Arachnid

Alice is a senior high school student who lives with an uncle that spends his time tormenting her everyday. One day, Alice witnesses the death of her uncle by the hands of an assassin called "Kumo" (Japanese for Arachnid). She then falls unconscious, and upon waking up, she finds out that she's in Kumo's house... Now, this Alice who no longer has any family is being raised by the assassin himself..!

(Source: Kirei Cake)

Edit
Background

Arachnid has been published digitally in English by Square Enix through Manga UP!

Edit
Related Manga

Spin-off:	Caterpillar
Character:	Arachnid x Caterpillar x Killing Bites: Onna 6-nin (?) Onsen Monogatari
Sequel:	Blattodea

More characters
Characters

Fujii, Alice

Main

Kumo

Main

Oki, Megumi

Supporting

Imomushi

Supporting

Fujioka, Hibiki

Supporting

Dinoponera

Supporting

Kurokawa, Sara

Supporting

Kabutomushi

Supporting

Suzumebachi

Supporting

Sasori

Supporting

Reviews

Sep 24, 2016

Fries-at-2am

Recommended

Overall it was a great manga and sadly we won't be able to read about the whole story, rest in piece author-san.
I recommend reading the Spin-Off "Caterpillar" first.

Story - Quite an interesting plot, the whole story was based off of people or these assassins, incorporating these insects as a pillar for their distinctive way of killing. One thing I do have to complain about is the lack of the background story being built in the initial stages of the story, though i do understand that, that was for the best in the later stages. going along with that, i was confused at certain parts ...

Open

Gift

May 27, 2020

Ceminar

Recommended

To be frankly, if I would go way more in depth on the rating, I would probably go for a 6, but I have my reason. and I will compare this manga with the author's other work Killing Bites. My anime list is raising to almost 300 but I still am not good at judging what a good or bad anime/manga is, but I think I will become better when writing more in depth reviews (reason: I like Fairy Tail, while a lot hate it, because it was my first encounter towards anime).

Story: 5
Has a crappy story if you look at it normally, but this ...

Open

Gift

Dec 21, 2015

Nervin

Not Recommended

There are manga's out there that are enjoyable while at the same time being very lackluster storywise and characterwise: such is the case of Arachnid. Although it was a somewhat enjoyable read, its premise was dull and generic, the characters suffering from the very same issue. It must be said that the action presented is entertaining, as well as the abilities of the characters. Arachnid is mainly an action shōnen, yet it has some dramatic elements as well.

~Story~

The setting of the story is generic, the highschool girl Alice being tormented by her uncle everyday, until one day she encounters him murdered by an assassin called ... "Kumo". After falling unconscious, she wakes up in the very house of the assassin which she will be raised by. While this may seem somewhat interesting setting and character-wise, it doesn't expand on that, rather it just focuses mainly in the action scenes. There is also smut and sex scenes present, which had no purpose in the manga at all, being fan service its goal, which was quite a drawback.

The main problem with the manga is its story and goal: readers are abruptly presented with the assassin and for no apparent reason he decides to train Alice as one. Furthermore, it seems that the protagonist must be killed for a very lackluster reason by a mysterious organization. While story progresses, there is no real goal presented to the reader, rather mainly focusing on the afore-mentioned action scenes as well as the introduction of quite a cast of characters. From the several plot twists that happen throughout the story, most are not hinted at in any way, while at the same time being generic. There are significant issues with the characters as well, but to this I will come back later.

The redeeming aspect of the manga are the battle scenes are interesting to see and how these develop; however, it is soon apparent that these fights can be rather tensionless, as the story is mainly a survival game being Alice its focus, and thus naturally there will be no danger for this character. The fact that sudden power ups were on the order of the day didn't really help it either. There is also the fact of the different abilities of the characters: these have their foundation in the different insects that roam this world, such as spiders, cockroaches, beetles, you name it.

It is certainly interesting to learn all the different abilities of these insects, yet its implementation on the characters are rather unbelievable. Ranging from having glandular secretion of fluids all around the body, or having organs protected by iron plates are such examples. Although amusing, it breaks a bit with the immersion of the story. Nevertheless, it can make fights unpredictable in some cases, particularly when affecting the secondary characters.

~Characters~

The cast of characters in Arachnid is big, especially considering the amount of episodes released: some are interesting, yet the vast majority are archetypes, being demented ones the biggest portion. There is also another problem linked to this: all the different characters are introduced in a very short period to maintain the manga interesting. This has as consequence that these are severely underdeveloped, in addition to reader not having enough time to care at all for the characters. The fact that these had infinite amount of toughness didn't enhance those either. The various motives of these are very lackluster as well, which is a negative aspect.

The protagonist herself is quite the stereotype, being a typical lead who is caring, kind and just. In addition she is quite the overpowered character as well, possessing a natural ability to concentrate immensely, enabling her to learn at an unbelievable speed. The supporting characters and its interactions with these are dull and unrealistic, charters behaviour changing when the plot demanded it.

~Art~

The art of Arachnid was well done, having a consistent background which was detailed enough: good shading techniques, albeit not outstanding. The panel placements were overall done well, giving the reader a sense of continuity to the narrative. The character's design was varied, yet every femalemale character had similar body builds, being adolescent and huge bodies the respective characteristics. Battle scenes are well drawn, yet never really stood out.

~Enjoyment~

Arachnid was a somewhat enjoyable read, yet it failed miserably in the story and character department, being a goal-less story and generic characters the main culprits. The action scenes, in particular the character's abilities related to insects was its redeeming feature, as it was quite informative, albeit exaggerated in some cases. The fights on its own were fun to see, yet it will become soon apparent that these are tensionless. So do I recommend this manga? Not really, unless you can ignore the lackluster story and characters, or are interested to see the comparisons with insects; otherwise I would stay away from it.

Thank you for reading.

Open

Gift

More stacks

Interest Stacks

Recommended manga list

by MagnusChase356

29 Entries · 5 Restacks

The Thinking Man’s Manga

by nekonome

19 Entries · 38 Restacks

MCs that are just a bit off the rails

by Saph76

28 Entries · 120 Restacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

View All

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

Poll: Arachnid Chapter 1 Discussion notzky - Jul 20, 2011	3 replies	by Milan-5 »» Feb 26, 2022 7:43 PM
Arachnid Anime? AkatsukiUlquiora - Jun 4, 2021	2 replies	by RitsuKunNew »» Jun 18, 2021 7:00 AM
Poll: Arachnid Chapter 72 Discussion Stark700 - Jan 8, 2018	5 replies	by Irere »» Jan 3, 2021 7:24 PM
Sequel manga bastek66 - Dec 21, 2018	4 replies	by SerhaTR0483-2 »» Jul 30, 2019 8:08 AM
Poll: Arachnid Chapter 70 Discussion Stark700 - Oct 24, 2017	2 replies	by xikarra »» Nov 11, 2017 4:42 AM

Arachnid
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Edit
Related Manga

More characters
Characters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Arachnid Edit What would you like to edit? SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links

Alternative Titles

Information

Statistics

Available At

Resources

EditSynopsis

EditBackground

Visit MALxJapan MALxJapan -More than just anime-

EditRelated Manga

More charactersCharacters

Reviews

Interest Stacks

More recommendations Recommendations

More newsRecent News

More discussionsRecent Forum Discussion

MoreTop Anime

MoreTop Airing Anime

MoreMost Popular Characters

Arachnid
Edit

What would you like to edit?

Edit
Synopsis

Edit
Background

Visit MALxJapan
MALxJapan -More than just anime-

Edit
Related Manga

More characters
Characters

More recommendations
Recommendations

More news
Recent News

More discussions
Recent Forum Discussion