Slasher Maidens Vol. 2 Review – Backstory and Gore

The action-comedy genre is a fickle one that has seen many hard ends in the manga community. While often they spring to life one season anime, the foundation can ultimately hinder any future-proofing the series attempts. Slasher Maidens Vol. 2 expands on this brutal world in several ways that make it clear this is a series you’re going to want to stick with, and not just for the sexy scenes.

Slasher Maidens Vol. 2 gets readers acquainted with the faculty structure of the Meidou Girls’ Academy and the Ultra Reincarnation Academy. There’s a power struggle brewing between these two structures, but here we see them use their follows in a similar matter. Both the memento-wielding students and the Kaijin are being used as pawns to gain the upper hand.

Whoever is pulling the strings, it seems like this act of brainwashing is one of the more significant themes of this series. These students do what they’re told because they think it is right, while the Keijin-worshipers work towards divine liberation. It’s super interesting to see both sides of this conflict because you end up hating those who are in power no matter which side they fight for.

As for Asuma, he’s still a perverted mess, but he understands his place in the group and what he has to do to pull his weight. We don’t get a significant amount of backstory on the other students, but what is here is tremendously devesting and makes sense as to why they are in their position. I wasn’t all too into the brief sexy scene that occurred. Still, I was confused about the motive of the character who initiated it, especially by the conclusion and if it really needed to happen at all.

The illustrations were gory and descriptive. There seemed to be several styles blended depending on if the characters were in a more casual situation or preparing for battle. I appreciated the direction of making all the students grounded and designed as average characters, which allowed their switch to memento users to show a much contrasting side of them. This also causes you to feel a bit more defensive over the less notable side characters.

Slasher Maidens Vol. 2 has some strange comedic timing, but the weight on the reader of being unsure of those in charge on both sides of this conflict is an excellent direction and one I’d like to see play out. The action is brilliantly animated through the panels that cause you to follow the fight scenes closely, and the subtle way the writing highlights character backstories really sell the pain these characters have gone through. I’m hoping this is one comedic action manga that holds onto a few surprises for later Volumes.