Seraph of the End, 1 (novel): Guren Ichinose: Catastrophe at Sixteen

I've recently become a fan of Owari no Seraph/Seraph of the End. I've been wanting to get the manga for some time, but stumbled across the anime first, watching through it as fast as I was able, falling in love with the story I was given. Like many, however, I became enthralled and interested with the characters of Guren and Mahiru together--their relationship, the history between the Ichinose and Hiragi, the sacrifices it took to make the cursed gear; all around, what life and expectations were before the "trumpets of the apocalypse" and after (and much else).This is probably the most enjoyable light novel I've read, from a personal perspective. This book is actually two parts, or "book one" & "book two". So far, on my first read through, I've found little continuity issues. Just cool bits that are fun to find out for fans of the show and manga. So far, the information given adds and explains what you, the reader/watcher, have already learned from "Vampire Reign". You learn why Mito's hair is fire red, more of the lore and inner workings of how a cursed blade should work, in theory. Right now, I've halted where I got in the manga and am reading this first, considering it can be viewed, and really is, in my opinion, a prequel to Yū's arc in "Vampire Reign". This is was happens before the vampires take over. These are the events and people close to the heart of the war we end up witnessing.The author and artist are the same, which keeps the voice and feel of the art consistent, and the world seamless with VR as its counterpart. I enjoyed seeing Guren's story as a Light Novel, the images depicted are smart and obviously chosen well. They introduce you to key characters, show you important moments, and illustrate pieces of this story that remind you of your investment in Guren and the other's experience. They aren't just images out there for us to look at so we don't get bored, it's so we understand that these are key elements within the narrative that attribute to the character and scene shown within them, and what is happening to them also. Both author and artist paid attention here; at the very least, it feels that way when reading and viewing it together. However these choices were made, on a personal level, I felt they were placed well and aided me in what I was reading.---When leaving a review I tend not to downgrade based on packaging or seller communication, etc. I try to add packaging information when I feel necessary. For a printed book, I think others would like to know how it did from Point A to Point B. My copy arrived without problem, there were no dents, wrinkles or turns in the pages, no water damage, etc. I ordered both the first and second volumes with books 1-4 inside, so they came in a box as packaging, which doesn't always matter in how something will get to you, but I was happy to see it in that as opposed to the usual yellow, soft slip packaging with inside bubble wrap. My copy, as well as the second, was in good shape. All pages intact. Nothing torn or bent.

I wasn't really expecting anything special at first, but this really blew me away. It's written and illustrated by the same people who do the manga, so it really shouldn't have come as a surprise to me. I can't tell if it's the author or just the translator, but the prose is very well-written. Nothing sounds awkward (except for all the missing commas - seriously, they leave out a LOT of them), and it does a good job of portraying Guren's thoughts. The action scenes are well-written, and I was constantly on the edge of my seat while I was reading this. I'm glad Vertical decided to do this series.(Though I will say I'm surprised they announced this entire series, and yet only announced one Monogatari book...)

Started with the anime, continued with the manga, and now in the Light Novels, this is the first time I m supporting this author and I not disappointed, I had already took a peak at the fantraslation, so I knew the feel it was gonna give. And I just love to read these, each book has around 320-340 pages max, some nice color illustrations in the begining and black and white ones, while reading, standard for LNs.If you are a fan in anyway of the series, and have some money you can spend, buy these books, since they provide alot of context to the universe of the series, Guren x Mahiru already took my interest with the anime, but there is alot of highlights of these in the books, without ever feeling like a cheap highschool drama, or breaking the character's canon."My loyalties lie deep in the heart, where madness and depravity live. As do yours. Don't they, Guren?"

I really enjoyed the anime and that got me into the Manga. But I wasn't so sure I would enjoy the light novel since it's such a different format . This has been a pleasant surprise. The books are very readable I think it helps that I have a visual in my head when I read the books due to the anime. But it's definitely been interesting to learn the origin of this human catastrophe .

I liked it a lot! I liked it better than the original Owari no Seraph anime series!Here you can understand it all! In the anime I was so clueless, and here you understand that the path they took was sooo dark...OMG and there's Shinya... Shinya is the best thing in the series.And Guren & Mahiru... poor things!! Well, poor Guren... now when I see his falling into darkness in the 2nd season final I cry! Before I didn't mind Guren at all, but now, poor Guren!!And Shinya is the best, did I say that already? haha

Came with some very light damage but overall still a good buy

It reads like a manga or anime series. You can easily envision this book being broken up into many episodic segments. There's also quite a bit of art in this Light Novel as well.

I never review anything. This book is incredibly fun, well written, and we'll translated. I found myself up reading till midnight multiple times just caught up in the book. It's way better than the Manga and Anime. Can't waithink to see this adapted.