Stop me if you’ve heard this one before.
Creative Staff
Author: Ueji Yuho
Translated by: Tomo Kimura
Letterer: Adnazeer Macalangcom
What They Say
Deep below the earth lies the abode of Lord Hades, the ruthless king of the Underworld. Ruling over the realm of the dead, he swears to never fall in love… Except, well, he kind of just took an arrow to the face courtesy of the primordial god of love, Eros, so…In any case, if someone could please pull this thing out of his head anytime this week, the lord god has places to be and people to see. He’ll even make a wish come true, so step right up! Chop-chop! Who will be the lucky duck to claim Hades’s prize…?!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
Everyone now and then creators hit upon an idea all at the same time. That’s how you get two movies about almost the same thing releasing at the same time. Readers point fingers that someone copied someone else, but often all things hit at roughly the same time and it just… turned out that everyone was on the same wavelength.
Currently that wavelength appears to be the Abduction of Persephone.
What is it about the seemingly nonconsensual relationship that inspires authors to make it a genuine romance? The star-crossed lover aspect? The opposites attract aspect? I mean, this is the story that has traditional been “The Rape of Persephone” with classical art depicting a distraught and nude Persephone being carried off.
The most popular modern reimagining of the story currently appears to be Lord Olympus by Rachel Smythe, which is a slightly more serious tone with a more cartoony look. I personally have read Punderworld by Linda Sejic, which is humorous with less cartoony artwork more on par with this title. Both have the relationship being reciprocal rather than not. All have the other gods behaving badly, and thus mythologically accurate.
That’s the fun part that brings folks back to the greco-roman gods. They’re assholes who are constantly creating and participating in drama. They aren’t perfect ineffable beings, they’re a mess, and if you don’t appease them then good luck to you.
Ruthless Marriage doesn’t gloss over the family tree of the gods being a incest-ridden mess. It doesn’t skimp on how sex obsessed most of the gods are.
It’s own twist on the story is that Eros randomly shoots an arrow into Hades skull, forcing him to find a lover. It leans into the idea that everyone wants pouty boy Hades to get hitched or at least laid. (We aren’t given a reason why for that, which seems shortsighted.) Persephone, who in this story goes by the alternate historical title of Kore (which basically means ‘girl’), puts herself in a position to be the one seen first and thus the relationship is born.
What follows is a dour Hades fending off suitor after suitor with Kore acting as a wingwoman to keep him from having to deal with any of the goddesses who come calling. Hades finds himself thinking of Kore more over time and she finds herself being somewhat attracted to the lord of the underworld.
Those antics mostly consist of various goddesses approaching Hades with different ideas of marriage. Occasionally Posidon or Zeus show up with be letches. Everyone is hot, as is befitting of the gods. Perhaps the best design for a character goes to Eros, who flits about as a cheeky twink. Overall the humor is relatively broad and a miss. Everything plays big and loud and there is no subtlety to be found. I’m not even certain where the story is leading beyond the two divinities eventually hooking up somewhat unwillingly.
In Summary
Lord Hades’s Ruthless Marriage is treading some very familiar ground. Ground that other authors are also treading but doing so in more engaging and modern way. This manga feels like a throwback to older romcoms of the 90s, with plenty of characters behaving badly and plenty of cheesecake and beefcake to watch make fools of themselves. The characters are completely one-dimensional and there appears to be no greater plot than the weird obsession for everyone to force Hades and Kore into a situation they don’t want to be in. The artwork is lovely but the humor falls flat. I’d recommend one of the other hundred takes on this story unless you’re allergic to anything not draw manga style.
Content Grade: C
Art Grade: B
Packaging Grade: B
Text/Translation Grade: A –
Age Rating: Older Teen
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: November 21, 2023
MSRP: $15.00 US / $19.50 CAN
