trooperwrites - Tumblr blog

[trooperwrites]

I am fucking vindicated by Chapter 150

The Oshi No Ko Rant

Oshi No Ko

Enjoyment: 8/10

Quality: 8/10

Link

Genre:

Synopsis

Gorou is an OBGYN working in the countryside of Japan though his primarily job is taking care of a sick girl named Sarina. Both find companion ship in being massive fans of the idol AI Hoshino. However, when Ai appears at his hospital it appears that there is more to her than meets the aieye? And who is that mysterious figure is a hoodie? Follow the various characters in this exploration of the entertainment industry!

Review

Similar to my review of Killer In Love, I feel as if the broader reading of this manga has gone completely off the rails. Oshi No Ko is a text that concerns itself with the way we treat relationships; it is about the ways relationships affect and change people. To spoil the story and give some important context, Goro ends up being reborn as Ai's child after he gets murdered. Ai ends up giving birth to twins, Aqua and Ruby who are Goro and Sarina respectively. Afterwards, Ai ends up murdered by a crazed stalker. These events close out act 1 as Aqua and Ruby enter the entertainment industry.

In an early arc, Aqua, Kana and Akane must act in a play of a famous manga(I'm pretty sure that manga is the in universe version of Demon Slayer). We learn about Kana's acting career since her debut in the first volume as a prodigiously talented child actor. We learn that she was far too confident in her abilities leading to her to ignore the people she worked with. This led to her to change her acting style and the way she works with other people, she is willing to sacrifice herself and bends easily to the pressure of others. Throughout her time working on the play, Aqua reassures her that its okay for her to reject the demands of others and to act on her own terms. This is a microcosm of the commentary on the nature of relationships within the text. Aqua is arguing that in order for Kana to be happy, she needs to be willing to compromise but also to set her own boundaries.

This brings us to Aqua as a character, I think that if Aqua were tragic hero that his fatal flaw would be his tendency to self martyr and inability to communicate. After the death of Ai he swears eternal revenge on her would be killer, his father, and some point near the middle of the story he learns that his father is dead. Learning about this shocks him and he begins to live life in a healthier way, he forgets about his quest for revenge. However, this reprise is short lived as the person who died wasn't actually his father and he returns to his pursuit of revenge. The motivation behind this pursuit is not fully made clear but I believe that it is a manifestation of his belief in his duty towards his mother and idol. He believes that he failed Ai as doctor, as son and potentially even as a fan. This choice, in his mind, is justified by what he believes that Ai would've wanted him to do; this belief of what he thinks Ai wants him to do is contrasted with Ai's last moments of just wanting her kids to live a happy life. This projection is parasocial caused by Aqua blending all of his various relationships with Ai into one, instead of viewing his relationship as just mother and son. Aqua, viewing himself as a failure, chooses to continue pursuing his father instead of living his life because he has selected himself to become a martyr.

Aqua's willingness to sacrifice himself for those he loves can also be seen when the new B-Komanchi needed training to improve and get better. Here Aqua dressed himself up as a famous fitness YouTuber in order to get them prepared. He does this with no acknowledgement and no reward, simply out of what he believes to be a duty to his friends and family.

This brings us to perhaps the most controversial part of Oshi No Ko. The fact that Ruby, who was Sarina in her past life, as a massive crush on Aqua. To preface this, the discourse around the show, especially on reddit, has become massively in favour of Aqua and Ruby getting together and every time I read any post about this I ask myself if these people are reading the same text as I am. In the first volume of the manga, Sarina asks Goro to marry her. He rejects her but in the ambiguous "haha maybe when you are older" kind of way, this parses with his character as he is unwilling to potentially hurt someone he sees as family but also is not a pedophile. This is paralleled later on in the story when the two find out that they both reincarnated and she asks him again. He again rejects her in a very wish-washy kind of way. From what I've read online, it seems that many people are viewing this rejection as an implication that he likes when. I think this reading is completely offbase, again Aqua rejects her as he sees her as family but because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings she says it in a very unclear manner. In my mind, this is clearly meant to emphasize parts of their characters. Aqua and his inability to prioritize himself over others, and Ruby and her perceptions about her relationship with Aqua being incredibly off base and not based in reality.

All in all, I enjoyed Oshi No Ko but I don't think that its perfect. For example, it feels like that a lot of the side characters like Akane and Kana have almost completely disappeared from the story within the current arc. I will also note that a lot of the newer chapters seem to have been written in a way where they end on a massive cliff hanger but nothing ends up getting resolved in the next chapter and everything gets kicked further down the line. Regards, I think Oshi No Ko is an interesting read and if Ruby and Aqua get together I will return with a vengeance.

[trooperwrites]

The Oshi No Ko Rant

Oshi No Ko

Enjoyment: 8/10

Quality: 8/10

Link

Genre:

Synopsis

Gorou is an OBGYN working in the countryside of Japan though his primarily job is taking care of a sick girl named Sarina. Both find companion ship in being massive fans of the idol AI Hoshino. However, when Ai appears at his hospital it appears that there is more to her than meets the aieye? And who is that mysterious figure is a hoodie? Follow the various characters in this exploration of the entertainment industry!

Review

Similar to my review of Killer In Love, I feel as if the broader reading of this manga has gone completely off the rails. Oshi No Ko is a text that concerns itself with the way we treat relationships; it is about the ways relationships affect and change people. To spoil the story and give some important context, Goro ends up being reborn as Ai's child after he gets murdered. Ai ends up giving birth to twins, Aqua and Ruby who are Goro and Sarina respectively. Afterwards, Ai ends up murdered by a crazed stalker. These events close out act 1 as Aqua and Ruby enter the entertainment industry.

In an early arc, Aqua, Kana and Akane must act in a play of a famous manga(I'm pretty sure that manga is the in universe version of Demon Slayer). We learn about Kana's acting career since her debut in the first volume as a prodigiously talented child actor. We learn that she was far too confident in her abilities leading to her to ignore the people she worked with. This led to her to change her acting style and the way she works with other people, she is willing to sacrifice herself and bends easily to the pressure of others. Throughout her time working on the play, Aqua reassures her that its okay for her to reject the demands of others and to act on her own terms. This is a microcosm of the commentary on the nature of relationships within the text. Aqua is arguing that in order for Kana to be happy, she needs to be willing to compromise but also to set her own boundaries.

This brings us to Aqua as a character, I think that if Aqua were tragic hero that his fatal flaw would be his tendency to self martyr and inability to communicate. After the death of Ai he swears eternal revenge on her would be killer, his father, and some point near the middle of the story he learns that his father is dead. Learning about this shocks him and he begins to live life in a healthier way, he forgets about his quest for revenge. However, this reprise is short lived as the person who died wasn't actually his father and he returns to his pursuit of revenge. The motivation behind this pursuit is not fully made clear but I believe that it is a manifestation of his belief in his duty towards his mother and idol. He believes that he failed Ai as doctor, as son and potentially even as a fan. This choice, in his mind, is justified by what he believes that Ai would've wanted him to do; this belief of what he thinks Ai wants him to do is contrasted with Ai's last moments of just wanting her kids to live a happy life. This projection is parasocial caused by Aqua blending all of his various relationships with Ai into one, instead of viewing his relationship as just mother and son. Aqua, viewing himself as a failure, chooses to continue pursuing his father instead of living his life because he has selected himself to become a martyr.

Aqua's willingness to sacrifice himself for those he loves can also be seen when the new B-Komanchi needed training to improve and get better. Here Aqua dressed himself up as a famous fitness YouTuber in order to get them prepared. He does this with no acknowledgement and no reward, simply out of what he believes to be a duty to his friends and family.

This brings us to perhaps the most controversial part of Oshi No Ko. The fact that Ruby, who was Sarina in her past life, as a massive crush on Aqua. To preface this, the discourse around the show, especially on reddit, has become massively in favour of Aqua and Ruby getting together and every time I read any post about this I ask myself if these people are reading the same text as I am. In the first volume of the manga, Sarina asks Goro to marry her. He rejects her but in the ambiguous "haha maybe when you are older" kind of way, this parses with his character as he is unwilling to potentially hurt someone he sees as family but also is not a pedophile. This is paralleled later on in the story when the two find out that they both reincarnated and she asks him again. He again rejects her in a very wish-washy kind of way. From what I've read online, it seems that many people are viewing this rejection as an implication that he likes when. I think this reading is completely offbase, again Aqua rejects her as he sees her as family but because he doesn't want to hurt her feelings she says it in a very unclear manner. In my mind, this is clearly meant to emphasize parts of their characters. Aqua and his inability to prioritize himself over others, and Ruby and her perceptions about her relationship with Aqua being incredibly off base and not based in reality.

All in all, I enjoyed Oshi No Ko but I don't think that its perfect. For example, it feels like that a lot of the side characters like Akane and Kana have almost completely disappeared from the story within the current arc. I will also note that a lot of the newer chapters seem to have been written in a way where they end on a massive cliff hanger but nothing ends up getting resolved in the next chapter and everything gets kicked further down the line. Regards, I think Oshi No Ko is an interesting read and if Ruby and Aqua get together I will return with a vengeance.

[trooperwrites]

Reviews

S-Class Hunter Doesn't Want to be a Villainous Princess

Enjoyment:

Quality:

Link

Genre: Isekai

Synopsis

Kim Yi-Young was an living her ordinary life as a student in Korea when she gets into an unfortunate accident involving a motor vehicle. Following her death, she ends up reincarnated into a novel as a hunter. To return back to her home of Korea, she's offered a quest by the System: Defeat the Owner of Tower.

After fighting through dozens of regressions, working with various gods and seeing her comrades die over and over again, she manages to defeat the tower owner to return to her home. But to her shock, she doesn't end up back in Korea; she wakes up to find that she has now ended up reincarnated into a romance novel as the villainess. Will she be able to avoid accusations of murder and return back to her life in Korea or will she be stuck in novels for the rest of her life?

Review

What happens when you take the two most overdone tropes in Manhwa and mix them together? You end up getting something that is surprisingly unique and is better than the sum of its parts. As of the current chapter(#20), I've had a lot of fun reading this manhwa. I think that the author has created an interesting set of mysteries about the world, whether it be about what exactly happened to the saint, the various relations between the crown prince and Sedin(Who I presume will be the male love interest) or what exactly is going on within the system. On a thematic note, I am interested in seeing how the themes develop. As of now, it appears that there is some thought around the nature and responsibility of power.

[trooperwrites]

Solo Leveling

Enjoyment: 8/10

Quality: 4/10

Link

Genre: Action

Synopsis

Sung Jin-Woo is an weak E rank hunter barely making it in low rank dungeons when he faces a bizarre dungeon which leaves his party mostly dead and him as the only survivor. However, as the old saying goes, what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Sung Jin-Woo has now acquired the ability to level up and he is on his grind to become the strongest hero of all time.

Review

I think this is probably the biggest gap I've given between the enjoyment of something and the quality. Firstly, lets talk about the positives. Solo Leveling has really nice looking art and panel composition. The fights are well framed and executed and everything looks very cool. Secondly, Solo Leveling is a very effective power fantasy. There is just something deeply satisfying about watching this guy level up and seeing the tides of battle immediately be reversed upon his arrival. In a world where good does not always prevail, it is satisfying to read Sung Jin-Woo triumph against what look to be hopeless odds. However, I think in terms of writing on a technical level that make the text worse even when considering genre and the tfact that it is suppose to be a power fantasy.

First, I want to talk about the fact that the text spends time foreshadowing things that are never developed. There are two cases that I think best exemplify this. The less egregious one was with the case of the Chinese hunter Liu Zhigang. His abilities where shown multiple times and there were numerous instances where it seemed like it he would become important in the later story. However, ultimately literally nothing happens with his character and he just gets dropped as the later arcs focus entirely on Sung Jin-Woo.

Secondly, in this case of Sung Jin-Woo's romantic interest of Cha Hae-In. Following the Jeju Island Arc, there is significant development of the relationship between the two. It appeared that she was going to his guild and maybe we would get a story arc between the two. However, some other random character ends up joining the guild and no arc happens. What makes this particularly egregious is that the new character that ends up joining the guild ends up being unimportant to the story and she doesn't actually do anything. What is the point of introducing this new characters to the guild if they aren't going to contribute meaningfully to the story. Not only is nothing done with the new character that has been introduced but also this ends Cha Hae-In being meaningful to the story. After this moment, she also disappears from the story and basically nothing happens between the two of them until shortly before the final arc where they go on a date and the epilogue where they are married. Ignoring the rest ending and epilogue for a moment, I'll get back to that at some point, there isn't enough development done between Jin-Woo and Hae-In for me to care about their relationship. They are basically strangers who haven't talked to each other in months by the time of their date. By not having Hae-In join Jin-Woo's guild, what was the point of them getting closer during the Jeju Island arc. She could basically be cut from the story and nothing would change. We lose out on having two characters interacting and developing as characters. Her character just feels like a prop to indulge in the power fantasy of the strong conventionally attractive woman falling for the main character.

This brings me to my other major critique in that Sung Jin-Woo morphs into a story warping character. This isn't true at the start, early on there are a lot of compelling supporting characters with their own struggles and goals but as the story progresses they become less and less important. Eventually, Jin-Woo is the only character that actually matters and the only character with any meaningful development. Hae-In's fate is the same as every other supporting character as they no longer become relevant nor are their arcs developed or focused on; it becomes, in essence, a one man show. This leads into the ending where Jin-Woo resets the world and everyone forgets about the hunters.

This ending is really bad; I really hate the ending. The story basically ends by wiping out every character arc other than Jin-Woo's and resets the world to what it was before the story began. To highlight why I think this story is bad, lets again focus on the epilogue where Jin-Woo gets married to Hae-In. The reason why these two characters had a connection as hunters because they were both absurdly powerful and they were both isolated. They both have dealt with the struggle of being a hunter and the isolation that comes with said power. But this Hae-In is the not same Hae-In that he marries; the Hae-In that he marries is essentially a stranger with no connection to him. However, the failure of Solo Levelling to actually develop any of its side characters means that this is failure becomes blunted. Very few characters are actually different than when we first met them so nothing much is actually reset as all the character development that actually happens is about Jin-Woo.

All in all, Solo Leveling is a very power fantasy to read but it doesn't actually do anything substantive or interesting with its characters.

[trooperwrites]

Random Weekly Reviews

Genkai Dokushin Joshi (26) Gohan

Enjoyment: 1/10

Quality: 1/10

Link

Genre: Slice of Life/Philosophical

Synopsis

Follow the daily life of a 26 year old individual NEET.

Review

You know, I was thinking of ways to increase the length of this synopsis but in all honesty there is not much more to this story. It isn't particularly interesting or engaging, and the writing isn't very good. The art of the story is also extremely sexualized; the main character is so sexualized so often it ends up being extremely uncomfortable. I thought it would be an interesting introspective into the ways modern life can be restricting and oppressive but it just ended up being uncomfortably horny. If you want to read something about mental health and someone who isn't having a good time, I'd recommend the autobiographical works of Nagata Kabi.

The Far East Incident

Enjoyment: 8/10

Quality: 6/10

Link

Genre: Historical/Action

Synopsis

Japan has just surrendered following the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and is now under American military occupation. Part of the post war process involves cleaning up the various Japanese forces remaining who refuse to recognize the surrender. One such unit of these rogue forces are the variants, super soldiers created by Unit 731. However, not al variants have refused to surrender, Saika who has defected to the Americans and is helping them clean up her comrades. Kankuro Konoe, a former medic, finds himself under the command of Saika after an unfortunately series of mishaps. What will happen as these two chase down various variants?

Review

There are only two chapters out on MangaDex right now but the text feels like a form of historical revisionism. In the real world, Unit 731 carried out various biological and chemical warfare programs on the civilian populations of Manchuria killing anywhere from 3,000 to 300,000 individuals, mostly civilians. In this story, it seems the focus on the experimentation was various Japanese civilians who are now radical soldiers. I enjoyed the action and the various mysteries, the man leading the Bureau of Public Safety trying to get rid of the variants is in fact the director of Unit 731, but it feels like revisionist history. Perhaps in future chapters, the themes and ideas are explored but for now it is a good story with uncomfortable thematic undertones.

Kusuriya no Hitorigoto

Enjoyment: 10/10

Quality: 8/10

Link

Genre: Mystery/Historical

Synopsis

Maomao, a young woman who has trained her life in the art of medicine has become a servant in the inner palace of the Emperor. Her intelligence and ability to solve the various problems of the consorts living within the palace eventually attracts the attentions of the handsome eunuch Jinshi and, much to her joy, she gets promoted to attendant food taster. Join Maomao as she navigates the complex political situation of the Ming imperial court, attempts to taste various poisons, much to Jinshi's chagrin, and solving the various mysteries that occur.

Review

Who doesn't enjoy a good mystery? I really enjoyed the various mysteries that Maomao has to solve. She uses her expertise in medicine and skills she picked up living on the streets to find logical solutions to the problems of the various consorts. Honestly, the most enjoyable part of this manga is being able to watch Maomao find out the various clues and piece together what exactly happened. There is also a romantic subplot between Maomao and Jinshi but I don't really like it. I don't think the two of them have particularly good chemistry and even though they have a 1 year age gap, the way they're drawn makes the age gap look far bigger. All in all an interesting and fun mystery story that I'd recommend.

[trooperwrites]

Random reviews for the week

Weathering with you

Enjoyment: 9/10

Quality: 7/10

It's a movie so no link :(

Genre: Romance/Drama

Synopsis

Hodaka has fled his island hometown to visit the big city of Tokyo during a streak of unusual weather. His arrival in Tokyo has not been flowers and rainbows and struggling to get by, he begins to work for Keisuke at his small publishing company. Meanwhile, a young orphan girl by the name of Hina is struggling to provide for herself and her younger brother. In a chance encounter, Hodaka encounters Hina a second time, the first time being when she helped him out while he was homeless, and attempts to save her from some shady men. As they become closer, Hodaka realizes that Hina has the ability to bring out the sun amidst the now constant rain in Tokyo. They decide for her to start work clearing up the weather for others but power always costs something.

Review

Firstly, it has to be said that the movie is an incredibly beautiful movie and that part of that enjoyment score is being able to look at some incredibly pretty backgrounds and environments. However, I am not a particularly skilled art critique and so this review will be far more negative that what the enjoyment score seems to indicate. I thought that the first third of the movie was an effective setup to the various characters. It drew an interesting parallel between Keisuke and Hodaka and effectively contrasted the lives of Hina and Hodaka; Hina being the far more mature character who was helping Hodaka when he was down. I thought the middle third of the movie was effective development between Hodaka and Hina's relationship; the relationship is well developed, and I can see why they would be in love with each other. However, the final third is where things begin to fall apart a bit for me.

The third act begins to significantly raise the stakes as the police begin to chase Hodaka due to the fact that he fired a handgun when he was trying to save Hina. As Hodaka, Hina and her brother flee the police they realize that she is begining to fade from the human world. In the climax, Hodaka manages to reach the spirit world to save Hina. While I thought that the climax effectively wrapped up many parts of the movie, with the culmination of Keisuke being willing to help Hodaka from the police being a particularly heartwarming moment, I feel as if the conclusion feels almost incomplete. Within the story, Hina being moved to the spirit world is a sacrifice to appease the gods and to stop the unusual rain that has been plaguing Tokyo and her rescue from that fate means that the rain will continue indefinitely. I think this ending works on a thematic and metaphorical level; Hina as a character is a very self sacrificial character and part of her arc with Hodaka is that she is learning to live for herself and being more willing to make selfish decisions. I think within this context, the ending makes a lot of sense and is an effective conclusion to her arc. However, I feel as if even the movie recognizes the choice she has made has, at a minimum, significantly worsened the lives of the 30 million people who live in the greater Tokyo area and will lead to a potential humanitarian crisis. The movie sort of hints at the fact that something similar occured 800 years ago to make Tokyo a liveable area free from the water, but ultimately it isn't developed enough to make a substantive aspect of the story. All in all, the ending felt thematically appropriate but the scope of her decision begins to drown out an otherwise compelling thematic message.

Lastly, I want to talk about the drama and scope of the story. Weathering with you becomes rather melodramatic within the last third of the movie that I felt was a significant tonal clash with what the rest of the story was like. Hina's fate as a sacrifice that could potentially affect the lives of 30 million people is so consequential that it becomes overwhelming. Hodaka having to flee the police as a result of the distribution of a bunch of guns and him coming into contact with one also needless raises the stakes; his motive to flee the police as a runaway who doesn't want to be caught changes into him fleeing the police because they think he is a potential terrorist. I think that this tonal whiplash makes the story less cohesive but I feel like it was avoidable.

Consider a story where the effects of the unusual weather is lessened; it's still bad and causing damage but it isn't going to turn 30 million homeless. Give Hina some agency, where her prayers are slowly but surely converting the weather into normal but for each prayer she becomes tired and sickly. She realises that this is killing her and is faced with a choice, either continuing to help everyone else at the cost of her own life. Where, Hodaka is chased not because of some terrorism suspicions but simply because he ran away from home and the police are trying to bring him back. I feel as if these changes grounds the story and better maintains the tone and scale of the story from the first two thirds to the latter third.

In general, Weathering with You is an visually beautiful movie with a compelling, albeit a tonally clashing, story. Consider giving it a watch.

Killer in Love

Enjoyment: 10/10

Quality: 9/10

Link

Genre: Romance/Horror

Synopsis

Suzuki Ryuto lived a introverted quiet life in high school and has decided to change that in his college years. Everyday he puts on a fake smile, and tries his best to fit into a group of cheery outgoing students even as they decide to mock and belittle him for being a virgin. One evening, an attractive girl named Kokoa asks him to pretend to be her boyfriend in an attempt to scare off a stalker. Little does he know, that he is in for perhaps the most exciting weeks of his life

Review

Killer in Love is perhaps the most well constructed story that I have read where I completely disagree with every other review I have read. It is a story with a thesis, that thesis being something along the lines of "Self love is the most important kind of love". It is a tightly focused story with all of its characters and scenes being dedicated to explore and develop this idea. I want to write a longer piece breaking down how exactly it does this, so I'll mostly spend my time in this review talking about what I liked about its construction. I thought that the cousin character was an effective foil to Kokoa(though the incest implications are bizarre, I don't think it really does anything to affect the story other than just being incredibly fucking strange). While I do think all the various antagonist end up in some camp of creepy stalker, I think it works to further the message; every antagonist is ultimately just some random incel, who like the main character, are unable to connect with other humans beyond a superficial understanding of conventions.

While a main criticism of the text has been that the characters don't really bond or their relationship doesn't get deeper, I would argue that this is, in large part, the whole point of the text. It helps to reinforce the idea that both these characters are so focused on trying to get love from external sources, they are unable to understand their partner from any perspective that isn't either transactional or undying perfect love. I also don't believe that the escalation is particularly egregious from a pacing perspective, the story hits the ground running and sets up the approximate stakes and scope. It doesn't really have a massive jump in scale where the stakes massively balloon, each progression of Ryuto's character being understand but fast.

While the story isn't perfect, there is some minor plot point about organized crime that gets completely dropped, I feel it is an effective exploration of self hatred and the way it can erode and destroy a person.

Onna Tomodachi to Kekkon Shitemita

Enjoyment: 10/10

Quality: 9/10

Link

Genre: Romance/Slice of Life

Synopsis

Two women make the classic romance trope pact, "If we're both single in 5 years lets get married". 5 years later, both are single and so they decide to get married. Follow their new married life.

Review

In contrast to the other two texts that I've reviewed in this post, this text is far more chill. Instead of dealing with city destroying weather or a barrage of crazy exes, Kurumi and Sera have to deal with the mundanities of life. Be it deciding how to properly assign chores or how best to set up boundaries for their fake relationship. I think this text is a cute and wholesome story about two people learning about how to function in their relationship and navigating the various compromises needed to have a healthy relationship. I don't have too much to say other than it was a cute slice of life story that depicted a down to earth relationship and two people navigating through life. Highly recommended!

How do we Relationship?

Enjoyment: 10/10

Quality: 9/10

Link Buy the official release!

Genre: Romance/Drama

Synopsis

Introverted Miwa has just moved to Tokyo and wants to try finding love, but that may be a bit difficult as a gay person. During an orientation event she meets another gay person in Saeko who suggests that they may as well start dating since it's unlikely that either of them will have any other options. Follow the lives of Saeko and Miwa as they navigate their life through university and the challenges that come with being a university student.

Review

I should note that there are in fact sex scenes in this manga, continue at your own peril. I was recommended How do we Relationship on the premise that it covered a lot of topics that aren't usually covered in romance manga's and I was not disappointed. It shows characters getting together and breaking up. It covers the way relationships between people can change, and the ways in which people are both compatible and incompatible. The way the various relationships are depicted create a degree of verisimilitude with both the strengths and flaws of the characters effectively depicted. The text effectively endears you to the various characters and the struggles that they are going through. Ultimately, I think this text is an extremely compelling exploration of relationships and what it means to be in a relationship. Give it a read!

[trooperwrites]

Random Reviews for this week

Witch Hat Atelier

Enjoyment: 10/10

Quality: 9/10

Link

Genre: Fantasy/Slice of Life

Synopsis

In a world of where witches are born not taught, Coco has only one dream: to learn and use magic. But she was born outside of the magical class and thus is resigned to the life of being a normal tailor. However, a chance encounter with a strange witch with a mask over their face, Coco begins to unravel the truth about magic. Thrust into a new magical world and under the guidance of a traveling witch with a connection to the masked witches, Qifrey, can Coco navigate daily life?

Review

Firstly, I should disclose that I have not finished reading Witch Hat Atelier; however, it so thoroughly charmed me that I decided to add it onto this list anyway. In a lot of magical settings, magic is something that is gained through birthright. Whether it be the magical families and occasionally magical human from Harry Potter, or the common isekai trope and having your ability to use magic being fundamentally unchangeable. Witch Hat Atelier(WHA) inverts this trope by making magic a discipline of study that only requires proper training and tools but kept hidden from the general populace. This secrecy was created by Witches due to the fear that magic is far too powerful for anyone to learn and after massive wars in the past. However, what I like about WHA is that it doesn't accept its setting and explanations at face value. It is willing to interrogate the implications of the magical secrecy and the high control group that has been developed. It asks whether the magics forbidden by their society(transmutation of the body) are truly evil when they could be used for medicine. It engages with the idea that if magic can solve almost everything, then why do people still live in poverty, why do people still live in disabilities. All in all, WHA is an extremely engaging episodic slice of life story. Its characters each have interesting character arcs and the setting is extremely charming. Give it a read!

Kimi to Tsuzuru Utakata

Enjoyment: 10/10

Quality: 9/10

Link

Genre: Romance/Tragedy

Synopsis

Shizuku Hoshikawa is a high school girl who, due to her troubled past, avoids talking to people. However, she does enjoy writing and written a few novels. Due to an interesting set of circumstances, her cheerful classmate Kaori Asaka ends up reading one of them. Kaori becomes interested in Shizuku and her stories and so asks her to write another. But for certain reasons, Shizuku is unable to write, in which Kaori asks that the two of them should date so Shizuku can write a story about their love.

Review

Tragedies are always better read without spoilers, so if this story is interesting you should read it before reading the review. This story is a story about grief, regret and the ways in which you should live your life. Through its main characters, it develops the idea that no matter how dark your past, or whatever mistakes you make that you can move forward. That there is no one singular self and that one should live life without regrets. This idea is embodied in Kaori, a cheerful girl despite her past who, throughout the manga teaches Shizuku to move forward and to live her life. However, I do not think that the text is perfect. I think my biggest critique of it would have to be the dark history of Shizuku herself. I feel as if her tragic backstory makes her seem far too sympathetic of a character; that in my view, the depiction of her bullying another character was too soft. Even her worst actions are framed by the story as accidental and unintentional. While this could be a commentary on the way we are often our harshest critics, her actions are viewed in a similar light by the other characters which makes me believe that her actions are supposed to be seen as exceptionally bad. Ultimately, I feel as if there exists an incongruence between her actions and the severity with which they are treated by the narrative. By giving her more agency in her actions and retaining her mindset that she is "helping" the girl she is targeting would, I think, make the story more cohesive. Ultimately, I think despite the flaw it is a compelling and interesting read

Stuck in My Sister's Dating Sim

Enjoyment: 6/10

Quality: 4/10

Link

Genre: Romance/Comedy/Isekai

Synopsis

The main character(whose name I don't remember) was playing their sisters dating sim when he wanted to save her game. Unable to find the save, he somehow magically gets teleported into the game and takes the place of a trouble making minor villain. Like every generic isekai character, he wants to live a quiet life and escape back to his own reality. However, everything is going wrong and several men are now chasing him. Oh no, what to do!

Review

I wish I had written this review in June because then I could've made the joke that it's now illegal to be straight. Usually, most isekai characters have some sort of special skill that grants them special abilities and frankly I think the main character has some sort of gay laser. Every character, he interacts with ends up becoming gay. The story is not particularly interesting and the characters are all carbon clones of typical isekai tropes. I guess the twist of this is that the harem is made up of men instead of women and instead of a male love interest sexually harassing a female protagonists, the protagonist is now male! Hurray Diversity Win! Ultimately, it was interesting to read for a short bit for its somewhat interesting twist, but it doesn't really do anything with it. Any interesting ideas on gender, sexuality are ignored for fan service and derivative plots. It has its niche and if you enjoy a basic story with fan service you'll enjoy reading it, but ultimately it ends up being rather disappointing.

[trooperwrites]

Pick Me Up, Infinite Gacha

Enjoyment: 8/10

Quality: 5/10

Link

Genre: Action/Isekai

Synopsis

Do you waste too much time and money gambling playing gacha games? No matter how bad the games you play it surely won't be as bad as the fictional gacha game 'Pick me up!' where character deaths are permanent and rates are dependent on your spawn world. The number 5 player ends up getting Isekaied into Pick Me Up!, how will he deal with the fact that he's now the lowest of low characters(a 1 star).

Review

This manhwa becomes significantly better when you read it as a metaphor for capitalism. I have no idea if this metaphor was intentional but it was really interesting to see all the ways in which the dynamics of this gacha game were reflected in various capitalist institutions like strikes, intra class divide, and class relations. These relations aren't interrogated to any sort of depth nor is any commentary made about these systems; it also seems to advance a commentary about humanity that is deeply pessimistic. Overall, I had a lot of fun trying to related everything in the text as a metaphor for capitalism but it wasn't very interesting.

[trooperwrites]

Itsuwari no Marigold

Quality: 8/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Link

Genre: Romance/Historical

Synopsis:

A young lady named Kasumi Hana living in early 20th century has her brother die from the world's deadliest infectious disease, TB. Dealing with grief, she believes that her brother's penpal, a lady by the name of Urushizawa Lily, was using him; if true, Hana intends to kill Lily and to commit suicide. However, she ends up finding out that Lily is both blind and someone who deeply cared for Hana's brother. For the sake of her brother and this girl, she resolves to become the impostor

take her brother's place.

Reviews

I believe the text was originally supposed to be published as a oneshot and I think the first chapter works with its ending being incredibly bittersweet. However, the manga ended up getting a continuation and despite its short length(5 chapters) has brought into questions about survivors guilt, dealing with loss and perhaps even questions about identity(specifically relating to gender). I thought what was present was thematically interesting and well done and I'm excited for more chapters to be available to read.

[trooperwrites]

Random Reviews

The Villainess Lives Again

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 5/10

Link

Genre: Josei/Romance/Isekai

Synopsis

The Villainess has spent her life in making sure that her brother has secured the throne. She has built an intelligence network while also assassinating both the characters and lives of her brother's rivals. However, being the person who has the ability to put someone on the throne is a risky proposition to keep around for an emperor and so her brother betrays and attempts to kill her. Rescued by the faction opposing her brother, she uses forbidden blood magic to send herself back in time in order to stop her brother's ascension to the throne.

Reviews

Honestly, I think this manhwa is pretty well written description of the main character breaking past her abusive family and also finding value in herself. I think I found the most compelling parts of the stories being the other individuals who travelled back in time with her and the story of the vaguely sentient demon people. Even with the fact this story was decently well written, I felt as if the parts I was interested with weren't explored enough and that is was draging on a bit too much. Overall, a well written story that just didn't really click with me.

The Legendary Spearman Returns

Quality: 4/10

Enjoyment: 3/10

Link

Genre: Shonen/Isekai/Action

Synopsis

Spearman Joshua Sanders has spent his life fighting for his good friend the emperor. Because he's not genre savy enough to realize where this is going, he gets assassinated by his "friend" the emperor. Thankfully through the vague power of his great spear Lukia, he's sent back in time and he begins his quest for revenge.

Reviews

I will be completely honest here and say that I only read this story because spears are the best weapon and have been used in militaries for centuries over swords. This story is an average story with all the necessary stock characters for a decent shonen. I think if you enjoy average shonen, you'll have a fine time with this story. I had problems with the weird pacing and almost incoherent world building. It was hard to decipher to actual power levels of any of the characters and thus removed the tension in every fight and replaced it with confusion. Secondly, I had issues with the fact that the story seemed willing to accept the idea that abuse is ok against those without power which greatly annoyed me.

A Royal Princess With Black Hair

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Link

Genre: Shojo/Action/Comedy

Synopsis

Caruel and Euricienne have been betrothed to each other as a part of a political marriage but there's a big problem: they feel nothing but vitrol for the other. Now as potential threats to the kingdom mount, how will they deal with both outside threats and their spouse.

Reviews

I found this story incredibly funny based off the dialogue and actions of the 2 main leads. Bantering characters is a great source of humour and I thought that they way the author wrote them to just be constantly bickering as a foil to a lot of the more standard romantic couples to be also very funny. The way Euricienne treats her problems is also a great source of comedy as she just goes around beating people; her first answer in dealing with a rival character is to beat them senseless. I think the story is pretty generic and there isn't a lot of interesting changes but I found it funny enough that I enjoyed it nonetheless

[trooperwrites]

Random Reviews

I'll Save this Damned Family

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Link

Genre: Shojo/Romance/Isekai

Synopsis

Yeonwoo has been reincarnated into a novel of her colleague as the 5th daughter of the Elias Family. One would expect that reincarnation from shitty neoliberal capitalism to the aristrocracy of a fantasy novel would be a significant improvement but alas this is not the case as one of the few details she can remember from this novel is that their entire family is to be hanged in 5 years. Will she be able to rise to the occassion and save herself and her family or will she fail?

Review

Body Positivity! She also doesn't start out the story in perfect fit and healthy shape and spends significant time becoming more fit and stronger though I do think that if she did spend all her time learning to swing an axe she would be far more jacked than she is in the story. It was interesting to see a character start in a position of definitely not power and seeing her not being able to fully recall the contents of the book and failing at trying to do things was very cool. I thought having a character actually struggle and grow as a character was a very engaging story arc to go through and it was interesting to see her go from knowing nothing to being great at a lot of things. Otherwise an interesting mystery as the protagonist must figure out what's going to happen based on a the pieces of the plot that she remembers.

Can the Grand Duke and the Marquis be Friends?

Quality: 6/10

Enjoyment: 6/10

Link

Genre: Shojo/Romance

Synopsis

Obet Alphons is the child of the Marquis and she has to take the role of her twin at his coming of age ceremony because he's fallen sick. She was suppose to keep quiet and not draw any major attention but she got the attention of the loud Grand Duke Hinn. Can they become friends or is she doomed to be pestered by him for eternity?

Review

To summarize, yes they can be friends. In fact they become very good friends! I think the attempt here was to make an enemies to lovers story? It's a pretty cute story even if the pacing is a bit strange. I also think that there probably should've been more development of the two leads, it felt rushed at points. All in all, its a short read that is decently well written.

[trooperwrites]

Random Reviews

I Shall Master This Family!

Quality: 5/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Genre: Romance

Link

Synopsis

The great Lombardi family once held all the cards; they had influence comparable to the emperor and were second to none in wealth. However, in Firentia's first life due to the incompetence of her family the family collapse. However, as she dies in an alleyway, she's given a second chance at life and will not waste this second chance at life

Review

It is very fun to watch a child girlboss their way at solving literally everything in their past life and becoming a massive sigma female. I enjoyed reading it and I thought it was interesting to watch someone unravel all of the political shenanigans that fucked them over in their past life. However, as a text its not very interesting or engaging beyond the inherent funness of its initial premise. Thematically its about building trust with people based on meritocracy which is a bit contradictory with the idea of the aristocracy as a whole and it doesn't do much to comment or develop on this theme. I do enjoy how they attempt to differentiate the different factions by the clothes they wear especially with the main Lombardi family(named presumably after the Lombardy region in real life Italy where Milan is) is based off of Renaissance Italian clothing.

I Found a Husband After I Picked Up the Male Lead

Quality: 5/10

Enjoyment: 5/10

Genre: Shonen

Link

Synopsis

Lizelle's family is an extreme debt due to her extravagant lifestyle; she has squandered a fortune on everything from dresses to jewelery and is now putting her family at great risk of bankruptcy. However, Lizzelle is simply a character in a novel and when our protagonist inhabits her body, she has a lot of cleaning up to do. The first thing on her list is finding the lead of the novel and collecting the massive reward for finding him. What's going to happen to the story of this novel with this unexpected change?

Review

This is another one of those pieces of media that feels like it was factory made out of sweatshop following a simple list of tropes. I don't think it does anything particularily new or interesting nor does it have interesting themes to think about. The characters are fine, the story is fine, nothing is particularily bad. It's just a piece of media that is kind of boring.

I Can See Your Death

Quality: 6/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Genre: Shonen

Link

Synopsis

Essie Ash has always been able to see the date of the deaths of people. And this ability has made her a favourite in her small idlyic village in the countryside with her helping people to prevent deaths. Soon her idlyic life is changed when the 1st prince, currently engaged in a struggle for sucession, shows up on her doorstep wounded and almost dead. What will happen to Essie and her village and why does she have these strange powers?

Review

Note, this series is incomplete and mysteries that aren't completed texts are a bit hard to judge so take any score with a grain of salt. Generally speaking I thought the mystery present throughout the text was very engaging and it was a breath of fresh air to read through a story that wasn't an isekai or reincarnation and had the protagonists running through a situation that was wholly unknown to them. There are some thematic elements present early on but none of these have been very well developed. Regardless, I think the developed tension is interesting and I'm interested to keep reading

Rookie Talent Manager Knows All

Quality: 5/10

Enjoyment: 4/10

Link

Synopsis

Yoonho is on a sigma grindset when he finally gets terminal cancer and dies. Due to being a sigma male, he has no friends and his family including his wife does not care about him leading to him being alone at his deathbed. What happens when he gets sent back 10 years?

Review

The premise feels like it could naturally lead to a lot of things. A criticism of an culture far too focused on progress and material things. A critique of the entertainment industry and how far too often it rewards shitty behaviour. Ideas about the meaning of life and what we should spend our lives doing. A critique of culture surrounding celebrities(one of the main characters is a single mother and in the first time line gets absolutely lambasted by the media for it) and their lives. Unfortunately none of these ideas are explored in any meaningful idea nor does it do anything interesting with the idea of reincarnation. Overall, its a decently written, well drawn but boring text.

The Perks of Being an S-Class Heroine

Quality: 5/10

Enjoyment: 5/10

Link

Synopsis

There has been a strange trend going around in Korea where someone gets a vaguely threatening message about life insurance right before they get hit by a truck. Is this a vague threat from the insurance industry? No, its simply some form of divine being offering indulgences to people in their current life. Now our plucky protagonist has been placed into a world that is doomed to apocalypse but with the power of god and microtransactions will she be able to save herself and everyone else?

Review

Full disclaimer that when I read this there were like 20 chapters but if something can't engage its reader in 20 chapters clearly its not very good. I personally felt as if this was just another story about someone with a shitty life getting a power fantasy. I just didn't find it very compelling other than the fact that it was pretty funny that a child was beating everyone up.

[trooperwrites]

Falling For the Enemy

Quality: 4/10

Enjoyment: 4/10

Genre: Romance

Link

Synopsis

After the death of her family, Lia becomes a professional swordswoman and commander of a battalion of knights to secure her position and protect her family. However, the idea of a woman being a commander has ended up with her facing many challenges and who is this other knight commander?

Review

This is mediocrely written manhwa with some interesting story ideas. It wants to be about two people who are enemies and who come together through a mutual bond but the issue here is that the author doesn't want the male lead to be an actual shitty person so they only really end up at odds because of wacky miscommunication. This makes it far less interesting, as very little character development actually occurs for either Lia or the male lead. This writing problem goes beyond just the start as in order to split the main characters apart the finale, the writer again uses a wacky miscommunication and liar revealed plot to cause a random split for not a lot of purpose. One of the more interesting concepts they plays a minor role within the story is that Lia communicates with an alternate reality version of herself and I believe that its used decently to convey a message about taking the life you've been given and rolling with it. All in all, its a rather boring very trope laden piece.

Last Game

Quality: 4/10

Enjoyment: 4/10

Genre: Shonen

Link

Synopsis

Yanagi was the prefect student in elementary and top of his class in everything until a transfer student, Kujo shows up. She is instantly better than him in everything. Yanagi vows to to defeat her by getting her to fall in love with him?(I don't get it either) Follow their game

Review

Just read Kaguya Sama Love is War, it's better.

Are you still here? I guess I'll finish the review. This manga is Kaguya Sama Love is War but worse in almost every manner. The main character, despite what the text will say, is inept at most things; it is almost like he is facing the worf effect. Unlike in Kaguya, where both Shirogane and Kaguya are both engaged in their acts of war and deception, Kujo seems completely oblivious to the many attempts made by Yanagi. This makes the text far less interesting to read as he fails over and over again and is unable to progress meaningfully. The side characters are also extremely poorly developed with none of them being interesting or engaging at all. All in all, it's just Kaguya Sama but stripped of what made it unique.

[trooperwrites]

Reviews of Media

I want to eat your pancreas

Quality: 9/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

Genre: Tragedy

Link

Synopsis

One day, Haruki Shiga meets one of his classmates at the hospital and ends up reading her secret journal. What happens when they become friends and what is exactly is her secret?

Review

This series is known as a tearjerker for good reason. It delievers a well written and tragic story between two high schoolers, one of which is striken with cancer. From this, the author explores themes about the meaning of life and how an individual ought to live. The text itself, I would argue, is absurdist saying that life itself has no meaning and that existence itself is absurd but that an individual must derive meaning for oneself. Overall, the story is quite well written with well developed themes and engaging characters. I will take off points for some incelish developments.

Omniscient Reader's viewpoint

Quality: 6/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Genre: Shonen

Link

Synopsis

A man has been the only reader for a thousand page webnovel. Now it appears that the events of the novel are happening in real life! What will he do to survive this great calamity and what will reading this novel do for our fateful protagonist?

Review

It's hard to talk about a text without it being finished and so the rest of this should be taken with a grain of salt. The story is about a man who has to manage the fall of civilization as individuals are forced into a gladitorial fight for the death. I enjoyed it decently given that the action and the abilities are all quite interesting. However, I felt as if there's just a lot missing. For example, the main character takes on a non killing pact and instead of exploring how his relationship with the world would change, he ends up not killing people by having his allies hit the final blow. It seems as if the diagetic elements imply deeper thematic implications but none of these thematic elements are developed. All in all, its an enjoyable but disappointing read.

[trooperwrites]

Reviews of consumed media

Iron Prince

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Genre: Progression Fantasy

Link

Synopsis

Iron Prince is about a sickly child named Reidon Ward who was abandoned by parents and left to be raised by the government. With his childhood friend Vivada Arada, he completes the test to be assigned a "CAD", the tool created by the government to fight the alien threat of the Archons. Will Reidon become the strongest or will be fall to the many enemies he has.

Review

Iron Prince is a great novel with some questionable subtext. Let's first talk about the strengths of the novel, I thought the main cast of characters and the supporting characters were all incredibly strong. They all had interesting personalities and I was interested to learn more about their pasts. I felt as if their arcs within the story were all competently done and were engaging. Though I would have preferred for some of the side characters to be developed a bit more, one of the primary group wasn't really introduced as a character until later into the book and I think it would've been much more engaging if more was known about her. I thought that the weakest part of the book was the pacing, it felt as if it was the first act within a much longer series and while it's receiving a sequel I thought that the pacing made the book significantly weaker as a whole. I thought some of the political subtext was a bit fascistic. Most notable, the main governing body is a military body that runs it's own entertainment that has pervasive media control that it uses to fuel recruitment and is largely unaccountable to the civilian government is questionable to say the least. Now not, the existence of a bad system is not necessarily an indication of support, but when the book does nothing to question the system and subtly praises the ability of the military to be not influenced by politics makes the subtext support some questionable political takes. Lastly, I felt that the pacing harmed the thematic development given that fact that Reidon and many of the characters haven't really completed a full character arc. Overall it was an enjoyable read for its flaws.

Legend of the Northern Blade

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Genre: Shonen

Link

Synopsis

The world was once plunged into chao by a demonic sect named Silent Night and to fight it martial artist from all over the world formed the Northern Heavenly Sect. Through their struggle and strength, they pushed Silent Night away and restored the order of the world. However, fearful of the power of the sect, the mainland government had the generals of the 4th Leader of the Northern Heavenly Sect to betray him. What will be the path that the Leader's son pursues and how does this have anything to do with a strange girl and a strange tatoo?

Review

I really love the art style of this Manhwa. Most Manhwas have a style that could be described as clean, characters generally lack any physical defects, and characters all have the same atheletic body type. This could be described as the Genshin Impact school of character design; characters that are meant to be as appealing as possible. This Manhwa goes the opposite, (though the women characters are still less varied than the men) with the characters being incredibly varied. The characters having varied and interesting design. I really love how the art style meshes with the setting making it feel as if I'm hearing about an old tale from times long ago. The story and themes are currently a bit questionably developed with the story treating lives as extremely disposable. I also thought one of the character death's was in vain and that the character living would've been better for the story. I think the story offers a pretty compelling mystery about the world and its engaging enough. Overall, the art carries the story but it was a compelling mystery none the less.

[trooperwrites]

Weekly Manhwa Review

White Blood

Quality: 8/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

Genre: No clue(Some mix of Josei/Shonen)

Link

Synopsis

Park Hayan is a vampire in a world where vampires have just recently emmerged and have been causing all kinds of havoc to South Korean society. However, there's one key difference between her and the other vampires, she was born one unlike the others which have to be turned into a vampire by drinking vampire blood. What connection does she have to this new vampire threat and what how is she connected to "God", a mysterious figure rumoured to be responsible for all the other vampires.

Review

Man the art for the action scenes are very well done. The fight scenes are incredibly interesting even if the basic plot structure reminded me of a c tier farcry game. Regardless of how basic the plot structure was, the author has a clear understanding creating suspense and tension. The main characters grief and relationship with the male lead is well developed and emotionally impactful. One of the things that I liked the most was during the killing of the Parent Character was not a fridging and was given the proper respect. At some level this text also attempts to create themes around grief, ambition and revenge. However, I feel at some points what the theme actually wasn't fully developed and at times contradictory. Overall, it was a very enjoyable read even if thematically it was at times suspect.

I had that dream again

Quality: 9/10

Enjoyment: 9/10

Genre: Seinen

Link

Synopsis

A 3rd grader named Nanoka Koyanagi out a walk meets a cat and three women. A high schooler engaging in self harm. A woman called a whore by her neighbours. And an old lady living out the rest of her days. Join her as she attempts to answer the question, "What is happiness".

Review

I think to best experience this manga, you have to go in blind so I'll be mostly try to avoid spoilers. I think the most engaging part was the slow build up of everything learnt by the girl and how it ties into the stories of the side characters. I also quite enjoyed the thematic pondering of happiness and its meaning to the character and others(This is the only story I've read recently with coherent themes). Ending with a rather statisfying ending as every puzzle piece clicks together that wraps the story up both thematically and diagetically.

[trooperwrites]

Weekly Manhwa review

SSS-Class Suicide Hunter

Quality: 8/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Genre: Shonen

Link

Synopsis

This manhwa is about a guy named Kim who gains the ability to copy the power of whoever kills him. Before he can understand his power the #1 hunter, Flame Emperor, kills Kim for learning about his murderous habits. Luckily, he copies the Flame Emperor's power which travels him back 1 day in time upon death. Follow Kim as he climbs the tower in which he lives as a part of his personal quest.

Review

The strongest part of this manhwa has to be the comedic writing. Generally speaking the jokes are all quite funny and the interactions between the protagonist and his ghost mentor are fun to read. This combined with a main character that grows and develops as a character and side characters that have actual personalities beyond their tropes makes this manhwa better than most other manhwas you'll read. This manhwa also attempts to develop themes about kindess with relation to power, generally speaking attempts at this are milquetoast and not particularily well done but its interesting to see even if every attempt doesn't land perfectly well. Also the art is really nice looking. This is a competently made manhwa that I would recommend you read if you have the time.

Ending Maker

Quality: 5/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Genre: Shonen

Link

Synopsis

Hey gamers, do you love gaming? Then this is Manhwa for you, as it follows the rank 1 and rank 2 players of a super popular MMORPG as they enter the world of their favourite video game. However, there's a twist! The world gets destroyed by the end of the campaign(Don't worry you can still buy lootboxes). Follow their journey as they attempt to save this world from destruction.

Review

This Manhwa is pretty mid, with both the protagonists being relatively flat characters with little to no development accross chapters. However, it is a GAMING manhwa and it has a sort of campy farm to it as both characters possess an inordinate amount of knowledge about the video game and exploit various things they've learned. So far there haven't really been any side characters other than the servants of the two protagonists, the side characters are ok and have some funny jokes but otherwise are just the standrad trope. This is some fun trash you can read if you're a true GAMER!.

Shadowless Night

Quality: 5/10

Enjoyment: 4/10

Genre: Seinen

Link

Synopsis

Is your heart dark like the night? Well then, this is the perfect manhwa for you as the protagonist is also a shadow. The main character is a captain as a part of a prince's military detachment. During service, she is killed during an ambush from an enemy nation. She asks for a shadow to devour her body and turn into her, requesting with her final words to protect the prince. Follow her journey as she(the shadow of demonly energy) attempts to protect the prince of heavenly imagery.

Review

Its pretty mid and I got pretty bored when reading through it. The characters in this are all pretty flat without much interesting interactoins. The protagonist really suffers from quiet protagonist syndrome as she doesn't really say or doing anything of her own accord, it seems more that the shadow is just wandering through life and while the premise sets up an interesting ditchomy of this shadow creature protecting the leader of the heavenly faction from the demonic faction none of these ideas have been explored at all. All in all, its pretty disappointing but at least the art looks cool.

My Duke's Bored Daughter is my Master

Quality: 6/10

Enjoyment: 6/10

Genre: Shoujo

Link

Synopsis

Have you done everything there is to do? Do you have too much time on your hands? Well I'm sure you'll sympathize with the main character of this manhwa. She was original born to an overly promiscious emperor and became a legendary figure through hard work and grit. She did most of the important things like slaying legendary monster, committed fratricide and sororicide, and gaining the position of Empress. However, the dead cannot rest happy and she is reincarnated 500 years later as the duke's daughter. Follow the protagonist, her brother and their childhood friend, the heir to the throne on their wacky adventures.

Review

This manhwa does better than a lot of the mid manhwa's by having characters that change, even if that change is very minor. The protagonist goes from bored by everything to becoming a teacher for the next generation(even if in this world shes the youngest of the bunch). I think this is a pretty interesting take(I haven't seen it in any others but I haven't read too much yet), although she's quite the effortless teacher and I think the story would've been more interesting if she found teaching hard. I also think an exploration of her gender and more references to way in which she shaped her empire and effected it culture and legacy far more interesting than the very generic setting we're given. What brings this manhwa up from infuriating to read to decently enjoyable though are the charming childhood adventures the group go on which I found fun to read through even if there was missed potential behind them.

Grand Master Knight has Become the Princess

Quality: 1/10

Enjoyment: 0/10

Genre: Shoujo

Link

Synopsis

Are you ready for a trope-laden classic romance story between the knight and her prince? Well, this is the story for you. It features two characters with nonexistent relatable personalities. The prince is met with the fact that he must get married before he ascends to the throne. Not wanting to marry a foreigner(and perhaps smitten with his chief knight), he asks her if they can fake a marriage. Follow the protagonists as their fake marriage evolves into a real marriage and the hoops they must fight through to get married.

Review

Are you a conservative reader baffled by all the subtext in various media? Do you consistently worship characters like Walter White, Rick Sanchze and Tyler Durden? Do ambigous endings scare you? If yes(Hi James!) then this is the story for you. Both characters are literally just the standard romance trope, the guy is super competent and the girl is an embarressed mess. There is literally 0 subtext, there's one scene where the father of the daughter is in contemplation and instead of leaving the scene as it is, the narrator FUCKING EXPLAINS TO YOU WHY HE'S CONTEMPLATING. It feels as if read the Stock Shoujo Heroine tv tropes page and followed it like the HTDF receipe and then did the same for every other character. The only interesting subversion is that the heroine is a knight but nothing interesting is done about this and for some fucking reason the prince with 0 training is better than her(not to mention they call her buff several times and the character is drawn with less muscle than the average woman in Genshin Impact). This manhwa is dogshit and I hate it. It's also kind of sexist.

The Return of Princess Amy

Quality: 4/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Genre: Shoujo

Link

Synopsis

Do you hate your siblings? If you do, you can surely relate to Amy, who in a previous was the greatest witch in the world. Forced to develop her powers after her sister spread rumours about her and took her birthright to the kingdom. Eventually leading to Amy getting burned at the stake. After her death she is reborn as her child self and sets out to right the wrongs of the last world and seize the her birthright.

Review

I enjoyed this way more than I should because its simply a series of sequences where Amy goes "Uno reverse card" to her sister. Watching this child create evil master plans while also not being the most shitty person in existence is very fun. However, Amy comes close to being a Mary Sue, in which the world is warped around her and it makes it seem like shes the center of the universe. None of the side characters are particularily interesting except for that one kid that does an Anakin in the original timeline. The story also demonizes non blood family which is not a particularily good trope. Overall, its pretty fun watching a child acting as an evil mastermind but there's not much else positive about it.

Princess to the Rescue!

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 6/10

Genre: Shoujo

Link

Synopsis

After the Princess' wedding is attacked by the evil demon king, the floating city that they live on is at risk of falling from the sky. Bringing the magical spirit of the city along with her ex-fiance and the grandmaster knight of the city, the princess must journey to the demon island to save her city!

Review

Surprisingly well written with the main character being a rather pompous prick in the first portion of the story influenced by her background. The story explores both the good and bad of her extremely pampered lifestyle. She's an extremely compassionate character viewing many forms of life as important(Though the story kind of frames this as a negative which is pretty bad). She develops as a character learning about the world and how it operates along with learning the skills necessary to defeat the demon king. I found it especially notable that her training starts with her holding her sword for more than 10 minutes at a time and taking significant amounts of time. The side characters are also quite interesting(though the grandmaster is the average edgy "I must stay my distance from you" pseudo lancer). I found it very interesting that within the party of 4 they act almost as two sets of foils. However, I felt as though I enjoyed it less simply because some of the character developments of the princess' character are bad(she becomes a tyrant) and at points it feels as if the writer is stalling for time.

The Villainess has Shrunk

Quality: 0/10

Enjoyment: 0/10

Genre: Shoujo

Link

Synopsis

Are you a pedophile lolicon weird person?(Hi James again!) Well this is the manhwa for you! The villianess worked for the evil count pretending to be his daughter and eventually got engaged to the crown prince. After obtaining the engagement the villianness fears for her life and flees. However, shes stabbed by the count as she flees and in a last ditch attempt to save her life she takes a potion that turns body back to when she was 12! As a child she's discovered by the duke who was her enemy when she was still a villianess and because she does something no one else was able to do she gets taken in as a maid. Will she figure out that this duke is her soulmate, and what will happen?

Review

Holy shit this manhwa is so bad. The worse part is when the protagonist declares herself the fiance of the duke(at this point everyone thinks theres a 12 year age gap between them) and EVERY SERVANT ACCEPTS IT! Look literally none of the writing themes matter when there are the 2 romantic interests are both fucking 10+ years "older" than her and one of them was potential her abuser! At least the duke isn't a shitty person and says that he'd never marry a 12 year old and also saying that waiting for her to get older is a sin in and of itself. Also the cover is so fucking bad.

My Lucky Star

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 7/10

Genre: Shoujo

Link

Synopsis

Do you have a craving for something wholesome? Well this story is a slice of life story following various teenagers living there life. The 2 main leads are Star and Austin, 2 childhood friends who have been going to school together since elementary school. Follow their developing romance throughout grade 11, 12 and into university.

Review

This is a very trope heavily competently executed archtype. Both main characters go through significant character development while also acting as foils to each other. Its heartwarming to see the best elements of each character effecting the other character and how they caused change in each other. Austin's friend Jay is a huge bro and its charming to see the rich kid who was used by others learn to open up. Generally speaking, its just a very well executed wholesome slice of life school story.

Precious Daughter of the Greatest Martial Arts Villain

Quality: 7/10

Enjoyment: 8/10

Genre: Shoujo

Link

Synopsis

You know this ProZD video? This manhwa is basically this. The protagonist was an orphan in the real world and she gets isekaied into the Demonic Sect of a Wuxia novel she read. Here she meets the male lead who kills the character she was isekaied as. Follow her journey as she attempts to live her life motiviated by a pursuit for a better life.

Review

HAVE YOU SEEN THIS SNEK. Look this manhwa instant 10/10. This snake is literally the best character, I have no idea why but every thing about the snake is so fucking funny. Avoiding the snake, the development of the protagonist and the wholesomeness of all these super evil fucking characters is really good contrast for humour. The one thing I'd like is more theme in the story and exploring how her past life and the effects of what is hinted as a pretty shitty life effects her. There is a lot of potential here about grief and moving on or on optimism. Otherwise, its pretty wholesome and the snake is extremely funny for no reason.