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.
