Story: 8/10 - The premise is based on a tournament, called Ragnarok, an interesting take on the old Norse myth. Once every thousand years, gods from various mythos gather together to vote on the fate of humanity (for some reason, only the Christian deities are not shown participating in these meetings). At the head of the meeting is Zeus, who asks that all gods vote on humanity's fate. The verdict is reached, and it appears humanity will be wiped out. However, the leader and eldest of the 13 Valkyrie sister, Brunhilde, steps forward, proposing a tournament in which 13 gods will face off in a series of 1vs1 battles, against 13 of humanity's mightiest heroes/warriors.
The gods, believing this will be no competition, initially refuse, but are then goaded into agreeing by Brunhilde. Thus begins the tournament that is Ragnarok, and each match is carefully crafted to bring out the maximum entertainment value. An example of this is the 3rd match, between Poseidon of the Greek pantheon, and Sasaki Kojiro, one of Japan's most skilled swordsman. The battle is treated as one of power (Poseidon) vs skill/technique (Sasaki), giving us a fight that isn't just a slugfest, but rather two entities w/ opposing ideals facing off. The battles are given further importance, as losing doesn't just mean death, but no longer existing. This gives each fight far more importance.
Art: 10/10 - Arguably the strongest aspect of the entire series. The visuals and character designs are incredible, and some of the best I've ever seen. From the clothing designs, which fit each of the various characters' origins. Zeus and the other Greek gods actually dress like old-fashioned Greeks, as does Thor and Loki, who dress in very distinctive Norse style apparel. Even the freaking spectators in the audience are designed specifically for the time/countries of their origin. The weapon designs are also incredible and highly original. From Poseidon's trident to Lu Bu's spear, to Sasaki's Monohoshizao katana, all are visually appealing. By far the most interesting so far though is Thor's hammer (which is literally nearly the same size as his body), and Heracles' club (which transforms to take on the characteristic of whatever ability he is using).
Enjoyment: 9/10 - Here is arguably the series' 2nd greatest strength and one I alluded to earlier. Each of the matches displayed is amazingly entertaining to watch. And the participants are carefully matched in a way that can only be described as a "match made in heaven" (I couldn't resist the pun, lmao). From Thor vs Lu Bu to Jack the Ripper vs Heracles (Hercules), the participants in each match have been carefully chosen by the author, instead of just randomly thrown together like you would see in most other tournament-based manga (looking at you Dragon Ball). Also, because of the careful pairings in these matches, readers are treated to clashing ideologies and fantastic techniques. Speaking of which, one would normally assume that there's no way a human, even at peak strength and skill, would be able to stand toe to toe with a god. And this would normally be correct.
But the author does a fantastic job of evening the playing field, through the use of the Valkyrie sisters. Each of whom possesses the ability to perform "Volund", which is a sort of fusion that not only allows them to turn into a weapon that best benefits their human partner (for example, the valkyrie paired w/ Lu Bu transformed to a Chinese spear, a weapon Lu Bu was famous for using), but also binds the life of the Valkyrie and human together. So, if one dies (typically the human), then both die. And that's not all, each human warrior so far has displayed abilities/techniques that they honed themselves throughout their lives. This applies to the Valkyrie as well, as each of them possesses an ability based on the meaning of their names, such as Randgriz, whose name means Shieldbreaker. This makes for some epic matches that I, for one, would love to see animated at some point.
However, that is not to say the series doesn't have its faults, at least for me. I know what follows will controversial for some, or downright piss off some of you reading this. But I feel that it would be very disingenuous not to point these things out.
Character: 7/10 - In contrast to the art and enjoyment, I feel the characters are the weakest part of the story. Not because their design is bad, or their histories/motivations are not explored. All of those things are actually why I give this part a 7. In each match, the author gives the readers a look into the past of each character, both gods and man, detailing their motivations, enabling us to develop more of a connection to these characters. Even among those, we would normally consider villains, their background and motivation allow us to still identify with them. A key example of this is Jack the Ripper, whose history as humanity's most notorious serial killer (I question this, but oh well), is explained in a fashion that enables us to sympathize with him. This is done successfully in large part because we have no knowledge of his history in real life, as the identity of Jack the Ripper remains a mystery to this day. So what are the negatives I alluded to?
Well, the answer lies in the selection of humanity's, and even the gods', 13 representatives. There is a very biased element to it that just doesn't sit well with me. ALL of humanity's representatives are of Asian or European origin/descent. NONE of the characters listed to represent humanity are of African, Hispanic, Native American or Pacific Islander origin. The same with the gods, all but TWO of them are of either the Greek, Norse or Japanese pantheon. Despite the fact that each of the races of humanity I named above has produced some of the greatest warriors known to man, and only Anubis represents the Egyptian pantheon, despite the fact it is one of, if not the oldest mythos in human history. This is especially notable in arguably the best character of the series, Adam. Someone who, by all accounts (either historically, geographically) would've been of either African or Middle Eastern origin, and is instead depicted as Caucasian, having blond hair & blue eyes. Likewise, all of the competitors are men, again, despite the fact, there are some INCREDIBLY skilled female warriors, both in human history and in various mythology.
This is a GLARING mark on the series. After all, if the point of Ragnarok is for humanity's greatest to warriors to defend humanity itself, how can this be done when so many different cultures of humanity are left out? Or only one gender is represented? Seriously, imagine Athena vs Tomoe Gozen, or Sekhmet vs Queen Amina? Especially when you consider that at least 3 of the representatives for humanity (Nostradamus, Rasputin, Nikolai Tesla) aren't even warriors, and thus are there simply to take up space that could've gone to other historical figures.
It sends the message that some cultures are better than others, or that only a few have produced individuals worthy of representing mankind. I also think that having characters from different cultures/mythos would've enhanced the entertainment value of the series. It would've been akin to the former TV series, Deadliest Warrior, in which warriors from various cultures were pitted against each other through analyzing their weapons, tactics, and so on. It's borderline insulting, but it's also fiction, so I'm sure someone reading this will dismiss this as the ranting of an "SJW crybaby", despite all of the positive things I've said about the series so far, or how accurate each of my points is.
This leads to my final ranking, Overall: 8/10 - while there are some things I really wish the author had done better with regards to the series, in particular being more diverse with the character selection. I still find myself immensely enjoying this series.
