with his team that he slowly starts to form over the seven chapters and their various outlooks on the current situation they find ... themselves in.

The writing at times is painfully repetitive though so make sure you're wearing your fast reading glasses for skipping over essentially what is padding to make the books longer.

Keep in mind that I have given these novels a 10/10 because I am extremely biased (ONS is my main interest), so if I were your average reader, I would give these novels an 8/10.

Catastrophe at Sixteen is a prequel to the main story and shows Guren’s life in his freshman year of high school right before the catastrophe that ended the world (with flashbacks to his childhood). You watch him as he makes friends (who we know as the Guren squad), experiences love, heartbreak, grief, and the start of the loss of his humanity. These books give a lot of background to his friends, ... especially Mahiru and Shinya.

Kagami started his career in writing novels, and it really shows here. Although I love the Owari no Seraph manga, the way he writes his novels makes everything more emotional and personal. Guren and his friends feel way more relatable. There’s a good amount of scenes where they feel like real teenagers. Perhaps I’m biased, so take this with a grain of salt, but the Guren squad is much more enjoyable than the Shinoa squad - for one, they actually started as friends and weren’t just forced into a military squad; two, the Shinoa squad hasn’t had enough screen time (page time? IDK) to fully develop. I think anyone would enjoy watching the way Guren & Co. interact. If you’re a fan of Mika, Yuu, Shinoa, Ferid, or Saito, don’t worry, they appear in some chapters too.

If you read the Owari no Seraph manga and have questions, you should really read the novels. They don’t answer everything obviously, but they answer a lot and offer plenty of evidence for new theories. Even if you don’t enjoy Guren’s character, there’s a good chance you might still like it - these books made Shinya one of my favorite characters in the whole series. General warning that there are some scenes that talk of topics that can be upsetting to people, such as mentioned r//pe, child ab//se, and Mahiru Hiiragi being Mahiru Hiiragi (lmao). That said, I didn’t find it to be too graphic, but just in case you needed a warning.

This is a rock solid prequel to the Seraph of the End manga, in many ways it's better than the series it's a prequel to. It does a great job at developing the characters of Guren and his friends, as well as developing the world before it ended. I find myself really impressed by how this series has managed to keep me interested throughout despite me knowing the ending, I have read this series through twice and it was just as great both times. Using the medium of a novel instead of a manga, it does a great job at letting you know what the ... main characters, Guren especially, are thinking and this adds so much to their characters. If you are reading the manga this is a prequel to, I cannot recommend that you read this enough provided you haven't read it already. It's technically not essential to read this to understand the manga, but you will be missing out if you skip this and only read the manga. Also why haven't Mikaela's light novels been localized in English? Vertical please I'm begging you, I'll give you my money so just do it please!