Merit and the Egyptian God Volume 1 Review

In ancient Egypt at a time when when gods exist and are revered, Merit is the eldest daughter of a human family who suddenly finds herself trapped in the Underworld, with no knowledge of how she ended up there nor how she can escape.

Only souls from people who are dead should be able to enter the Underworld, ready to be judged for the afterlife. After some confusion wondering what happened to her, Merit finds out she’s still alive and the only person who can open the door back to the mortal realm is the god Anubis— who looks like a lazy teenager with neither will nor want to work. And Merit can’t accept that as she knows her family is waiting for her! However, the god Thoth informs her that Anubis has been cursed to stay in human form by his father, the god Osiris, as punishment for not doing his job to judge human souls, thus he currently doesn’t have the power to open the doorway. It’s now up to Merit to break Anubis’ curse so that he can get his powers back and open the portal to the mortal realms.

However, it’s no easy feat. Merit’s first impression of Anubis is of a lazy, good-for-nothing person, because although he’s a god, he doesn’t look or behave like one. Merit, though, is not disheartened and she determines to change Anubis, even if it means turning into his stalker. On the other hand, Anubis is bothered by this loud and accident-prone human who suddenly appears in his home. No matter what he does to escape, she always seems to find him. But is he really bothered by her and is he starting to feel some sort of affection for her? The appearance of both Anubis’ father and younger brother might speed things up.

Merit and the Egyptian God is a shojo series, with feelgood and funny elements in the story from page one until the end. It’s a light and quick read that introduces its readers to the world of ancient Egyptian gods by turning them in good-looking human characters who easily resemble high-school and elementary-school students. Merit takes everything that happened to her in stride. She’s not letting the situation make her feel despair, but instead she brainstorms solutions to help Anubis because all she wants is to go home. Anubis feels content to stay in his room and be served by his people, but Merit disrupts the quiet he enjoys so much by getting into trouble, especially by getting involved with both his father Osiris, and his younger brother Horus. They’ve all underestimated Merit who can’t help meddling in this complicated family affair which inevitably prompts Anubis to save her a few times and makes him face his past.

Although Osiris and Horus are introduced and take active roles in the first volume, there is still a lot we don’t know about their family dynamics. Osiris has cursed Anubis, but he’s not represented as a villain. We’re given a superficial explanation on why he cursed his son, but it seems there is more behind his reasoning than we are aware of… yet. Horus is a typical younger brother who tends to argue with Anubis because he doesn’t know how to express his feelings and his love for his older brother. Overall, there is a lot going on in this first volume, which opens the doors (pun intended) for many more troublesome events to happen.

The art is typical of shojo manga, with beautiful male characters and heroines. Readers can expect a love story in the series as we are given a preview as to how Anubis is able to get his powers back, even for a short while, and it’s all thanks to Merit. The only downside I found in the volume is that the story is a little bit simplistic and readers can see the plot twists coming as we’ve got a good understanding of the characters’ personalities already. However, this doesn’t take away my curiosity and excitement in seeing when and how Anubis will open up his heart to Merit.

Merit and the Egyptian God is written by Fuyu Tsuyama and illustrated by Yukari Sakai. The author and artist have been previously published in other languages, and Yen Press brings their collaborative series in the English language with translation by Alethea and Athena Nibley. Volume 1 is out on 28th April, and Volume 2 is expected in September 2026.

Read a free preview at the publisher’s website here. 

Our digital review copy was supplied by Yen Press and Edelweiss.