Bizenghast Volume 1 by M. Alice LeGrow

Bizenghast Volume 1 by M. Alice LeGrow

2 stars

I remember seeing this manga series on TokyoPop’s page years ago, when I was obsessed with manga and looking for new ones to read. If I had read this when I first came across this years ago, this would have been a favorite. It’s weird enough that I would’ve lapped it up even if it made absolutely zero sense to me. This manga make zero sense to me now and I just don’t get it.


First, the art isn’t my style. The covers are so beautiful and gothic, but the actual art in context with the story is bland and I just didn’t find myself captivated are drawn to any images. The story itself is… whimsical? It reminds me of an Alice in Wonderland level of weird and that’s all fine and dandy if we are talking about the original animated classic, but the novel itself doesn’t gel with me. I wish I could say I love whimsical things, but I don’t think I do when it comes to hit and misses, I’m missing constantly with finding whimsical stories I love. I have an understanding of the story, that’s not the problem, the problem is that it makes no sense to me as to why this is important or being told. I know it’s the first volume of a fantasy manga and this is bound to happen, but I don’t want that to happen. I want to be hooked. I want to be entranced. I want to be ensnared in the roots of Bizenghast and binge read the whole manga series, but that didn’t happen.


Art Scale: 2.25

Whimsical Writing Scale: 2

Character Scale: 2

I’ve read spoilers for the series on Wikipedia and while this series is incredibly dark and gruesome, I personally don’t feel a strong attachment to continuing. Also, my edition was cut off or it just ended abruptly. Not sure. Either way I know what happens in the series so I don’t feel cheated. I recommend this manga to people who like paranormal, gothic settings, weird storylines, and death.


Plotastic Scale: 2.5

Cover Thoughts: I LOVE the covers for this series. So morbid and weird.

Thank you, Netgalley and TokyoPop for providing me with a copy of this manga in exchange for an honest review.

What's your favorite manga? Have you read any fantasy/paranormal/horror manga that you recommend? Let me know down below in the comments because I want to read some manga!