Reviews

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Ragna is a dragon hunter who follows around the world’s best dragon hunter: a twelve-year-old-girl named Leo. He takes care of her day-to-day needs while she hunts the most ferocious dragons, who can take on many shapes outside of the typical giant lizards. One night, Ragna begins to have dreams of Leo’s death and a shrouded figure who bemoans how he couldn’t save her. He warns Ragna that this reality is coming soon. When the fateful day finally arrives, Ragna rushes out to confront the powerful dragon, only to be brushed aside into the town’s river. As he sinks to the bottom, the shrouded man comes to him again and explains that he is Ragna’s future self, and the only way to save Leo is to give him all the power he has been learning for twenty years. He also tells Ragna that the only way to keep Leo really safe is to team up with Crimson, the dragon monarch, to eradicate all the dragons from the world.

Time travel narratives always present interesting problems, and this one is no exception. Crimson of the future warns Ragna of the Future of the consequences, so I appreciated that there isn’t just this time-bridge and hand-over of power with no backlash. Ragna’s switch to seeking Crimson/ditching Leo was really sudden; I didn’t enjoy how he abandoned Leo suddenly, especially after the build-up in the first half of the volume where he repeatedly states what he is willing to do to save Leo. I’m also not quite sure why Crimson wants to destroy all the dragons, but that will probably be revealed in future volumes. I also wonder how much more Ragna can grow as a hero, since he has been basically maxed leveled at the beginning of the journey. Having an over-powered hero is only fun in One-Punch Man.

Square-Enix rates this as Older Teen, most likely for the violence. The scene in Ragna’s dream where Leo dies is pretty gruesome. Otherwise, there is nothing else in volume one that would not be suitable for younger teens.

Sara’s Rating: 8/10
Suitability Level: Grades 9-12

molly_dettmann's review against another edition

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3.0

I’m intrigued by this story of dragon hunters and time travel. It’s a little all over the place though but I imagine in the next volume the plot line makes a little more sense. I’m confused about how old Ragna is supposed to be since we know Leo is 12.

arianamadison's review

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dark fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

rorikae's review

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adventurous dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

'Ragna Crimson' Vol. 1 by Daiki Kobayashi is a promising start to a fantasy series. We follow Ragna, an average warrior, who accompanies Leonica, an expert dragon hunter. In this world, dragons are a huge problem, razing towns and killing scores of people. Ragna and Leo have been traveling around, saving towns but Ragna is troubled by a mysterious figure that shows up in his dreams and promises that Leo's fate will not be a happy one.
A lot happens in this first volume. We get solid character introductions for Ragna, Leo, and Crimson and a fascinating plot. I am interested to see if it sticks to being relatively straightforward or if there are more twists and turns to come. Great action and interesting characters. I'm intrigued to see where this goes next.

Content Warnings