Jul 31, 2025
The concept of Black Night Parade is pretty interesting. It's about a "dark Santa" who handles naughty kids and the whole factory of his (and his design is absolute drip). It has some fun ideas: people who do bad things are forced to work for this dark Santa, and the worse your crime, the longer your contract. It's a whole sinister employment system. There are also concepts like using VR to find the most disappointing gift for a child. The art is really nice too.
But after that initial setup, the story just... doesn't really go anywhere. It quickly settles into a slice-of-life comedy rhythm, which
...
is a genre I try to avoid like hell. Each chapter feels more focused on dialogue and jokes that just weren't my type of comedy, rather than advancing any kind of overarching plot. I like to feel like what I'm reading serves a purpose, and this just felt like a collection of "nothing really happens" moments.
The characters were just okay. The main character's design is pretty shallow, and while some of the side characters had interesting backstories, I never felt gripped by any of them. By the second volume it was a dread to read. It wasn't frustrating or offensively bad; it was just a chore.
Ultimately, Black Night Parade feels like a manga with a great concept that lacks the execution to make it compelling, at least for me. If you're a fan of slice-of-life comedies with a dark fantasy twist, you might really enjoy this. But if you're like me and need a story with momentum and a clear direction, you'll probably find it falls flat. It's not bad but it's just not my thing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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