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Okay lemme level with you - this really just hit differently. A lot of people have left quite negative reviews and I'm doing my duty to clean this nonsense up.

Story - 10

The story of this manga starts off with a group of children living in an orphanage who find out that they are actually being raised as food for demons to eat. After finding this out they begin to plot how to escape this fate in the few months before the next child will be "shipped." As a vegetarian myself I found this premise and the ethics/morals surrounding it very interesting and have always ... enjoyed hearing other peoples reactions to this storyline in comparison to what we as humans do. Throughout the whole series this topic is shown in more gruesome detail with storylines featuring mass production factory farms, animal (here human) testing and experiments as well as exploring the topics of hunting. It is honestly hard at times to read and while reading the comments on the chapters it seemed a lot of people were forced to face their own morals and became a little more aware about their actions. Of course, even if you're not a vegetarian this theme isn't too shoved down your throat and you can enjoy the ethics and morals around it.

The first major arc definitely differs in genres to the rest of the story but that isn't to say it doesn't stay good. A lot of reviews state that the first arc is a 10/10 and the rest of the story afterwards is average at best. I disagree.

If you like the idea of an escape arc filled with psychological twists and horror but don't like the idea of the fantasy world afterwards and the further exploration of the above topics - watch the anime. The anime in my opinion did the first arc better than the manga did. I enjoyed watching it and it worked so much better as an anime. However if you're interested in the plot point more then pick up the manga instead. Despite the genre's changing the storyline and plot stays the same.

Another common theme in reviews is how the Goldy Pond arc is where it peaks and the ending is rushed and disappointing. I agree the Goldy Pond arc is one of the best arcs in any anime/manga I've experienced. However, this doesn't mean the rest falls short. You might feel like some aspects are a little rushed - but as someone with a short attention span I actually appreciated that every chapter something was happening and it wasn't dragged out. Time skips were used effectively to make sure that main topics weren't rushed but also weren't dwelled on. These timeskips allowed for characters to plan what would happen next and it was able to take place without loads of chapters of planning and exploring.

The ending appears to get a lot of hate but as someone who actually prefers unhappy endings, this ending was somewhere in the middle between happy and unhappy. It's not terribly typical but also doesn't exactly hold the same consequences as the reader may want. I mean it made me cry so that's a win for me.

Characters - 9


Well the opinion on the characters is once again - split. The main three characters are Ray, Emma and Norman. I personally found other side characters enjoyable and cared when they were in trouble and was excited when they came to help.

Let's start with Emma - Emma is optimistic, stupid and caring. She puts others before herself and attempts to understand everyone no matter what they've done. If you enjoy characters like Naruto then you will enjoy this overly happy dumb knucklehead. At times Emma's optimism can be annoying but it's honestly not too bad though. It's refreshing in this world where corrupt is accepted and she is challenged by her friends multiple times and has to actively prove why her optimism is the correct way. People begin to trust in her because she proves herself - it's not blindly or unjustified. Emma does try as well. She tries so hard to become stronger and smarter and more wise so she can reach her dreams and goals while keeping everyone safe.

Now Ray. Despite being the most liked character, Ray is the worse of the main three in the manga. I love Ray and in the anime/escape arc he was amazing. He was given so much character development and twists and acted as such a crucial part to the story. This is why he is a fan favourite in the anime and it is well deserved. However sadly Ray's development sort of stops after chapter 40. Ray becomes the Sakura to Naruto. This isn't meant as an insult, I love Sakura myself. But despite having his strengths he is overshadowed by Emma's strong personality and decision making and ultimately if you removed Ray, the story would be no different. This isn't to say he's a bad character, you can still enjoy him but he just doesn't get any plot point between chapter 40 and 180.

And then there's Norman. Norman is my personal favourite. In the escape arc Norman plays as the middle man between Emma and Rays contrasting views on the situation however he admires Emma and ultimately wants to do what makes her happy. [Warning: heavy spoilers, it's hard to avoid when talking about Norman, skip to next character to avoid] Later on after Normans experiences he becomes the opposing force to contrast Emma's opinions and both of them hold justifiable views. Norman does indeed become a main plot point for the ending and despite not appearing as much as the other characters, he does indeed cause the most impact in the manga as a whole.

There's main other characters that I felt were so well written and of course there's some with more development than others.

Mama I constantly found myself split on, I could never quite tell if I liked her or forgave her actions. I did feel sometimes her actions contradicted her words however given her situation this could be justifiable. Krone is similar although not as further explored - she sorta acts as more background to the system and Mama's situation if anything.

Yuugo and Lucas were both very sweet written characters and although not a main focus in the story for long they were very impactful and no one can deny their lovability.

The Grace Field children ranging from Phil to Gilda, some of them may serve mainly as background characters but some are important. Although again not a main focus, these characters act to explore some topics aside from Emma which gives you a breathe of fresh air away from her. The other children met all had their moments however you'll probably find one particularly interesting and notice them a little more than the rest (for me it was Gillian, what a girl).

Sometimes the demons were a little hard to follow, I'm bad with Japanese names at the best of times, let alone when the demons don't have many defining characteristics. Due to this, which is my own personal issue, I never found myself too invested into any of the demons aside from Muscia, Lewis and Sonju. But I did enjoy these ones (altho Lewis' 180 was a bit confusing).

Art - 9

The art at the start was perfect for the horror elements and later on the fantasy world building was drawn beautifully. Emotions were portrayed so well, I found myself smiling at their smiles and tearing up with them. Perhaps sometimes simplistic or different *Norman* but nonetheless I never remember thinking "oh this page doesn't look great..."

Enjoyment - 10

I was worried when I read the reviews and I almost didn't read it. But I enjoyed Norman a lot and needed to know what happened after the anime and I'm so glad despite the critical reviews on this page that I decided to pick it up anyway. This manga quickly turned into my favourite and I enjoyed whenever I was able to read it.

Overall - 10

Overall I find the story interesting, the characters well developed and the art enjoyable and emotional. Perhaps if you're only interested in the escape arc with the psychological aspects watch the anime but if you find the plot point interesting then do give the book a read instead.

I really really loved this season. Yumeko overall is adorable and I love her character - I really didn't expect her to be so kind and just have a hard on for gambling. Mary and Yumeko's relationship dynamic is sweet.

I really enjoyed the psychological mind games and the way Yumeko was able to overcome the cheating and figure it out. I enjoyed most of the characters aside from Sayaka and Yumemi however they weren't in it too much.

The sexual faces and what not is very cringy but you get over it, it's fiiiiiine.

Story 9, art 9, sound 9, characters 10 (we ignore ... Yume and Sayaka) and overall enjoyment solid 9.

I really loved the story for this reason - I think it brought a really interesting concept in and was a good way to keep the series going. The first couple episodes were immaculate however despite enjoying it, I just felt it didn't live up to the first season.

The "gambles" in this season mostly felt more like games rather than actual gambles, the escape room could have been great but I just wasn't feeling it. Plus Yumemi and Sayaka take up half the season and they're just kind of shit characters really...

Overall, I can't fault the story, art or music but the choice of ... characters to focus on rather than the new interesting characters along with the shift from gambling to gaming meant I enjoyed it less than the first.