Brynhildr in the Darkness is about a guy and his harem of magical girls. that's pretty much it. But the magical girls are given a very dark twist where they will die within three days if they don't have medicine that inhibits these effects. Each girl has their own power from world manipulation to future sight to enhanced hacking (more useful than it sounds) to Shoop Da Woop like laser beams. The series is, or was, creative in it's character designs, it was definitely interesting to see the ideas that Lynn Okamato could come up with. The main character has a lot of respect for the super powered women that have come to surround him, he often turns them away when they attempt to sleep with him so they don't make a mistake. They handle the fear of dying before procreating well, they handle the fear of death before marriage well and the character of Kazumi was an amazing character study to take a look at. But of course that didn't last past the first few arcs. The Valkria arc was amazing, the villain was a great character foil to Kuroneko and it had one of the most emotional character deaths I had seen in a manga or anime for the longest time. Then we end the arc on this note where Okamato could have ended the series and ended it well. The main character and the main love interest had finally kissed before the main love interest risks her life to save the rest of the cast. They'll be getting a supply of the medicine they need and the leader of Vingulf has been killed, and this is where the series should have ended. It's ending wouldn't have been nearly as satisfying as the Elfen Lied manga ending but not many endings are that amazing. But then it continues.
The series continues and it does look a bit promising, but as you read it drags on... and on... and on. Even though it's only 55 chapters as compared to the 100 chapters before hand this last sixth of the manga has been horrible with a massive amount of fan pandering. Then you have the creation of Takaya. I wouldn't have minded if this guy wasn't put into the role of hero but, well he is. Takaya is one of the most sexist anime characters I have ever seen and he down right rapes Hatsuna multiple times under the grounds that he's her boyfriend, this is the worst part of the series by far. Then you have the Amnesia, which is happening for a second time with the same character, it makes for a repetition of the first arc, which annoys the hell out of me. Then we have the blatant flanderization of the characters.
I mention Kazumi a while ago, she was an in depth character that starts off as a this greedy annoying bitch who isn't very likable, but then she goes through a character arc that has you routing for her. She has fallen in love with Murakami to the point where she wants to marry him. This isn't Hatsuna's puppy love or Kuroneko's self taught love for Murikami. It's truer love that stems from a feeling of trust. She wants to marry him and have children with him though she's willing to risk everything, including her life, to save him, if it meant his safety she would give up her chances to live out her dream of becoming a mother and loving wife. She is literally the only character left un-flanderized (when you take the worst trait of a character and make that their only trait).
Murikami was a very nice guy who legitimately cared for the safety of these girls but now he's just a plot device. He's been worse than flanderized, he's been changed as a character. Now he's just sort of an asshole, or the stereotypical harem master.
Then you have Hatsuna, a girl who has the power to regenerate any injury as well as acting as the white mage of the team. She was a strong female character who would fight back and was able to think strategically within critical situations. But she's reduced to a submissive victim. She's constantly being raped by Takaya, which is being used as comedic relief. I mean what the fuck Okamato? You wrote Elfen Lied, which was a masterpiece for many different reasons and then you went and wrote this. You handled domestic abuse so much better in Elfen Lied. And this has just become a series based around fan service. Speaking of which, all of the female characters get a breast enlargement closer to the current point, which was pointless.
What pisses me off the most is that this series had massive potential to be one of the best manga series I have read, and the second on that list behind Elfen Lied, but due to the last sixth of the manga so far having nothing but filler and fan service those chances have been ruined.
The only thing good I can say about this is that it is a very visually pleasing series.
Age Rating: M for Blood and Gore, Intense Violence, Disturbing Content, and Nudity.
Disclaimer: The last sixth of this manga is not for anybody who has a single liberal bone in their body.
Overall Rating: 5/10
