Golem Hearts

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Here is my initial impression after reading 2 chapters of the newly serialized manga about golems and golem arts: Golem hearts by Gen Oosuga.

Note: I would be updating this review after the first volume of the manga is released.

Initially, the manga gave me the alchemy feeling of Full Metal Alchemist, the open world of One Piece, and the art of Fairy Tail.

It may seem like a clone of popular shonen mangas of today, but I know that it would not be serialized if that was the goal that Gen Oosuga had set for his story.

The premise of the story is people live in a world ... where Golems were created by Sorcery Scholars to serve Humans as companions, tools, or a weapon of war.

In this world, a Humanoid Golem Noah is striving to be the second-best Sorcery Scholar in the whole world, only second to his master/creator.

At the moment, I enjoyed the one-shot and the serialized 2 chapters of the manga, so at the moment I would give Golem Hearts 8 out of 10.

I had such high hopes for this story like it had such a strong start. I thought this would become one of the regular series that I would read but when I entered the last chapter I was so disappointed with the story. People hate long series especially shonen because they tend to be dragged and milked for every last cent.

This series has the opposite problem. If it becomes an anime, I would want filler, lots and lots of it because this series lacked commitment. Not substance, it had plenty of that with its interesting characters and plot. It just felt like the author ... was rushing through the series to get it done. It could have been at least 15 chapters longer than what it was, maybe more.

The story was definitely of the typical shonen variety but it had an interesting concept about Golems which I didn't think a story about Golems could be interesting but boy did it blow me away. And the main character was so engaging and interesting and I didn't find him the slight bit annoying.

It had the typical main character having a dream about being the strongest except with a twist because the only reason the MC wanted to prove himself was so people could acknowledge the skill of his master who created him as being the best.

It was like the author couldn't make up their mind at what point in the story they wanted to be in. Our MC first appears when he is really strong, helps to defend a village from attack, then we see him in his childhood where we get his backstory, skip to a time skip where he is trying to pass the test that would make him an Arcanist and then another time-skip where he is magically the best Arcanist.....seriously....I honestly don't know how point B going straight to point D while completely ignoring point C of the story.

The journey is what makes a read fun, not the destination...aka...why I'm happy One Piece has last over two decades already, it would have been a boring series if it only lasted 5 years as intended. Not saying all series should last that long but if you have something good, don't blow its potential away after 15 chapters. Develop it, nurture it and it will pay off. Clearly, the mangaka did not get the memo.

I was so crushed by this series....like it could have been something. Like it had an angsty Sasuke like character in it for crying out loud. You know it was bound to be good with just that but nope. All that potential went down the drain. Honestly, it's not even worth reading because you're going to end up sucked in and the next minute its like you're falling from a cliff of "I Wasted My Time For This S***".

Golem Hearts is an adventure manga in a fantasy setting with super power elements. It is targeted towards a Shounen audience.

It was serialized in the biggest manga magazine of Japan: Weekly Shounen Jump. Being known for its harsh environment for upcoming authors, this can be a blessing with lots of exposure but it can also be a curse because of the very high level of competition.

The art and story are done by Gen Oosuka. I never heard this name before. Why? Because this was his first real published work. He had some One-Shots before, but in terms of serializations, Golem Harts was his first ... manga. Let's not talk around the important things. The manga got cancelled (axed), so it ended prematurely with only two volumes.

-- Story and world building --

The story combines elements of other highly popular manga. For example the setting and the topics remind me of Fullmetal Alchemist. And the story telling and the comedic elements remind me of Fairy Tail. While it is of course very subjective of Fullmetal Alchemist or Fairy Tail are good or not is up to the viewer to decide. But I think it is undoubtedly true that both series are popular. So what went wrong? Why was Golem Hearts not as successful as those two?

The main character Noah is not a human, but a Golem. He was created by his master Lamech who has the profession of a sorcery scholar. Because they get along so well (and because Lamech actually considers Golems as actual beings instead of tools), Noah aims to become the worlds number two arcanist. With that, the number one spot would of course be given to his creator. Indeed a huge goal to pursue.

During his adventures he also encounters some bad guys. But since there are only two volumes, not a lot of character progression can be expected. Most characters get introduced once and then never show up again.

There is also some trial for arcanists called entrance exam which Noah is about to take. It is comparable to the Hunter Exam from Hunter x Hunter or the Chuunin Exam from Naruto. But with the manga being cancelled, this is basically the only story arc that exists. With only covering around 3 or 4 chapters you can't really call it an arc in the first place.

-- Art --

The art style is actually not bad!! I love especially the backgrounds which are really rich and detailed at times. The characters look good as well but are lacking a bit of uniqueness - personally I am totally fine with that. All in all I have nothing to complain about the art style.

-- Enjoyment --

I think Golem Hearts was a really easy and quick read. I could have easily seen this as a long running Shounen series if it wasn't for the competitive environment of Shounen Jump. Maybe this manga could have become a big one if it was serialized in a magazine with less competition like Shounen Sunday or Shounen Magazine.

With the author being forced to end the manga way earlier than he had planned, all the build-up from earlier chapters and all the introduced characters never have a chance to shine. This leaves lots of people being disappointed who then rate this manga with a low score. It is true that the ending is of course pretty forced, abrupt and not what the fans or the artist wanted at all.

Just in the second-to-last chapter some new bad guy shows up and wants to.. of course.. dominate the world. But his attempts are crushed so easily in half a chapters what makes him look like super weak. There is no time to explain how, but some way after a time skip of 5 years, the initial big goal set up in the beginning of the manga is reached. In a pretty anticlimactic way.

Considering all of this, the ending is naturally lackluster and not satisfying at all. The huge goal of the journey was reached way too quickly, in a similar fashion like it was done in Alice to Taiyou.

I hope the author has a better run with his next manga called Doron Doron, but to be honest, I don't see lots of hope. The ratings are already pretty low again and... Yep. It is also serialized in Shounen Jump. I think it might only be a matter of time when the next upcoming manga is waiting to be published and one low-ranking manga has to leave its serialization status for something new. This choice might soon be Doron Doron which then would also crumble under the Shounen Jump curse. But hey, this is about Golem Hearts.

I wonder how many manga one author can afford to get axed until he is considered "burned" in the manga industry.