I've never been grateful that I have gone straight to the ending. I was at chapter 16 when I suddenly want to know the ending and gosh, I am so glad I did. This is actually a harem one. A reverse harem turned harem, I think. I originally thought it was like the ml being a faithful attendant of the villainess but no! He build his harem, wtf? Thank goodness I didn't waste my time reading this!NEXT TIME, PLEASE ADD ALL NEEDED TAGS!!!
Story:
Byakuya Zaushi consists of five stories; the first four are relatively brief horror tales, but the final story is considerably longer and centers on a girl whose tribe and brother were massacred by Tibaria, a nation seeking to expand its territory. Her brother's last words were those of a pure white angel of death. The girl, named Jildora, resolves to find the person responsible for her brother's murder.
The first four horror stories are quite well-crafted. I particularly appreciated how most of the endings were left open-ended (except for the second one), which added an extra layer of unease to the narratives. While the stories themselves weren't overly terrifying, I enjoyed their supernatural elements—they deal with oni, living spirits, death, and curses in that order.
However, the last story feels out of place. It isn't a horror tale at all, and its narrative style differs significantly from the preceding ones. It's not poorly written, but it was odd to encounter a love story within a collection of horror tales that had no connection to romance. The story itself lacked originality, leading me to believe the author decided to include an earlier one-shot she had written. This choice, in my opinion, was ill-advised because the mood of the first four stories contrasts sharply with the final one, which is why I rated Byakuya a 6 instead of a 7.
Art:
The artwork is stunningly beautiful, featuring slender figures and eyes that I found particularly appealing (though this may be a personal preference). Once again, there's a noticeable disparity between the art in the first four horror stories and the last one. This reinforces my suspicion that the author included an older work of hers. The art in the final story leans more toward mainstream styles compared to the others. I prefer the art in the four short stories due to its distinctively striking eyes and overall aesthetic appeal.
Characters:
As this is a one-shot comprised of five distinct stories, the characters don't have much time to develop. Nevertheless, you can still get a general sense of them, especially in the last story. The characters didn't captivate me much, particularly those from the final story, which felt like standard shoujo archetypes.
Conclusion:
It's clear that I'm not a fan of the last story in this collection. Not only did it disrupt the manga's overall dark atmosphere, but it was also rather uninspired. The premise shows potential at the start (a girl seeking revenge for her brother's death), but it quickly descends into a predictable fairytale. Prince Charming rescues the girl, and the girl falls for Prince Charming—there are a few twists, but they're so obvious that they become painful to endure.
Overall, I recommend anyone in the mood for some mildly unsettling horror check out the first four stories. They're quite good and will likely keep you entertained. I suggest skipping the last story unless you're in the mood for some conventional shoujo romance. Byakuya lost a point due to this final story; I truly disliked the abrupt genre shift, and it left a sour impression.
Popular Reviews
Byakuya Zaushi consists of five stories; the first four are relatively brief horror tales, but the final story is considerably longer and centers on a girl whose tribe and brother were massacred by Tibaria, a nation seeking to expand its territory. Her brother's last words were those of a pure white angel of death. The girl, named Jildora, resolves to find the person responsible for her brother's murder.
The first four horror stories are quite well-crafted. I particularly appreciated how most of the endings were left open-ended (except for the second one), which added an extra layer of unease to the narratives. While the stories themselves weren't overly terrifying, I enjoyed their supernatural elements—they deal with oni, living spirits, death, and curses in that order.
However, the last story feels out of place. It isn't a horror tale at all, and its narrative style differs significantly from the preceding ones. It's not poorly written, but it was odd to encounter a love story within a collection of horror tales that had no connection to romance. The story itself lacked originality, leading me to believe the author decided to include an earlier one-shot she had written. This choice, in my opinion, was ill-advised because the mood of the first four stories contrasts sharply with the final one, which is why I rated Byakuya a 6 instead of a 7.
Art:
The artwork is stunningly beautiful, featuring slender figures and eyes that I found particularly appealing (though this may be a personal preference). Once again, there's a noticeable disparity between the art in the first four horror stories and the last one. This reinforces my suspicion that the author included an older work of hers. The art in the final story leans more toward mainstream styles compared to the others. I prefer the art in the four short stories due to its distinctively striking eyes and overall aesthetic appeal.
Characters:
As this is a one-shot comprised of five distinct stories, the characters don't have much time to develop. Nevertheless, you can still get a general sense of them, especially in the last story. The characters didn't captivate me much, particularly those from the final story, which felt like standard shoujo archetypes.
Conclusion:
It's clear that I'm not a fan of the last story in this collection. Not only did it disrupt the manga's overall dark atmosphere, but it was also rather uninspired. The premise shows potential at the start (a girl seeking revenge for her brother's death), but it quickly descends into a predictable fairytale. Prince Charming rescues the girl, and the girl falls for Prince Charming—there are a few twists, but they're so obvious that they become painful to endure.
Overall, I recommend anyone in the mood for some mildly unsettling horror check out the first four stories. They're quite good and will likely keep you entertained. I suggest skipping the last story unless you're in the mood for some conventional shoujo romance. Byakuya lost a point due to this final story; I truly disliked the abrupt genre shift, and it left a sour impression.