Necromance Vol. 1 [Manga Review]

The Adventure of an Undead Hero and His Holy Bride

These past couple of years have seen the rise of high fantasy manga full of shining armor and magic fireballs. Most of them are just another incarnation of the isekai genre, but some of them are genuine high fantasy stories without any trace of modern-day knowledge and technology within the plot. Necromance is one such manga – here’s our review of the first volume!

Contains Spoilers

Discussion Time

The party of heroes storms the Demon King’s lair to put an end to his reign of terror. And they succeed, but at a great cost. The holy knight Shibuki Raven, the leader of the party, loses his life. Though he doesn’t have any problem dying to save the nation, there are actually tons of other things that he still wants to do, such as confess his love to his crush – the priestess of his group, Safi.

Lo and behold, at his funeral which is attended by every citizen and noble of the Platinum Kingdom, he is resurrected as an undead. Apparently, the Demon King is still alive and his curse lingers inside Shibuki’s body. So now, the party of heroes has to get back together to hunt the Demon King all over again. Only this time, they are being led by a literal zombie.

1. Lighthearted Story

Despite the fact that the stakes are actually very high to the main character, Doumoto-sensei does a fantastic job at presenting the story in a very light and easy-going manner. Instead of worrying about his status as an undead or what will happen to him once they kill the Demon King, Shibuki chooses to enjoy their adventure instead.

There are comedic moments scattered throughout the story that actually make fun of Shibuki’s condition, such as the time when he tries to embrace Safi but gets instantly burned by her holy element instead. The author is somehow able to make us forget about the undead curse so that, when he does remind us again through the punchlines, the comedy hits even harder.

2. A Solid Foundation

This first volume sees the beginning of the journey for this party. It introduces the characters, opens up the world, and sets up the foundation of the story. And through the aforementioned comedic moments, the author also manages to set the overall tone and atmosphere of the story.

That being said, Doumoto-sensei also provides some foreshadowing here and there, such as a silhouette of a man with a sword who stands in front of a legion of monsters. This kind of thing makes readers speculate about things to come, and therefore makes them eager to read the next volumes.

1. A Dime-a-Dozen Story

Though Necromance adds its own unique flair to the standard fantasy story, it is basically about a hero’s journey to defeat an evil overlord. You can change the motivation, the magic system, the rules of the world, and the actual end goal, but it’s all still a cosmetic change to what is essentially a dime-a-dozen story.

From The Lord of The Rings to Goblin Slayer, we have seen all kinds of explorations that can be done with this genre. So considering how massive high fantasy has become, avid readers can pretty much guess how this story will develop. And that could kill the potential excitement that readers might have for Necromance.

Final Thoughts

This review begins by talking about how the high fantasy genre has become super popular these days. For Necromance, that could translate into a chance to hop onto the success of the hero’s journey bandwagon or it could risk a lukewarm welcome from readers who’ve gotten tired from reading different shades of the same concept all the time.

Granted, there are lots of great things in this first volume. Doumoto-sensei has also set up a nice foundation and several hooks to entice the readers to read more. This is a solid start, but whether or not readers will follow the series depends highly on the second volume.

But maybe you have read Necromance and disagree with this review? Or perhaps this review has made you even more interested to pick up this series? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.