Working for God in a Godless World vol.1

It's taken a while to get here and you may have already seen the anime, but the manga version of Working for God in a Godless World has found official release care of Titan Manga. Yet another isekai series, I picked this one up hanks to it's rather cool cover featuring the Goddess Mitama.

Yukito Urabe is the son of a cult leader and lives a somewhat miserable life being ostracised by normal people or tortured (and eventually sacrificed) for his father's cult. Arriving in the new world the same age as he left ours, he finds himself in a peaceful village with no concept of "God" and makes friends with the locals. Finally content, it's only a matter of time before the real nature of his idyllic existence is revealed - his village consists of outcasts from the imperial state, and they're regularly executed as part of a purge. When the sisters who own the bar where he stays are taken and murdered, he finally turns to his sect's God and is rewarded with her appearance, slaying the soldiers and resurrecting his fallen friends. But a God without followers has no long-lasting power and with the Empire now alerted to this new threat, Yukito he has to take up his father's mantle and turn the villagers into true believers.

A diminutive God to be sure...

While I found the overall story enjoyable, the tone of the book really is all over the place - it flips from comedy, tragedy and horror on a dime, which is quite impressive but leaves you with virtual whiplash at times trying to keep up. It's also quite surreal - early in the book, the younger of the to sisters, Alural, sneeks into Yukito's bed, proceeds to tie him up and perform sadistic acts, before "coming to her senses" an hour later with no actual gratification on either side and the two just have a normal conversation. Her elder sister, Siluril appears to be a lush and one of the pub regulars, Roy, is a sex-mad potential rapist. Generally you can understand why all these characters might be outcasts - they're basically nuts.

The violence is also quite graphic - when the sisters are taken for execution, you see Siluril hanging with the distressed Aluril collapsed beneath her, just before she's dragged away and executed. It's brutal, even if they are resurrected shortly after. The subsequent humour and daftness seem totally out of place given the circumstances, furthermore, when the elite soldier killed by Mitama's arrival, Bertrand, is resurrected by the self-same deity, he's been returned as a woman for no apparent reason other than to assume every man he meets wants to violate him - this says more about Bertrand than men generally and therefore he/she isn't a very sympathetic character.

The art matches the script in terms of how it shifts styles rapidly, but this only suits the narrative. Artist Hangetsubansonsyo is adept at highly detailed grotesquery, shadowy horror and cute tomfoolery, making them an excellent choice for a book this chaotic. 

The level of detail is quite impressive

Oddly though, despite the narrative gear-crunching, it does work - not as smoothly as one might expect, but the danger is very apparent, driving Yukito's quest to make believers for this young girl who appears anything but Godly. He finds himself taking lessons from his father's past behaviour, albeit reluctantly, understanding that perhaps his tribulations in our world make him the perfect saviour for his new one. The source of the Imperial Army's power is also intriguing, setting up a mysterious antagonist with some interesting digital effects surrounding them.

Like Yukito's upbringing, it's rough around the edges, brutal and lacking much subtlety, but aside from a few problematic character traits I can see the story taking interesting turns in future. It won't be for everyone (especially more timid readers) but as a departure from the usual overpowered isekai fare, it deserves at least a shot with those looking for something different.