Review by Ian Keogh

Chiyomaru Urabe has grown up within a centuries old religion prizing combat and physical perfection as the ultimate devotion, and her years of training have developed a near invincible form, which is a problem when she needs to die.

That may sound rather bleak, but it’s apparently the only way she can be reunited with her brother, who has been transferred to another world. It’s certainly a test of faith on her part, as writers Aoi Akashiro and Shinya Murata aren’t greatly keen on specific explanations as to how anything works in The Godless World of Onee-Chan, so following events requires a fair amount of faith in them also. Thankfully for Chiyomaru she is transported to another world, so she can follow through on her plan to marry her departed younger brother Yukito on the basis that he’s so cute.

For outsiders Japanese society can seem extremely strange. Do Japanese readers of translated American comics wonder why there aren’t any superheroes professing a passion for their siblings? What would be a taboo subject around much of the world is here a motivating factor for the entire series. Yes, it is lighthearted as Chiyomaru goes around punching out anything in her path, dragons included, but it’s going to cross a boundary for many potential readers.

Tokisada Hayami takes the script as farce and draws it accordingly, exaggerating Chiyomaru’s strength and determination along with her feats of prodigious strength. He also knows when to tone things down, and when an illustration is going to be funnier for avoiding exaggeration, such as Chyomaru’s arrival on the new world.

It turns out that new world is troubled, and the arrival of Chiyomaru is a potential protector of ordinary people turning up at exactly the right time. The title refers to the recent death of the emperor, which leaves his super powered soldiers fighting among themselves to succeed him. The more followers they can convert, the more powerful they become, which is another matter to be taken on faith.

If you’re in the right frame of mind, The Godless World of Onee-Chan is very silly, but not as funny as you might expect from looking at Hayami’s art. Still, everything has now been established, and with the villagers trained and a new target established Volume 2 should pick up the pace.