The Executioner and Her Way of Life
Movies
Alternate Titles
処刑少女の生きる道（バージンロード）
Shokei Shojo no Ikirumichi (Virgin Road)
Synopsis
In another world, there are otherworlders called Lost Ones who visit from Japan and bring calamities with them. Due to the destruction they bring that threatens the world, they have to be executed in secret. Menou is an Executioner who makes a living executing such Lost Ones. One day, she meets a girl from Japan named Akari. Faithful to her duties, Menou attempts to execute her as she would any other Lost One, but fails due to a certain power that Akarai holds. In order to ensure that she is properly executed, Menou begins accompanying her with the goal of taking her to the Carm Cathedral, a ritual site where otherworlders can be destroyed. But something begins to change in Menou as she sees Akari genuinely enjoying herself in her company as they travel together, unaware that Menou is actually trying to kill her.
Background
The Executioner and Her Way of Life started as a Japanese yuri light novel series written by Mato Sato and illustrated by Nilitsu that began being published by SB Creative under the GA Bunko imprint after winning the 11th GA Bunko Taisho award. As of August 2021, six volumes have been published. The novel is being released in English by Yen Press, who will publish the fourth volume in April 2022.
A manga adaptation illustrated by Ryo Mitsuya began serialization in June 2020 in Square Enix’s Young Gangan seinen manga magazine. As of August 2021, two collected tankobon volumes have been published under the Young Gangan Comics imprint.
A TV anime adaptation was announced in January 2021 during the "GA Fes 2021" event. The anime is being produced by animation studio J.C.Staff (Angels of Death, A Certain Scientific Railgun T, Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma) and features Yoshiki Kawasaki (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Gunma-chan, Strike Witches: Road to Berlin) as director, with Shogo Yasukawa (Hyperdimension Neptunia, Is It Wrong to Try to Pick Up Girls in a Dungeon?, JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Golden Wind) handling series composition, Keiko Tamaki (Cells at Work!, Monster Hunter Stories RIDE ON, Snow White with the Red Hair) handling character designs, and MICHIRU (Ascendance of a Bookworm, Given, Suppose a Kid from the Last Dungeon Boonies Moved to a Starter Town) composing the music. The anime’s opening theme song is "Paper Bouquet" by Mili, and the ending theme song is "Touka Serenade" by ChouCho. The anime will premiere in Japan on April 1, 2022 on Tokyo MX, BS11, and AT-X. The series has been licensed for worldwide release by Sentai Filmworks, who will stream the anime through HIDIVE.
Characters
Menou (Voiced by: Iori Saeki)
Menou is a young executioner girl who has exceptional magic abilities. She has a strong sense of responsibility for her duties and, in order to protect the balance of the world, is trying to finish off Akari before she can run wild. She gets close to Lost Ones by acting friendly in order to assess their abilities before executing them. Her weapons are a short sword and holy scriptures.
Akari (Voiced by: Moe Kahara)
Akari is a Lost One who is summoned to the Kingdom of Grisalica by the king. She has a friendly personality and is rather easy-going. She has a certain ability that even she is unaware of, which makes her Menou’s target. She begins traveling with Menou, unaware that Menou’s true intention is to kill her.
Momo (Voiced by: Hisako Kanemoto)
Momo is Menou’s junior and is a white-robed apprentice priestess. She is assigned to support Menou in her mission to kill Akari. She deeply adores Menou and lives for her. Because of that, though she is a priestess, she has little faith. She is a skilled fighter and uses a saw with spiritual energy flowing through it. She isn't good at using scripture magic.
Ashuna (Voiced by: M.A.O)
Ashuna is the queen of the Kingdom of Grisalica. She loves people who are strong and beautiful. She has a belligerent personality and has absolute confidence in her physical abilities, which she has honed herself. She leaves the castle to go on a world-changing journey and is loved and respected by the people as the “Princess Knight.” She has the crest of the royal family on her hand and is always looking for exciting battles.
Music
- Opening Theme Song: "Paper Bouquet" by Mili
- Ending Theme Song: "Touka Serenade" by ChouCho
Official Links
- Anime Site (Japanese)
- Twitter (Japanese)
Staff
- Original Creator: Mato Sato
- Original Character Design: Nilitsu
- Director: Yoshiki Kawasaki
- Series Composition: Shogo Yasukawa
- Animation Character Design: Keiko Tamaki
- Prop Design: Ryo Hirata
- Art Director: Teruhiko Niida
- Color Design: Keishi Okada
- 3D Director: Kazuo Shibayama
- Director of Photography: Shingo Fukuyo
- Editing: Kentaro Tsubone
- Sound Director: Jin Aketagawa
- Music: MICHIRU
- Production: EGG FIRM, SB Creative Corp.
- Animation Production: J.C.Staff