Shina Dark is like a little curious child that is eager to try out everything in reach which might seem promising one way or another. Similarly it is unable to decide what to do or what it wants to be and never manages to finish what it started.
It all begins with the revival of the demon lord 'Exoda Zero Clow' (henceforth simply referred to as Satan) which happens every 100 years during an eclipse. According to the legends he is an evil powerful being whose thirst for blood comes second only to his lustful desire for beautiful virgins. That is why, in order to appease
...
his wrath, the various nations of the world sent their most beautiful women and princesses as sacrifices to his island, Shina Dark. There's just one problem – Satan is actually a good guy who only longs for peace.
So much for the premise. Surely, it's not the first time we hear a story about a demon lord who doesn't quite meet the expectations associated with his title. And it's also not the first time our protagonist is surrounded by a bunch of beautiful women (whose only purpose is to please him). Still, it's not too bad of an outset. In fact, if it wasn't for the comedic part and the mess that it turns into later on, it could raise some interesting questions about the definition of good and evil, prejudices and inevitable conflicts.
So, what goes wrong? In order to elaborate on that, let me introduce some important characters first.
First of all there's Satan, of course. He is a pretty easy-going and lazy fellow who only wishes to savour his days in peace. On the other hand, he is good-natured, caring and willing to help others whenever they are in need of it. Somehow, he seems to have had a sad past as every now and then he indulges himself in reminiscences of a woman who apparently had a fairly big impact on his life. Unfortunately, we never learn anything about that woman or how she was related to Satan and the way he is now, at all. We can only guess.
Besides Satan, his butler and his maid (who both mostly exist for the humorous part of the manga), there are two highly important former princesses, namely Galett Fey Sowauge and Christina Rey Holden, who were sent as sacrifices to Shina Dark by their countries. Galett is a strong, righteous girl who wishes to be of use to others. Christina, on the other hand, is a shy, insecure and frail girl who only wishes for a place that she belongs to. The former abandoned by her parents, the latter abandoned by her nation. In addition to their origin from enemy nations they possess various contradictory traits which makes it difficult for them to form a lasting friendship.
In the beginning those two big-breasted beauties mainly serve to accumulate the amount of ecchi scenes and emphasize the harem-elements of the manga. (There is, however, no real romance in Shina Dark.) Later on, when the story starts to focus more on these characters, their past, their motives, what troubles and what drives them, emotional drama starts to replace the images of their bodily features (most of it at least).
Still sounds interesting? Well, yes, it is - to some extend. The real problems come with the execution. Somehow, Shina Dark just can't decide what it wants to be. It is constantly changing between various plot-elements, genres and the direction the characters are developing into.
For instance, it starts as a simple ecchi comedy harem, then gains an emphasis on the princesses' story whereby simaltanously many political as well as some economical issues arise. Tensions between opposing nations, historical events, conquests and wars and the colleteral problems that come with it; all of that is mentioned but never explained or elaborated on, much less tried to resolve. Many characters are introduced, mainly relatives of Galett and Christina, but never given any purpose.
Furthermore, monsters emerge from the depths of the world and Shina Dark turns into some kind of battle shounen (not quite though), even worse as it suddenly obtains RPG elements which really don't make any sense at all. Lastly, we get some mystery and horror components mixed in which just seem completely out of place.
Shina Dark fails to fully focus on even one of those aspects and the few solutions that it does manage to give to the huge amount of questions raised are mostly dull and implausible. Why would Satan, for instance, a good-natured helping guy, watch the population of his island fight some legendary beast which they can hardly deal with – whereby many sacrifices are given – just so that the two princesses can strengthen their resolves and their relationship to each other? And why do the people suddenly stop believing in the legends and voluntarily move to Satan's island, although he was considered an evil wrathful being which has to be slayed as fast as possible for hundreds of years (apparently, he proved them wrong – in no time at all, with no effort at all)?
Shina Dark uses too many plot devices with no real structure or concept behind it and thereby only manages to be average at most things. It did have its potential. And if it didn't leave everything unanswered or with unsatisfying dull solutions it would have been a much more interesting read.
Still, it's not as bad as my score might indicate. It has its good aspects. The art is one of them. It is clean and lucid. The character design is typical for an ecchi manga and said characters are drawn rather well. There is nothing to complain about here. It should meet the requirements of most readers – including myself; at least if you aren't turned down by some bare skin.
Perhaps if this troubled child were given a future, that is to say a sequel which further elaborates on the many questions raised and solves the numerous problems that emerged in Shina Dark, then it could turn into a fairly interesting being that, hopefully, won't leave a messy trail of the things it played with behind. So let's hope it gets that future, along with the ability to eradicate its flaws.
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Feb 22, 2012
Shina Dark is like a little curious child that is eager to try out everything in reach which might seem promising one way or another. Similarly it is unable to decide what to do or what it wants to be and never manages to finish what it started.
It all begins with the revival of the demon lord 'Exoda Zero Clow' (henceforth simply referred to as Satan) which happens every 100 years during an eclipse. According to the legends he is an evil powerful being whose thirst for blood comes second only to his lustful desire for beautiful virgins. That is why, in order to appease ... 
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