Dara-san of Reiwa Volume 1-3 Manga Review

How should readers approach Dara-san of Reiwa, a story that feels like two manga stitched together, not unlike its monstrous central character? Creator Haruomi Tomotsuka shared at the end of volume one that the story originated as a web manga and was, at least at first, an outlet for his own fetishes. A quick look at his FANBOX account (NSFW) confirms much of what this series dips its toes into, and it will be a make-or-break for readers and, eventually, viewers, if the anime adaptation doesn't excise this content. Dara-san of Reiwa spends about as much time exploring the supernatural as it does sexualizing fifth-grade crossdresser Kaoru.

Tomotsuka introduces the siblings (who both have androgynous names) to the monster Yamatagi-Madara (later, Dara-san) early on, and Hinata quickly explains that femme-presenting Kaoru is her younger brother, while the streetwear-sporting Hinata is the older sister. Both characters are half Australian and half Japanese, but only Kaoru inherited his father's light hair and eyes. Bonus material explains that Kaoru is ambivalent about fashion gender norms and began wearing dresses at a young age because his mother enjoyed dressing him up. He's otherwise attracted to women. Curvy women. While I'm not going to raise a fuss about an 11-year-old feeling a certain kind of way, this situation evolves when we're introduced to his 26-year-old otaku neighbor. She, on the other hand, is in love with and sexually attracted to Kaoru and reveals to the reader that she's waiting for him to come of age.

This is only a few pages after a half-page, low-angle spread focused on Kaoru's pre-pubescent bulge. And you know what? I expected Dara-san of Reiwa to be a sex comedy. Dara-san's tits are full out on the cover; I wasn't expecting anything remotely chaste. I just expected most of it to be about this several-centuries-old monster lady getting into sometimes-sexy situations and making gaffes related to modern technology, or something. We have variations on this kind of setup with elves and other reverse-isekai scenarios. I didn't expect it to include an adult woman huffing the pillow a grade schooler was sitting on.

I've probably said this elsewhere, in other reviews, but stories do not exist in a vacuum. The reason an audience can enjoy a character's journey, at least in a well-written story, is that they can draw on a frame of reference, even if the situation is vastly different. As you go through life, you hopefully gain more experiences, more understanding, and more empathy that allow you to enjoy a broader range of stories. If I had read Dara-san of Reiwa about 20 years ago, I probably would have chalked this part of the story up as one of those "weird things manga does sometimes" and moved on. But I have a different frame of reference now because my son is 11 years old, so the whole thing feels extra gross.

As a character, Hinata is a miss too, but for an entirely different reason. After three volumes, her characterization can only be described as vapid. She comes across as not particularly smart and has barebones interests and relationships. Her one quirk is the ability to see supernatural entities, but this isn't a strength or a weakness. The crew isn't out hunting for yokai or other beings; it's just a device to explain why she can see Dara-san when other people can't.

When I wrote earlier that the series felt stitched together, it was because every chapter opens with multiple pages dedicated to a flashback. The reader is taken back in time to when "Dara-san" was a human woman, and the story slowly reveals the circumstances of how she became the monster she is now. These pages add the horror elements to the overall story and are intriguing, even if the circumstances feel a bit like someone making it up as they go along. Tomotsuka is a great artist and can work interchangeably between fast-paced, graphic horror scenes and editorial, fashion-focused art. The bonus character profiles show that he has an eye for clothing, and his character designs exhibit a great variety of styles and proportions. He certainly leans toward full-figured women and girls (which is also an extension of the fetish interests he has).

The overt fetish material dies down in the latter two volumes, but it never fully exits the material. Chapters instead focus on introducing Dara-san to some otaku activities (like Gunpla), but frankly, there isn't much of a plot outside of the flashback portions of the chapter. A potential threat is introduced at the beginning of volume three, only to take a back seat for the rest of the volume. This character is shown pretty prominently in the latest anime PV, so I can only assume that there's going to be some rearranging of earlier material in its premieres next month.

If I'm going to end on a positive note, John Neal's translation work elevates the material. Due to its rural setting, all the characters speak in an accented, casual manner. It would have been very easy to overdo this and leave the characters sounding like extras from The Beverly Hillbillies. Instead, the translation reads naturally without mocking the characters. There's some use of modern teenage slang in here that could be divisive, but it didn't feel put-upon or out of place at any point.

We'll have to see how Dara-san of Reiwa turns out on the screen. The manga at least prepared me for its premiere.