- "I thought an angel had come to get me."
In an alternate version of 1920s New York, the world of science has progressed beyond matters of life and death. Death row convict David Douglas is given a new lease on life when Dr. Victoria Frankenstein, 13 year old genius, reanimates him after his execution, sticks a screw in his head, and assigns him a new role: Eins, her Electric Coffin, undead proof of the advancements of man and a helper of the people. To Eins, Victoria is his savior and his new reason for living, and his loyalty to her is unquestionable from the start.
But Eins and Victoria are practically strangers, and not everyone in the Big Apple is so pleased to see the success of this particular experiment. Can they overcome every hurdle together while still running from their own pasts?
Victoria's Electric Coffin (Victoria no Denki Hitsugi) is a 13-part Japanese manga series by Tajima Ikuno. It began serialization in Monthly G Fantasy in May 2021 and finished in May 2022.
This work provides examples of:
- The Big Rotten Apple
- Book Dumb: Eins. He can't spell apple.
- Dark and Troubled Past: Eins's internal narration often stews over his difficult life on the streets.
- Deadpan Snarker: Victoria has her moments.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: When Victoria is forced to cut a rampaging Eins's power supply, thereby effectively killing him, he crumples down right where he was - on top of her. Her arm is still around his shoulders.
- Disappeared Dad: Victoria's father.
- Driven by Envy: Henry's obsession with Victoria is driven just as much by the need to be better than her as by his insistence that they're on the same side.
- Early-Installment Weirdness: When compared to his later self, chapter 1 Eins is significantly more grumpy, pessimistic, and quick to anger. Somewhat justified given both the strange situation and his changing feelings towards Victoria.
- First-Episode Resurrection: Eins is killed and brought back to life in the first few pages of chapter 1.
- Foe Romance Subtext: Henry and Victoria.
- Good Samaritan: Justine gives Eins her last piece of bread, and goes on to take him in, despite barely being able to support herself.
- Happiness in Mind Control: When Henry convinces Eins that his free will is just a program written by Victoria, he reaches this point, internally deciding it doesn't matter because he is her Electric Coffin, and begging her to give him orders. Subverted, in that she wasn't actually controlling him at all.
- Hero with Bad Publicity: Victoria is widely called "witch" for her involvement in ethically dubious experiments on human beings. Eins's criminal status is frequently thrown into his face.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Eins pulls one in chapter 1. He gets better.
- Holier Than Thou: Walton, at first.
- I Owe You My Life: Eins views Victoria as a God-like savior figure, and dedicates his second life to her. Interestingly, this has less to do with her reanimating him, and more to do with her giving him a reason to live.
- Implied Love Interest: Eins to Victoria.
- Literal Disarming
- Living Emotional Crutch: Eins refers to Victoria multiple times as his purpose for existing.
- Maybe Ever After
- Mercy Kill: Eins's "murder" of both Justine and Victoria's father are revealed to be this.
- Mortality Grey Area: Eins is killed and reanimated; he is living in the undead kind of way, but Victoria's technology is the only thing keeping him going, and if his power is cut at any point, he'll return to being dead. Victoria tactfully refers to him as a "supernatural corpse puppet".
- My Master, Right or Wrong: The absolute faith Eins has in Victoria doesn't waver. At most, he doubts himself, his role, and his own morality - but not her.
- "Not So Different" Remark: Eins has one to Victoria in chapter 4.5.
- O.O.C. Is Serious Business: Eins is shocked to see Victoria so angry at Henry's assertion that the idea of the Electric Coffin helping others is absurd; immediately after this, she consents to a duel between Eins and Wilis. Victoria later admits that she is uncharacteristically unable to keep calm when people speak poorly of Eins.
- The Rival: Henry to Victoria.
- She Cleans Up Nicely: Eins is speechless when he sees Victoria dressed up for the awards ceremony.
- She Is Not My Girlfriend: Eins has a very explosive reaction to being asked if Victoria is his girlfriend.
- Ship Tease: Eins and Victoria. To a lesser degree, Victoria and Henry.
- Socially Awkward Hero: Victoria.
- Super-Strength: One of Eins's powers post-reanimation.
- Teen Genius: Victoria is a licensed medical doctor who receives a prestigious award for bringing someone back from the dead at 13.
- Troubled Backstory Flashback: Chapter 8.
- Unstoppable Rage: Eins goes into such a state of rage upon hearing the details of the events leading to Justine's death that he kills three men and barely even remembers how.
- "Well Done, Son" Guy: Victoria's real motivation in furthering her father's research is to convince him to come home.
