Maou no Hajimekata the Comic
How to Build a Dungeon: Book of the Demon King

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So far, there have only been 5 chapters of the first volume released. I approached it after having recently read Overlord and Re:Monster, wanting a bit more of telling the story of the other side, in Maou no Hajimekata I found a new refreshing take on the tale.

Where to begin, the start of this jumps right in to forging yon necessary 'make follower x server you' macguffin and the start of setting up his power base. So, spoilers incoming.

Loved the fact that we were treated to some actual xxx rated stuff in some of it's glory, without it going over the top complete ... hentai style, but instead actually helping to build up a bit of background for our protanganist. Though after a while you forget that he's actually alot older than he looks, he displays a rather refreshing level of cunning, as some of the rules of the world they live in get explain.

So, while this manga is in it's infancy, what I really like is how as the story develops and he create his harem, the way he goes about doing it. He forces people to give him tribute, in return his magic provides them with more bountiful harvests, he provides medicine, and his minions send off wolves and goblin raiders. A beneficial relationship is formed.

But when the first hero fails her task of killing him and he instead tricks her over to his side by revealing the rather harsh truth of what the villagers were thinking, and exposing the corruption of the human mind as well as how people try to get something for nothing, only to face the consequences. Or when the dark elves come to him because humans have hunted them, and he comments 'so having been killed by humans, you come here to rely on me, a human?', the break down of tropes is brilliant.

And yet, I don't find him hugely evil at all. He wants something, like loyalty or tribute, yet he gives something back as well, a bargain or deal or boon. He is only overly harsh to those that refuse or defy him (sort of like how I imagine life living under Doctor Dooms rule would be).

Characters are developing slowly, and I look forwards to where this is going to go.

The last review here was over a year ago and the last positive review over 4.

Before anything else:
First thing you’ll need to know is that the main character truly isn’t in any way a good person, however the story knows that and the character himself knows that. He wants to be an infamous dark wizard/sorcerer. Second this is basically softcore hentai there are scenes of sex in most chapters, the main character is not afraid to black mail or drug(magic drugs) girls into bed with him. If either of those bother you, I’d skip this one, and this review to save yourself some time.

Story/characters ... - I like it and have high hopes for its future
With that out of the way I can talk frankly about what I feel matters in this manga.
If you have ever played D&D, hero quest, or any of the contemporaries there is much in this that is quite fun to read through. It's the story of the dark sorcerer Aur’s humble beginnings, and his full rise to continent wide threat. One that is worthy of an entire campaign to be based around (now that I think about it I might do that with my play group). I like the setbacks and challenges Aur faces throughout, because despite how powerful he is things don’t always go the way he wants them to. From the looks of things in later chapters it seems they even have a real plan to attempt to humanize Aur, and I find myself very interested in this hopeful character arc. I wouldn’t expect much from other characters however, they are for the most part his play things. He faces a few enemies that have interesting motives to want to kill Aur, but everyone else is either being controlled by Aur or is completely subservient to him for whatever reason. If you read this, you are reading for the main character.
The biggest problem with the narrative is a hypnosis plot device used the drive all the sex in the story, I don’t really have a problem with the idea that the character uses it. However when its used and not used is a little vague so it's hard to tell which characters just want Aur’s d*ck and which he has hypnotized to want his d*ck. Normally I wouldn’t care that much but it starts to become plot relevant which are serving him because they authenticity want to and which are being controlled to. For some characters that are “not” being controlled it's pretty plot covenant that they do. Still if you know what you're in for, it's not that big a deal.


Art - inconsistent but used well
I really like the character designs in this story, I also really enjoy its use of cute versions of the characters especially Aur. Because he is just such a bad guy it’s very funny seeing him in that form. Oh and the softcore hentai is super well done.

Overall/ Enjoyment - Very fun if you can stomach an actual bad guy
I legitimately have a good time reading this, I understand why others hate it, but the same reasons they dislike it I enjoy it. I understand that the non-consensual sex scenes are going to be difficult for many readers but I think it forms the basis for why Aur is different from other would be conquerors in the story, its part of what makes him the “bad guy” if you’ve read this far you are obviously curious, that being the case I encourage you to look into the series yourself and make up your own opinion. It’s not even close to some master work, however if you like the premise and none of what I’ve said would bother you in a story, definitely give it a go.

(Spoilers) I'm not really good writing a review, but I found this manga so infuriating that I had to right something.
Don't get me wrong, I do like the approach with a character that is your perfectly Hero type, but the MC isn't a Anti-Hero, here is a Villain, it doesn't matter why he is doing what he is, if he does the same thing as Griffith from Berserk, he is in the same level as the worse villains out there in any story, with that being said, he isn't a good MC at all, the idea of the show is great, but a MC has ... to be likable or at least identifiable with the rest of us and I don't think anyone would be able to do what he did (Truly rape girls bodies and minds in front of someone who isn't even the Antagonist [or the target of all MC hatred]).

Again, I'm not good writing reviews, but I didn't like this character as much as I hate Griffith from Berserk.