# Brynhildr in the Darkness (極黒のブリュンヒルデ)

**Brynhildr in the Darkness** (極黒のブリュンヒルデ, *Gokukoku no Brynhildr*) is a Japanese science-fiction dark fantasy manga written and illustrated by Rin Okamoto (岡本倫), serialized in Shueisha's *Weekly Young Jump* from 2012 to 2016 and collected in 18 volumes. It is the work that followed Okamoto's *[Elfen Lied](https://www.edgepedia.org/elfen-lied)* and *Nononono*, and it received a television anime adaptation in 2014.<sup>[1](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20120125dog00m200015000c.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[2](https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?research%2Fiilcs%2F15_lcs_31_1_matsumoto.pdf=)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Author | Rin Okamoto (岡本倫), previously known for *Elfen Lied* and *Nononono*<sup>[1](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20120125dog00m200015000c.html)</sup> |
| Serialization | *Weekly Young Jump* (Shueisha), beginning with issue 9, on sale January 26, 2012<sup>[1](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20120125dog00m200015000c.html)</sup> |
| Run | 2012–2016, complete in 18 volumes<sup>[2](https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?research%2Fiilcs%2F15_lcs_31_1_matsumoto.pdf=)</sup> |
| First volume | *Young Jump Comics*, released May 18, 2012, 198 pages, ISBN 9784088793481<sup>[3](https://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/11682626/?l-id=review-txt-book)</sup> |
| Genre | Pure-love dark fantasy with science-fiction elements, described by the publisher as a story of girls called "witches"<sup>[4](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/67049/)</sup> |
| Anime | TV series that began April 6, 2014; directed by Ken'ichi Imaizumi, animation by ARMS<sup>[5](https://uraraka.co.jp/downloadpop/media/pdf_media/201404_media.pdf)</sup> |
| Spinoff | Novel *Brynhildr in the Darkness The Moment* by Makoto Nariyuki, with original work and illustrations by Okamoto<sup>[6](https://books.shueisha.co.jp/items/contents.html?isbn=978-4-08-703313-7)</sup> |

## Premise

The story follows Ryota Murakami, a high school student who blames himself for the death of a childhood friend in an accident ten years earlier. As an act of atonement, and to keep a promise made to her, he searches for proof of alien life as the sole member of his school's astronomy club, aiming to become a NASA researcher. One day a girl named Neko Kuroha, who closely resembles his dead friend, transfers into his class.<sup>[7](https://www.vap.co.jp/gokukoku/story/s01.html)</sup>

Neko turns out to be an escapee from a research facility, one of a group of girls with supernatural abilities who are called witches. She displays enormous strength and even predicts a bus accident, and she explains her powers by saying she is a magic user. The publisher's synopsis frames the series as a pure-love dark fantasy in which Ryota ends up sheltering girls fleeing the facility, using his wits and his desire to protect his friends against a situation that worsens by the day.<sup>[4](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/67049/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[8](https://ebookstore.sony.jp/title/10082876/)</sup>

## The witches and the institute

The girls' abilities come at a cost: each has a limited lifespan that can be extended only by a drug called the death suppressant (鎮死剤). This limit drives the plot, since the heroines must obtain the drug from a pharmaceutical plant and other dangerous places, and it gives weight to their choices, a point reviewers noted as giving the heroines' assertiveness credibility.<sup>[4](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/67049/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[9](https://blog.livedoor.jp/ahusahum/archives/12597021.html)</sup>

The facility they flee is formally named the Higher-Order Life Form Research Institute and is informally called the Witches' Palace (Vingarf), a site that researches and manages magic users. High-ranking magic users are dispatched to recover escapees such as Neko, and the institute later releases other numbered witches, such as magic user 5210, to track them down.<sup>[10](https://w.atwiki.jp/aniwotawiki/pages/28282.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[11](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/347851)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/67049/)</sup>

## Publication

The series began in *Weekly Young Jump* issue 9 of 2012, on sale January 26, 2012, and was promoted as the long-awaited new work by the author of the anime-adapted *Elfen Lied*.<sup>[1](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20120125dog00m200015000c.html)</sup> The first collected volume appeared on May 18, 2012 under the Young Jump Comics DIGITAL and Young Jump Comics imprints.<sup>[3](https://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/11682626/?l-id=review-txt-book)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[12](https://mangaseek.net/work/33592.html)</sup> The manga ran until 2016 and ended complete in 18 volumes.<sup>[2](https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?research%2Fiilcs%2F15_lcs_31_1_matsumoto.pdf=)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://buzz-manga.blog.jp/Gokukoku-Brynhildr.html)</sup>

A spinoff novel, *Brynhildr in the Darkness The Moment*, written by Makoto Nariyuki with Okamoto credited for the original work and illustrations, collects secret episodes about the witches living on borrowed time.<sup>[6](https://books.shueisha.co.jp/items/contents.html?isbn=978-4-08-703313-7)</sup>

## Anime adaptation

A television anime adaptation premiered on April 6, 2014, directed by Ken'ichi Imaizumi with animation by the studio ARMS; promotional material billed it as the story of the sorrowful fates of the "magic users".<sup>[5](https://uraraka.co.jp/downloadpop/media/pdf_media/201404_media.pdf)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[14](https://www.yte.co.jp/program/list/gokukoku/)</sup> The main cast paired Ryosuke Osaka as Ryota Murakami with [Risa Taneda](https://www.edgepedia.org/risa-taneda) as Neko Kuroha, joined by [Ayane Sakura](https://www.edgepedia.org/ayane-sakura) as Kana, M・A・O as Kazumi Schlierenzauer, and [Azusa Tadokoro](https://www.edgepedia.org/azusa-tadokoro) as Kotori Takatori.<sup>[15](https://www.moview.jp/91000326.html)</sup> An interview with the production noted that the original author took part in scenario meetings for the anime.<sup>[16](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20140530dog00m200035000c.html)</sup>

## Reception

Reader ratings have been mixed to favorable. The first volume held a user score of 3.86 out of 5 on Rakuten Books (17 reviews) and about 3.9 on Comic Seymour (50 reviews), while the honto ebook store listed a series average of 4.3 from 56 reviews.<sup>[3](https://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/11682626/?l-id=review-txt-book)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[4](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/67049/)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[17](https://honto.jp/ebook/pdseries-review_06C-20004-BT0000218030.html?cid=ip_eb_srs_ttl&srt=4)</sup> Reviewers commonly praised the tense early plot, the brain-battle scenes in which Ryota outmaneuvers an enemy with precognition, and the melancholy tone beneath the horror, while criticism focused on a perceived loss of momentum in later volumes and on graphic violence that falls disproportionately on the female characters.<sup>[9](https://blog.livedoor.jp/ahusahum/archives/12597021.html)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[17](https://honto.jp/ebook/pdseries-review_06C-20004-BT0000218030.html?cid=ip_eb_srs_ttl&srt=4)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[13](https://buzz-manga.blog.jp/Gokukoku-Brynhildr.html)</sup> A summary review of the full 18-volume run judged the story ordinary overall and recommended treating it as a character-driven work rather than a plot-driven one.<sup>[13](https://buzz-manga.blog.jp/Gokukoku-Brynhildr.html)</sup>

## References

1. [マンガ新連載：「極黒のブリュンヒルデ」 「エルフェンリート」作者の純愛ダークファンタジー, MANTANWEB](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20120125dog00m200015000c.html)
2. [立命館言語文化研究 31巻1号 (manga list entry, 2012–2016, Shueisha)](https://www.ritsumei.ac.jp/file.jsp?research%2Fiilcs%2F15_lcs_31_1_matsumoto.pdf=)
3. [楽天ブックス: 極黒のブリュンヒルデ（1） 岡本倫](https://books.rakuten.co.jp/rb/11682626/?l-id=review-txt-book)
4. [極黒のブリュンヒルデ 1, コミックシーモア](https://www.cmoa.jp/title/67049/)
5. [うららかメディア promotional PDF (director and studio credits)](https://uraraka.co.jp/downloadpop/media/pdf_media/201404_media.pdf)
6. [極黒のブリュンヒルデ The Moment, 集英社](https://books.shueisha.co.jp/items/contents.html?isbn=978-4-08-703313-7)
7. [STORY｜極黒のブリュンヒルデ, VAP](https://www.vap.co.jp/gokukoku/story/s01.html)
8. [極黒のブリュンヒルデ 1, Reader Store](https://ebookstore.sony.jp/title/10082876/)
9. [〖書評〗「極黒のブリュンヒルデ」（1～10巻）, Ahusaの独断アニメ＆ゲームレビュー](https://blog.livedoor.jp/ahusahum/archives/12597021.html)
10. [極黒のブリュンヒルデ, アニヲタWiki(仮)](https://w.atwiki.jp/aniwotawiki/pages/28282.html)
11. [極黒のブリュンヒルデ (2014), allcinema](https://www.allcinema.net/cinema/pdf/347851)
12. [極黒のブリュンヒルデの作者、掲載誌、収録コミックスなど, まんがseek](https://mangaseek.net/work/33592.html)
13. [極黒のブリュンヒルデ 全18巻 ネタバレ感想まとめ, バズマン。](https://buzz-manga.blog.jp/Gokukoku-Brynhildr.html)
14. [極黒のブリュンヒルデ｜番組一覧, YTE](https://www.yte.co.jp/program/list/gokukoku/)
15. [『極黒のブリュンヒルデ』メインキャストアフレコ後インタビュー, MOVIE WALKER PRESS](https://www.moview.jp/91000326.html)
16. [アニメ質問状：「極黒のブリュンヒルデ」 シナリオ会議に原作者も, MANTANWEB](https://mantan-web.jp/article/20140530dog00m200035000c.html)
17. [みんなのレビュー：極黒のブリュンヒルデ, honto](https://honto.jp/ebook/pdseries-review_06C-20004-BT0000218030.html?cid=ip_eb_srs_ttl&srt=4)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Series and fictional screen worlds › Anime and manga › Manga titles, publishers, and magazines › Seinen and josei manga titles › Action and dark fantasy seinen*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*

License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license