The Executioner and Her Way of Life completely flipped the usual isekai formula and because of that, it was review bombed.

The first episode starts like every other isekai, with an overpowered male protagonist getting summoned to another world.

But just a few minutes later, he’s killed off by the real main character, Menou, a priestess whose job is to eliminate “Lost Ones” from Japan whose powers could destroy the world.

The story then follows Menou and her next target, Akari, a cheerful girl with mysterious time powers. As their journey continues, the series explores themes of morality, fate, and a slow-burn yuri (girls’ love) relationship between the two leads.

This unexpected twist didn’t sit well with some viewers who wanted a typical male power fantasy.

Before the second episode even aired, review sites like MyAnimeList and Crunchyroll were flooded with 1-star ratings and comments like “Killed the MC in episode 1, 0/10” or “Yuri trash.”

Many accounts had no prior activity, suggesting targeted review bombing against the show’s direction and queer undertones.

Despite that backlash, The Executioner and Her Way of Life has since somewhat recovered in ratings and built a loyal fanbase.

      • buckykat [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
        3·
        17 days ago

        I would hope so, but constantly lying to her love interest and only not killing her because her isekai cheat power makes her literally immortal does not feel like cute yuri vibes to me.

        • purpleworm [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
          3·
          17 days ago

          I didn’t mean that she’d turn on the church due to being a moral paragon, she’s definitely a bit of an “antihero,” I just think she doesn’t remain simply an agent of the church throughout the series.

          I would not recommend the series on the basis of “cute yuri vibes” like some people apparently do, I just think the writing is kind of interesting and while I still think the series is pretty misogynistic (male gaze, lolis, etc.), I do love baiting the harem creeps who want a hollow character to project themselves onto owning a bunch of brood mares as property and I vaguely remember the fights being interesting in a Re:Zero kind of way. I really wish there was more blatant subversion like that in anime/manga.

      • KobaCumTribute [she/her]@hexbear.netEnglish
        3·
        17 days ago

        The anime doesn’t reach that point. I can’t remember if it even really interrogates how fucked her life has been, I don’t think it did. Menou is basically an evil blob-no-thoughts (for diegetic reasons, surprisingly) and wouldn’t change for at least another hypothetical season or two depending on how they paced it and whether they cut a whole lot or not - one could with aggressive pacing squeeze volumes 3-4 into the first third of a season leaving 5 and 6 for the rest.

        The LNs on the other hand... (spoilers)

        These do have Menou reach the point of doubting her indoctrination and ultimately ending up in conflict with the Church, at which point she ends up thoroughly interrogating all the fucked up things she went through and did.