Saikyou Onna Shishou-tachi ga Ikusei Houshin wo Megutte Shuraba
Training Regimes of the World's Strongest Women

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8.2/10


Japanese mangakas and their obsessions with grooming never gets old, does it? Well, besides for the initial motive and moral of the premise, it’s absurdly enjoyable via the characters and the semi-unique take on the usual plot line.

Generally in the “numerous masters and one disciple” trope, there’s not much enthralling action or interesting plot points due to nonstop training and the usual direction towards comedy. However, in this manga alone, it walks a different doomed pathway by incorporating plot points and motives in characters that are uncommon, adding a drawl towards the story itself. There are some minor issues with the cliches, but it ... rarely occurs in the manga, so the reading experience wasn’t hindered by a drastic amount.

The characters are, to put it simply, lovely; every single one of them have relative depth while not being too frustrating in their introductions. For the usual, obvious antagonistic villains, their perspectives make reasonable sense in their actions and motives, which has become so rare for authors to elaborate on these days. Through each character’s interesting and engaging backstory, there’s a considerable room for development in personality and involvement in the story. Fantasy harem mangas rely solely on the looks of the heroines to make them likable, but in this instance, the characters not only look stunning, but their personalities are distinct and likable.

It’s very, very rare to come across a good fantasy harem manga, especially one with some sort of struggle and likable characters, however, this manga has fulfilled that once in a blue moon quota and did much more than what I was expecting.


Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”

Stop me if youve heard this one before: A young, naive boy of 14, pitifully weak, has a fateful encounter where he is saved by a slightly older, beautiful, blond-haired swordswoman admired by everyone, and falls in love with her and decides he wants to be like her. After this encounter, despite being a weakling, the boy is granted a super rare "skill" that lets him grow stronger at an exceedingly incredible rate. He becomes adept at swordsmanship as well as magic, and gets stronger in attributes like strength, dexterity, speed, etc. complete with his own skill sheet that lets others view his progress and ... all of his attained skills. the boy goes on adventures with parties and fights monsters as well as the occasional evil person, while occasionally have encounters with his idol who clearly likes him more then any of the other men who pursue her. The story is basically a 2000s era harem where the main character gets incredibly sheepish around women.

That's right, you've found Danmachi! I mean Training regimen of the World's Strongest Women! Despite the damn near blatant plagiarism, This series manages to outdo its predecessor by having a main characters thats slightly less insufferable, and a supporting cast thats significantly less insufferable. The story also has better pacing, and while danmachi's plot always feels disconnected from previous arcs of the series, this series story does a better job of building upon itself to deliver a more interesting narrative. It' not ground breaking or anything, and you're not missing anything amazing if you decided to skip it, but it's surprisingly a fun read, worth an afternoon if youve got the time.

This manga is a combination of SAO and MHA, where for the first few chapters, what stood out was good character writing and well written shounen themes of withstanding adversity and a desire for growth. Unfortunately, the good graces of these chapters will be its primary selling point, in what is otherwise a manga plagued by its generic main character and reliance on tropes.

To start with, the first chapter has many likable points which contributes to the pace which story elements are introduced.
- The first chapter generates a good dynamic between the three female characters with exposition & backstory, who relate to each ... other by standing at the top of their respective expertise and being branded as criminals by the world.
- The story actively avoids pushing out the main character until his pivotal moment, such as when the guild master rejects his application in haste without giving him the time of day. This continues the story more satisfyingly as we get to see more of the unique cast and less of the "first chapter rough times" most protagonists encounter.
- The role of its characters in the story. The way the characters are positioned, the panels, the full shot, lends to the characters feeling of either overwhelming power, in the case of its female protagonists, or that of cascading despair for its main character.
- Shounen tropes of persisting in adversity. When combined with previously mentioned points, the story creates a snappy, daring moment where Cross is suddenly thrust into the limelight and his bravery shines to the powerful trio and us readers.
This manga has one of the stronger starts I've read to a shounen battle series, comparing most to My Hero Academia's first chapter. While the climax remains the same, instead of the typical "weak main character is bullied" present throughout the first chapter of MHA, this manga fleshes out the starting cast and soon to be mentors of the main character, not to mention seeing a bit of the world through the eyes of its persecuted S rank adventurers. This is leaving out a few wholesome character traits, such as mentorship qualities within the trio.

For the rest of the review, I'd like to cover my feelings towards the main character and reliance on tropes. As many anime fans may know, Sword Art Online has one of the least interesting main characters in Kirito, which compares to Cross's role in this manga. Whether its overcoming every plot problem with a hidden skill that makes them better than others or having them save every girl the writers wanted in their fiction, Cross really nails the generic main character goal. When Cross starts to call himself the black swordsman and has an infinite number of quirks, you'll know the direction of this story is generally heading downwards. On top of the original character, there are a few underdeveloped aspects of the story which I found an issue with.
- Characters suddenly explaining what the story is.
- The mean spirited antagonist who changes their tune after being saved in a moment of crisis / are defeated by the main character.
- Harem.
Overall, these tropes undermine the excitement and importance of story elements within the first chapters, as it feels like a foregone conclusion that what continues is more of the same things seen in SAO, MHA, and a mix of other shounens, rather than what this series offered in its core cast. Personally, what was really needed from exiting its first chapters was a story element which provided a stronger narrative, such as exploring the mystery behind the protagonists skill, the voice who vaguely intervened in some way, the motivations of the trio other than grooming their husband candidate, or introducing a twist to one of those members.

If a few of the first chapters are enough for you to get through the majority of a story, than I'd recommend this to you. If you'd prefer consistency and longevity in your series, than I'd recommend seeing if more chapters will make this manga a stronger pick, or just skipping it entirely.