While the current 6.90 score is understandable, I still have to say that this was good quality popcorn entertainment for me. I don't want to talk about the ending, since it was obviously (and sadly) axed and the author had to wedge a conclusion into a part, that just wasn't meant to be there. The synopsis is exactly what you get. The author seemed to have fun making this manga and it translated well into my reading experience too. One thing that I really liked about this story, the "connected conscious" gimmick. I can't imagine how uncomfortable I would be in this situation, where my thoughts could leakinto an army of spiders, who are expecting me to lead them to world domination and have no problem mutilating people in half with ease. Also, feeling every one of their wound as it was mine would surely drive me insane.
Apart from this, it's a somewhat standard isekai and you'll find plenty of your favorite tropes here as well, but it tried to do those in a decent pace, so it never felt slow to me.
In conclusion, if you are looking for an isekai junk food with a slightly crazy and evil MC, you'll probably like this one.
Our protagonist is a college student who enjoys playing as the evil-aligned faction Arachnea in her favorite real-time strategy game. One day, she finds herself in a world similar to the one in the game; additionally, her body is now that of a fourteen-year-old girl. While things are a bit different from how they were in the game, one element has remained the same: she is the leader of the Arachnea. The insects under her control, collectively known as the Swarm, praise her and implore her to lead them to victory. In order to survive, she raises her Swarm and forms friendly relations with the elves of the neighboring forest. But after a slaver traveling through the forest murders one of her Swarm and the nearby kingdom's knights burn down the elven village and massacre its people, she prepares to launch her counterattacks in the name of revenge. However, revenge is merely a pretense for attacking the countries of this world. Her command is masterful and severe, as one who has played the game in real life...
(Source: J-Novel Club)
8,506 Members
Not Recommended
4
This manga was recommended to me by a friend who initially praised it highly, giving it 10 stars. However, half an hour later, he suddenly changed his rating to just 4 stars. Naturally, I wanted to know more, and he assured me that he was only referring to the last chapter. While he might have a point there, he was still an ass to sway me with his praise to read it. I want to make it clear right away that I wouldn't recommend anyone to even start "Her Majesty’s Swarm." Even if I were to highlight its positive aspects, I would only do so forthe sake of completeness. The ending – yes, the manga concluded after 42 chapters – ruins everything.
But let's start from the beginning. "Her Majesty’s Swarm" revolves around a nameless girl who is obsessed with a strategy game and was quite skilled at it. Her favorite faction was the so-called Arachnae, a swarm of spiders sharing a collective mind. As is often the case in manga, she suddenly wakes up as the queen of this swarm, which seeks death, destruction, and victory...
There are many interesting ideas that such a plot could explore. How did she get into this world? How does her connection to this swarm affect her? Whom and how does she attack? Does she build a kingdom? Can she somehow return? These are questions that a reader might ponder, and to my surprise, the manga does too. Frankly, other than these diverse questions, I found everything else rather mediocre – I don't like the art style, the characters, the world, and the answers to the questions are not adequately addressed to like, understand, or form any strong emotional attachment to. But hey, the manga still has time to answer all these questions, to make the strategy more engaging, to build a subplot around nation-building or something similar – right? As I mentioned earlier, the manga is concluded, so that won't happen.
But hey, doesn`t this mean it's just a mediocre, very brutal strategy isekai manga? Unfortunately not, because you can tell how rushed the ending is. You can tell it only came about because the manga had to be discontinued. Most, if not all, questions are left unanswered or answered very unsatisfactorily, the ending feels sudden and open. If I hadn't been warned beforehand, I would have been disappointed in my search for further chapters.
So it should be understandable that I do not recommend "Her Majesty’s Swarm." In summary, I saw potential, waited for something to be done with it, and then the story was abruptly cut short. Even though the light novel apparently continues, after the rather mediocre chapters and the dreadful ending, I really have no desire to spend any more time with "Her Majesty’s Swarm."
6 found helpfulMar 13, 2024
ansanako
Mixed Feelings
4
The manga starts off in a good way, as the chapters go by it's normal to wonder "what comes next?", until you start to reach the end and end up realizing that just chapters would not be enough for what a story developed with everything that came before, and facing the end, everything that should have come or could have just turned into a another advertisement manga for a novel It's really sad to see something that could have a future end in such a way, but even so, for those who want to try out a bit of the work beforereading the novel, it's a good idea.
1 found helpfulMar 17, 2025
badboy2005
Mixed Feelings
9
It’s always rough when a manga with great potential gets cut short. This one had all the elements of a strong series: impressive artwork, a compelling female main character, and a narrative that could have gone far. The early chapters were promising, with solid character development and a storyline that felt fresh and engaging. Unfortunately, it seems like the series got axed before it had a chance to fully realize its potential. The pacing toward the end felt rushed, leaving many plot points unresolved and character arcs unfinished. It’s a real shame because, with more time, this could have been something special. Instead, the ending feltabrupt and unsatisfying, leaving fans with more questions than answers.
Overall, it’s worth reading for the art and the strong start, but be prepared for a disappointing conclusion. It’s one of those series that will make you wonder what could have been if it had been given the time to properly develop.
3 found helpfulSep 1, 2024
wouterrinos
Not Recommended
4
The introduction seemed promissing, but after the first few chapters it just doesn't really evolve. The still decent score can only be explained by the combat scenes (like 80% of the manga I estimate). Because there is a lot of combat the story remains shallow. The enermies are boring, the allies are made and thrown away just like that it seems. A few different things are tried to make it less shallow at the start, but after a while the authors seems to have given up and just made it a battle simulator. If you want to read manga with a lot of big battlesthere are far better options. Like "Maougun Saikyou no Majutsushi wa Ningen datta" or "Shinigami ni Sodaterareta Shoujo wa Shikkoku no Tsurugi wo Mune ni Idaku". The former has way more worked out side characters and relationships compared to this mess. The later has comedy and more strategy going on.
Coming back to this work, the art, although very repetitive (because it's 80% battles), is fine.
You can enjoy this manga, but I mostly ended up skipping through it after a while to see if something interresting was going to happen. Before that came to pass it seems the manga was cut though. But with 43 (relatively short) chapters there is still quite a bit to read if you want.
4/10
