Ok lets get this stuff out of the way first. I didn't even know there was a previous series to this until I read the reviews here and I never felt like I was missing out on any references except for 1 that was all the way at the end (A pilot mentions how she understands that the MCs distant relative had greatly helped her great great grandma or something along those lines) pretty much everything else is explained.
The other part fan service/romance aspect. At first I found it non intrusive and sometimes funny. But it happened so much and did so little to advance the story and in the end had zero impact on the story overall. It was there simply to be there. There is quite a bit of spicy content on offer as well. It is funny when girls get their clothes blown away by accident but after the 50th time of this its charm is gone. One volume had a part where they were doing a bike race. It was literally 3/4 of the entire volume of them just blowing away their clothes as they raced. The race and all aspects of it were pointless and if it wasnt for a semi big reveal at the end of the volume I would have just said skip the whole book.
Lastly a bit of my own personal taste. The action (which is a huge plus for reading this manga imo) goes from this really awesome magically infused physical action style and changes into a mostly magical berserk/claymore art style with crazy fantasy beast/alien designs. I really didnt like this. I wish it had stayed more rooted in the physical aspect like it did in the beginning. The end was very abrupt and the main villian was barely featured in it at all which seems like an odd decision to me. Also, the story in general kind of overstayed its welcome, while I enjoyed it overall, I was very much ready to be done with it by its end.
Now if you made it this far into this review, you are probably thinking why did you give this an 7? Well despite the above the overarching storyline and themes were pretty cool. There are some moments that really make you stop and think about immortality. The art is quite good and the action scenes manage to really emphasize the action in the scene and display power, motion and strength quite well. Ken Akamatsu is a skilled mangaka imo and it shows here. Character development does happen and there are some twists and turns but the development of them are kind of all over the place. This is just one of those things were for almost all positives I can think of a negative to go with it. That is why its mixed feelings. I think if you enjoy the story you are going to be giving a 7-8 on it. If you dont enjoy it you will pretty much greatly dislike it. I dont think there is a huge on the fence with this. My biggest thing is if the story had stayed in line more with how it was in the first half and dropped 80% of the lewdness and romance aspect thus shortening the overall story significantly I think this could have been a solid 9/10. Anyways, I hope this made sense and in some way helps you decide if you want to jump in on this.
