Jun 15, 2024
If you're like me, you likely watched the anime series and immediately got so attached to the characters and storytelling, that you wanted more, so you decided to pick up the manga.
Volumes 1- 3 (Chapters 1 - 28) almost intimately follow the events of the series with the exception of a few new brothels, the manga coming way earlier than the series obviously, but to viewers of the anime, you may feel underwhelmed coming into the manga.
(The manga series does become as explicit as the anime though if that's what you're reading for, don't worry.)
But as soon as I got to volume 4, I got
...
hooked and remembered exactly why I loved this series, and why Amahara is such a great writer.
Ishuzoku Reviewers follows the adventures of three main protagonists, Stunk the Human, Zel the Elf, and Crim the Angel, with many notable side characters that show up frequently, they review Succu-Joints as the world builds around them.
The worldbuilding in Ishuzoku Reviewers is actually exceptionally good, the anime series only having one season (so far) only manages to barely touch on the story, but the manga especially in later volumes, really really delves into the political worldbuilding, and research of Crim, angels become a central focus point in the story, as they both influence the church and story, and the magic needed to give the reviewers ways to review new brothels.
The story doesn't take away from the comedy or sexy stuff though, you'll be getting plenty of that still, it's hilarious, with some truly out there Succu-Joints.
The church gets introduced, as well as Demia and Deathabyss becoming significant characters, they seemingly take an antagonist role, but their intentions seem nuanced and generally help the reviewers, for example, the research intro Crim's resistances allow them to create resistance rings so our adventurers can go back and review Salamander girls, or take an ice cold bath with cold-element girls.
The series is great because all characters really have their own intentions, their own goals, and we don't see the full picture, we get to learn of the goddess and her behavior of abandoning worlds when things lead bad, as other angels start to take actions into their own hands, some angels wanting to purposefully break their halos so they can interact with the world, and the church investing in Demia to fix it.
This is just a little bit of how much goes on in this world, and all the new things you learn help add to the immersion of the world Amahara has created, all the conflict and stakes feel natural, and they build from a world that clearly has history.
As a reader, I was truly invested in the worldbuilding and lore this series has set up, Stunk Zel and Crimvael become all the more amazing characters.
There is a story between Zel and Mitsue in the manga that I will not spoil, but is one of the sweetest things I have ever read, they let the story be serious when it wants to be, sad when it wants to be, and hilarious when it wants to be, the tone never feels misguided, even in such an explicit series it works.
Overall, the Ishuzoku Reviewers manga exceeded my expectations and gave me everything I loved from the anime series and more, if you care at all about the story from the anime series, pick this up! it's hilarious, sexy, and has an incredible story.
And if you loved the creative brothels and play of fantasy tropes in the series, you will LOVE the manga.
I won't spoil any brothels, but they never lose creativity with them.
Masha is also a great artist and always manages to put Amaharas ideas into such great art, you can tell how much it improves 8 volumes in,
Genuinely great series, it deserves a season 2, and now I wait for the next volume, I hope this series doesn't end for as long as the creators have an interest in it.
Goodnight, and sweet dreams.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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