Feb 4, 2025
I read (and reviewed!) Demonic Gene first, so I'll be using that as a baseline for this review.
If you're a Jonathan Connoisseur, you are most definitely in the right place. In the same way that Demonic Gene felt quintessentially Walter, with its dark and gritty art style and troubled but understanding depiction of Funny Agi Man, Prayers is very quintessentially Jonathan. The art style is notably softer and lighter, making use of minimal shading, maximal contrast, and heavy use of white highlights instead of black shading. It's less detailed than Demonic Gene (and lacks the gore factor, even when things get bloody later on), but
...
it definitely fits the tone. This is Jonathan's story, and it captures his dignity and idealism while still making him work to see those ideals through.
If there's criticism to be made of Prayers, it's probably that the ending is *too* idealistic. Not that happy endings can't exist, but that Walter's increase in power went hand in hand with increased desperation, horrific mutation, and alienation from others. Here, Jonathan basically becomes a shonen protagonist. And while Flynn's presence in Demonic Gene was a bit unclear, the opposite is the case here, to the point where he goes beyond spirit mentor. I wouldn't say they harm the story too much, and they do tie into Jonathan coming to grips with his flaws, but be advised. Further to the story's credit, the new character taking Flynn's place, Asuma, is handled very well. He's a Chaos-aligned foil, and much like Gina, while he initially seems redundant since Walter is already here, he is different enough, and more directly parallels Jonathan, that he earns his place. It helps that the other Samurai have more of a presence in the story than they did in Demonic Gene. Walter, Isabeau, and the other guy aren't *major* characters per se, but they do more here than they did there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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