Nephilim Volume 1

Nephilim volume 1 cover

It feels, upon opening Nephilim volume 1, like Anna Hanamaki set out to craft not a story but a catalog of as many fetishes as possible.

A Nephilim is male during the daytime but becomes female at night. Plus, they’re bloodthirsty; they try to kill anyone who sees them. However, the one in this book is so incompetent that that’s less a threat than unintentional comedy.

Nephilim volume 1 cover

A chest-baring soldier captures a Nephilim after flirting with him. Once night falls, he spies on the naked female version bathing. She tries to kill him, but she’s laughably bad at it, and he uses the attempt to pin her down and kiss her (in a scene with rape overtones). Then he ties her up and leaves her. When I got to her line, “I’m not strong enough to cut this as a girl,” I gave up. Very much Not My Thing, what with the killer female sex-changer and the forced sex and bondage.

But I’m not a fan of fantasy war stories. It’s possible that someone who was, or someone intrigued instead of vaguely repulsed by the sexual politics, would have more patience with this. (The publisher provided a review copy.)



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