Akasaka Aka: "Hear me out. Dark fantasy fairytale battle royale." Ajichika: "When do I start?" Few mangakas have had as instantaneous an impact on the animanga industry as Akasaka Aka. His penchance for comedy helped turn Kaguya-sama into a massive hit. He combined that instinctive feel for comedy with revenge tragedy and social critique in the sometimes thrilling, sometimes uneven Oshi no Ko. Its ending was much maligned, to the point where I haven't quite found the will to finish the series. In contrast, I thought the Kaguya ending did all that it needed to do and was unfairly criticised, though the shift away from romantic comedyto drama was hit and miss.

Overall, I've seen more than enough to suggest that Akasaka is an above average writer whose hits largely make up for his misses. As such, I went into his new manga quite excited, especially when I found out that this was a seinen manga with a focus on fairytales. I love fairytales and I've loved a decent amount of Akasaka's work. It seemed a good combination.

A good combination indeed. As always with Akasaka, there are things that don't work, but Marchen Crown is an absolute thrill ride.

The first thing to note is that once again, the mangaka takes a lot of joy in playing with tone. Oshi no Ko shifted between comedy and tragedy in a way that could feel uneven at times. Here, the different tones and genres are even more wideranging. Marchen Crown is a dark fantasy with occasional body horror elements, taking influence from the gory art of dark fantasy series like Berserk. It's also not entirely devoid of humour. It's also a romance, though twisted and perverse. It also has some shounen, battle royale trappings.

In short, there's a lot going on, but through some tonal gymnastics, I felt that the story held together and then some. So far, it's fast-paced and entertaining with some legitimate shock value. The dark twists on classic fairytales are exciting and helped to keep me interested. It's hard to call the characters three dimensional, though this is clearly intentional, drawing much of the characterisation from the dreamy, 'love at first sight' attitude of Disney-style fairytales. Their starry-eyed idealism and niceties contrast with the horrors of the world around them. It feels as if Disney characters have been thrown into the world of Goblin Slayer. Or rather, as if Disney characters have been thrown into the dark, traditional fairytales that they're actually based on.

I must say that Ajichika's art is a highlight. It's breathtaking, and that's not an exaggeration. Horrifying, beautiful, romantic, thrilling sweeping, shoujo-esque, all at once. The ambition of Akasaka's twisted fairytale narrative called for strong, evocative artwork and Ajichika answered the call.

The manga is at its least convincing when it tries to be romantic. The emphasis on true love can get a little cloying. Dare I say corny? Then there's the central romance. Rapunzel and Mikel's relationship is intentionally written to seem starry-eyed and naive, but their love triumphs in most situations. Perhaps Akasaka has a plan to challenge their love as the series goes on, but at the moment the central romance is arguably the least compelling part about Marchen Crown. That doesn't feel right. That's not to say that I dislike the characters. I find both Rapunzel and Mikel charming, in a way. If Akasaka wants to write a story about true love triumphing in a dark and evil world, then so be it. I just hope he finds some other themes to weave in as the narrative continues.

Marchen Crown is a must read manga. It will be hard to displace Kaguya as my favourite Akasaka manga, since there's a lot of nostalgia that goes into my love and respect for Kaguya.

Don't pass over Marchen Crown just because you disliked Oshi no Ko's ending. It's worth it for the artwork alone, and more besides.