Pandemonium by Shou Shibamoto is a treat. As a two volume long manga, admittedly I didn't really give it much thought when I first saw it. But it looked like something out of the ordinary so I decided to give it a read. Wasn't really what I was expecting, at all.

It's a story about a world of anthropomorphic animal beings, and in this world, there's a village of mutated outcasts called the Wizard's Village named as such because it's believed by everybody else that they possess the ability of magic. They keep to themselves and put distance between them and those who dwell outside. Until one day, our protagonist who happens to be an outsider, Mr. Zipher arrives with a mysterious large box in his possession...

While what caught my eye was the manga's art style, the story is absolutely great. Twelve chapters isn't a whole lot, yet the story is interesting enough to make me want to see more of this honestly kind of dismal world. Because even putting this village of outcasts sequestered from the rest of the world aside, the towns on the surface have a tendency of ending up being reduced to nothing but cinders by some unknown phenomena called "Straight Thunders" falling from the sky.

Additionally, the "Variants" (the mutated residents of the Wizard Village) all look really neat. Some look weird, some look intimidating, but in all actuality they just want to be left to themselves. But this wish seems to go unanswered as rumors of a "Wizard Village" bearing unworldly magic seems to continue spreading throughout the outside world...

It goes to say that this manga is unexpectedly dark. A settlement of mutated exiles living cut off from the outside world, communities of the outside world are occasionally just spontaneously destroyed, and desperation for a solution forces outsiders to come to the "Wizard Village" in hopes of acquiring their magic. Our somewhat suspicious protagonist Mr. Zipher comes to the "Wizard Village" in hopes of asking to be helped out with their magic...

Zipher's problem being a rather sad one, and one that is incapable of being fixed by magic... and his arrival both directly as well as indirectly leads to a whole lot of problems for the village.

Concluding, there isn't a huge amount more I can say without spoiling the actual plot of Pandemonium. The art's great and eye catching, the characters are neat looking, it's dark but not overly so, the main character has flaws but has his reasons for his actions, and it's not either too short or too long. I would have certainly went for more, but in twelve chapters, the story of Zipher's visit to the "Wizard Village" was satisfyingly complete.

A 10 out of 10. Easily one of my favorite "short" manga.