THIS REVIEW WILL CONTAIN MAJOR SPOILERS FOR RECORD OF RAGNAROK

Plot Synopsis:

Should mankind go extinct? That is the question that leads us to Ragnarok, the 13 vs 13 Tournament between gods and mankind. Every 1000 years, all gods from various religions and mythologies (Norse, Greek, Hindu, etc.) come together and discuss whether they should annihilate humans once and for all. We enter the story when the gods all make a unanimous vote... annihilate humanity. However, Brunhilde (a Valkyrie) proposes to the gods, Ragnarok? They accept, and Ragnarok initiates. As the tournament moves on we get introduced to more and more characters, leading to a bunch of conflicts even outside of the tournament.

Review of Story:

For this section I'll be reviewing every fight individually and have a separate mini-section for outside conflicts

Fight #1

Lu Bu vs Thor was an amazing introduction fight, this fight established how cruel the gods or even humans can be to anyone and everyone, and seeing Thor slowly but surely crushing Lu Bu into submission showed that these 2 respected each other and their techniques throughout the whole fight. The artwork is exquisite as well, every line is drawn prestigiously and really sold us on how good every fight in the series would be from here on out. 8.5/10 Fight

Fight #2

Adam vs Zeus… I don’t think I have to explain why this fight was so good but here I go. Adam, the father of humanity, the man the gods hated the most, was fighting Zeus, the king of the gods. Already the amount of impact this fight was gonna have was off the charts. Then the fight begins and we see this (comparatively) scrawny boy fighting this massive muscular man, we think “No way will Adam beat him”. Adam then lands dozens of blows to Zeus, and says the iconic line “Is there any man that needs a reason, to protect his own children”. That line moved not only every reader, but everyone in the story itself too. It was truly an emotional sucker punch. Eventually Adam knocks out Zeus and we think it’s over, we think we’ve won due to Adam’s courage and his ability “Eyes of the lord”. However Zeus wakes up and goes into his final form, Adamas… this was terrible. The god king had woken up and Adam, losing his ability slowly but surely, dies. This leads to the gods’ second win and our despair, Adam was our father, and he couldn’t pull through. This battle was amazing and the artwork was godlike, I never thought any fight ever could top this, but then Fight #4 pulled up, but that’s a topic for a different time. 10/10 Fight

Fight #3

Sasaki vs Poseidon was a revolutionary fight, giving humanity it's first ever win. However the road to get that win wasn't easy. When Sasaki is first summoned we see an old man, who I doubt upon first inspection all of us thought would win. Whereas the god representative for this round was Poseidon, the god of the sea and explicitly called of the strongest gods. As the fight starts up we see Poseidon constantly doge Sasaki and his attacks, out maneuvering him and getting quite a few counter-attacks in. Showing that in terms of evasiveness, Poseidon could quite possibly take the cake. However his arrogance is what got the best of him. Sasaki was cool and calculated, and towards the end of the fight used his ultimate ability to it's fullest. This lead the arrogant Poseidon to go all out, but it was too late. Sasaki already foresaw all outcomes, and much like Dr. Strange in Avengers, saw only 1 premonition where he would win. He then took that chance and won against Poseidon, and gave us all satisfaction.

Unrelated Story Beats

These are my thoughts on the story that aren't involved in fights:

What makes RoR's story so compelling is how simple yet effective this form of storytelling is. There are massive stakes at hand but to overcome those stakes we have to win in a tournament, a relatively simple format but can be elaborated in so many ways. Take HxH for example, in the final stage of the Hunter Exam there is a tournament with only 1 loser, except that tournament allows participants that have worked hard more chances of success, compared to participants who've more or less mooched off of others. This is the type of manipulation in tournaments I enjoy, and RoR takes the fullest advantage of this by allowing unique matchups and team switch-ups such as Buddha fighting for humans. Speaking of Buddha, he's probably the most relevant character outside of fights, he gets into a fight with Loki and the Lucky Gods and he brings some of our favorite characters with him such as Sasaki. I love how this series is MAINLY focused on tournaments yet still strays away juuuuuust enough to keep us interested.

Before I get into the characters themselves let me just say that the character designs in this manga are gorgeous, Buddha for example looked nothing like what I thought he'd look like but oh my god, his design fits with his spunky personality so well. And characters like Zeus who has a robe to make him feel royal, or someone like Poseidon who's hair and posture signify his arrogance really are amazing. Anyway, here are my thoughts on the specific characters:

Brunhilde & Goll: These 2 are our main characters, who oversee and basically commentate every fight (unlike in the anime where it seems that commentating is Odin’s birds’ job). Brunhilde is a strong, sexy, and super woman who takes charge and tries to outwit the gods into losing, saving humanity. Her ideals and thoughts on sacrifice for the greater good make her a really compelling character in my opinion. Goll on the other hand is a shy, timid and caring young girl who just wants the very best for all her friends, and that makes her a great contrast to Brunhilde.

Lu Bu & Thor: Lu Bu was introduced as the strongest man alive, and it’d be hard to argue otherwise, he’s big, strong, muscular and loves fighting. He was an amazing contrast to Thor, both of whom have never lost a fight in their life and got pushed to their limits in their match. Lu Bu having his army and his horse, Red Hare, supporting him throughout the fight was touching and made you feel for this super powerful overlord. Thor is also someone who was looking for someone to go all out on, leading to him respecting Lu Bu, a human, which Thor probably never assumed he’d do. It’s all quite cool to see these 2 giant oafs berating each other with attacks and eventually thinking “If only you weren’t a (god/human) we could’ve been friends."

Adam: Adam was a great father figure, literally. Adam showed us that we don’t need reasoning to protect the ones we love. He was an inspiration and a powerhouse, beating up Zeus to protect his children, and that is something the whole human race could get behind.

Zeus: Zeus is a great antagonist type character. He never does anything explicitly evil, he just does what he needs to do and that’s admirable. Zeus is the definition of don’t judge a book by it’s cover because we see this scrawny old man turn into this mean fighting machine, and the banter he has with Hermes and Ares is great as well.

Sasaki Kojiro: An absolute king, he completely took me by surprise in his fight, and also may be the most calculated fighter other than Jack the Ripper. His backstory was also the best of the first 3 fighters in my opinion (I haven't read the Lu Bu spin-off however. If only there were TRANSLATIONS). Seeing him lose over, and over, and over, and over, and over again was sad to see. Even at his death he lost, not even a tie. But seeing him finally win a fight and having the crowd go wild, to be honest brought a loving tear to my eye.

Poseidon: I hate Poseidon with all my being, but that's why he's so compelling. He is the perfect example of an arrogant god and has a massive ego. This also led to us feeling so satisfied about his defeat, as we hated this man for all he's worth. His backstory was one of the weaker ones in my opinion, but seeing him absolutely destroy Adamas, showing his power, was astonishing.

The art in this series is, in one word, godlike. The art-style feels extreme and over the top but also impactful. And, I mean this in the best possible way, "messy". The rough art-style provides plenty of room for dynamic shots and intimidating poses. Every character looks badass and the thick lines add to their personality and boldness, for example check out Jack The Ripper in this panel:

Even if you haven't read this series you can tell how menacing this character is just from the intricate artwork and line manipulation, the artist (Chika Aji) really knows how to emphasize how important and grueling a scene is. I cannot wait to see what she works on in the future

I myself am a massive fan of tournaments and fighting series. One of my favorite anime of all time is Dragon Ball, known for its martial arts tournaments and superpowers. And this series is a love letter to everything a tournament should be, it’s got amazing fights, amazing pacing and amazing characters/character interactions. I was never bored or even phased out of this series when reading it and there hasn’t been a single bad fight. Amazing read.

Record of Ragnarok is an amazing manga, filled with gorgeous artwork, wonderful character designs, and godlike fights. I love a good tournament series and this is the best tournament series I've ever experienced, please have a read of Record of Ragnarok.

Favorite Character: Jack The Ripper
Favorite Panel:
Favorite Quote: "Phew! I guess winning for once feels pretty good, huh?" - Sasaki Kojiro

Final Score: 93/100
Recommendation Level: 5/5
_______________
This review is a work in progress

I will be editing this review after every fight is completed to make sure my opinions on said fight are presented, keep an eye out!

Thanks for reading and please leave any criticisms you have on my Profile!