Maria no Danzai

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I consider 13 chapters a good enough benchmark to warrant a review. Especially for a manga like 'Maria no Danzai', which I assume would finish within 35-40 chapters at most.

The question is: Does the series live up to the somewhat high expectations of an avenging mother on her merciless SAW-inspired journey?

Definitely. In fact, the mangaka has surpassed my expectations with a nice balance of devilish scheming, gore/violence, and decent plot building.

While the bait of the sexy/alluring female lead was planted early on, it hasn't been TOO overused to cheapen the plot - except two notable moments. This was my main worry, as I dig ... the premise and would like to see more focus on mind games/revenge/thriller aspects than tits or lingerie.

The culprit cast, as well as the randomly thrown-in side characters are nicely picked too. Everybody has an exploitable aspect that actually makes sense and opens up the episodic plot points of retribution. I also see some interesting options to explore characters with a minor appearance so far, which I presume would play a bigger role later on.

The art is consistently nice and befitting the theme. The last chapter had some especially gruesome panels once again. I really like the dark, sometimes primordial mangaka takes on mental breakdowns. Some panels are truly scary.

A solid 7/10 so far, and if the author doesn't cheese things too much it might jump to 8/10.

Others mentioned 'Juujika No Rokunin'. If you dig darker stuff like this, you can also try out Inoryuu Hajime's works - 'My Dearest Self With Malice Aforethought' is completed; 'A Suffocatingly Lonely Death' is ongoing. 'Adabana' from NON also deals with themes like retribution but is way more emotional and traumatic.

Here I am, up to date with this little surprise. And I think I'm in a position to write a modest review of this manga.

First of all, in view of what I'd seen and heard, I was apprehensive about reading this work. I told myself that I was going to waste my time and that this manga would be as bad and execrable as the horrible Juujika No Rokunin (yes, I'm salty, and IDGAF!).

Nevertheless, I was surprised by the writing and the care taken here by the 2 authors. So, yes, there are a lot of similarities with Juujika. However, I found Maria No Danzai ... to be far more refined and thoughtful than the latter.

I'm going to avoid spoilers, but I'm going to point out the various qualities of this manga. First of all, on the technical side, it's really clean. The cutting is really qualitative and the drawings add a certain atmosphere and charm to the story. As for the story itself, I found the characters' behavior and the course of events very realistic. Nothing is really caricatured. And above all, no act is glorified (right, Juujika?). The story has progressed quite well, and in just 20 chapters, we're discovering a plethora of things about the various characters and their relationships. I'll finish by saying that I adore the character of Marie, the mother devoted to avenging her son. I'd go so far as to say that her image is that of an avenging angel.

I look forward to reading the rest of the chapters, and hope that this work continues on this path.

Pretty dark themes. Very mature, viewer discretion is advised.

So far, the plot gives me a sort of Juujika no Rokunin vibe, but with a faster pace. Unlike Juujika, the antagonist group feels less intimidating besides the ringleader, Maria is also more intimidating, given her status as an adult and how devoted she is to her son. (Maria is very scary and pretty.)

The art is very pretty, as you can tell by the cover. There is some fanservice i dont feel is necessary, but adds to the "messed-up-ness" of the manga.

The content is very despairing and dark. The story feels hopeless and bleak. There doesnt ... seem to be a light at the end of the tunnel- i dont expect a happy ending, but the tags already suggest that huh.

Also, the husband is a cop, so maybe some death-note type police-avoiding will happen or he will help her avenge their son?

Pretty standard tragedy stuff, I recommend if youve read Juujika, but for the faint of heart, i dont reccomend, even I had a hard time stomaching some scenes.

Spoilers!
As mentioned before, ompared to Juujika, Maria no Danzai seems to have a faster pacing, given how a small fry gets game-ended by chapter 5. This makes me expect a short manga?