What's It About?

Ryo wakes up one day to find himself transported to another world full of monster girls. Although their power far surpasses that of any humans, Ryo has his own ability―the “Charm” skill, which forcibly increases his affection level with all monster girls! Using this skill, he seduces all kinds of monster girls and builds a harem to get revenge on all the fantastical creatures that attacked and brought his home to ruin...!

Phantom Invasion has story and art by Kumosuke Yamada, with English translation by Matthew Alberts and lettering by Greg Deng. Published by Yen Press (May 27, 2025). Rated Mature.

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Is It Worth Reading?

MrAJCosplay
Rating:

Phantom Invasion may be one of the edgier series in this guide, and that's saying a lot. The story almost plays out like it's trying to be an inversion of a sci-fi harem series. Instead of a teenager being sent to a fantasy world, we get a young soldier. Instead of being given a broken combat skill, he's given the ability to seduce female monsters. Instead of trying to create a harem with as many of these attractive monster girls as he can, his goal is to have them all fall for him so he can have them brutally murder each other. It's not savory, but it at least commits to what it's trying to do.

There's a dramatic narrative in which the protagonist becomes more and more of a bastard as the book goes on, as he needs to harden himself to do whatever it takes to win. He's just a simple human. These women can casually break his bones while looking down on him like he's a little puppy. A different type of wish fulfillment and power fantasy is at play here, and it's not 100% for me. Still, I can see why some people are drawn to this type of content. Personally, it was a bit hard to read without feeling bad for everybody involved. Considering the emotional distance the story tries to put between the monster girls, it feels like it is missing emotional hooks. It's a shame because it feels like everything is there to create a tragic story where everyone is just at each other's throats for all the wrong reasons, but as it now stands, it doesn't take that angle.

There are some elements of body horror in here with some pretty brutal deaths, but it's not the selling point of the story. As I alluded to before, that is just another element of the overall edge that this book exudes, aside from the presentation, which is fine, even though I found some of the monster girl designs to be boring. If you want something a little darker and bloodier, while still having flashes of titillation, you might find something to enjoy in this. I don't think I'll proceed any deeper than I already have.

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