Oni ga Deru ka Ja ga Deru ka
- Thread starter MangaDex
- Start date
Fed-Kun's army
- Joined
- Dec 21, 2019
- Messages
- 67
Group Leader
- Joined
- Jun 24, 2018
- Messages
- 1,597
It's weird. The MC is super reasonable, but at the same time, how his romance came to be is a bit strange, and a lot of the issues that plagued the premise went unsolved. If there's one word to describe this manga, it's... conflicted. One thing's for sure, it's not that memorable
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2023
- Messages
- 542
A good message, badly executed. The premise is MC is kidnapped into a village of Youkai (monsters) to .ake babies with them, him being the only one who can. It pits MC and the harem of girls who eventually come to love him against the shadowy institution that is the village mothers and their uncompromising demands on their grandchildren. The grandchildren win out, accepting MC being monogamous, even if they won't have "pure" youkai children.
I initially wondered why this story existed in the first place. The MC is given a near-godly opportunity to have his own monster harem, this being the first time any girls took an interest in him, but he adamantly refuses. This seemed really silly at first, but sometime around chapter 30 it clicked. The theme deals with duty versus will, and shows the fundamental flaw of duty. Namely, duty without belief is meaningless, and the painful first 20 chapters or so lead to better chapters near the end which show this weakness of duty.
Despite having a strong message, the story felt painful. Harem is for me, in the first place, a way to read out wish fufillment, to have the power of multiple lovers in my reach. This harem took that power away by making the MC powerless, at the whim of forces outside his control. Thinking about most harem, this is the situation any one girl of the harem finds themselves in. Why so many girls love one unremarkable guy almost feels like they're being forced into the relation by a higher power, in this case the mangaka. As such, Oni ga Deru provides a critique of harem as a whole by making the male MC similar to a female side characters of other harem stories.
Otherwise, the story felt like it really lacked direction for most of the plot. The ending was very anticlimactic and a disappointment in general. While I liked the story's message and theme, the MC was a total pain throughout the entire story. And I honestly don't care about the message. I read harem as escapism, not to be lectured on morals and ethics. As such, this manga was a waste of my time.
3/10.
I initially wondered why this story existed in the first place. The MC is given a near-godly opportunity to have his own monster harem, this being the first time any girls took an interest in him, but he adamantly refuses. This seemed really silly at first, but sometime around chapter 30 it clicked. The theme deals with duty versus will, and shows the fundamental flaw of duty. Namely, duty without belief is meaningless, and the painful first 20 chapters or so lead to better chapters near the end which show this weakness of duty.
Despite having a strong message, the story felt painful. Harem is for me, in the first place, a way to read out wish fufillment, to have the power of multiple lovers in my reach. This harem took that power away by making the MC powerless, at the whim of forces outside his control. Thinking about most harem, this is the situation any one girl of the harem finds themselves in. Why so many girls love one unremarkable guy almost feels like they're being forced into the relation by a higher power, in this case the mangaka. As such, Oni ga Deru provides a critique of harem as a whole by making the male MC similar to a female side characters of other harem stories.
Otherwise, the story felt like it really lacked direction for most of the plot. The ending was very anticlimactic and a disappointment in general. While I liked the story's message and theme, the MC was a total pain throughout the entire story. And I honestly don't care about the message. I read harem as escapism, not to be lectured on morals and ethics. As such, this manga was a waste of my time.
3/10.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Apr 7, 2023
- Messages
- 542
The right message for the wrong genre.
The premise is MC is kidnapped into a village of Youkai (monsters) to make babies with them, him being the only one who can. It pits MC and the harem of girls who eventually come to love him against the shadowy institution that is the village mothers and their uncompromising demands on their grandchildren.
One will wonder after reading this why this manga was written in the first place. The MC is given a near-godly opportunity to have his own monster harem, this being the first time any girls took an interest in him, but he adamantly refuses. This seemed really silly at first, but sometime around chapter 30 it clicked. Harem is, in the first place, a way to qct out wish fufillment, to have the power of multiple lovers in one's reach. This harem took that power away by making the MC powerless, at the whim of forces outside his control. Thinking about most harem, this is the situation any one girl of the harem finds themselves in. Why so many girls love one unremarkable guy almost feels like they're being forced into the relation by a higher power, in this case the mangaka. As such, Oni ga Deru provides a critique of harem as a whole by making the male MC similar to a female side characters of other harem stories.
Otherwise, the story felt like it really lacked direction for most of the plot. The ending was very anticlimactic, a disappointment really. the MC was a total pain throughout the entire story. The anti-harem message of this harem story is ambitious. But, the story falls flat. By having a weak, indecisive MC like most harem and by having so many girls fall for the MC for no good reason, it falls into the same pitfalls most harem does. As such, its critique of harem provides no good alternative from the story. In turn, this makes the message feel lime virtue signaling rather than a genuine attempt for fix harem. Harem is fundamentally wish fulfillment, specifically a power fantasy over near-helpless girls or ladies. By having critiqued this fundamental without having provided an alternative for harem, it committed self-suicide.
3/10.
The premise is MC is kidnapped into a village of Youkai (monsters) to make babies with them, him being the only one who can. It pits MC and the harem of girls who eventually come to love him against the shadowy institution that is the village mothers and their uncompromising demands on their grandchildren.
One will wonder after reading this why this manga was written in the first place. The MC is given a near-godly opportunity to have his own monster harem, this being the first time any girls took an interest in him, but he adamantly refuses. This seemed really silly at first, but sometime around chapter 30 it clicked. Harem is, in the first place, a way to qct out wish fufillment, to have the power of multiple lovers in one's reach. This harem took that power away by making the MC powerless, at the whim of forces outside his control. Thinking about most harem, this is the situation any one girl of the harem finds themselves in. Why so many girls love one unremarkable guy almost feels like they're being forced into the relation by a higher power, in this case the mangaka. As such, Oni ga Deru provides a critique of harem as a whole by making the male MC similar to a female side characters of other harem stories.
Otherwise, the story felt like it really lacked direction for most of the plot. The ending was very anticlimactic, a disappointment really. the MC was a total pain throughout the entire story. The anti-harem message of this harem story is ambitious. But, the story falls flat. By having a weak, indecisive MC like most harem and by having so many girls fall for the MC for no good reason, it falls into the same pitfalls most harem does. As such, its critique of harem provides no good alternative from the story. In turn, this makes the message feel lime virtue signaling rather than a genuine attempt for fix harem. Harem is fundamentally wish fulfillment, specifically a power fantasy over near-helpless girls or ladies. By having critiqued this fundamental without having provided an alternative for harem, it committed self-suicide.
3/10.
Dex-chan lover
- Joined
- Aug 16, 2020
- Messages
- 525
I'm fascinated by the people who hate the MC. Granted, on only 5 chapters in, but I think his position is understandable. I do wish he forced out answers sooner.
Overall; he's lost his mother at a young age, had a seriously irresponsible father, and been shunned by women his whole life. After working hard and getting into a high ranking school so he can live a happy life, he gets dragged away and told that his father has been neglectful in informing him of his situation. Sure, he was told and didn't believe, but this village seems like a couple hour drive, could at least visit over the years to reinforce the information. From there, it's revealed to him a bunch of information that can be boiled down to 3 things:
1. Most of his life is a lie.
2. His life is not his own and he has no control over it.
3. His only purpose in life is to make children. He's a sperm donor and nothing more.
I'd be pissed as hell, too. The grandmother is at least kind enough to inform the MC of what's going on, and the girls are ok, though lacking in common sense (probably because they have never left this village) but the father is a reprehensible piece of shit, and I find the MC to be fully justified in his anger at the whole situation.
Overall; he's lost his mother at a young age, had a seriously irresponsible father, and been shunned by women his whole life. After working hard and getting into a high ranking school so he can live a happy life, he gets dragged away and told that his father has been neglectful in informing him of his situation. Sure, he was told and didn't believe, but this village seems like a couple hour drive, could at least visit over the years to reinforce the information. From there, it's revealed to him a bunch of information that can be boiled down to 3 things:
1. Most of his life is a lie.
2. His life is not his own and he has no control over it.
3. His only purpose in life is to make children. He's a sperm donor and nothing more.
I'd be pissed as hell, too. The grandmother is at least kind enough to inform the MC of what's going on, and the girls are ok, though lacking in common sense (probably because they have never left this village) but the father is a reprehensible piece of shit, and I find the MC to be fully justified in his anger at the whole situation.
