Aug 19, 2023
Before everything, do note that this series is not fully translated in englis as of when I m writing this: 2 volumes were officially released, and fan translations that I m aware of only go up to ch 13(half of volume 3). I finished the rest of the series by buying the raw digital manga and translating them with google lens, so my understanding of the later parts is not complete, although suficient
As the synopsis would tell you, this short(by design) series mix harem to horror.
Asunaro, the male "MC" is an highschooler so average that he would almost stand out for that. He doesn't really
...
have a passion or dreams, and mostly spends his days idly, lamenting that fact about him.
After picking up the (wrong?) bottle he unwittingly summon a demon, Zepaful. As her own code would not allow otherwise she endeavor to thank him for unsealing her, by making his fantasies(which are quite precise and vast, considering he daydreams constantly as a way to cope) come true
Unfortunatly Zepaful is also an hungry demon, so she won't miss her opportunity to gain something along the way: Trapping the 5 girl whom he has a crush on in An harem death game, her goal is to get the souls of the inevitable 4 losers to bring to hell.
That's it for the synopsis, as of now I'll dissect things more individually
Characters
All of them: Obviously, being a short series, You cannot expect characters whom we could write entire essays about. That being said, for the short time we had them, I believe they are mostly well used and enjoyable
The girl's particular arc varies, but as a group they evolve from being out only for themselves to acting like a corp,
Cerica:the brain of the girls, her main trait is her unyieldingness as well as analytical spirit, both in the game and in school. Both because she does not have confidence in her chance of winning(She IS a beautiful lady, but so are the others, and she lacks feminine confidence in that regard)and because she finds the idea abhorent, she strives to not play by the game rules at all turn in order to ensure hers and her co-victim survival. She is a pretty good main character.
Her common point with Asunaro(that she lacks an actual direction in life) is also compelling for me
Liru: aka the loli. Jokes aside her design is that of a loli but she is really only a year younger than the rest of them, so it's not exactly a great move to frame her like that, especially considering the type of plot she is in and the rest of her character.
That aside she is pretty interesting. She is the classical trope of the older siblings who is really a secondary parent for her poor family.She is also an aspiring manga artist, and her anxiety about that probably come from experience of the author himself.
Saaya: The "popular one". Feminine, sweet, she is also heiress to a kendo school. Her father is her role model and she strives to succeed him one day, despite what male chauvinist would have to say.Alright character in my opinion
Heather: The "genki girl". She is the trackstar of the school and trains to become faster everyday. Part of her reason is to follow the footsteps of her big sisters, and she take it very seriously.
She is mostly the "act first, think after" type but she is not stupid, just simple.
Ren: imo the second most interesting girls, and the secondary brain. Much like Celica, she doesn't hesitate to take the initiative and is quite cuning, although has a tendency to overestimate herself.
Her arc of growing more attached to Celica(she is...handsy at first) and more caring of others in general is also very nice.
I like the artstyle of her eyes
Asunaro: Now I gave away most of his character in the synopsis so no need to be long. Being unaware of what he has caused, his carefreeness clash with how serious the situation really is.
Since this manga is pretty self aware in general(classical harem tropes are invoqued in a twisted way) it's not necessarily a bad thing that he is purposefully bland compared to the other girls, and he does end up being more than a blank slate in the end.
Story
I won't discuss the "games" and shenanigans here since it's a short manga after all but they were interesting enough.
Due to being unaware and partially at fault for this situation, I do think the story gives a good balance between acknowledging the fact he is not the culprit and ignoring that fact.
Asunaro being a "classical" harem protagonist, he is not very well defined at first, but the fact that he is generally attentive to them and well meaning does help in the fact they do not hold too much grudge(and fortunately he does graduate from having "actually nice" as his only quality)
As for the ending, wont discuss it in detail but I do think that it was a good one and well executed, using correctly the rules as well as one aspect you wouldn't be blamed to have forgotten in the beginning
Spoiler
them ending in this time an actually chosen harem is pretty sweet, and I don't think it's glossing over things, as they all evolved, including Asunaro, and they have otherwise no reason to dislike him
Art
Pretty average art from what I could judge, however one thing that stand out in a good way are the serious face of he girls when strategizing or when the restrictions of the game hit them where it hurts. Whether anguish, smugness, anger, focus or otherwise, their expressions and state of mind are well nailed and as they should be.
Overall I enjoyed this series and I think it had the right pacing and ending
Wouldn't have been opposed for more detailed fluff in the end but that's a me problem
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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