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Very interesting premise, here we have another author who puts some actual thought into his writing, to portray and implement the theme of "drug abuse" within a fantasy novel. One that is permanently controversial and concerns people from all strata of society. We also get a twisted MC who had everything, but lost all of it and hit rock bottom, drowning in a mire of crime and violence due to some reasonable circumstances. And yes, he's an absolute cold-blooded asshole, but that's okay, because Shouji is not pretending to be a saint or sugarcoating his actions like the typical hypocrite characters.

Biggest plus, it's dark (er) ... fantasy (!), the literal dope of the fantasy genre, far away from all those happy-go-lucky stories, lacking in every aspect. Kudos to Japanese authors with some actual writing talent.

A small preamble - in my opinion "Little Witch Academia" already deserves praise for being an anime deviating from the norm, a piece of art that indicates hope for the revitalization of the whole anime industry. And even more so, if we keep in mind that the original story (short film) was released 2013 as part of the 'Young Animator Training Project's Anime Mirai' project, its second movie was entirely realized due to crowd funding, both attempting to showcase an exceptional, magical fairy tale of a young girl, striving to become a great witch.

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Right from the start, the viewer is instantly drawn into a ... world of traditional fantasy and folklore, where magic is not just a simple word, but an essential part of life and the entire world (building).

Story - "Little Witch Academia" follows a trio of girls, Akko and her friends, Lotte and Sucy, as they experience many magical adventures together. Akko has a big dream, therefore she decided to enroll in the 'Luna Nova Magical Academy' to become a great witch like her idol Shiny Chariot, whom most people in Luna Nova Academy consider a fraud. The story follows the daily struggle of the trio, whereas Akko has to deal with even more difficulties due to her non-magical background as a first generation witch from Japan. Still, that never stops her from being energetic and cheerful, while overcoming the hardships of a witch (pupil) with her two besties.

The art is by no means bad, I'd rather say the monster and character design is eye-catching in a good way, especially with respect to the portrayal of the environment and beautiful background scenery. And even if one minds the slight 'simplicity' of the art every now and then, you should come to acknowledge that it perfectly fits the fantasy style of the anime in its entirety, expressing its own charm.

Another positive fact is that the anime completely manages without the heavy use and usual inclusion of romance, or other common themes - to gloss over a lack of creativeness and imagination - which we have already seen hundreds of times, over and over again. So if you're one of those people who are already tired of always seeing the same story-telling and generic stereotypes, you'll really come to love and appreciate "Little Witch Academia"'s unique way of telling an interesting adventure, including lively and versatile characters that are more than just simple decorations, which are often entirely overshadowed by the protagonist in other anime.

Little Witch Academia unveils that every journey begins with a single step in the right direction, to realize one's own dreams and hopes, in one of the most heartwarming, funniest and enjoyable ways that you have ever seen - a truly rare gem. Furthermore, the anime delivers exactly what it promises, a light-hearted adventure in a fantasy world.

To cut a long story short, naturally, I'll refrain from giving a serious rating at this point of time, but if I have to express a vague direction I'd score the anime with a decent -8- at the moment, that scoring is also in regard to the prior movies as a justified basis, it will be changed appropriately in the end.

"Girls of the Wild's" is the epitome of failed potential, where the story starts out kind of interesting, because the fundamentals are certainly there. However, as the chapters go on the quality drops considerably, with visible lack of imagination and development. Becoming even worse than most generic Harem stories, even if you exclude the usual problems that come with the general stereotypes, deviating far away from the original concept for no reason - the competitive fighting as means of change, to build up courage and strength.

Story: The young student Song, Jae-gu works half-day to feed himself and his two small siblings. Since he's up to ... his neck in trouble and problems, the financial situation just about the same, without much choice left he immediately reaches for a school to become a free student. What he did not know is the fact that until last year this prominent and well-known school has been a pure girls' fighting school, which includes the wildest of girls in the nation, speaking through fists, literally..

Characters: The MC, Jae Gu, is the equivalent to a walking vagina, he's in fact more girly than the female characters in every aspect, be it behaviour, paralanguage or train of thoughts. There's no real goal, the main character is devoid of dreams, and just living for his small siblings. He never or rarely does anything out of his own volition. The one thing that probably describes him the best, he's constantly wallowing in self-pity, and I'm sadly not exaggerating. This guy was indeed a natural born punching bag, mainly thanks to his attitude and victim mentality, him being bullied is something like a matter of fact.

The girls have to force him to every little thing, I've seldom seen a character who's a greater wuss than Jae Gu, and this goes on for 260 chapters without any genuine character development or serious self-reflection about the 'why', the reason for his bad treatment in the present and past. Nearly all characters are often behaving in an illogical and incomprehensible way, beyond belief and reason, where you're seriously questioning their mental health. One often gets the feeling that the author pulls things out of nowhere for the sake of convenience or lack of creativity, to justify the weak and mediocre story-telling, without ever going to the root of the problems.

Enjoyment: Joy? Yeah sure.. the joy of finishing this piece of crap. I always try my best to keep a neutral point of view when evaluating something, basing the opinion on facts. But I'll be honest, I felt so offended and hateful in regard to most of the characters that I'd to pain myself through the last chapters, and I don't even mean the bad guys. The 'end'-chapter of the story was the biggest joke I've seen in a while, far-fetched and not one bit conclusive, nothing was really resolved. The entire Manhwa feels like a cheap Korean drama, with bland, cardboard cut-out characters.
The only positive and mentionable trait is the art and outer character design.

I was firstly reluctant to write a review for "Girls of the Wild's", but I wanted to warn people who are searching for unique and exceptional stories, or great reading treats in general. Don't bother yourself with the Manhwa, and waste your precious time like I did, it's to the point where I want to sue the author for wasting my time..

One keeps seeing good things and/or controversy about dark fantasy, and an avid reader loves and appreciates reasonable controversy, as the world is not simply black and white.

Isekai Goumon-hime unfolds the grim journey of an involuntary, and at first glance forced partnership between two different people, with similar melancholic, tragic and sinister background that gave birth to their present existences.

Tags: Beautiful Female Lead, Butlers, Capable Female Lead, Capable Male Lead, Character Growth, Contracts, Cruelty Depictions, Dark Fantasy, Demons, Determined Female Lead, Fearless Male Lead, Gore, Magic, Magicians, Maids, Male Protagonist, Master-Servant Relationship, Murders, Ruthless Female Lead, Serial Killers, Strong Female Lead, Summoning Magic, Sword And ... Magic, Torture, Tragic Past, Tragic Protagonist, Transported to Another World, Undead, World Travel

Story: After dying a pitiful and meaningless death, Sena Kaito's soul was summoned in another world and confronted with a peerless woman of transcending beauty, Elisabeth Le Fanu, who had forced his spirit into an artificially created body. Introducing herself as “Torturchen,” she commanded Kaito to become her man-servant, but he refused on the spot as he faced such an unreasonable demand out of nowhere. When Elisabeth presented Kaito with two simple choices of either torture or serving, he immediately submitted and began to serve at Elisabeth’s side, to accompany her until she completed her mission. Unbelievably, it turned out that Torturchen’s mission as a condemned sinner was to eliminate fourteen ranked demons and their mortal contractors!

Elisabeth's story is told out of Kaito's point of view - while the novel in itself centers around Elisabeth's gruesome background - with him attending to her to the best of his abilities, following in Torturchen’s steps on the travel around the world to wipe out the highest demons.

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Enjoyment/Experience: I was immediately pulled into Elisabeth’s sociopathic little world, fascinated by the flashbacks of her grim past that hinted at how she became the amoral monster she embodied. The authors writing is a wonderful mix of vivid metaphor and tight, economical prose. There are no wasted words, each is beautifully and carefully chosen. The world, too, is a wonderful blend of medieval and post-apocalyptic fantasy where demons freely roam the world. The character interactions with their environment, foes and flashbacks are fabulously done.

Don’t get me wrong. Elisabeth Le Fanu is one delightfully twisted woman. But you may find yourself having a little sympathy as you get to know her dark past. Blink, and you might even find yourself rooting for her to succeed on the road to redemption. The legend of world salvation, undertaken by the maiden who had been condemned by the world.

Elisabeth is in fact one of my favorite anti-hero characters of all time, why is that? She is complex. She has layers. She is a (in-)human monster. I could say so many things about her without never shedding light on the depth of her complex personality. If you don't know her, you might say she's evil. If you come to unveil the truth behind her actions, you will come to understand that there might be more behind the facade of cruelty.. another pitiful victim? There's no need telling that Elisabeth is infuriating, sarcastic, selfish, smart-ass, ruthless.. if you only know her on the surface. Of course all these words could define her but the only thing you need to know is that you're going to have to brace yourself because we have a female lead who is not just words. And damn, I loved that. Indeed it gives the plot so much more depth! Last but not least, the art. The art of 'Ukai Saki' is the icing on the cake, making for a perfect overall picture with each new volume.

One last warning, it's dark, incredibly dark! Don't read the novel, if you can't deal with cruel themes like torture, depicting numerous atrocities in colorful words, and as means to reach one's goal. Dark fantasy is and will always be for adults, and not kids. It's the kind of story you won't find very often, especially in the Japanese novel section, a real outstanding reading treat and fabulous piece of written art.

-> Keep in mind that this a preview, where the final score can change at the appropriate time.

First things first, this is one of my favorite novels, and I've already read a lot of them, darker fantasy is definitely a theme worth to read, because of the more mature story-telling and well thought out realism.

"Shinigami wo Tabeta Shoujo" (The Girl Who Ate a Death God/Girl Who Ate Death) tells the story of a young, cheerful, but twisted girl seeking out revenge, one that clearly centers around a ruthless female lead. Little by little, as the journey progresses we come to know that Shera was only one more of those pitiful victims created by the corrupted parts of the war raging throughout the ... lands. In simple terms, a menace birthed out of man's own cruelty.

Tags: Dark, Fanaticism, Female Protagonist, Gluttony, Magic, Military, Politics, Protagonist Strong from the Start, Ruthless Female Lead, Strong Female Lead, War Records, Wars

Story: The main focus of the novel is the horrible elements around war, how people suffer through death, injury and starvation and the strife that comes after, as well as living on to the best of one's ability. It includes the nastiness of politics and how inept leadership becomes because of it, commanding thousands of people. As it goes on it does have many heroic moments and feats, but it also does well to include the other side. Well, what that means should be as clear as day, numerous tragic moments and much suffering especially near the end. Please understand when reading this, war is gruesome and bloody, but "Shinigami wo Tabeta Shoujo" portrays fascinating that the world is not just black and white, but comes in many shades of gray. One often finds oneself caught up in or entangled by a single question, who to sympathize with during the conflict?

The setting is rather modest, but by no means bad, you'll find yourself easily captivated. A kingdom under civil war, with a rebellion against a tyrannical government. There's even more to it, as not everything is as simple as it seems to be. The rebellion of the supposed to be good "Liberation Army" isn't as righteous as they make themselves out to be, warping information and committing acts of war crimes. The surrounding countries look at the inner dispute with greedy eyes and hands, waiting for their chance to rise.

Character: As I said before, our heroine is the byproduct of war. She, and her warped nature, came to existence because she was always starving and on the brink of being killed when her village was pillaged, what followed was pure hatred. That's why Shera joined the military for two simple reasons, consume tasty food and the lives of the rebels, which became her sole raison d'être.. literally endlessly hungering. Be that as it may, she eats with all her cheerfulness but her taste is directly affected with her emotions, to the point where it became symbolism - the food is a direct representation of the circumstances in which they were given.

Shera gets a lot of comrades fighting beside her, and makes many enemies. Some try to pull her to their political struggle, some wish for her to fall in combat, and yet others glorify the little girl as a living incarnation of death - worship that borders on fanatism. A death god, mowing down enemies left and right like the crops on a wheatfield. Still, Shera slightly opens up to her comrades-in-arms, whom become something along the lines of family for our beloved heroine. The character development is adequate and well thought out, you can't help but root for her, but read for yourself - the feelings are real!

Enjoyment: To cut a long story short, an absolute satisfying read from the beginning to the end, great fights and emotional roller coaster ride, magnificent story development and world building, including character progress, as well as their interactions with one another.

The novel is one of several works from the same author, named Nanasawa Matari. All of them share one universe, and they are very well-written. Give them a try!