Otakuism

Story:

When the Exoda Ring is formed in the sky the great demon Satan Exoda C. Crown is revived along with his island Shina Dark. To appease the demon all the nations of the world send one thousand young virgins to satisfy his legendary lust. The only problem is that Satan has no lust at all, nor does he want to destroy anything. He just wants to lay around and go fishing. But now this apathetic demon lord is stuck taking care of a thousand girls and it’s up to him to take care of them all and make them happy. Satan is aided by his butler, the actually evil looking Vincent, his maid, Noel who commands an army of tiny robots, and the two princesses who have taken the most interest in him, Garet of the Vansable Empire and Christina of the Estgloria Kingdom.

Impression:

Shina Dark is an incredibly fun little series. While it has its fair share of fantasy cliches, everything from the characters to the setting comes off as very refreshing. A lot of this has to do with how great Satan is as a main character. He’s a strong guy in his own right, willing to stand up for what’s wrong and, as befitting a demon lord, the strongest in the world, but his personality is so laid back it allows for him to be the butt of many jokes. The other characters are also all suitably funny. The straight faced Vincent is always great, especially when people mistake him for the legendary pervert Satan. Noel is the hapless and clumsy maid, while Garet is gung-ho about everything. Christina doesn’t really have anything that makes her a very funny character, but the story is already hinting at a darker past and future for her.

Indeed, despite the many jokes and comedic situations in the series there’s still some serious plots going on, mainly what to do with all those women. The artwork is all very nice to look at, with each girl looking suitably cute. The action scenes, of which there are a couple so far, could be drawn less hectic. Shina Dark is a pretty short series right now, three volumes with only two translated, but I really like what I see right now. Its premise is unique, the characters are fun, and the whole thing is refreshing to read; perfect for anyone looking for a light, fantasy-themed story.

Despite the manga being so short, it’s already getting an anime adaption, done no less by SHAFT and directed by Akiyuki Shinbo. The trailer is up and it looks very faithful to the manga so far. Also probably does a better job of describing the series than i can. I don’t know how they can do an anime already, but hopefully it will be as fun as the manga.