Chained Soldier Vol. 1 [Manga] Review - A Cocktail Of Action And Ecchi
- Mangaka : Takahiro (Writer); Takemura, Youhei (Artist)
- Publisher : Seven Seas
- Genre : Action, Romance, Ecchi, Shounen
- Published : Aug 2022 - Present
Akame ga Kill was highly popular during its heyday back in 2018. From its epic battle scenes to its graphic depiction of violence, and the cute girls who fight against dangerous monsters and hideous humans, Akame ga Kill was unlike anything that was published at the time. And now, its author, Takahiro-sensei, is finally back with another series. Let’s see whether he can hit another home run with his new series, Chained Soldier, through this review.
[signSpoiler] [ad_top2 class="mt40"]Discussion Time
In Chained Soldier, the concept of gender equality no longer exists. The reason is because of the appearance of the gates that connect Japan to another dimension called the Demonic Metropolis Mato. What resides in Mato are mindless monsters called Yomatsu Shuuki that will cause destruction wherever they go and kill every human that they see. However, other than man-eating monsters, there’s one other thing that exists only in Mato, which is peaches that can grant those who eat them all sorts of superpowers. Unfortunately, only women are granted powers from these peaches. Men can eat as much as they like, but their powers won’t ever manifest. This means that women are now the ones who rule society, while men have become lower class citizens. Yuuki Wakura is a high school senior who suddenly encounters a Mato gate while walking home from school. When a group of Shuuki appear and are ready to eat him, a woman appears while riding a strange-looking Shuuki, and immediately slaughters the other ones with her impeccable swordsmanship. Her name is Kyouka Uzen, and she is the captain of the Seventh Unit of the Anti-Demon Corps. This organization was founded with the sole purpose of keeping the main fixed gates that connect Mato to the real world safe from any wandering Shuuki. Needless to say, there are no men in the Anti-Demon Corps. Unfortunately, another group of Shuuki suddenly appears and overwhelms Kyouka, and kills her pet Shuuki. In the nick of time, Kyouka explains to Yuuki that her power enables her to pull out the hidden strength in a living being, in exchange for being her slave. Since there’s no other stranded Shuuki in sight, Kyouka decides to turn Yuuki into her slave, which instantly turns him into a powerful humanoid creature that can destroy the Shuukis with one punch. So begins Yuuki’s adventure as he becomes the new member of the seventh unit of the Anti-Demon Corps, as Kyouka’s slave.
1. Interesting Premise
The concept of a man taking a supportive role while the woman is the one who does the fighting is nothing new in manga. After all, that is basically the plot of a manga called Freezing. However, Chained Soldier takes this idea and turns it into something interesting by flipping the role of the master and the slave. Unlike in Freezing, where the man is largely the one who grants the power to the women, Chained Soldier is the other way around. Kyouka is the one who makes it possible for Yuuki to turn into a powerful creature. For all intents and purposes, he is the slave in this story. Minor Spoiler Alert: the number of women who will be Yuuki’s master will only increase over time. So this is technically still following the usual trajectory of a Harem story, despite the main character being the women’s slave. So as you can see, there are quite a few interesting things going on in this manga.
2. Exciting Action Sequences and Bold Ecchi Moments
When you combine an action story with romance or harem elements, you will usually get a half-baked version of both. Case in point is none other than To-Love-Ru. There’s action and harem/romance in this series, but neither of them stand out in any way. Or, you will end up with a part of the story that eventually eclipses the other elements, such as in To-Love-Ru Darkness. The harem/romance element totally overrides the action side of the story. That is not the case at all with Chained Soldier. The transition from the action sequences to the romance/harem part of the story is flawless. The reason is due to the other side of Kyouka’s power. Yes, she can indeed draw out the innate power of any living being, but afterward, she has to fulfill their desire. In the case of a regular Shuuki, Kyouka simply needs to give them a pork bowl and they’ll be happy. But when it comes to Yuuki, she has to at least undress and French kiss the guy. There are quite a lot of ecchi moments in Chained Soldier, most of which happen due to Kyouka’s power. The level of boldness in these ecchi scenes rivals even those that you can find in another bold harem manga called Tsugumomo. And in a way, you can even say that Chained Soldier is like Tsugumomo 2.0. There are tons of exciting action sequences, tons of bold ecchi scenes, and all of them are beautifully drawn. The only difference between the two is the reversed role between the master and the slave, just like with Freezing. Otherwise, the resemblance is uncanny.
[ad_middle class="mt40"]1. Rated R
Chained Soldier is without a doubt an R-rated manga. Not because of its violence, but because there are naked ladies in this manga. Some of them even perform some bold and sensual acts with Yuuki in various scenarios. That being said, Chained Soldier is certainly not a borderline Hentai manga. It merely serves the same audience as the aforementioned To-Love-Ru and Tsugumomo. So if you don’t like those manga, then chances are you won’t like this one either.
Final Thoughts
Chained Soldier does have its fair share of romance and quite a few bold ecchi moments. But underneath all of that is an engaging action story with countless thrilling battle scenes. The characters in this story also have distinct personalities that make them interesting to read. So even if you usually avoid ecchi manga like To-Love-Ru and Tsugumomo, you should still give this one a try. Who knows, maybe Chained Soldier could be the one that converts you into liking this kind of manga. Have you read Chained Soldier? If you have, what do you think about it? Do you like it? Hate it? Let us know in the comment section below.
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