Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road

Average student Mitsuki Mutou suddenly finds himself transported to another realm. Summoned by the king of this world for the remarkable power he is supposed to possess, Mitsuki is thrown out when it appears that he lacks a Special Concept. Moping about, he encounters a priestess named Menou who explains that Japanese people like him are known as Lost Ones, and such individuals never fail to have Special Concepts.

Menou elaborates that she is part of a church that helps abandoned Lost Ones integrate into society. She invites him to spend the night at her church, where the two can probe the nature of his ability. Eventually, they discover that Mitsuki's Special Concept is actually incredibly powerful and dangerous.

But is Menou's true goal to assist Lost Ones—or the opposite?

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

Menou Main

Saeki, Iori Japanese

Tokitou, Akari Main

Kahara, Moe Japanese

Momo Supporting

Kanemoto, Hisako Japanese

Ashuna Supporting

Ichimichi, Mao Japanese

Pandemonium Supporting

Haruno, Anzu Japanese

Mitsuki Supporting

Uchida, Yuuma Japanese

Flare Supporting

Kaida, Yuuko Japanese

Manon Supporting

Iwami, Manaka Japanese

Manon's Mother Supporting

Satou, Satomi Japanese

Sicilia Supporting

Watanabe, Akeno Japanese

Suzuki, Kaoru Producer

Kawasaki, Yoshiki Director, Episode Director, Storyboard

Aketagawa, Jin Sound Director

Saitou, Keiichirou Episode Director, Storyboard, Key Animation, Background Art

Reviews

Aug 17, 2024

Neremeno

Recommended

Virgin Road is a guilty pleasure. ;) See it like a B-movie: everything is over-the-top and flashy, with exagerated characters and mustache-twirling villlains, but it's obvious that it's aware of itself. But in addition to that, the author took great pains to provide in-story explanations for everything, even the apparently stupid tropes. Although you'll have to switch to the light novel to have the overall view of the story, the anime adaptation makes for a very fun, self-contained introduction. It faithfully follows the first two volumes of the novel.


The world

Power-seeking mages use the forbidden art of otherworld summoning to call upon very dangerous beings: Japanese ... people (also called Lost Ones). But there's a catch: during their summon, those Lost Ones get imbued with rare powers, but they tend to go crazy (whole regions of this world were destroyed by them). So the Faust (some sort of Church) founded a order of executioners to track and kill those Lost Ones.

Due to the presence of those modern-era Japanese people, some technological knowledge leaked into this world, turning it into a steampunk setting with a fun technomagic. If you can, pay attention to the text that quickly scrolls off-screen during spell casting!


The characters

The author loves having characters that lie, to others and sometimes to themselves. Sometimes it's obvious from the start, sometimes not, but it makes rewatching the series quite fun. Also, some characters from the main cast are villains, or at least unsavory individuals.

Menou (the Executioner) doesn't really have a defined personality and seems a bit bland? It makes her the only level-headed person in a crazy world, but it's also explained by something that happened in her childhood and has real, even crucial, consequences in the story.

Akari (the Lost One) looks like a walking trope? She's stupid, has no survival instinct and keeps claiming to love Menou for no reason. By the end of the first arc, it's obvious that it's an act (at least part of it), and strong reasons progressively come to light.

Momo (Menou's assistant) is "annoyingly girly" and "cutely jealous"? It's quickly obvious that she's not just a tsundere, but a full-on psychopath… and a frighteningly competent one at that (only her need to please Menou keeps her under control… most of the time).

And so on.


The story

It feels like a long tabletop RPG campaign, with arcs that focus on a given place, a villain and a plot, with some continuity linking them. It's never complicated but it's a healthy blend of mystery, big combat scenes with cackling villains, and small breathers to develop the characters.

While it's technically an isekai, it's really not what the story focuses on (although Menou's recurring dream is probably a clue that it might change in the future). It's all about Menou investigating and dodging nefarious plots from the Faust (the Church) and the Noblesse (the nobility), or investigating dark secrets from the past, while getting headaches from the other characters' shenanigans.

The overall feel is more on the fun side, but sometimes the violence level jumps noticeably, especially in the second arc.


The ending (or is it?)

By the end of episode 12, the second arc is concluded but the overall plot is only starting (the original light novel is still being published), making it a satisfactory ending, if a bit open.

Since there's no second season on the horizon, my advice: go read the novel! The English translation is closely tracked by Yen Press. The story keeps getting both darker and funnier, and the author is very good at always keeping things in motion, never repeating the same tropes, coming up with new deranged behaviors for the characters, and so on. And the main cast is surprisingly interesting.


Is it yuri?

Within the scope of the 12 episodes, in spite of the all-female cast, no.

Akari and Momo keep saying that they're in love with Menou, but there's no romance. Menou never shows any sign of reciprocating (remember that her defining trait is… not to have a defined personality of her own). She cares for Momo and is grateful for her service, but nothing else. She's troubled by Akari, due to unclear dreams that may or may not be memories, but she mostly sticks to the persona she fabricated to befriend her, and protects her so that her power doesn't fall into the wrong hands.

Reviewer’s Rating: 8

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May 24, 2024

Far_Together

Mixed Feelings

A different take from the flood of isekai that has saturated the anime market, The Executioner and Her Way of Life gives us something of a view from the other side of things.
Characters that have arrived in this world in standard isekai fashion are extremely powerful, but have a history of changing too much of the world are feared and seen as a problem to be controlled. The main character through this anime is dealing with the realities of her work as well as trying to develop as a person herself. There were several points where I thought I knew where the story was going ... only for it to be derailed rather suddenly.

The story as a whole is a pretty slow burn, the few focus characters are revealed over the course of the show, rather than all at once and it's a nice change from the info dump episodes I'm used to getting these days. However, with there only being one season and the story not being fully told, we do not get a real conclusion or full picture on anything. This is could be taken as a blessing or a curse for the show, depending on the viewer. Personally, I like when a show doesn't give me everything and I feel instead like I'm just viewing a fragment of a character's life, but I know that is not a style for everyone.

The tropes that are assigned to the supporting cast are really why this isn't a 10/10 show to me. There is a hard lean into obsession over the main character that at no point feels natural nor necessary. One character that isn't fawning over the MC is instead after the character that is obsessed with the MC making for awkward moments, that I'm sure are supposed to be funny, but feel like they miss the mark by a lot.

The show has a feeling somewhere between .hack//SIGN and Puella Magi Madoka Magica, and the story overall seems like it may trend toward the latter. I felt like I was reading chapters of a good book while watching this show, with each episode leaving me wanting to watch more, but also satisfied with each viewing block.

Reviewer’s Rating: 9

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Apr 17, 2024

LengendBreaker1

Not Recommended

Funny

In short this anime is like where the supposed MC comes from another world and is killed by the one girl who decides to help and that one girl is the MC .

Then the FMC makes a yuri harem and kills Isekaied humans and pretends to be "pure", "just" and "Noble" which is pure bullsh** and she was just being a murderer who kills innocent people who is Isekaied from Japan . Just a pure garbage.



The story is very predictable.
The art style was very mid.
The characters were too rushed with absolutely zero development.
I can't believe anyone who is not a hardcore yuri addict ... can like this series

Reviewer’s Rating: 1

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	Confused about Manon and Pandemonium BigBoyAdvance - Dec 7	7 replies	by fragmentvt »» Dec 8, 11:02 AM
	Poll: Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road Episode 2 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Apr 8, 2022	112 replies	by HiljainenSipuli »» Nov 16, 10:51 AM
	This Anime deserves a 2nd season!! MarekPPP - Aug 31	12 replies	by LycorAxis »» Nov 14, 11:17 AM
	Poll: Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road Episode 1 Discussion ( 1 2 3 4 5 ... Last Page ) Stark700 - Apr 1, 2022	331 replies	by HiljainenSipuli »» Nov 9, 1:42 PM
	Poll: Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road Episode 12 Discussion ( 1 2 3 ) Stark700 - Jun 17, 2022	132 replies	by MarekPPP »» Aug 31, 1:40 PM