Ishura, Vol. 1: The New Demon King War

異修羅 #1

by Keiso

In a world where the Demon King has died, a host of demigods capable of felling him have inherited the world. A master fencer who can figure out how to take out their opponents with a single glance; a lancer so swift they can break the sound barrier; a wyvern rogue who fights with three legendary weapons at once; an all-powerful wizard who can speak thoughts into being; an angelic assassin who deals instant death. Eager to attain the title of “True Hero,” these champions each pursue challenges against formidable foes and spark conflicts among themselves. The battle to determine the mightiest of the mighty begins.

Genres: Light Novel, Fantasy, Manga, Action, Fiction

369 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 17, 2019

Reviews

[Rebecca]

Thank goodness someone's bailing me out on this one, because I just couldn't. Some days it's easy to be the goddamn professional I occasionally have to remind myself I am. Others...not so much.

[Natalia Wojcik-Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's...fine. The localisation falls apart toward the end, and sometimes it feels like the author is into some weird shit and they're focused on it way too much over the action or story- shout-out to Dakai's feet especially for this. There are good bones to this story, but ten chapters in it's still introducing characters, and the whole thing feels overstuffed. Brisk and dragged out all at once by the time it hits chapter 20, too. I wanted to like it more than I did.

[Akshay · Rating 3 out of 5]

Ishura, Vol. 1: The New Demon King War by Keiso: A Review with Comparative Analysis

Ishura, Vol. 1: The New Demon King War by Keiso introduces readers to a high-stakes fantasy world filled with powerful warriors, intricate battles, and political intrigue. While the novel boasts an engaging premise and well-crafted action sequences, it struggles to differentiate itself from its contemporaries in the crowded fantasy genre.

Keiso's writing style is vivid and detailed, effectively bringing to life the various combat scenes and the richly imagined world. The prose is accessible and dynamic, making it easy for readers to become absorbed in the fast-paced narrative. However, the plot occasionally feels derivative, echoing familiar tropes found in other fantasy series.

In Ishura, readers are thrust into a world where the death of the Demon King has left a power vacuum, prompting a fierce competition among the strongest warriors to claim the title. The story follows a diverse cast of characters, each with their own motivations and abilities, as they vie for supremacy. This setup provides a fertile ground for epic confrontations and strategic maneuvering.

When critically comparing Ishura, Vol. 1 to its contemporaries, such as Ryo Shirakome's Arifureta: From Commonplace to World's Strongest or Kugane Maruyama's Overlord, it becomes clear that while Ishura excels in delivering high-octane action, it lacks the depth and character development that make these other series stand out.

The characters in Ishura are varied and intriguing, yet they often feel underdeveloped. The narrative focuses heavily on their battles and power struggles, sometimes at the expense of exploring their backgrounds, personalities, and growth. This can make it challenging for readers to form a strong emotional connection with the characters.

Moreover, the plot, while engaging, follows a somewhat predictable trajectory. The themes of power, ambition, and rivalry are well-trodden territory in fantasy literature, and Ishura does little to subvert or innovate within these conventions. As a result, the story may feel familiar to seasoned fans of the genre, lacking the fresh perspective that distinguishes truly memorable works.

In conclusion, Ishura, Vol. 1: The New Demon King War by Keiso is a solid entry in the fantasy genre, offering thrilling action and a compelling premise. However, it falls short of distinguishing itself from its contemporaries due to its reliance on familiar tropes and underdeveloped character arcs. While it provides an entertaining read, those seeking deeper narrative complexity and character development may find it somewhat lacking.

Despite its shortcomings, Ishura has the potential to evolve in future volumes, especially if it delves deeper into character development and explores more unique plot twists. For now, it remains a promising but imperfect start to what could become a standout series in the fantasy genre.

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐ (3/5)

[Mocchi · Rating 4 out of 5]

"After the death of the Great Demon King, the world of Ishura faces lots of threats and separations between the races who were once united by the same emotion: fear. Furthermore, the Shura, great individuals capable of destroying countries by their own means, are inciting chaos everywhere they step. To unite the kingdoms once again and protect the powerless from such monsters, the kingdom of Aureatia proposes a deadly tournament where all the Shuras will fight each other until the new True Hero is born."

I don't usually write reviews, but the only one here doesn't make it justice. There're lots of criticisms you can have, but seriously, not understanding the dialogue? That's on you for not paying attention.

Anyways, without spoiling anything, it's important to understand what the first volume is about. The first half of the story is an introduction to the world, the context and the massive cast of characters (at least 15 I can think of rn). There's a political conflict involving 2 kingdoms after the death of the Great Demon King and they need to solve that before the promised tournament. So, the second half of the volume is the war.

If you like stories like those of Ryohgo Narita (Baccano, Durarara, Fate/strange Fake and more) you'll immediatly like the style used to follow all these characters. This cast includes lots of overpowered monsters like a swordsman who can cut through anything, a wyvern commanding a loyal flock, a skeleton who can break the sound barrier and more. Their powers are surprisingly well balanced and their fights are written with such levels off details that it makes you wonder how much money will the production of the anime need to faithfully adapt all these conflicts. Also, the author has no problem killing some of them so be careful with spoilers.

It is not an easy book to follow. The first chapters are a bit confusing since the author first throws you into this world without many info dumps. You gotta have patience and connect some dots to understand the character's relations and motivations. It took me like 2 weeks to get through the first half, but once the war starts it's a neverending compilation of incredible fights and well written conclusions to the characters who die. The slow pace at the start is a price worth paying for such a climax that leaves you satisfied with the conflicts and their resolutions.

Well, at least, that's what I can say about the first volume. Can't wait to start the second rn.

[Terrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ishura volume 1 audiobook is probably the best, most intense war based light novel volume I read since Realist Hero volume 2. Probably moreso here, since the stakes and the body count are a bit higher than Realist's.

Plot, which sees two nations pit against each other over a claim to freedom vs supremacy and over a potential claim to the title of Self-proclaimed Demon King, focuses on a lot of characters on the evil or selfish scale of morality, folks that are power hungry, crazy, or selfish. There's no one focus character, and a little over half the volume is setting up the cast before the conflict (not to say there aren't some intense moments and even some character death before that). I know that can be jarring, but I think listening in audio helped a bit so I could just let the plot clue me back into who we were following. Since it's a war, of course there's some characters who for various reasons fight for one side or another, so it's helpful to have some kind of notes to follow all that.

The story has a lot of lore and character backstory hinted at and not fully revealed, which is enticing for future volumes. I'd kind of like to see an Ishura 0 prequel that explores some of what happened before this current conflict.

I'm really fearful about what's going to happen to the characters that did manage to survive this conflict. I think there's three that I really like, and then the rest can die in a fire. That sounds negative, but I'm that person that likes to see terrible character's motives explored. I'm not looking forward to if this becomes a more standard Tournament Battle series like I think it might, I was actually really surprised volume 1 was more of a war for control and independence than a battle royale.

I read the audiobook version, which had very good performances / very vocal performances (be prepared for some screaming characters and death cries). My reservations would only be 1) They mispronounced Oreisha (I don't even know if I'm spelling it right because it's pronounced 3 different ways), 2) while there was a lot of range, I felt like some of the older character voices tended to blend in with each other (wise old men characters and Higuara in particular could blend).

Overall, definitely interested in continuing this one.

[Zevitjoss · Rating 3 out of 5]

As a major fan of titles such as Fate/Strange Fake I gave this a shot because of the similar vibes the synopsis gave of. It introduces a not small amount of important characters in this first volume in a book without any one true main protagonist. The book does a great job of making them all memorable. It might seem like a simple choice of world building quirkiness but the choice of having all the character have simple titles in their name really helped me remember all the different characters and their role in the story.

The world building an exposition flowed pretty well and naturally. It delivers quite well on the premise. If you're a fan of fantasy battle royales and/or action shonen you'll definitely enjoy this. The most major flaw I had with it was how poor the action flowed at times. I just don't think it was written clearly or perhaps the translation is flawed or maybe a little bit of both.

[GaidenSpence · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall it's ok maybe not for everyone as the author introduces a bunch of characters all at once and some had more depth than others but I think this will get fleshed out in later novels. Also some of the prose at start makes it hard to comprehend what exactly is going on at times but it becomes more cohesive later on.

[Tyas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Someone really live off writing the coolest characters out there and killing them off. Enviable. The writing produced, devastating, in a sweet way. I love it.

[Derek · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read on vacation a year ago. Was a good read. Truly felt like reading an anime.

[Lorna · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off okay but when they started to add more characters it was hard to remember what side they were on never mind their names.

I thought the 2nd half was better and it sets up things for volume 2!

[Reisen · Rating 2 out of 5]

The setting is pretty generic and "intentionally" bad but the author writes well so it evens out. Im not saying it's bad but I'd only buy the next volume if it was 30-40% off the cover price and had free shipping

Edit: it did have a huge sale but meh, doesnt worth it