Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road

## Fandom

***Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road*** / ***Shokei Shoujo no Ikiru Michi*** (処刑少女の生きる道〈バージンロード〉, The Executioner Girl's Way of Life) is a Japanese yuri light novel series, written by Mato Sato and illustrated by Nilitsu. SB Creative have released seven volumes since July 2019 under their GA Bunko imprint. A manga adaptation with art by Ryo Mitsuya has been serialized in Square Enix's *seinen* manga magazine *Young Gangan* since June 2020. It has been collected in three *tankōbon* volumes. Both the light novel and manga are licensed in North America by Yen Press. A 12-episode anime television series adaptation by J.C.Staff aired between April and June 2022.

## Synopsis

### *Setting*

Long ago, wanderers called "*Lost Ones*" came from an alternate world known as "*Japan*", and each were given power beyond imagination titled "Pure Concepts". In this new world they created an advanced civilisation with heavy Japanese influences and for a time, this world prospered. However, it was discovered that with prolonged usage, the Lost Ones would lose control of their Pure Concepts, bringing disaster and calamity to the world. Even today, there exists four legendary disasters, dubbed "Human Errors", which effects continuously rage on: the Sword of Salt, which turned the whole Western continent into salt that is gradually melting into the sea; the Pandæmonium, a fog-like dead zone in the Southern archipelago from which monsters regularly emerge; the Mechanical Society, which controls the wild frontier in the East; and the Starhusk, which carved out the centre of the Northern continent and set it afloat. To prevent such calamities again, the summoning of Lost Ones has become strictly forbidden and heavily managed by the Faust, a class of Church members in society. Among the Faust are Executioners, members that wield magic – etheric powers – and set out to secretly assassinate any Lost Ones that may still appear.

### *Plot*

Top-class Executioner Menou has been tasked with eliminating Akari Tokitō, a Lost One who has been summoned by King Grisarika of the Noblesse, the noble class. However, she fails and soon discovers that Akari possesses the Pure Concept of Time, making her capable of reversing her death even after she has been killed. Shocked and fearful, Menou sets out on a journey with Akari by her side, in hopes of finding a way of killing her.

## List of Published Books

### *Novel*

*The Executioner and Her Way of Life* is written by Mato Sato and illustrated by Nilitsu. SB Creative have released seven volumes since July 2019 under their GA Bunko imprint. Yen Press licensed the series for English publication.

LN Vol. 1LN Vol. 2LN Vol. 3LN Vol. 4LN Vol. 5LN Vol. 6LN Vol. 7
### *Manga*

*The Executioner and Her Way of Life* is written by Mato Sato and illustrated by Nilitsu. SB Creative have released seven volumes since July 2019 under their GA Bunko imprint. Yen Press licensed the series for English publication.

 2
 3
 4

Manga Vol. 1Manga Vol. 2Manga Vol. 3Manga Vol. 4

## Menou

"My name is Menou. I'm a pure, just, and strong priestess."

### Aliases:

* Kagerou
* Flarette
* Darling (by Momo)
* Dog of the Faust

### Affiliation:

* Church (Faust)
* Pandemonium

### Allied:

* Ashuna Grisarika
* Sahara
* Sicilia

## 「Biographical Information」

### Relatives:

* Hero Ivory (Her Creator)
* Flare (Master/Enemy)
* Akari (Love Interest)

## 「Voice Actor」

### English VA:

* Karbowski, Brittney
* Wild, Annie

A young priestess who specializes in hunting down and assassinating Lost Ones before they can become a threat. She is well aware that most of the Lost Ones she kills are innocents who have done nothing wrong, but her training dictates that they cannot be allowed to live as their Pure Concepts will ultimately corrupt them. Even prior to meeting Akari, she had recurring dreams about meeting her in Japan; now, she inevitably acts as Akari's escort while searching for a way to kill her.

As a child, Menou was one of the sole survivors of the Sword of Salt. However, the incident and the trauma left her soul "bleached/blanched", turning her into effectively an emotionless husk. She was then discovered by Flare, the top Executioner at that time, and taken in as her apprentice, her "Flarette". As an Executioner, Menou possesses full mastery over her ether and primarily wields a knife to kill.

***Personality***

* Menou's soul was "bleached/blanched" during the disaster that happened to her hometown, and the only thing she remembered was her name. She grew to have a strong sense of responsibility and sees herself as a villain doing necessary wrongs. For the sake of stability in her world, Menou tries to dispose of Akari before her Pure Concept goes out of control. A major trait of Menou is that despite her claims to the contrary, she really does have a moral code.
* She feels regrets over all the innocent lives she has taken. While it is her duty to kill Lost Ones, she also knows that they were innocent people who had no idea why she had to kill them in the first place.
* Menou sees herself as this to protect her world against potential calamities. She doesn't like killing the Lost One, and she knows what she did to her previous victims was wrong, but she does it because she believes she has to.

### Abilities

The executioner was set as a hero suitable for a brutal world view and as a person who hunts down the hero himself. She has now become a normal bright and kind girl, but she continues to agonize over killing her strays (*Lost One*), believing that her action is for the sake of the world. Her performance was also good to keep her target off guard by geared towards dealing with enemies fast, using agility and misdirection to hit vital spots and she is adept at approaching her targets and earning the trust by putting on an affable front to influence them to do her bidding.

* A surprisingly important aspect of her personality. Menou fakes being a Nice Girl when going undercover, but in reality she has a sharp wit and is unafraid to criticize others.
* Menou's Ether (Magic) capacity for ether is below average compared to most priestesses. However, she compensates with meticulously calculated moves without relying on raw strength. Although her etheric capacity is lower than normal, Menou is extraordinarily skilled at controlling ether, as she accomplished the feat of connecting the earthly and heavenly veins, which was much beyond what normal people could do according to Ashuna.

Menou is obviously extremely skilled in martial arts and is an accomplished acrobat easily able to do back-flips and mid-air cartwheels with little effort in terms of physical strain because of her Master's teaching. Her trademark weapon is a knife (dagger) on a Guiding wire/thread, which she uses as an offensive weapon, a grappling hook, or as a conduit through which to discharge any form of magic.

* While no one will say Menou isn't a good fighter by herself, compared to the rest of the named cast, she looks to be a little lacking in firepower and special abilities. Flare even pointed out that her physical and magical abilities were subpar when Menou started her training. She makes up for this by carefully exploiting every opening available, using her weapons creatively, and playing dirty. Realistically, however, this can only do so much against some of the threats she deals with, and against someone like Flare, who taught her everything she knows, Menou is on a fast track to another reset from Akari.

While neither of the conjurings are primarily offensive, Menou's fighting style of using diversions makes her a formidable foe. She is also possesses a very pragmatic and resourceful intellect; demonstrating a knack for improvisation during the heat of combat. Menou is exceedingly capable of using ether to fight with magecraft. She carries a *scripture (Bible)* like other priestesses, however she is able to invoke crests without opening her scripture, which is considered to be the mark of an extraordinarily accomplished mage.

* Menou is able to use other objects with ether, including a coin containing a crest to conjure bubbles.
* Menou's priestess robes have a crest for conjuring a barrier, helping to defend her against attacks.

 ***Verses:***
─ *Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 1:2—Invoke [Drive in the stake and make known the ground where all shall begin]*
➥ A conjuring that creates a stake of light used to fix one's Guiding Force in one stable place.
─ *Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 1:4—Invoke [The Lord’s will is relayed through all of heaven and earth, reigning far and wide.)*
➥ A conjuring that allows two priestesses to contact each other through their scriptures.
─ *Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 2:5—Invoke [Rejoice, for the wall that surrounds a pious flock of sheep, shall never crumble.]*
➥ A conjuring that creates a protective pseudo-castle wall of light that can block physical and magic attacks.
─ *Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, 12:1— [Hammer in, hammer in, so as to fortify.]*
➥A conjuring that creates a dozen of nails that are created by light.
─ *Guiding Force: Etheric Connect—Scripture, 3:1—Invoke [And the oncoming enemy did hear the toll of the bell.]*
➥A conjuring that creates a pseudo bell tower on the opponent's position, when the bell rang it creates a pressure underneath that crush the opponent to death.
─ *Guiding Force: Etheric Connect—Scripture, 10:9—Invoke [For as long as thou seekest bliss there will be one to bear the calamity.]*
➥ A conjuring command that invokes a 「Self-Destruct」 to the target that holds by the user's magic.
─ *Guiding Force: Etheric Connect—Scripture, 8:12—Invoke [Kneel before the front gate for its path lead to the lord.]*
➥ A conjuring that creates a pseudo-barbican that is created of light acts as a net that is able to stop any entity or object that is unable to stop or it can blow away an opponent by the wind on the doorway.
─???
─*Guiding Force: Connect—Scripture, Chapter 13, Full Passage—Invoke [“Why?” cried the king. The woman fell. She had taken the spear in the king’s stead. The woman said, “It is not for your sake.” The king did not understand. The woman’s blood soaked the king’s feet. “Your life is meant for the Lord.” With that, the woman passed away. The king wept. He did not understand. Why did the woman die? Why did he let the woman die? There was only one thing he could say for sure. The spirit of a martyr is so precious, it is almost foolish.]*
➥A conjuring passage that can connect to Earthen and heavenly vines. It creates a pseudo-church that acts as a seal or erases the pure concept of the opponent with a beam of light.
─???

She appears to have no issue with gaining the affections of Akari and Momo. Sahara comments that the rumours surrounding Menou claim that she seduces girls wherever she goes, but given Sahara's personality, she could be making this up to mess with Menou. Sahara herself could also count, as she has complicated feelings for Menou that mix admiration and envy. It's even stated in Volume 5 that Menou is Sahara's ideal beauty.

## Production

The author, Mato Satou, wanted to write a bloody and unforgiving story, and was influenced by the 2007 TV anime 『*DARKER THAN BLACK -Kuro no Keiyakusha-*』, It is said that he wrote this work as a stylish spy action, a genre that he had never drawn before. In addition, he thought about creating a world that added unique elements while following the good points of existing isekai, such as the fact that the lost people are Japanese only.

Regarding the fact that all the main characters in this work are women, Sato said that if a man appears in a story with a female protagonist, one would inevitably expect a romance to develop. He said that he thought that it would be more suitable for this work to explore the feelings and friendships that flow between women rather than love between the opposite sex.

## TV Anime

At the "GA Fes 2021" event livestreams, it was announced that the series would be receiving an anime television series adaptation. The series is animated by J.C.Staff and directed by Yoshiki Kawasaki, with Shōgo Yasukawa supervising scripts, Keiko Tamaki designing characters, and Michiru composing the series' music. Egg Firm and SB Creative produced the series. It aired from April 2 to June 18, 2022, on Tokyo MX, BS11, and AT-X. The opening theme song is "Paper Bouquet" by Mili, while the ending theme song is "Tomoshibi Serenade" (Serenade by Lamplight) by ChouCho. Sentai Filmworks has licensed the series outside of Asia, and is streaming it on HIDIVE. Medialink licensed the series in Southeast Asia, South Asia, and Oceania minus Australia and New Zealand.

*Yoshiki Kawasaki* made his directorial debut in this anime. On May 11, 2022, HIDIVE announced that the series will receive an English dub, which premiered on May 20.

 Character draft
 Directed by
 Series Composition/Screenplay
 Animation Character Design
 Prop Design
 Art Director
 Color Design
 3D/CG Director
 Cinematographer
 Edit/Editor
 Sound Director
 Music
 Music Production
 Chief Producer
 Producer
 Animation Production Producer
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 Animation Production
 Production

### Web Radio

“***Execution RADIO ~The Way of the Execution Girl Talks (Radio Road)~***” will be distributed on Warner Bros. Japan Anime channel on Onsen and YouTube on the last Friday of every month from January 28, 2022. The personalities are *Iori Saeki*, who plays the role of Menou, and *Moe Kahara* who plays the role of Tokitou, Akari.

## Reception

The series won the Grand Prize in the 11th GA Bunko Taishou in 2018. It was the first work to win the Grand Prize since *Dungeon ni Deai wo Motomeru no wa Machigatteiru Darou ka* in 2011.

## External Link

* *Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road* ─ Light Novel Official Website (in Japanese)
* *GA Bunko* *-* *Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road* Official (@virginroad\_GA) - Twitter
* *Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road* ─ Manga official website (in Japanese)
* *TV Anime "Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road"* Official Website
* *Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road* Official (@VirginroadAnime) - Twitter
* *Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road* ─ TMDb
* *Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road* ─ Wikipedia (in Japanese)
* *Shokei Shoujo no Virgin Road* ─ Wikipedia (in English)

## Trivia

* Her name, as explained by Ivory, her creator, is a combination of the Japanese words me (eye) and nou (brain), describing her role in relation to Ivory.
* Menou and Akari are in a time loop; with the real/present Akari's mind only surfacing whenver Menou picks a failure way to kill her. However, her Pure Concept is getting too strong; with little time until Akari is corrupted.