Ragna Crimson (Volume 1) - Birth of the Reaper

Ranga’s life had been cursed by dragons. His parents were killed yet he survived. Then, the relatives he went to live with were killed and he survived. Everyone that comes into his life eventually gets killed by dragons, but not him!

Ragna Crimson (Volume 1) – Birth of the Reaper

What happened?

The only person brave enough to associate themselves with him was Leonica, a twelve-year-old dragon-hunting prodigy. She gave him a reason to keep living and tried to show him how to slay dragons himself. However, he’s hopeless yet she sees potential in him that he doesn’t see himself. Regardless, he trains by himself every night after Leonica has gone to sleep. He needs to get stronger. He needs to prove that he is useful. Then, a strange vision interrupts his training. He sees Leonica killed by a dragon and there’s nothing he can do about it.

The next day, a swarm of dragons attacks a city that was believed to be impervious to dragon attack, slaughtering everyone. Before the hunters can even think of launching some sort of rescue, another swarm of dragons attacks there. Leonica is quick to lead the charge against them, but Ragna has a very bad feeling about this. Then, he sees the vision again and a strange old man. The man tells him about the future that is to come. Leonica will die. Ragna will be alone. He will train and train and train until his body is a living weapon, but he will always be alone. Unless…

The old man is Ragna from the future and he desperately wants to change the past. With the help of a being known as Crimson, he is prepared to transfer his skills to his younger self. There will be a cost, but if it means Leonica survives, he’s willing to pay any price. Ragna takes the powers from his future self and turns them on the attacking dragons. After quickly destroying the entire swarm, he passes out and sees visions of Crimson. He must find Crimson as soon as possible if he’s to make the most of his new powers.

Ragna Crimson Volume 1 Ragna experiences his future

What did you think?

Well, here we are again. It’s another shounen series where the hero wants to destroy all [insert target here]. This time, it’s dragons and it’s set in a fantasy world. Not an isekai, just a straightforward fantasy. Ragna is the standard weak protagonist who magically acquires powers beyond his wildest dreams. This time, it’s from his future self who has been to hell and back again. Sure, it’s not original, but it sure is a lot of fun. I honestly loved this book. At first, I was worried about the twelve-year-old girl that seemed to be the focus of Ragna’s life, but he left her behind in order to save her from his fate. I get the feeling she’ll be back at some point though, all grown up.

The most fascinating aspect of this series is Crimson. He/she/it is a powerful dragon that rebelled against the dragon god and seeks to put an end to all dragons. Crimson met up with Ragna in the future timeline, but it was at a much later date. I love the way Crimson attempts to conceal their identity and is quite clearly insane. This series is already pretty dark with dragons devouring people left right and centre and then we have Crimson who is a different threat altogether. I’m really excited to see how this one develops.