Maddies Manga

After finally acquiring and losing true familial love, Julian finds himself on the new continent. As a young boy with a baby, he’s bound to face countless troubles, but with the “gift” of an ancient sea god and the kindness of a few good women, he may be able to survive in this harsh world.

Author

This series is written by Tohru Kuramori. Instagram, X.

Genre & Tropes

Adventure, action, horror, found family.

Info about this series (ongoing)

There is currently one volume published in English, and seven in Japanese.

TL;DR rating

I think the addition of horror elements really saved this volume for me. While I enjoyed the themes of community and found family, it was the horror that made it stand out.

Official synopsis

A selfless sacrifice to an ancient god gives a bitter slave a reason to live and a baby to raise.

Sold into slavery by his own mother, Julian has known nothing but pain and brutality. All that changes when, aboard a slave ship, he experiences the kindness and tender touch of a loving person for the first time. But fate has plans for Julian in the bloody awakening of an ancient god who strikes a cruel bargain: an innocent life in exchange for extraordinary powers—abilities he must use to protect a helpless baby in a cruel and violent world!

Caught as a stowaway aboard a slave ship, Julian narrowly escapes death by the kindness of fellow slaves who take pity on him, especially a pregnant slave by the name of Mira. But when the slaver decides to liquidate his holdings, the bloodbath calls forth an ancient god from the sea. A deal is made at the cost of a life and Julian is forever changed, gaining fantastic powers. But even with his new abilities, monsters at sea and on land pose a threat in this dark and dangerous world!

My thoughts on this volume (Spoilers!)

I found this to be a rather average read until the end of chapter one. While I found the planned massacre of the slaves to be tragic, and almost all of the slaves sacrificing themselves trying to save the most vulnerable among them to be incredibly sad, it still felt like it was missing something. Then, just as if the manga understood that I was unsatisfied, a horrific octopus-monster-god-thing appeared.

This god-creature was terrifying and exactly what the chapter needed. As the sea already has great potential for horror, I think having the creature just rise out of the sea unannounced, seeking a sacrifice in exchange for great power was what drew me to really want to continue reading. The men who planned the massacre clearly didn’t know about the creature—probably no one living does. It’s clear that whatever it is, it’s ancient. We never really learn anything about the creature, only that it somehow has the power to control the sea and all of the creatures that reside in it. How terrifying!

The beginning of the second chapter is also solidified in my mind, as the dead-looking fish faces floating on the black sea was again, terrifying. Though the octopus-god-thing claimed that the sea would never again hurt the boy it bestowed power onto, it seems like it’s not able to forcefully control all of the creatures. I really enjoyed watching the boy have to figure out his new powers and fight underwater! The stress I felt reading this chapter was similar to the stress I feel playing an underwater level in any morden Mario game. I’m not sure why, but things always get just a bit creepier underwater.

Once the boy hits land and begins meeting people I started to lose interest just a little—I mean, can you blame me? Ordinary people really can’t compare to horrific fish and octopus-monsters. I do think there will be more horror elements to come, and I can only assume that they’ll come when least expected. I wonder if the horror will be related to all of nature, not just the sea, as that one panel that lingered on a creepy-looking ram has me making speculations…

Check out a free sample below!

You can check out volume one of this series for yourself below!