The Fall 2024 Manga Guide

Yandere Dark Elf

What's It About? 

Sunohara Hinata thought defeating the evil overlord and returning to high school in Japan marked the end of his otherworldly adventures. But when Mariabell, his first and most fervent ally from the magical realm, follows him home, his daily life takes a fantastical turn. Just a month after his return, Mariabell, a dark elf with a passionate and slightly obsessive love, declares they're meant to be together forever. Now, Hinata must navigate the halls of high school while living with a magically jealous girlfriend who takes "school crush" to a whole new level. Join them as they tackle life's unexpected twists in this exhilarating rom-com adventure!

Yandere Dark Elf: She Chased Me All the Way From Another World! has a story and art by Nakanosora and English translation by Matthew Carolan. This volume was lettered by Roland Amago and edited by Callum May. Published under Seven Seas' Ghost Ship label (September 24, 2024).

Content Warning: This title is intended for 18+ audiences.

Is It Worth Reading?

Trying to decide where to begin with the deluge of Manga Guide titles can always be a difficult decision unless you're me. I see an upcoming volume with the helpfully descriptive title of Yandere Dark Elf and furiously click the download button so rapidly that I wind up with 57 extra digital copies. Worth it.

I don't even care that this is technically an isekai-adjacent title or that the main dude Hinata was clearly in a new-style isekai as he learned nothing during his interworld trip. Despite the ostensible months spent traveling with companions and becoming experienced enough to topple the Demon Lord, our boy remains blissfully oblivious to the overgrown field of red flags that are his would-be wife Mariabell. There is an indication that Bell is trying a little bit to hide her more extreme tendencies, consciously working Hinata into her possessive, manipulative, pseudo-marriage, yet the former hero still shrugs almost everything off as her being "slightly obsessed."

Though where this would be grounds for intervention from friends and possibly the court system in real life, it's an expected entertainment value setup for those of us who don't mind fantasizing about possessive, manipulative, pseudo-marriages. A good 75% of this book is dedicated to Nakanosora drawing the diminutive Hinata being squished and smothered by Bell's anatomy, which seems to fluctuate entirely based on how overbearing her vibes are at the time. It kind of works and should satisfy someone's desire for dark elf pin-ups. Hinata's protests against Bell's bathtime bad-touch bad-times can come off a little overt, but a hundred pages later when the guy is enacting hot-and-heavy foot worship on his giant girlfriend in the school nurse's office? You look me in the eye and tell me he isn't getting into this, at least a little bit. There's a passing attempt at characterization amongst all this fantasy fanservice. It's particularly sweet to see Bell form a friendship with Hinata's other pal Sakura, whom she's initially seeking to do the ol' yandere rival-elimination maneuver with. But other elements feel skimmed over, particularly Bell's mentioned-once-and-then-never-again emotional perception powers, to say nothing of Hinata's supposed past as an all-powerful fantasy warrior. Maybe that stuff will come more into play as the other former party members arrive for the second volume, but until then, you're pretty much getting into this entirely for what it's got on the cover.

I had a weird moment when I started reading Yandere Dark Elf. “Hang on,” I asked myself, “haven't I seen this dark elf character before? Why does this art style seem so familiar?” Then, in a quirk of how the preview PDF is set up, I read the author's notes before anything else and mangaka Nakanosora confirmed that he started this comic as a series of erotic doujinshi because he got hung up on how hot it would be to draw a dark elf in a knit dress. And then I remembered where I had originally read this comic before. So we have another case similar to The Elder Sister-like One where we have a fairly naughty manga series originally based on a series of erotic doujinshi drawn on the side.

The setup is as you expect: after saving a fantasy world in an isekai setting, protagonist Hinata returns home to his ordinary high school student life. But dark elf Mariabell (“Bell” for short) is so obsessed with marrying Hinata that she follows him to the human world. It's a cute rom-com set-up, even if it's just a pretense for a lot of T&A.

Three things drag down the fun for me. The “yandere” angle doesn't work, in my opinion. It doesn't come into play much, outside of a few moments where Bell says some silly line of dialogue with half her face in shadow. I already don't like “yandere” and I find it forced in the majority of cases, and this is no different. Heck, it wasn't even in the original series where Bell was just slightly pushy towards Hinata (and even then, he didn't object much). The romantic comedy formula works just fine with Bell being single-minded in her love for Hinata.

The second is that this series dances around the T&A. Where Bell and Hinata might have originally made the beast with two backs at a moment's notice, here we have to go through slightly more trite setups like “Bell getting handsy with Hinata in the bath”. I'm not sure where the line falls for these softcore mainstream-published manga in terms of content restrictions, but honestly, the best part of the relationship between Bell and Hinata is when they're allowed to be equally crazy about each other. They may as well be honeymooners as it is.

The final issue is the addition of Mochida Sakura, a classmate of Hinata's who—wouldn't you know—secretly harbors romantic feelings for Hinata. Nothing drags down a romantic comedy quite like a forced romantic triangle, especially when the third wheel doesn't have a chance. I dunno guys, the series is called “Yandere Dark Elf”, maybe Hinata really will dump his cute, sexy dark elf girlfriend for his classmate. And maybe Bell will trade her cute knit dress for a diving bell and become a marine biologist, right?

I don't think Yandere Dark Elf is going to win any awards for originality or writing; it has no greater ambition than to be a trashy, sexy comic about a kid and his sexy live-in dark elf girlfriend who wears a knit dress. STILL, it's a fun romp, even if the “yandere” shtick barely factors into things. And hey, gotta appreciate Nakanosora for speaking his truth and getting a chance to share his cute fantasy girlfriend with the world. Recommended.

I feel like it's been a while since I read a good yandere story and Yandere Dark Elf fits the mold. I like how unassuming the story is at first. Introducing a slight twist on the typical isekai story. Instead of our main character going to a fantasy world, this time he has already reached the end of his journey and has returned home only for an obsessive dark elf to follow and mark him as her property. Dark Elf is gorgeous and I was surprised at how much the story pushed the line between being an ecchi and a full-on adult story. There are some sexually charged situations here but they are framed a bit weirdly and a lot of that comes down to the general perspective of our main lead.

The biggest problem with the story is that I don't understand the lead when dealing with situations. He's not passive in the typical sense as he does put his foot down a lot and makes sure that his now dark elf girlfriend doesn't go too far and he is very aware of how crazy she is as he will oftentimes comment on her being obsessive. However, it doesn't feel like he's taking enough precautions to ensure she doesn't commit a crime. He flip-flops a bit between being wary of her advances and spontaneously giving into them when found in particular circumstances. I'm unsure if he's being influenced or if it's teenage hormones taking over in the heat of the moment. It could be either or both but the point is that the story doesn't always clearly communicate those elements.

The highlight is the dark dark herself who exhibits a good contrast between a sweet demeanor and an obsessive murderer. The artwork frames these shifts in her personality beautifully and I love how the story can highlight these things in a way that is both terrifying as well as hilarious. This is how I think good yandere stories should be. If you've been a fan of this trope for a while and are starving for more, this would be right up your alley. It hits a lot of the beats that I have come to appreciate over the years.