It's been a while. But I thought I'd come back since I'm finally at the end of volume 1 of Supernatural Beings- which was created by my friend MangaStoryFan.

As a disclaimer just to try and help avoid some potential biases, for a few of the aspects of Beings- I feel like I wasn't quite the target audience. I'll try my best to keep personal preferences out of the way of this review, or at the very least note when things I'm talking about may have to do with personal preference.

As always, if anything seems too spoiler heavy- feel free to mention it Manga, and I can modify pieces of this review accordingly.

Now then-

Characters:

Might as well start with what I find to be the story's strongest aspect (and by far what it focuses on the most).

Each of the main characters has their own distinct personality, and even the side characters do as well which is fun to see. Two of the side characters in particular I enjoy more than some of the main characters even.

Back to the main cast though- they all have unique traits that effect the interactions between them and other characters quite drastically. Even in the ways they talk you can often see the uniqueness of them through their speech too, which is fun- especially since the story is written in first person.

Their personalities (and skills) often effect how they act during their missions as well, both when they're just exploring or in combat as well. Like for example, one of the characters is extremely selfless- and so they'll always be throwing themselves into crazy situations without a second thought if anyone needs help.

Romance plays a big part of the story as well (in regards to two people in particular), which is pretty wholesome. I would say more but- this is one of the things I'm biased against. So I'll just admit that it is wholesome, and the people that the romance focuses on have very good and natural chemistry (which is fun to watch, romance aside). If you're a fan of romance anime, I think you'll probably enjoy the romance quite a bit here.

The story currently doesn't focus on fleshing out it's antagonists personalities (in case that's something you care about), but I do sense that there may be more of that coming in the future due to the things that have been carefully foreshadowed in volume 1. And I sense that some really cool antagonists could stem from that, which I'm excited for.

Regardless, in the present volume, the antagonists definitely fit their roles as intimidating foes. Plus they certainly play a massive part in the lore and mystery of the story too, which helps to amplify the world building.

Plus- there are a ton of secrets that each of the characters from the main cast seems to have. Some hold the secrets back willingly, while others are trying to re-discover certain aspects of themselves that they forgot. So yeah- if you like well-developed main characters over everything else, Supernatural Beings seems to be doing that quite well so far.

Bonus Character Section, Kibi/Tao:

I feel like this deserves it's own section, since I don't see duos that work so well very often. But yeah- these two really make an awesome duo in my opinion, and compliment each others flaws nicely. Their pasts together also explain why they're so close as well, which is both tragic and very heartwarming at the same time.

They're so close that I almost consider them as one "entity" when I rank the characters- and if they're ever separated it just feels wrong in a way, ha.

I also like how the two's bond between each other can even be a personal flaw in some cases, which does help Kibi and Tao stand alone as a character better when they aren't together.

Of course, they do have personal quirks aside from their relationship as well though- which certainly differentiate them as well in a interesting way.

Worldbuilding:

A lot of potential here! And unlike in The Banished which I talked about before, Supernatural Beings focuses more on both trying to figure out why the world is the way it is, and also focuses on trying to understand the groups of people/beings in it as well.

The worldbuilding also directly relates to the main characters as well, which is pretty fun as yeah- like I mentioned this story is very character-driven. So every time we learn more about the lore of the world, we often learn a bit more about the main characters as well.

The same goes for the antagonists as well, which does make them more interesting too (including the bits of dialogue they do have).

And yeah- I do like just how many mysteries there are in the story too in regards to the world. I already have so many questions from volume 1 alone, both in regards to major plot points- and even in regards to less-important aspects of the story too that I think about for fun (like the economy of the community that the main characters live in-).

So yeah, if you like stories that make you theorize a lot- Supernatural Beings does this well I think, with a ton of hints (both minor and major) being sprinkled across the novel.

Plot:

Hmmm. This is kinda tricky to talk about- as the plot pretty well is the world building and characters. The story either goes from character interactions, to exploring the world they live in.

But still, as the world building and characters are solid- this format works just fine in my opinion.

And the main goal of the characters makes sense as well, and works as a driving force for the character growth and world building. I also like how a side-aspect of the story is to find missing key people as well, aside from the main goal of the characters which drives them to explore in the first place.

I do like how the plot brings about a lot of emotional moments too as a last note.

Fights/Powers:

The action in the story is really solid for the most part! MangaStoryFan makes every move taken by each fighter short and to the point. And so yeah, the fights feel more like you're watching a movie instead of watching a turn based battle for example. I myself struggle with overdescribing fights sometimes, so it's cool to see Manga do it so effortlessly here.

This also fits with a lot of the main characters being VERY fast- and so you feel their speed by how short and to the point the combat descriptions are.

Also- there are a lot of cool attacks used, even when the characters are just using physical attacks. Normally in anime it can get tiring seeing everyone just punch each other, but I do find that Beings spices that up due just how gory and brutal the fights can be- and also due to some attacks being pretty creative too.

As for the powers- they're pretty neat, but I do have something else to say about them in the next section.

Aside from that though- they aren't super complex, but they're interesting. A mix of weapons, punches, kicks, and something else I won't spoil is used- which is "simple" enough to work with Manga's quick action description style.

There are some outliers as well (the 4th supernatural's fighting style in particular) which is cool, and there's an overarching rule to the power system as well- that works as a kind of "nerf" to the main cast which doesn't let them just fight without any drawbacks (as a spoiler-less hint to Manga, it's when the supernatural's eyes turn yellow).

Writing Style/Grammar:

The story is written in first person, which fits well considering how like I've mentioned a lot- the story is very character-development heavy. The differences in in-character narration are also there too, which is interesting- especially when um... the characters are losing control. I'll just leave it there to avoid spoilers (and I'll assume Manga knows what I'm referring to).

As for the grammar- there are a few issues with things like past/present tense and some typos but, the story is never difficult to read. And in my eyes that's the main factor. And Manga has still improved over the years as well, so the story does look fairly polished- and I'm sure he'll continue to improve like he has already been doing.

Bonus Section: Inspiration

Hesitant to write this but, feel like I need to- and I hope the sections above prove that I really do think this is a solid story with a ton of potential. The characters and world building are still very interesting, and are not really effected by what I'm about to say as well (which is good since they're what the story focuses on the most).

But still, looking into the main inspiration for the story hurt a little the first time I really dug deep into it.

Mainly because (in my eyes) there are some fairly close similarities between a few of the powers in Supernatural Beings, and the powers that are present in the novel's main inspiration. This inspiration also effected a couple early plot-points, but wasn't really an issue past the first few chapters which is nice.

But yeah, the reason why it hurts a bit is that I'd love to scream out about how super unique the series is. However, instead I can only say "Oh yeah, beings is pretty unique! I really like the new stuff that it's bringing to the romance/horror genre. BUT-".

And I wish I didn't need to add that "BUT" in there, due to the inspiration for those few cases I mentioned above.

Again though, this is probably my only real "fault" with the story- and it would never effect anyone who doesn't know about the author's main inspiration anyways.

Plus MangaStoryFan is already well aware of this as well so, I imagine the story will continue to get more and more unique as time goes on as well (it already has been doing so quite a bit for reference).

I guess as a last concern though- I hope that if MangaStoryFan ever loses interest in the main inspiration (as future preferences can be unpredictable), that it doesn't end up effecting his production of Supernatural Beings. Having back-up plans in case a lack of passion for the main inspiration happens could potentially be a smart idea, however that's getting into personal opinions so I'll leave things there.

Conclusion:

Overall? This is an enjoyable story, and despite it being a horror novel set in a brutal world- it shows how the human spirit can still prevail (even if the humans grow up and act differently due to their severe trauma). And it's nice to see the protagonists be able to stay cheerful in the horrible world as well (and it's even funny at some points too, as it goes to show how desensitized they are to some awful stuff).

Also- the fact that I can still enjoy Supernatural Beings despite a few parts of it not exactly being my taste, is a good sign that it could reach a pretty big audience someday.

On that note- MangaStoryFan has plans to potentially make the story into something like a visual novel or manga someday, which would be pretty fitting and help make the monsters and gore in the story a whole lot scarier. It could also bring in a wider audience that may not like to read books without visuals as well, which is obviously a bonus.

Lastly- the story is supposedly going to be VERY long as well so, I imagine that anything that might be missing in this volume- will probably be fleshed out later on. And the fact that volume 1 alone has so many mysteries and hidden back stories, is a good way to keep readers wanting to read on into volume 2. Myself included.

So yeah. Assuming you're fine with gore and mature subjects, this is a story I could definitely recommend to those who love character-driven, romance heavy, mystery filled novels!