This manga is an adaptation of a light novel series that has also received an anime adaptation. Strike the Blood itself is a fantastic story full of great action and characters alongside some pretty good worldbuilding. However, I highly recommend experiencing it through the light novel or anime instead of through this manga.

This manga adapts volumes 1-3 and 6 of the 22 light novel series. The light novel on the other hand has been fully translated into English other than the Append side story volumes. The manga also only corresponds to episodes 1-12 and 20-22 of season 1 of the anime. The anime actually adapts the entire series, though it definitely has to rush towards the end to get through everything. My point is that this manga only adapts a small part of the story, while the story in other mediums is much more complete. Thus, as you’ll have to go to other mediums to get the full story eventually, there’s very little reason to start with the manga.

If the manga was a great adaptation then it could be worth recommending. But it’s simply not. It’s not a bad adaptation, but it’s not a particularly good one either. It conveys the main story decently enough, but it’s missing a lot of the small details even when compared to the anime, let alone the LN. The art also isn’t terrible, but it’s just really plain. The designs from the original light novel are great so it can still look good, but not as good as the LN illustrations or the anime. Thus, on top of being the shortest version, the manga version is also the weakest. So there’s really no good reason to bother with it.

tl;dr: An adaptation of a great story that’s pretty much pointless.

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