[Review for series as a whole:]

First, hello Anime Industry, why is this not animated???

Concerning the story, this was an interesting read with a few twists. It is one of the better "teenager transported to another world (isekai for manga reader)" plots.

Misery abounds! With an ever-present feeling of dread after every two pages of happiness and two cracked eggs and milk, the readers are due to trouble. The Murphy Law is fully in effect here, and nothing stays perfect for long.

The ending was really lackluster, but I enjoyed the journey and finished the series in two days. I think it was decent fun, not delirious but decent.

Halfway Spoiler:
There aren't any weddings or babies, so the ending could disappoint some.

Characters:
Noriko is the main character, and she's only working with 3 facial expressions at most. Some of this might be attributed to the art style. I liked that language learning is a part of her character arc. In this new world, she didn't speak the language. I've always admired bilingual characters/characters forced to learn a language.

In volume nine, she finally showed some spunk in her character and took the initiative to do something dangerous. I think that is truly her only shining moment since every single scene in this entire manga is her wanting Izark, her crying, and her having a fish-out-of-water expression. I understand the situations present were very horrific for her, but, if that blank '80-'90s anime face doesn't get you, her Studio Ghibli tears will. This chick could have replenished any drought and most definitely has SCS (Shoujo Crying Syndrome).

Izark was my favorite character though not many others got developed in this series. I enjoyed the development of his character and powers. He had a lot of angsty brooding moments and kept pushing Noriko away too often. He reminded me of a gentleman white knight character, who got dealt a bad hand, which was being the spawn (descendant?) of Satan. His devil heritage gives him Superman-like powers and Wolverine's quick healing ability, but he constantly has inner turmoil about using these devil powers. Instead, he prefers swordsmanship and hand-to-hand combat.

A good point with Kanta Kara is Izark, arguably the strongest character alive isn't a Gary-stu, and I think his being at war with his powers kept his character anchored, made me feel honest sympathy for him, and gave him room to evolve. However, I just couldn't stand watching him push Noriko away constantly though when that stopped I couldn't find any other qualms with him. Also, it's so cute how he cried at the end when he got frustrated. His learning to get in touch with his emotions was a major stepping stone for him too.

Gaya would have been the stereotypical ugly woman in any other manga, scratch that any other media, but in Kanata Kara she is treated like an actual character. Gasp! She is a great warrior, mother figure, and shrewd businesswoman. Since she never shunned Izark, who had been rejected and shunned way too many times, I instantly took a liking to her and it never left.

Rabamadan was almost like a one-note character. He was there when the plot needed to move along, but not in much else. I thank him immensely for being the catalyst to knock some sense into Izark.

So yay for love rivals, who you already know are going to lose from their first appearance!

Barago and Doros are two ugly guys that were more than their looks. Garabog, a once bloodthirsty gambling warrior, finds purpose after encountering Noriko and Izark, and Doros finds peace from a simple gesture. I loved these two! I honestly felt sympathy for more characters than just the main couple.

Agol and Geena were two I wished could have had more backstory. Although more backstory is not something the manga needed for them, I personally wanted to know more. Who was Geena's mother?

I liked the black-haired girl and her mother too, who were both so beautiful, but not very memorable. The people of the last town were hilarious and imaginative!

Art:
Izark is handsome but in certain shots, his mullet looks unflattering and his pointed Dorito chip nose did not help. In other shots, he's the heartthrob the manga intended him to be. I like seeing him in motion during his numerous fight scenes and his agility on display.

Noriko, like before stated, had very few expressions that were repeated often, but she looked beyond gorgeous whenever Izark would pick her up when she was sleeping. Noriko's side views sometimes looked like her forehead would sink in and her eyes would be two inches above her mouth, which was not a look I like. Keep that for chibis.

The backgrounds were diverse and the clothing (a mixture of Japanese and Middle Eastern) was very appealing. I liked the nice collars, stylish boots, and long jackets!

The monsters were gruesome just like you would expect too!

Overall:
I am glad I read this, and I want to find another manga in this vein. I love those “girl gets teleported to another world” shoujo stories. Still, I wish Kanata Kara could have been a bit more romantic. There were like three kisses in total, and they were less than pecks! Maybe the timeframe of this manga made it super chaste, but come on I like a nice shoujo kiss with or without cherry blossoms in the background.

But yes, definitely read this! ( )

Kyoko Hikawa's fourteen-volume fantasy manga epic comes to a thrilling conclusion in this final episode of the series, which sees Izark continuing his battle with Keimos, the citizens of Ennamarna refusing to surrender Noriko, and rising up to defend their city, and Noriko herself finding the World of Light, to which she is able to guide Izark. Joining him in spirit, Noriko adds her power to his, strengthening him in his final conflict with Rachef, and with the malignant spirit who has been the source of his rise to power...

Wow! I feel both happy and sad to be done with this series, which was my first foray into the world of manga. Many thanks to my goodreads friend Jeannette for being my tour guide in this new artistic and literary territory. Life is just a little stressful right now, and this romantic fantasy saga is just what the doctor ordered! I loved the characters, the story, and the artwork. This volume was a strong conclusion - I particularly liked that the door was left open for the villain to redeem himself. I also liked the conclusion, in which Noriko finds a way to communicate with her family back home. ( )

Although I loved the first half of this manga series I have to say I am really rather disappointed with the way it all ended. I think this is because the first half of the series dealt with Izark and Noriko almost exclusively (I am a 'shippy story lover LOL) but then the last half moved into more political manuverings, fight scenes and a host of characters I didn't really care about and couldn't keep track of.

Although this last volume was semi-satisfying and wrapped up the series nicely, I would have loved to have seen it end in a much more personal fashion instead of a feeling as though it was presented from a distant third person.

Certainly lovers of fantasy/adventure manga will love this series as a whole and I did enjoy it overall despite my disappointment. ( )