Manga Review: Demon Love Spell 1

Demon Love Spell 1 by Mayu Shinjo, December 4, 2012. 200 pages. Published by Viz Media, LLC. Source: Edelweiss/publisher.

Miko is a shrine maiden who has never had much success at seeing or banishing spirits. Then she meets Kagura, a sexy demon who feeds off women’s feelings of passion and love. Kagura’s insatiable appetite has left many girls at school brokenhearted, so Miko casts a spell to seal his powers. Surprisingly the spell works—sort of—but now Kagura is after her! Reads R to L (Japanese style) for teen plus audiences.

Story
I actually requested Demon Love Spell on a whim. I thought it sounded interesting and was ready to try a mangaka that I have never read. My intuition was right because this was turned out to be such an interesting story with two characters that I ended up loving.

So, most manga are funny, but I was not expecting to laugh nearly as much as I did while reading this one. But the dialogue and situations that Miku and Kagura got into were pretty funny, especially the way they would react to each other. Good times.

One of the things that set this story apart would have to be the character interaction. I really liked that there was some bantering between Kagura and Miku because you got to see a different side to both of them. Plus it was absolutely hilarious to see this mighty character (Kagura) reduced to nothing more than a key chained size dude and being doted over. My ribs hurt so much after all the high jinks that ensued from this.

What I ended up really liking about Demon Love Spell would have to be that there was more to Miku and Kagura then you first saw. They both ended up surprising me in a totally good way and I cannot wait to see how things will turn out for the two of them and the odd situation they find themselves in.

While Demon Love Spell has become one series that I am excited about, I do have one thing that I did not like. There was some content that I could have done without, but that is entirely just me and my dislike of potentially steamy moments. So while that may have been a turn off for me, I liked that it was not the main focus and that things did not get too out of hand.

Character(s)
Miku, the poor girl has absolutely no clue when it comes to binding and banishing demons. But she does manage to get lucky like when she binds Kagura's powers. What makes her an interesting character is that while she has no idea how to actual do the job she has taken on, and that she cannot even see them unless they're at their strongest, is that she steps up when her friend may or may not be in danger.

Kagura, I severely disliked him in the beginning of the manga, but as thepages progressed and I got to know his character a little more, I could not help but be intrigued by him and the changes that over came him throughout the book. I would tell you guys more, but what happens to him is kind of a biggish plot point.

Art Work

Based on the cover, I was not sure that I was going to like the art work of Demon Love Spell. It was nice yet a little on the plain side, but after delving into the book I found myself pulled to Mayu's drawing because she had such clean lines.

What I enjoyed most about the artwork is that it Mayu Shinjo made good use of the panels without clogging the page up with too many images, which really made for some enjoyable art viewing.

Content (will contain spoilers; highlight to see):

While this was an enjoyable manga, there are a couple things that I want to mention about the content. I don't think I'll need to elaborate too much on this, but Kagura is a male succubus, which means yes he tends to do things that are maybe not suitable for younger readers... It doesn't visually go into details on what he does to gain power, except for maybe once when he invades Miko's dreams.

Final Verdict: Demon Love Spell was both funny and intriguing. Cannot wait for more.

Demon Love Spell 1 earns 4 out of 5 pineapples.