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 started reading this thinking that this maybe just normal stuff with some emotional scenes. However, as all manga of this author, Gokukoku no Brynhildr is really one of a kind manga. It has totally everything that could hook you up, from a typical cute innocent girl to counting the day that you are going to die hopelessly, from gory dark to a moment of brilliance. The manga started so well, at this moment, I think that this manga has so much potential to be better than Elfen Lied, and maybe one of the best seinen manga out there.

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.

10/10 this series has it all
art,melodrama, sci-fi, horror, mystery, romance, aliens, secret organization, action, gore, psychology.

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

Okamoto lynn it's genius thats all i have to say wile people are talking about similarities with elfen lied thats not true at all it's completely different and its mindblowing and the characters are awesome highly enjoyable this manga it's a win win read even if it just started.

From the creators of Elfen Lied, we now bring you... Kiwaguro no Brynhildr...
Featuring.. MOAR gals being experiments and being killed! YAY!
Okamoto Lynn.. You sick bastard...

Lol, jokes aside though, this manga is still in its "infant" stage. We really cannot tell the direction of where it's heading EXCEPT it's similarities compared to Elfen Lied, which I consider a masterpiece on dark psychology. So imma keep checking on this title and let's hope it can be just as good a read.

... Last updated on March 17th, 2012, 3:31pm

"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

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

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