- Mangaka : Yoruhashi
- Publisher : Seven Seas Entertainment
- Genre : Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Magic, Shounen, Ecchi
- Published : December 2020 - Ongoing
Hametsu no Oukoku (The Kingdoms of Ruin) Introduction
Humanity has been living in harmony with witches for a very long time. However, technology has advanced tremendously, making witches’ power to become unnecessary. Feeling resentment and fear, the greatest nation in the world begins a brutal witch hunt and eliminates all witches from the land. After being forced to watch his beloved teacher die, Adonis, the witch’s apprentice, swears to revenge on the empire that took everything away from him. This is a battle between science and magic! A lone wizard versus the entire human kingdom with science and technology on their side. Who will rise and who will fall? Join us and witness the battle!
Contains Spoilers
Discussion Time
After reading the first page, after the table of contents, we thought oh that’s nice, witches, and humans working together to build a beautiful world. The next page, yikes. Get ready this manga is filled with gore and disturbing scenes, so you have been warned about this. The action and magic are fantastic and filled with a lot of firepower for sure. The story focused on Adonis. His thirst for vengeance is over the top, and you couldn’t be helped but feel his pain from losing someone he loves, who gives him meaning in life when his master took him in as her apprentice. The story is pretty deep and focuses on politics between witches and humans, the apparent distinction when it comes to modern and fantasy clothing.
1. Magic
The relationship between Adonis and Chloe is similar to Witch Hunter, a manhwa, and you probably can tell from the beginning of how they interact with each other. We thought they are somewhere in a fantasy world, but it wasn’t when a group of security forces coming their way. The approach of changing text fonts and bubbles to align with their technology is perfect! The effects of their magic, the magic circles, magic scripts resonate our interests with them, and appreciate the details Yoruhashi had put effort into it.
2. Politics
We know that technology makes everything easy in our daily lives. Still, wow, the emperor of the Redia Empire, Goethe, just have to give out orders of executing witches just because they don’t need their assistance is pretty dumb. But hey, this manga is about vengeance anyway and it shows how scary humanity can be when we have someone who has the power to make stupid decisions for their own selfish needs instead of a democracy that includes both humans and witches. Yes, politics may sound boring or negative. Still, they will be necessary to everyone eventually as your future relies on the leaders, so vote for someone who genuinely cares for the people on a macro-scale, not monsters or devils in the guise of humans.
This manga sends a weighty message of the consequences to us readers when it comes to reality. Think of it this way, we are on the side of humankind, obviously, and the witches are the environment or the planet Earth because they are witches, they make potions, cast magic that respects the nature. So we have to be aware of our actions when it comes to working in a job or doing something, in general, that affects the environment and the future generations as it is our responsibility to make a world better place for them, not bringing them to despair.
3. Artwork
The way Yoruhashi makes use of beta is impressive when it comes to expressions, backgrounds, actions, and the magic cast by witches and wizards, military weapons, and technology? Oh, we almost forgot the blood effects, and they go all out on that, and those deaths are brutal. The character designs show the apparent distinction of their factions and their origins. If we have to choose, we prefer the fantasy type clothing over modern ensembles.
4. It Happens So Fast
As the story progresses, Adonis got released from his confinement because of Doroka, the witch, causing chaos in the 7th Precinct Mayhem Internment Camp. Once he got this Quill, you know he is going to destroy as payback for what the emperor did to him. Doroka, being too naïve, confront Adonis to stop him only to get her side of her body shot by a sniper is too sudden, and we didn’t expect it. When it comes to war or a catastrophe, anything can happen, so be aware of your surroundings.
1. Brutal
There are a lot of very detailed death scenes, and it can be disturbing to some readers with or without context. Some even indicate rape by humankind, particularly the empire’s soldiers and the people who represent them, toward the witches. Of course, rape is terrible in every way, and we do not condone such action, in reality, no matter what the circumstances.
Final Thoughts
Hametsu no Oukoku (The Kingdoms of Ruin) is filled with resentment and hatred throughout the volume, which is understandable from Adonis’ point of perspective. The battles are gruesome, and some deep scenes show the dark side of humanity when it comes to war, which is counted as war crimes. The political aspect of the story gives a massive message to the readers of what kind of actions and consequences people will receive because of their leaders. The artwork is too intense, and the flow of magic and battles are smooth. But this manga is not suitable for readers who do not like gore or excessive blood effects. If you want to read a manga that involves vengeance in a world of science and magic having a war toward each other, give this one a try.
Author: Nobodies17