Aka no Grimoire
Crimson Grimoire

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I am treating this manga as two parts.
Part 1 is chapters 1-12 and has a fan translation.
Part 2 is chapters 13-25 and doesn't. I got my hands on the raws and used a translator myself. It worked quite well and I believe I got most of the information.

Part 1 (9-10/10)
This was all around an amazing read!
We have likable and interesting main characters, which play well off each other. An innovative power system with drawings and beasts with different abilities, as well as a great premise with the opposing organization "Fraternity", which has a very intruiging leader. The art is overall fantastic as well. The story ... and mysteries hooked me instantly, and since the Manga was listed "Finished" with only 25 chapters I looked for the raws of the remaining chapters.

Part 2 (6/10)
The second part shines its spotlight on a side character, who I did not like very much in the first part. This trend sadly continues in the second part. Compared to Wakaba, Noelle just is not very interesting. Instead of following Wakaba and her getting used to being a mage, while uncovering the secrets and mysteries teased in the first part, we get a "side quest" concerning Noelle's family situation.
It is overall very uninspired, cliché and feels completely off, compared to part 1:
- Noelle gets shot by her sister and STILL wants to save her and her father, who abandoned and abused her
- Wakaba, who is more interesting gets substituted by Noelle, who crys a lot
- The intruiging leader of Fraterity gets substituted by a comically evil old fart...
- ...Who of course gets betrayed by Noelle's sister, who was also abused
- The intersting premise of learning to be a mage gets substituted by weird family drama
- The fights also feel a lot simpler

In the end the teased mysteries were never uncovered and I am convinced that the manga was axed, as the ending was pretty abrupt as well. I am very disappointed in the second part (if you couldn't tell already). It was FINE, but compared to the fantastic first part it falls completely flat for me and waters down the entire work.