...especially if you're a guy. After many years of living, I'm pretty sure that built into most men is a deep drive to protect women. This story very effectively taps that desire at the very beginning and keeps the male reader chasing the goal of keeping its female "witches" alive for many chapters.

Elfen Leid tapped the same motivation, but also mixed it up with the shame-laden human urge to see blood and gore in a disgusting way which made me hate the thing.

So anyone who wants to read this manga must be prepared to see a lot of young women suffer and probably die, because the deep desire to stop those awful acts is what motivates the smart male MC and propels his action which in turn drives the story. Luckily for the girls, he's VERY smart!

I've read from other reviewers that the story loses steam later, but for the first 30 or so chapter it's been compelling for me, so I'm sticking with it. However flawed it is later, it's a very fine and creative version of the classic protective hero melodrama that few men can resist.

... Last updated on June 19th, 2017, 3:06pm

Does this manga have, you know, themes? Or knowledge of pacing or foreshadowing? Everything after the point the anime covered is awful. Revolving door of characters, in and out, with singular traits. Over the top and needlessly complex lore. And a stunningly bad finale.

Brynhildr could have been something that was as good as Elfen Lied, but then it felt WAY too dragged out that the quality was s dreadful and convoluted it became so bad it's unspeakable, had huge regrets investing in this series for 3 years

I read all of Elfen Lied before starting this one and I've read Bryhildr till the latest chapter.
There are some similarities between the two but they are ultimately two different things and it is my opinion that this one is a huge improvement from Elfen Lied (the author was kind of rough around the edges at that time but he's drastically improved in writing and drawings with this series).

Mostly dark story but some lighthearted perhaps deadpan humour at surprising places and timing. Elfen Lied was darker in my opinion. Brynhildr has lots more comedy compared to Elfen Lied. From reading the author's work it seems like he is the type who makes the beginning to be so harsh and hopeless but happiness and salvation CAN be achieved through constant struggle. So its not like its alllllwaaayyyss so depressing.

Bottom line: The Padawan approves.

Also, McCasper's review below is spot on.
The Padawan approves that too.

... Last updated on March 5th, 2015, 2:44pm

pretty good i like the tragedy and timely comedy its EPIC even though its a very heavy manga the comedy makes it very light i think the MC is the only flaw, the author makes it look like hes a genius but fails to do so you just wont get that kind of vibe no mater how you read it other than that its EPIC!!

... Last updated on October 17th, 2015, 4:47pm

Mr. McCapers already said it... the thrills are just simply awesome. The way the author wrap th thrill action, despair, romance, n subtle comedy is able to stir the readers completely... the plot is keep twisting in th same arc, makes it more difficult to predict the story n th outcome.
Damn... I must admit that th author is genius in stirring readers' emotion. Thanks for th author n the scanlator... good luck for you all...

As far as I have read manga, this one really does hopelessness the best. I mean there's always a sliver of hope for the main characters but always only a sliver. The MCs are always just a few precious moments away from death and that constant pressure casts all of their seemingly normal actions in a peculiar light. We have school trips, the beach episode, love rivals and even studying for finals. All these normal high school manga activities all while the main cast knows that they will probably die before the year ends. It's also amazing how well the mystery element compliments this sense of dread. There's a rush of hope with every new lead only to be dashed when confronted with the cold, hard reality. Even their victories and discoveries only seem to postpone the inevitable . However, there is always that sliver of hope that keeps the manga from becoming too depressing.

Even the battles actually play out kind of like a mystery. Without giving away too many details, The actual confrontations are usually short and bloody.

The story element, as I've said, is superb. The characters are also fairly well made but, I keep hoping for some more character development. The art is... good, I guess? (I usually don't pay much attention to the art) It has plenty of gore as well, if that's your thing. The ecchiness shows up occasionally but so far I haven't noticed anything explicit. Also, each of the girls, despite each having a supernatural power, is seemingly helpless without the male lead. He buys food for them, provides shelter for them, and seems to be the only one who puts thought into chasing down the precious leads that I mentioned.

Finally, I don't understand where all of the complaints about the main character are coming from. It's true, he isn't as expressive as, say, Luffy from One Piece but that simply isn't Murakami's type of character. Murakami is the the calm, rational type of protagonist and as far as that type of protagonist goes, he is actually very expressive. He gets lost in thought, he gets angry, he cries, he gets worried when he or his friends are in danger and yells out to them in concern, he cracks jokes and, yes, he even laughed once. Honestly, with this type of tragic manga, it would be weirder if he laughed more often. He's at least more expressive than Akiyama from Liar Game or Tatsuya from Mahouka Koukou no Rettousei, and neither of those protagonists get flak for not being expressive. Murakami might not be a great protagonist hell, he might not even be a good protagonist (though I like him), but he isn't weighing this manga down with his expressions.

... Last updated on June 16th, 2014, 9:36am

I really like this manga, and it has the same aspects of the author's earlier work, Elfen Lied. Instead of invisible hands, it's super powers that somehow deals with aliens; and later into the manga, it is explained.

In which, I enjoy most of the characters (but I can never seem to remember their names); two of them Kazumi and another girl are really easy to mix up with almost the same hairstyle. Each girl has a super power, while taking away from it's user (example: their sense of morals)

Ryouta is a good character. I just sometimes wonder how the heck does he have enough money to support these girls.

The updates for this story was slow, but now it's caught up. The pacing is good, though it skips ahead without explaining some details. There are girls that you want to join the group, while others you wish wouldn't have been made; but neither is much of a choice seeing as how each one of them has a big chance of being killed.

This is a good story. There's some ecchi when it comes to boobs, but it's more lite compared to the author's previous work. The gore is also lite, it shows more towards the end of the arch; and not many deaths of randoms.

... Last updated on June 2nd, 2014, 3:03pm

"The main guy seems to be always on either taking-a-shit mode or did-you-just-murder-my-family mode"
you made me laugh so hard.

but i love the plot,
and the magic mechanic pretty interesting,
reccomended for mystery fans

This is one of the stories were new characters are introduced here and there and after a few chapters they are killed(in some horrible way). While this is annoying, the plot is interesting, a well paced character development, decent artwork with some subtle romance and comedy to lighten the dark story a bit. It has all the elements to develop into a complex and beautiful story that will make it memorable.