Madan no Ichi debuted with huge hype here in the West. On MangaPlus, it surpassed the 100,000 view mark, and on our site, many people read my first impressions. Opinions in the West ended up being quite diverse, with some people loving the series (especially on Reddit), while others were more disappointed, as seen here on Analyse It.
In Japan, the hype also seems to be big, but opinions leaned more toward the positive side, although there were still some criticisms. On Jump Matome, which had over 600 comments in 24 hours, most readers praised the chapter, particularly regarding its art and paneling: “Even with many dialogues, the chapter flowed quickly”, “The art is simply spectacular”, “The art is really good, I’m looking forward to the next chapters.”
Shiro Usazaki, the series’ illustrator, was already beloved by the Jump Matome and 2ch communities, the two main forums I consulted. So, upon reading this chapter, readers were charmed by the art. Some even made it clear that it was the art that held their attention: “I still don’t fully understand the setting, but since the drawings are so good, I can follow along”, or, as one Twitter user said, “The story seems pretty weak, but the art elevates the mundane.”
The praise continued regarding the story’s initial atmosphere. A 2ch reader compared the first pages to Hunter x Hunter, while another, on Jump Matome, praised the fact that the series isn’t set in a modern setting: “Amidst so many modern manga in Jump, Madan no Ichi ends up being refreshing.” Iruma-Kun fans also joined the discussion, praising the story and comparing Ichi to Iruma, saying they both have a similar beginning (in a positive tone).
However, not everything was praise: while Jump Matome saw more compliments than criticisms, Animanch had several critiques, mainly focused on two points that were also mentioned by some on 2ch. The first is the comedy during dramatic moments, which for some, broke the manga’s atmosphere: “The atmosphere is serious since it’s life or death, but the enemies have a comedic attitude, which makes it feel a bit disjointed.”
This comment received the following response: “Did they do this on purpose so it wouldn’t be too heavy? Also, it seems hard to introduce male characters, but will they show up in a knightly role? Without male characters, it won’t have that impact, right?” which added a second concern among some readers.
It’s interesting to note that Madan no Ichi, unlike manga like Nue no Onmyouji, didn’t attract many people asking for ecchi or harem, even though there were several compliments about the characters’ appearance. Perhaps because they don’t expect this from the artist Shiro Usazaki and Osamu Nishi. If it had attracted more of Nue no Onmyouji’s readers, they would probably be excited about having only “witches” and no wizards. However, since the series goes beyond that niche, a few people expressed concerns about the possible lack of male characters.
Returning to the discussion about the use of comedy, this issue wasn’t only raised on Jump Matome. Several people commented similarly on Animanch: “The comedy scenes during fights were the only thing I didn’t really like… The same happened with Kiyoshi, when the enemy made a funny face in an exciting scene, honestly, I can’t get into the mood.”
However, the most criticized point (even if not by the majority), especially on Animanch, was the excess of text. While most praised the manga, a significant portion of readers on certain forums and sites criticized the amount of narration and explanation, even sparking a more heated defense from an Animanch reader: “Honestly, people saying this is hard to read probably have little skill reading manga, so they shouldn’t criticize so arrogantly.”
Still, instead of agreeing with him, most comments continued to argue that the first chapter suffered from an excess of text, as said in this response: “The part about explaining the magical creatures could have been left for the second chapter, maybe. They could have focused more on the protagonist’s characterization and the ‘life against life’ fight, then a monster would appear, and suddenly he would transform into a dark wizard. At the beginning of the second chapter, water magic could be explained more lightly. They probably wanted to finish explaining the universe while keeping the reader interested with the author’s name.”
Another response also agreed with the text overload but defended its use: “There’s no doubt there’s a bit of an over-explanation. But if they don’t explain everything quickly in the first chapter, it’s almost certain it will get canceled in Jump. Still, the reading flows well, which is impressive.” And maybe that’s the main positive point of this introduction to Madan no Ichi: THE FLOW OF READING.
The Japanese fell in love with the art and really liked how the paneling makes the reader flow through the pages: “The story becomes magical like the manga due to the drawings.” This was one of the most praised elements and dominated a fundamental part of the discussion. The character design was also a hot topic with many compliments, as people discussed which of the two witches introduced is the prettiest: “Isn’t the dark-skinned witch so beautiful?” or “Monegold seems so graceful, I want to see more of her immediately.” Others didn’t even comment on which one they preferred, simply stating they were happy to have beautiful female characters.
Madan no Ichi thus had a mostly positive reception, with many comments praising the manga, although some concerns emerged. We’ll have to see how these concerns evolve in the upcoming chapters, as it’s common for a series’ first chapters to be well-received. It’s undeniable that Madan no Ichi started off on the right foot in Japan, and now the duo of authors must work to maintain this good reception. What did you think of Madan no Ichi?
