A few words beforehand.
First of all, I want to say that I take the concepts brought by pieces of fiction. Very seriously because more often than not, they represent the author's own point of view towards the world.
It is that and also the fact that it was recommended to me on the idea that the protagonist was a villain or something like that.
For that matter I would say that it's not totally right. Ayanokoji or however his name was spelled(, I'll say AA for short), is never really the villain in the story. Although although his behavior is certainly manipulative and at some
...
points abrasive, The original statement doesn't make sense.
At the end of the day, work is made through the perspective of the main character and without arguing semantics, it merely represents his fight towards freedom and more importantly for understanding of the world.
For a person who never saw the outside couldn't even know if he wanted to be there.
Right, I could end this review here and say that I recommend it but I want to focus on something I found in other reviews.
More precisely, I want to correct some things that were said, or perhaps to bring up some points to further the discussion.
II.Fundamentals.____
When I was recommended this work, I found varying opinions on the comparison between the anime, manga and LN. I have found a way to view the first two legally but didn't find the light novel's site, so I will only base my opinion on the first two sources.
*Edit*
I have found the LN so ignore that part.
From what I have found in discussions online, apparently AA's representation is pretty divisive. It is said that the LN's version fits both how he is seen and how he acts and that the other two sources are split.
That the anime is entirely from how he sees the world and that the manga is from how the world sees him.
This also brings about the opinion that the anime is somehow bad while the manga is somehow good.
At first glance this might seem the case, but that isn't so.
I will Begin by admitting that his portrayal in the anime is quite strange because it makes him look like a psychopath with no emotion. It is strange for teenagers to interact with someone like him and not have weird reactions. This brings evidence to the opinion that it is only his perspective that we are observing. However This unique perspective doesn't bring about as many downsides to the show as one would expect.
I found it very original, not only because I like watching such characters ( if anyone knows from my other reviews), but also because he is a fascinating case study into the myth of creating a genius.
The white room is a spectacular piece of world building because their goal of producing outstanding individuals sounds simple in concept.
I found many people who criticize classroom of the elite because they find the protagonist as edgy or too extravagant. Or did they say try hard?
This hate comes from the stereotype of the “manipulator”, or in other terms uneducated folk who have just started knowing about psychology. It is said that accidental aspiration to become like the protagonist brought the show so much reputational damage.
Because Ayanokoji really isn't that kind of character. Under analysis I couldn't find his actions made just as a shocking factor. The show is also wrongly criticized for his smart actions Being coincidences that just seems to be planned.
I saw this in other shows like Sherlock Holmes ( the 2010s version) or with Sage from the Boys season 4.
But not for AA. The series is much much better written than it is given credit online.
I am an author myself and I can honestly say that the games and acts are well coordinated and planned. Because of this AA also leaves them victorious as a smart person, not as just a lucky one.
I honestly believe that a lot of the hate the show gets is merely the association with real life stereotypes.
About to return to my point, The choice to portray him as empty wasn't a mistake made by the director. It is honestly a very good adaptation of the material.
Because AA is unlike other smart protagonists like in Tomodachi game( for which I won't make a review) that act joyful. He isn't human inside.
An anime Being an imperfect medium that doesn't let his internal monologue out, the audience would be given the bad impression that he actually does have a heart.
That he actually cares.
But he doesn't.
It is very clear that his actions are calculated and made from an outside perspective. The people around him are tools. There is nothing corny in that.
From the world building done, it is very clear that he didn't live life as a human. So being a manipulator isn't “cringe". It isn't a “power play" from an “ego trip". He is a psychopath.
AA represents the most vicious of society. People that Will do anything to rise. Like J.P. Morgan, or Rockefeller.
The series is actually social commentary and not some kind of teenage “power fantasy".
The reason the director chose to have him emotionless is precisely because he is not meant to be self-insert-ed into. The audience isn't meant to sympathize with him or to try to put themselves in his position.
The bad apples for ruin His reputation certainly wouldn't be able to resist in the white room.
This will be a slight spoiler so you are free to jump over it
____
_____
_____
_____
In the LN
We learned that AA lived all his life in the white room. He started crying when he was a baby and eventually stopped because he realized that no one would come for him. He spent all his life not talking with any of the other kids because he simply had no reason to.
I remembered that he precisely noticed that in one year he only used his mouth to eat. Could anyone live like that? To not say a word for a whole year?
I don't think so.
This kind of suffering is not meant to make you sympathize with him.
This is what people who don't properly understand the media fail to see.
His backstory is merely a way for us to understand how he became like this.
Nothing more.
_____
_____
End of spoiler
_____
End
_____
So what I am saying is that it is exaggerated. No one from the real world would be able to survive in his skin.
Humans are fundamentally built for social interactions.
Socializing isn't a popularity contest. It is a primal need to exchange information. More than that. Is this a primal need to exchange emotion.
Feeling alone isn't just something that happens to loners. Loneliness is deadly because it messes with the brain. A person that is isolated goes insane.
And yet AA is functional.
More than that he is frightenedly functional.
He is able to traverse social interactions as if he is a master when it is the first time they happen to him.
I threw the word psychopath I was there and I'm sorry for that because it furthers a very bad stereotype.
Psychopathy for people who don't know is a disease that appears from birth where a person isn't able to define right from wrong. This mostly concerns ethical matters. It has something to do with the brain. A lack of connection between two parts I forgot. I'm sorry it's a bit late and I don't really feel like going through the books again but it is really a biological reason.
Sociopathy is the opposite. Although it also concerns not being able to define right from wrong, it isn't inherent from birth. It is formed from trauma usually during teenage years or childhood. It is a sort of insanity that leaves the person highly functional but usually very prone to violence and to emotional outbursts.
Neither of those diseases is inherently dangerous for society. About 1 in 100 people are psychopaths and the similar percentage is also for sociopaths. It is very likely that we have seen people like this in our lives. That we have interacted with them. Maybe we even have them in our families.
These diseases are very rarely the cause for violence.
It is true that a lot of killers are sociopaths, and that most serial killers are one of either of those two categories, the cases of such peoples involvement actually makes up only a fraction of the worldwide murder cases.
Most cases of murder are from Petty fight between families or Petty robberies or fatty drug dealings gone wrong. Perhaps even petty gang fight.
I call all of this Patty because in comparison they are seen as mistakes. Because they could have been avoided but because of human negligence or emotion they happened.
Well thought out murder like in the case of serial killers is very rare.
Because most of these people are functional members of society. Even if they don't necessarily adjust right for wrong, this doesn't mean they don't have common sense as humans.
The very basis of society is law. And law dictates that crime brings punishment. And that infraction also means punishment.
Most people aren't aware that we as humans don't really dictate our actions from morality but merely from law and repercussions.
Any of us would be greedy enough to take more than we could if there wasn't a punishment. You don't need an inherent disease for that.
The human heart is greedy enough.
If it wasn't, we wouldn't have wars and neither conflicts.
What I'm trying to say is that AA isn't out of place.
He is merely a very proficient observer of society. He's merely capable of adapting to it
That is a very intriguing quality because this medium, the anime, manga and LN, brings the viewer with the expectation that he will see a show like all others but in actuality it has nothing to do with the school story.
Yes, the whole premise of the show with the school and ranking is just an excuse to showcase his outstanding brilliance. To showcase his out of the box way of thinking.
It could have used any other medium, but the other chose this precisely because people come with expectations.
Something familiar like this actually brings more of an impression.
This is why I'm saddened by the fact that many people reduce his character to merely “trying to hard to look cool". Because he isn't like that at all.
III.A fight between two adaptations
Now to the most important part.
Comparing the adaptations and deciding whether the online fight about them is concrete.
As I said earlier, many people say that the anime shows from his perspective and that the manga shows us from how he is perceived.
But it isn't right.
The manga also has serious moments where the blank face AA shows up.
It is just that the author uses these very sparingly.
If one paid attention when reading it, he would observe that AA is always serious in matters regarding his origins or reason to stay at the school.
These moments are rare, but very importantly do exist.
This brings about an interesting conundrum.
Is he actually normal?
On a first glance he would seem like any other smart game-manga protagonist, but the intention is very clear that he doesn't actually do the things he does for simple driving factors like friendship that other MCs would.
A lot of things needs to be compressed for the format to work and sadly there are very few panels where he actually looks into the distance or through people instead of “at them" like he should.
This created the wrong impression that he actually wasn't as complex as premises brought him.
Yeah if you overlook some things you could read the manga like any other game type manga.
You could see he was just a normal teenager.
But that would be very wrong.
If you pay attention to his background and the white room, then in makes no sense for him to actually be normal.
For the type of training he suffered, he fundamentally lacks the sort of attachment needed to be a teenage boy.
How could someone like him who lived all his life to think nothing of social interactions possibly care about a friendship? Or about love?
I'm sorry, even after so much time with the source material I'm still very bad with Japanese names.
For example the basketball guy. Why would AA help him for " the sake of helping out his first friend”????
This is obviously an excuse. He would clearly want his sports abilities for future challenges. It is unthinkable for a being like AA to even entertain the idea of friendship.
It would be like someone from sentinel island( for people who don't know it is an island where the locals are still barbarians with no information of the civilized era) be brought technology and just accept it. A fundamentally different concept.
People who interpret the manga through these glasses are just purposefully blinding themselves to not think about the larger narrative.
Because of this mistake that *from my perspective* brought more damage towards the true interpretation of the source material, I would say that the anime is a better adaptation.
At the end of the day everyone is free to choose for themselves, or to interpret the material themselves.
Fiction is only what we make of it.
Who knows, maybe I was the one overthinking the material, although I doubt it.
Nov 29, 2025 Recommended Preliminary
(72/? chp)
A few words beforehand.
First of all, I want to say that I take the concepts brought by pieces of fiction. Very seriously because more often than not, they represent the author's own point of view towards the world. It is that and also the fact that it was recommended to me on the idea that the protagonist was a villain or something like that. For that matter I would say that it's not totally right. Ayanokoji or however his name was spelled(, I'll say AA for short), is never really the villain in the story. Although although his behavior is certainly manipulative and at some ...
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Nov 29, 2025 Recommended
A few words beforehand.
First of all, I want to say that I take the concepts brought by pieces of fiction. Very seriously because more often than not, they represent the author's own point of view towards the world. It is that and also the fact that it was recommended to me on the idea that the protagonist was a villain or something like that. For that matter I would say that it's not totally right. Ayanokoji or however his name was spelled(, I'll say AA for short), is never really the villain in the story. Although although his behavior is certainly manipulative and at some ... points abrasive, The original statement doesn't make sense. At the end of the day, work is made through the perspective of the main character and without arguing semantics, it merely represents his fight towards freedom and more importantly for understanding of the world. For a person who never saw the outside couldn't even know if he wanted to be there. Right, I could end this review here and say that I recommend it but I want to focus on something I found in other reviews. More precisely, I want to correct some things that were said, or perhaps to bring up some points to further the discussion. II.Fundamentals.____ When I was recommended this work, I found varying opinions on the comparison between the anime, manga and LN. I have found a way to view the first two legally but didn't find the light novel's site, so I will only base my opinion on the first two sources. *Edit* I have found the LN so ignore that part. From what I have found in discussions online, apparently AA's representation is pretty divisive. It is said that the LN's version fits both how he is seen and how he acts and that the other two sources are split. That the anime is entirely from how he sees the world and that the manga is from how the world sees him. This also brings about the opinion that the anime is somehow bad while the manga is somehow good. At first glance this might seem the case, but that isn't so. I will Begin by admitting that his portrayal in the anime is quite strange because it makes him look like a psychopath with no emotion. It is strange for teenagers to interact with someone like him and not have weird reactions. This brings evidence to the opinion that it is only his perspective that we are observing. However This unique perspective doesn't bring about as many downsides to the show as one would expect. I found it very original, not only because I like watching such characters ( if anyone knows from my other reviews), but also because he is a fascinating case study into the myth of creating a genius. The white room is a spectacular piece of world building because their goal of producing outstanding individuals sounds simple in concept. I found many people who criticize classroom of the elite because they find the protagonist as edgy or too extravagant. Or did they say try hard? This hate comes from the stereotype of the “manipulator”, or in other terms uneducated folk who have just started knowing about psychology. It is said that accidental aspiration to become like the protagonist brought the show so much reputational damage. Because Ayanokoji really isn't that kind of character. Under analysis I couldn't find his actions made just as a shocking factor. The show is also wrongly criticized for his smart actions Being coincidences that just seems to be planned. I saw this in other shows like Sherlock Holmes ( the 2010s version) or with Sage from the Boys season 4. But not for AA. The series is much much better written than it is given credit online. I am an author myself and I can honestly say that the games and acts are well coordinated and planned. Because of this AA also leaves them victorious as a smart person, not as just a lucky one. I honestly believe that a lot of the hate the show gets is merely the association with real life stereotypes. About to return to my point, The choice to portray him as empty wasn't a mistake made by the director. It is honestly a very good adaptation of the material. Because AA is unlike other smart protagonists like in Tomodachi game( for which I won't make a review) that act joyful. He isn't human inside. An anime Being an imperfect medium that doesn't let his internal monologue out, the audience would be given the bad impression that he actually does have a heart. That he actually cares. But he doesn't. It is very clear that his actions are calculated and made from an outside perspective. The people around him are tools. There is nothing corny in that. From the world building done, it is very clear that he didn't live life as a human. So being a manipulator isn't “cringe". It isn't a “power play" from an “ego trip". He is a psychopath. AA represents the most vicious of society. People that Will do anything to rise. Like J.P. Morgan, or Rockefeller. The series is actually social commentary and not some kind of teenage “power fantasy". The reason the director chose to have him emotionless is precisely because he is not meant to be self-insert-ed into. The audience isn't meant to sympathize with him or to try to put themselves in his position. The bad apples for ruin His reputation certainly wouldn't be able to resist in the white room. This will be a slight spoiler so you are free to jump over it ____ _____ _____ _____ In the LN We learned that AA lived all his life in the white room. He started crying when he was a baby and eventually stopped because he realized that no one would come for him. He spent all his life not talking with any of the other kids because he simply had no reason to. I remembered that he precisely noticed that in one year he only used his mouth to eat. Could anyone live like that? To not say a word for a whole year? I don't think so. This kind of suffering is not meant to make you sympathize with him. This is what people who don't properly understand the media fail to see. His backstory is merely a way for us to understand how he became like this. Nothing more. _____ _____ End of spoiler _____ End _____ So what I am saying is that it is exaggerated. No one from the real world would be able to survive in his skin. Humans are fundamentally built for social interactions. Socializing isn't a popularity contest. It is a primal need to exchange information. More than that. Is this a primal need to exchange emotion. Feeling alone isn't just something that happens to loners. Loneliness is deadly because it messes with the brain. A person that is isolated goes insane. And yet AA is functional. More than that he is frightenedly functional. He is able to traverse social interactions as if he is a master when it is the first time they happen to him. I threw the word psychopath I was there and I'm sorry for that because it furthers a very bad stereotype. Psychopathy for people who don't know is a disease that appears from birth where a person isn't able to define right from wrong. This mostly concerns ethical matters. It has something to do with the brain. A lack of connection between two parts I forgot. I'm sorry it's a bit late and I don't really feel like going through the books again but it is really a biological reason. Sociopathy is the opposite. Although it also concerns not being able to define right from wrong, it isn't inherent from birth. It is formed from trauma usually during teenage years or childhood. It is a sort of insanity that leaves the person highly functional but usually very prone to violence and to emotional outbursts. Neither of those diseases is inherently dangerous for society. About 1 in 100 people are psychopaths and the similar percentage is also for sociopaths. It is very likely that we have seen people like this in our lives. That we have interacted with them. Maybe we even have them in our families. These diseases are very rarely the cause for violence. It is true that a lot of killers are sociopaths, and that most serial killers are one of either of those two categories, the cases of such peoples involvement actually makes up only a fraction of the worldwide murder cases. Most cases of murder are from Petty fight between families or Petty robberies or fatty drug dealings gone wrong. Perhaps even petty gang fight. I call all of this Patty because in comparison they are seen as mistakes. Because they could have been avoided but because of human negligence or emotion they happened. Well thought out murder like in the case of serial killers is very rare. Because most of these people are functional members of society. Even if they don't necessarily adjust right for wrong, this doesn't mean they don't have common sense as humans. The very basis of society is law. And law dictates that crime brings punishment. And that infraction also means punishment. Most people aren't aware that we as humans don't really dictate our actions from morality but merely from law and repercussions. Any of us would be greedy enough to take more than we could if there wasn't a punishment. You don't need an inherent disease for that. The human heart is greedy enough. If it wasn't, we wouldn't have wars and neither conflicts. What I'm trying to say is that AA isn't out of place. He is merely a very proficient observer of society. He's merely capable of adapting to it That is a very intriguing quality because this medium, the anime, manga and LN, brings the viewer with the expectation that he will see a show like all others but in actuality it has nothing to do with the school story. Yes, the whole premise of the show with the school and ranking is just an excuse to showcase his outstanding brilliance. To showcase his out of the box way of thinking. It could have used any other medium, but the other chose this precisely because people come with expectations. Something familiar like this actually brings more of an impression. This is why I'm saddened by the fact that many people reduce his character to merely “trying to hard to look cool". Because he isn't like that at all. III.A fight between two adaptations Now to the most important part. Comparing the adaptations and deciding whether the online fight about them is concrete. As I said earlier, many people say that the anime shows from his perspective and that the manga shows us from how he is perceived. But it isn't right. The manga also has serious moments where the blank face AA shows up. It is just that the author uses these very sparingly. If one paid attention when reading it, he would observe that AA is always serious in matters regarding his origins or reason to stay at the school. These moments are rare, but very importantly do exist. This brings about an interesting conundrum. Is he actually normal? On a first glance he would seem like any other smart game-manga protagonist, but the intention is very clear that he doesn't actually do the things he does for simple driving factors like friendship that other MCs would. A lot of things needs to be compressed for the format to work and sadly there are very few panels where he actually looks into the distance or through people instead of “at them" like he should. This created the wrong impression that he actually wasn't as complex as premises brought him. Yeah if you overlook some things you could read the manga like any other game type manga. You could see he was just a normal teenager. But that would be very wrong. If you pay attention to his background and the white room, then in makes no sense for him to actually be normal. For the type of training he suffered, he fundamentally lacks the sort of attachment needed to be a teenage boy. How could someone like him who lived all his life to think nothing of social interactions possibly care about a friendship? Or about love? I'm sorry, even after so much time with the source material I'm still very bad with Japanese names. For example the basketball guy. Why would AA help him for " the sake of helping out his first friend”???? This is obviously an excuse. He would clearly want his sports abilities for future challenges. It is unthinkable for a being like AA to even entertain the idea of friendship. It would be like someone from sentinel island( for people who don't know it is an island where the locals are still barbarians with no information of the civilized era) be brought technology and just accept it. A fundamentally different concept. People who interpret the manga through these glasses are just purposefully blinding themselves to not think about the larger narrative. Because of this mistake that *from my perspective* brought more damage towards the true interpretation of the source material, I would say that the anime is a better adaptation. At the end of the day everyone is free to choose for themselves, or to interpret the material themselves. Fiction is only what we make of it. Who knows, maybe I was the one overthinking the material, although I doubt it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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May 29, 2025 Not Recommended
There is a saying that the character is only as smart as his writer and sadly this proves it.
I have read and made reviews for many pretentious, pseudo-philosophical pieces of fiction, but this honestly takes the top as the worst in terms of morals. This whole manhwa is made on a wrong assumption. It is made on a foundation of hate. Even the most nihilistic philosophers like Nietzsche didn't write from such a position. In short, it is made from the premise of an eco-terrorist activist. This might not mean much, but it explains everything that happens in the manhwa. Many debate how life ... should be held, whether it has any point or not... But those are human perspectives. From a biological standpoint, humanity shares the same base as every organism. We exist to spread and then die so that the new generations have a chance to spread. It's that simple. Even if we take out discussions about morality, about religion, about rights and liberties, about laws and nature... Humans, just like every other being, exist to breed and die. This isn't debatable. The way an organism evolves is to maximize it's chances at breeding. Some animals do it through a long lifespan like the turtle or the Greenland sharks and other animals like moths and many insects through short breeding cycles with instant death. It doesn't matter the way it is done. Biology prioritizes results. Biology wants to succeed. That is why mutations disadvantageous to this process are shed. Disabled animals die at birth usually so we see it rarely, but it happens as much as in humans. From the most fundamental standpoint about life, humans aren't anything special. Every being tries to dominate it's environment. Animals and bugs don't respect other animals or trees. Every symbiotic relationship is purely transactional. This was a very long monologue, but it has a meaning. What I am trying to say is that humanity is not inherently evil. There is nothing evil about humanity. Yes, because of sentience we are aware of the world around us. We used this ability to shape it to our benefit. Humans killed animals, changed environments and now recently invented structures that wouldn't exist in nature. Nothing of this is evil. The point that the author is trying to make is that humanity became a force of corruption over the Earth due to the industrialization. That pollution is destroying the natural balance of the world. That the earth is naturally pure and we are some disease. He's trying to say that the changes in our environment, the storms, hurricanes.... That these are cries of a dieing world. How is this the perspective of a sane man? Uneducated folk like the team behind this aren't aware that natural disasters are well... Natural. These earthquakes and storms do happen often because of the pollution humanity did, but it isn't something "made" by humanity. What we did was raise the medium temperature of the planet. Uneducated people would never be aware that our planet naturally goes through cycles of freezing and heating once every few thousand years. What they don't understand is that we are not capable of destroying the planet through simple gas. What we are doing is quickening the cycle of heat and freeze. This will in no way destroy the planet. With that out of the way, I can actually talk about the story at hand and not the politics of the author. Spoiler Spoiler Spoiler Lee... Idk let's just say MC, is an organism that reincarnated for 3.5 mld years. He experienced every life possible and now a human. His first instinct as a sentient being was that humans are evil and that they need to die. Why? He says that we are cruel things that kill animals and plants. He has 180° turns in this philosophy once every chapter. If whether to let humanity go or to "take revenge". I ask the audience. What did human do wrong? We followed our natural instincts to spread. Sometimes we do kill more than we need, but don't normal animals also do that? Lions frequently kill hyena babies just because they dislike the competition. They go to mothers, scare them off and then paralyze the baby in front of them. Then they go away. They don't even eat hyenas. Not if they aren't starving. Orcas frequently delight in hunting seals. Not in eating them but in hunting them. They adore the act of hunting. Male dolphins are known to attack and kill baby dolphins, including their own species and even baby porpoises. Dolphins have been observed attacking other animals, such as porpoises and baby sharks, without any apparent intention to eat them. Are any of these animals evil? No. I wouldn't say so. Then why are humans seen differently? Of course, from our perspective we can make the assumption that we have the ability to differentiate morals, but MC is a being that literally lived through the perspective of the animals above. This means that it is guaranteed to have done all of the "evil" acts that I listed. Yet he hates humanity? Only humanity? This is what I was saying in the first sentence that a character can only be as smart as the author. Furthermore, this is from the assumption that humans aren't a natural part of.... Well nature. Realistically, why would there be any reason for this immortal being to see humans as anything different than other successful species in the past? If death is natural in the living world and such a being is desensitized to death, then why does it matter if a human kills? Why does it only matter when a human does it? In the body of a child, he didn't understand why his mother cared so much about him. But how is a mother caring for her son inherently human? How is THIS the thing that changes him? Sure, by and large animal mothers prioritize their own safety over their children, but we also have many examples of crocodile mother's or other animals sacrificing themselves for their spawn. It is impossible for a being that lived through every possible life to not have failed this before. This is yet another example of an author not being smart enough to write his own character. The problem is that the author is trying to make this perspective that the being wants to destroy humanity but hesitates because of the love he shared with some of the humans. Leaving aside the moronic reason for him wanting to destroy humanity, it also goes in the other way. Why would he be impressed with them? Supposedly he has some sort of hate for this one species in particular And wants to eradicate it. Why would he hesitate? How is human love Any different than animal love? When it was in established that he can telepathically communicate with any animal.... This may be explained in a further chapter but I don't think so. Later in the story his anthithesis is introduced. What better comparison for being that has the ability of every living organism then of being that can control every living organism. Or so the author thought. It is idiotic from the first page where it is introduced, when it was said that the second being had an aura of “hating humanity" like huh? This second being was a hydra. A non sentient microscopic organism. Why would it hate humanity? Because they experimented on it? Seriously? This would work in a setting that the second being was some kind of alien and it hated humanity from its nature, but the way it was implemented was horrible. Truly speaking, a hivemind would be unstoppable. The fact that they made it vulnerable because of a central host is contrived. It's just an excuse to beat it in the end. Why would this being hate humanity any more than other beings that would feed on it? Would a bird continuously biting its body and returning when it is hungry be any less gruesome? When plants were established to feel pain? This is exactly what happens when deer feed on grass or other herbivores on trees. So now every animal is evil? This is yet another failing of the author. I could comment on the story folder but it just goes downwards and downwards in quality. Instead I'll make a different statement. These days there are many ecoterrorists that understand what humanity does wrong to the environment. Do any of them understand what humanity does good? As I have explained, humanity is not the only species that hunts just for the enjoyment month of hunting, nor the only species that changes its environment to better suit it, not the only species that practices cruelty. As I have explained humans aren't apart from nature, they are part of it. Now I will explain the things that only humans do and not any other sentient creature. Humans are the only beings that keep their weak around. As I said earlier disabled animals are culled. Bird mothers throw their weak spawn out of the nest. Many other animals eat them…. Instead humanity keeps their disabled around. Unlike any other animal, we believe in a right to life. No animal without arms or legs or without it's full cerebral capacity would survive. Another thing that humans do is charity. Animals don't help animals in need. Lions would not help other felines in hunting. No animal does things for free. Charity isn't the rule for all humans because not all humans encompass moral values, but just the fact that there is a minority that does differentiates us from animals. What many activists don't understand is that extinctions are common in nature. A lot of species die and appear. It's not inherently evil that species die because humans thrive. In nature all species that can't adapt die. The fact that a minority of humanity would go out of their way to preserve endangered species is something that an apex being would never do. The author thinks that violence is something inherently human, but one only has to look at ants to see how nature fights. Ants of the same species, but of different colonies regularly fight against each other for territory. There is no intelligence involved. No sentience. War and hence violence is a natural part of the world. Why would a being that supposedly lived through every life possible not recognize that? It's the same because I liked the art style very much but I am disgusted the more I read. How can someone have such misplaced hate? Edit//// Wow.... I read the rest of the manhwa and I can't believe it. It goes sooooooo bad. I had to bring the score down a point to 1. I really can't believe it. I genuinely think that this is the single worst manhwa that I read, right next to rooftop swordmaster for which I won't even make a review. I won't comment on the exact events, but the way the existence thinks of humans is absurd. Not even the worst redditors or twitter users are this delusional about humanity... It's just.... Wow.... Both MC and the girl are abhorrent beings that make 180° moves in their philosophy constantly at the expense of other's lives Reflecting on the fact that it shouldn't bother you when humans hurt the ones you love when you also hurt them is meaningless when you continue to hurt others yet still blame humans for their supposed "evil" nature. They constantly die and resurrect each other... And have this forced love between them... I just... Wow... I can't, I'm honestly bewildered by how bad it is. It would be one thing if this was a fighting comic like rooftop swordmaster. In that I can at least accept that the entire point was to villainize bullies and to hurt them from the perspective of the "loser", but this? MC was already a god. The only reason his mother died is because he is a dumbass and killed someone. It was contrived that the detective prioritized killing the mother, but nevertheless it was the MC's fault it even got to that point. If you want a moralist work of fiction, then you have to earn the title. You can't indulge into sin and say you are a sinner. It is outright deplorable to present the MC as in the right over all his crimes. Some may say that he isn't presented as such, but it is a lie. At some point he explains to the female main character all his crimes and she "can't say that he was wrong". For real??!!??? I'm seriously astounded by this contrivance. I know I am venting right now, but this is seriously the first work of fiction where I had to pause and lay on my bed thinking about how deplorable a world view is. When I read the prince of thorns by Mark Lawrence I knew how bad the main character was, but I knew that the author obviously wasn't such a monster in real life. But this? This work is just believable enough to think that the author would act in this manner of he had the same powers in real life. I don't know who wrote this personality. I didn't check any of their other works to judge them thoroughly, but I can still criticize this. You can't have your work take itself this seriously if the morals are this bad. I'm not joking when I say that the main character is one of the biggest villains in fiction, but the story bends in a way a street him as in the right. And the moral he learns in the end? That "it's just life". Seriously? My my....
Reviewer’s Rating: 1
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Apr 6, 2025 Not Recommended Preliminary
(115/? chp)
I am more so disappointed by this manhwa because I have been told for so much time about how great the manhwa is and I decided to wait for the adaptation. I also read quite a bit of the manhwa after finishing the anime so my point later point still stands.
Lookism is a bad piece of media. It tries to have a moral message, but fails in every way imaginable. The main message is that the world is vain and treats you differently based on how you look. This is presented by showing us how the MC is bullied in school, before he gets ... a new body and suddenly becomes popular. Now first of all, what is this message supposed to be?? That it is alright to be ugly? I don't get it. Throughout the series we are supposed to think that behavior is more important than looks and that it is unfair for people to be judged by them, but this makes no sense. The morality in the show as the npc characters see it is something like. Ugly- hated by all as if they were demons Bland/normal- ignored Beautiful- everything they do is saintly Do I have to explain how childish this is? Later in the series it is explained that the reason the main character was so fat was due to his diet (his poor mother somehow managed to get enough money to feed him immensely). So if he had a better diet, he would have been ignored and hence not bullied. How is this a lesson? Even later there is this rich girl character that I won't spoil her name, she basically grades people with an inverse scale of what I put above, as in beautiful people are evil blah blah.... And she thinks that ugly people are somehow nicer? Just because they're ugly? Supposedly because they have two compensate through personality. The show acts like she is in the right... Like sure, they make her be partially proven wrong by being impressed with how the beautiful body of the MC acts, but this only means that she will be proven right when she learns of his two body state. I have to state that at least up to the point that I read he's beautiful. Body is the only handsome nice person that she met. Delusional. Secondly, on the MC being bullied thing, It doesn't make sense. It's just so over the top nonsense with how cruel they are... And the fact that he gets bullied right after moving to the new city... How is this a lesson that people are vain? Doesn't it just mean that he is cursed? Besides, in a way the manhwa proves that it was right for him to get bullied as a punishment. This might sound strange, but the main character is a horrible human. We are shown how badly he treats his mother despite her hard work. He doesn't only wear the skin of a pig but he has the mentality of one. He picks on the week just like his bullies (in this case, someone lower on the hierarchy being his mother). How are we supposed to care about him? The first episode the webtoon tries to portray him as some kind of good person, or at least the only good one in his school, but that is not the case. And then he gets a new body with no explanation and no effort. He gets to have perfect looks and ultimate strength with no effort. Later it is proved that he doesn't even need to do sports to keep his shape. He can eat the same horrible diet and still keep it. But he still does sport as some kind of proof of effort? To show that he is a good person? Doing something that helps you with literally nothing? All that time he could have further spent on training his fighting skills, but he gets them for free( with no effort) just like how he got his body. Why does the manhwa portray effort in such a bad way? To make the main character bs his way out of conflicts through techniques he learns out of nowhere (I will explain in the third point) or a biology that isn't a human's. His body works on the notion that all his muscles are trained to perfection and he somehow has natural instincts to ignore techniques that bypass brute strength. And this is barely explained. I swear some Isekai protagonists make more sense with their powers. Thirdly, I think it is disingenuous how the manhwa portrays looks. The moral of the story would like to say that behavior is more important than appearance and that the main character would not have gotten as popular as he did if he had his normal body despite doing the same actions, but that isn't a fair comparison. 80% of the "good" things the MC managed to do in his "good" body could have only been possible in it. A big deal of he is popularity came from his physical prowess, something he didn't have to practice for. It is bullshit for his body to be perfect and to be able to beat everyone with no skill nor technique. The author brings up this abominable idea that the main character can learn moves on the fly just from seeing them once or that he can dodge masterfully because he got beat up so much in the past. But those are cliches and make no sense. It is explained that his intelligence is the only thing that wasn't affected through the swap. So how is he such a master at learning fighting techniques? People don't realize how much training and practice comes before talent in martial arts. You can't just learn this stuff by getting beat up because if that was the case all street thugs would be MMA world champions. It is illogical for someone who supposedly had a terrible diet based on cheap food and scraps (so an undeveloped the brain), someone who didn't spend any time learning in school( so double times an undeveloped brain), to become like this. He biologically doesn't have the capacity for it. I am taking so much time to write this because I have had this recommended to me as some sort of philosophical work about morality and how our society functions. It is clear that it is the early work of an author as it reeks of naivety and inexperience. Maybe it gets better later, but I doubt it. Even if that is true, a story becoming "good" after 400 chapters is preposterous. If you want a moral piece of art, this is not it. You have nothing to learn from it. It is just a delusional interpretation of how the world works made from the perspective of a hateful person. If you want an action flick with delinquents, this is also not it. There are a ton of power ups and whatever. Nine peaks and clover are much better delinquent mangas or viral hit, weak hero of you like manhwa.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Apr 6, 2025
Oemojisangjuui
(Anime)
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Not Recommended
I am more so disappointed by this anime because I have been told for so much time about how great the manhwa is and I decided to wait for the adaptation. I also read quite a bit in the manga after finishing the anime so my point later point still stands.
Lookism is a bad piece of media. It tries to have a moral message, but fails in every way imaginable. The main message is that the world is vain and treats you differently based on how you look. This is presented by showing us how the MC is bullied in school, before he gets ... a new body and suddenly becomes popular. Now first of all, what is this message supposed to be?? That it is alright to be ugly? I don't get it. Throughout the series we are supposed to think that behavior is more important than looks and that it is unfair for people to be judged by them, but this makes no sense. The morality in the show as the npc characters see it is something like. Ugly- hated by all as if they were demons Bland/normal- ignored Beautiful- everything they do is saintly Do I have to explain how childish this is? Later in the series it is explained that the reason the main character was so fat was due to his diet (his poor mother somehow managed to get enough money to feed him immensely). So if he had a better diet, he would have been ignored and hence not bullied. How is this a lesson? Even later there is this rich girl character that I won't spoil her name, she basically grades people with an inverse scale of what I put above, as in beautiful people are evil blah blah.... And she thinks that ugly people are somehow nicer? Just because they're ugly? Supposedly because they have two compensate through personality. The show acts like she is in the right... Like sure, they make her be partially proven wrong by being impressed with how the beautiful body of the MC acts, but this only means that she will be proven right when she learns of his two body state. I have to state that at least up to the point that I read he's beautiful. Body is the only handsome nice person that she met. Delusional. Secondly, on the MC being bullied thing, It doesn't make sense. It's just so over the top nonsense with how cruel they are... And the fact that he gets bullied right after moving to the new city... How is this a lesson that people are vain? Doesn't it just mean that he is cursed? Besides, in a way the show proves that it was right for him to get bullied as a punishment. This might sound strange, but the main character is a horrible human. We are shown how badly he treats his mother despite her hard work. He doesn't only wear the skin of a pig but he has the mentality of one. He picks on the week just like his bullies (in this case, someone lower on the hierarchy being his mother). How are we supposed to care about him? The first episode tries to portray him as some kind of good person, or at least the only good one in his school, but that is not the case. And then he gets a new body with no explanation and no effort. He gets to have perfect looks and ultimate strength with no effort. Later it is proved that he doesn't even need to do sports to keep his shape. He can eat the same horrible diet and still keep it. But he still does sport as some kind of proof of effort? To show that he is a good person? Doing something that helps you with literally nothing? All that time he could have further spent on training his fighting skills, but he gets them for free( with no effort) just like how he got his body. Why does the show portray effort in such a bad way? To make the main character bs his way out of conflicts through techniques he learns out of nowhere (I will explain in the third point) or a biology that isn't a human's. His body works on the notion that all his muscles are trained to perfection and he somehow has natural instincts to ignore techniques that bypass brute strength. And this is barely explained. I swear some Isekai protagonists make more sense with their powers. Thirdly, I think it is disingenuous how the show portrays looks. The moral of the story would like to say that behavior is more important than appearance and that the main character would not have gotten as popular as he did if he had his normal body despite doing the same actions, but that isn't a fair comparison. 80% of the "good" things the MC managed to do in his "good" body could have only been possible in it. A big deal of he is popularity came from his physical prowess, something he didn't have to practice for. It is bullshit for his body to be perfect and to be able to beat everyone with no skill nor technique. The author brings up this abominable idea that the main character can learn moves on the fly just from seeing them once or that he can dodge masterfully because he got beat up so much in the past. But those are cliches and make no sense. It is explained that his intelligence is the only thing that wasn't affected through the swap. So how is he such a master at learning fighting techniques? People don't realize how much training and practice comes before talent in martial arts. You can't just learn this stuff by getting beat up because if that was the case all street thugs would be MMA world champions. It is illogical for someone who supposedly had a terrible diet based on cheap food and scraps (so an undeveloped the brain), someone who didn't spend any time learning in school( so double times an undeveloped brain), to become like this. He biologically doesn't have the capacity for it. This is not to mention how bad the choreography is, but I'm not talking about the quality of the art and animation here, only the message. In short, it had a low budget. I think it's obvious what I mean by that. Not quite seven deadly frames, but it isn't correct for how popular the manhwa is. I am taking so much time to write this because I have had this recommended to me as some sort of philosophical work about morality and how our society functions. It is clear that it is the early work of an author as it reeks of naivety and inexperience. If you want a moral piece of art, this is not it. You have nothing to learn from it. It is just a delusional interpretation of how the world works made from the perspective of a hateful person. If you want an action flick with delinquents, this is also not it. The budget just wasn't there.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Mar 28, 2024
Nine Peaks
(Manga)
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Recommended Preliminary
(66/? chp)
Spoiler
Reading tokyo revengers and then coming to this one, the difference is enormous. The time plot tokyo revengers so carefully crafted at the start fell off at about the middle of the manga. I can't say it won't also happen to this, but one thing is certain, Nine peaks is the superior story.
I tried to like tokyo revengers, I really did, but there were oh sooo many issues, you simply can't overlook them. The teenagers in it acted like generic shounen sociopaths with the main villain the mastermind a cliche "I got you" mastermind. It based itself on the cool premise and mystery, both of ... which trailed downwards with every new reveal. The tipping point in quality was after the mc became a gangster irl. The conflicts were all solved strangely too... The MC is a generic shounen crybaby like deku from mha, and he solves everything by tanking hits, crying and inspiring others. This is a gimmick he never stops using, before being powered up in a bs fight at the end of the manga, and that horrid ending.... Anyhow, this is not a review of tokyo revengers, but it is important to note how different nine peaks is despite the borrowed half-premise. I'll call the mc goku because I can't remember Japanese names. The tokyo revengers MC shall be TRMC. Goku is the exact opposite to TRMC. He is too cold, detached to the world, as oppose to how TRMC is a pathetic loser both in the present and past. Goku is not cold in an edgy way, it makes perfect narrative sense. He has a lack of both maternal and paternal love, the only way he could end up is an outsider, choosing to be one, or a man desperate for attention. Goku is a loner, but in a way that he doesn't feel like he can trust people, his former friends using his name to get money from students, classic delinquents. This in no way represents him after the time travel. He starts to learn to appreciate his father and make friends he can trust. His rare crying made out of remembering his youth are much more nuanced than anytime TRMC does his "trademark". TRMC does it so often it loses all meaning. Even more important is that the Author had the balls to let Goku fight, and even be good at it. I will never understand the idea that some would prefer a pathetic MC who only wins by being saved by other people. The spotlight is also not stolen by him from his father. Goku is not inspiring, for he never knew something like that. I fully recommend Nine peaks and Tetsuhiro Hirakawa's other works like Clover and Crows Zero 2, he is a master at delinquent manga.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Jan 25, 2024
Spirit Circle
(Manga)
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Mixed Feelings Spoiler
Do not misunderstand for i do not in any way hate this manga. It is an interesting piece, putting a lot more philosophical thought than your average mystery flick, but I also believe there is an exaggeration in its praise created by fan chambers and total glee over it. Spirit circle is better than most in its subjects, but my problem stands from observing people talk about it in regards that it is more than a fictional piece. I see around many people in comments starting with "as a man who blah blah I see that....", but in regards of philosophy you really have to
...
read more to know what you are talking about. Existentialism, Karma and Morality, the are not subjects that can be thought of in terms presented here.
People who read into this work as more than fiction, as a "book of wisdom" commit a great mistake. Fiction is in no way a replacement for Theory. >Spoiler< >Spoiler< >Spoiler< Story:4/10 "Spirit Circle" revolves around the concept of reincarnation and follows the protagonist, Fuuta Okeya, as he explores his past lives and the connections he has with others through various time periods. This concept is simple in hindsight. Spirit circle is really an anthology of short stories rather than a cohesive unit of information. Fuuta is told by his new transfer classmate that she will kill him because "his soul is evil". This is the first mistake the manga makes, for which I will explain more in the character section. The timeline is asymmetric and his past lives are not in a logical order. The story makes use of time dilatation The multiple universes theory, the time paradox and "the river of fate". Fortuna, the main villain and the mc's first life is using the whole first 40 chapters as a hypothetical look into the future. when he sees the ending would be no different than for today, he takes Fuuta's place. Him, a possible destroyer of an universe is defeated in a seemingly jestery way by a "soul catcher in the form of a bug catcher". The plot hole of the aliens, the catcher, the observers, Carol and Fortuna's failure are uninteresting for me. Any other person would focus on how, due to the endless nature of alternative timelines, there is an universe where Fortuna won, and as such the whole premise of the manga is meaningless. This is what a multiverse does. For the purpose of this review I shall ignore them. In the first place I only read this because it was recommended to me as philosophical. That being said, there is no excuse to the fact the conflict does not make much sense. A man can't simply go from genocide is no problem to I only wanted friends. I find the conclusion in which he has not been destroyed, but surrendered and was sealed as insulting. Fortuna did not repent, and there was not necessarily even a punishment. It is all unsatisfactory. art style:7-8/10 I can't comment on style very much, it is pleasing. Art is not my pursuit in mediums, and this was not presented to me for them. Mizukami Satoshi has a clear, defined and unique artstyle. characters:4-5/10 This is the section that needs the most attention. The main conflict is the supposed fight between a past life of Fuuta and Kouko. Only at the end do we learn the true story of Fortuna, but before that is the action of the conflict itself. Kouko sees Fuuta just as Fortuna. This is because of her "warrior scars" that apparently gave her the memories of her past life. Even though it deserves it, I shall not make a life by life comparison, but it needs to be said that the whole moral perspective of the manga is misplaced. The author treats Kouko's lives as in the right almost all of the time. It is pure hypocrisy. The best example is Kouko’s second life and Fuuta’s third. Kouko was the daughter of a priest in an Aztec society and she had to sacrifice Fuuta’s lover due to her father’s orders. The author justifies this as a needed action. He explains through Kouko that there would be chaos if they didn’t. Fuuta is made to be naïve, too angry and an idealist. Despite so, his sacrifice in rebellion led to the fall of this tribalistic, man killing clergy. He was successful even if dead. He did not save his lover, and furthermore is treated as in the wrong. Mizukami puts Kouko as making the hard choices, and had her redemption at offering herself as a substitute sacrifice instead of another child. This is all meaningless, and it will come forth later. In his third life, Fuuta killed Kouko because he was an up and coming knight, and she was branded as a witch. The rest of his life, Fuuta lost his title and lived as a normal man, adopting a daughter off the streets. He died pitifully, falling while hitting a rock with his head. Mizaki then says through Kouko that he was only a meagre pawn of the greedy church, sent there to kill a poor little apothecary that helped the local populace, resulting in less tithe. Kouko says that his death is fitting, karma and a punishment. Him being a drunkard and alone, she proposes was punishment. But what is this about? Fuuta is in the wrong for upholding the status quo while Kouko is good for doing the same? Does he not realize these are double standards? I normally do not critique a character by transplanting the author’s words and thoughts, but is this not a “great piece of wisdom”? it shall be criticized as so. Fuuta is treated as having in every life a potential to be evil, as in a higher than normal, at least through Kouko’s perspective. I can understand a sociopath like Fortuna, but all lives? Argouably in most he lives quite a good life and does not hurt others. Mizaki forgot that all of Fuuta’s lives bar Fortuna were reactionary. He only made actions when others moved him. It was all circumstantial. Even his second most controversial, the manager life, Fuuta was at fault only for not communicating with Kouko’s life. Arguably what he did is hero worthy, freeing the trapped souls. This is not a matter of perspective, they were unable to move on into afterlife. Furthermore, the black hole bomb would have already killed them fully. What Fuuta did in that life was meaningless and as such not even wrong no matter the argument. He changed no outcome, and as such did nothing. Overall:6/10 I do not totally disprove the concept of karma and neither reincarnation, but combining them is a mistake in my opinion. It is unethical for a human to be regarded for his future or past actions, future or past as in another life. Even if these concepts may be true, we only have to prove our worth now. We HAVE to be GOOD humans NOW. Fuuta should not help a person like taking Carol in so as to repay a past life. He would have to help that person because it is the right thing to do. Because that is human to do. Do people really learn morality from this? Having his current confidants all be past lives connections is cheap. It belittles morality, it downplays what it means to be a human. I shall repeat it so that it is certain. You have to be a good human just to be a good human, not because the poor granny crossing the street might have been your sister in another life. Spirituality is a totally fine subject but it is a grave mistake to bring morality into it. Morality is strictly philosophical.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Sep 25, 2023
Kobayashi-san Chi no Maid Dragon
(Manga)
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Not Recommended Preliminary
(100/? chp)
What the heck the stuff is straight up pedophilic. I don't get why everybody praises this manga it is just an empty shell. It is a slice of life with no story full of ecchi and horny moments for no reason So Formulaic And at the same time for nothing.
I get it if you like it for the art Style, But the art style is the only thing of note in this manga. I read some messed up stuff, But chapter one hundread feels just like Pedo material. It is too much and too cringe at that. What I find strange is that we shame ... pedophiles who like lolis When it comes to normal manga But suddenly when it is a yuri it becomes alright? Don't bring me this excuses. People should face reality. Those who praise these are In the same category as the fat otakus in terms of taste. All in all boobs and nothing more.
Reviewer’s Rating: 2
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May 19, 2023 Recommended Well-written Preliminary
(12/? chp)
A very interesting manga, one in which I did not expect the quality I received. This is the story of a reincarnated salaryman that took to the line the workaholic culture of Japan. Many would scoff at the concept of an isekai in this day and age, with the description also painting an idea of immaturity. "What Do You Wish For With Those Murky Eyes" appears to be a generic edgy power fantasy, one of those works in which the main character uses his knowledge of the modern world/ "cheat skills" to dominate the battlefield and earn renown, and while this particular work does not
...
stray away from that idea fully, it succeeds in resisting the temptation to fall into common tropes.
At reviewing my words I realized that despite recommending it, I appear to be very critical, but that is only because I use to let out all my opinions when writing these king of reviews, some may consider them just nitpicks. In any case, I do fully endorse the manga, it is a good read. some may consider the following as spoilers( depending on individual) so you can skip the rest. some may consider the following as spoilers( depending on individual) so you can skip the rest.*** some may consider the following as spoilers( depending on individual) so you can skip the rest. some may consider the following as spoilers( depending on individual) so you can skip the rest.** In the whole of the story, Raizou Takakura, while a somewhat acomplished swordsman, does not act with a greatness that enters the realm of unstopable. He is a cut above the common soldiers and lower masters, but does not overwhelm the higher levels in the power ranking. He is carried by the magic in the later parts of the story, but that is to be normal. What I praise about this manga is that the author did not fall into the easely exploitative trap of the "magic-swordsman", with magic being more of a tactical nuclear weapon and not something to be abused like how many isekai protagonists act. However, at the same time, I believe that he did not go enough in stripping Takakura of power. Having the more phisical magic taken away would have made him more vulnerable, and henceforth, more understandable at the sight of his magical abilities. This is though just a matter of preference, and while I would have liked more vulnerability, I do have to state that Takakura is saved by allies quite a few times. Take this how you will. The art is quite above average, with many details and unique styles for the many nations. Because I for one do not particularly care for art itself, and just its design, I shall connect it with the discussing about the story. The fact that Highserk Empire, Takakura nation, is painted in black and all others in white may at first seem like a balant attempt for "edgy", but through characterization, it is clear that no nation is comprised of "good guys", and just that Highserk Empire happened to be the aggressors. This goes further into the main theme of the manga, of war being muddy and murky, and while I do understand the effort, I find these kind of opinions as exhagerations. While yes, in wars it is usual that sides commit the same kind of crimes, usual it is that also one side at least tries to play a morally superior position, of MERCY. It is to be admitted that we only really see the perspective of the Highserk Empire and only Takakura's unit at that, but the moral side of the war is not emphasized, almost never. The deepest it goes is: "They do X, so do we" or "They are not used to killing, but we are". The same goes for the characters. While I praised it at the beginning that Raizou Takakura is not a classic isekai protagonist, he does not live up to the potential I found in him. Many would say that his morals conflicting with the world he is now in come as an interesting conflict or perhaps even a new kind of characterization, but it is sadly just not for me. I do understand that stress is the matter of most importance in his character, that and guilt. Acts like smoking and his rare hesitation that break the character of "a perfect soldier" create a somewhat realistic idea of how a pragmatic individual would react to a now barbaric, violent world, but I only say somewhat because of one main issue. "The evolution of our modern society and its values" While at the beginning of this review I appreciated that he did not try to force his modern ideals onto the world he found himself in, as the story progressed and Takakura became stronger and stronger, I found his lack of... Thought? disturbing. In the world he found himself in Authority is atributed to lineage and power. While he does not have the first, the main character possesses a lot of power. While at first I found his lack of action normal, as he was only a stronger than average grunt, as he became stronger, I found Takakura's lack of action stranger and stranger. One might say that 12 chapters is too early, but from how quick events progress, I would not be surprised if this is about the half-way point. If this is all Takakura evolves to be, I would be dissapointed. All in all this is a good manga. I may be overthinking as many other works do not do any better than this one and many possess far worse issues than what I found here. I surely enjoyed reading it. It would be better if there were more like it
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Apr 18, 2023
Terror Man
(Manga)
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Mixed Feelings
Terror man is no villain. You, as the reader might find that obvious, but even so, shouldn't this be acknowledged?
I do not mean the statement that he is no villain as a simplistic input and introduction as to talk about his morality. I say that he is not so because it opens up problems in the story structure. My problem with Terror man not being a villain is that it actively deducts from the stakes in its 209 chapter runtime. I read the series patiently over the course of a year and I must say that I never found the vindication of a thought that appeared ... early in the chapters: "This is a bad story". "What am I doing with my time?". To the first statement it is clear that I never subdued it. To the latter question, it is obvious I never got an answer. To say that I am disappointed with the overall story is an understatement, but this is not because there is no redeeming quality. There aren't actually many and me stating that there even are some is a lie on my part... The art is good, a unique style that gives the manhwa a feel unlike most others. Most would praise this style, and I can see why it would be recommended just because of the artstyle, but I honestly found it jarring. The detail and shape of the lines are well-made, but the bleak color of the style, of it being mostly black and white, subtracts from the experience. It is unfortunate, but I would have preferred more standard black ink manga colors so that the vibrant moments where the main character, korean name nr.39, stand out, and not because the viewer's eyes are not tired from focusing so much, but because it is an actual contrast. The characterization of korean name nr.39 is not much better, as it is basically non-existent. He cares for his "big sister" and that is about all. Is this a spoiler? That he never actually grows mentally past the start of the manhwa as a 13(?) year old? The fight scenes, a few of them that are good, carry the whole manhwa. He acts childish and emotional from start to finish and while some may foolishly find that as a piece of character building because of the absence of his parents, because of studies, I can only call it an exaggeration. There is no light at the end of the tunnel. Still, these are complaints only if the reader actually pays attention to the chapters that are bloated. This work DOES NOT NEED TO BE IN 209 CHAPTERS. The premise and art, though flawed, are still competent. I recommend giving it a skim, and if you happen to do so, heed my warning: --feel free to not read every dialogue bubble( no reason to read obvious stuff) --feel free to skim over parts you feel are obvious( there is no catch, events will turn out exactly as you assume THEY WILL) !!!-SKIP THE BIG SISTER ASSASSIN BACKSTORY. It is about 30-60(?) chapters and is the worst part of the whole series, so obviously I can just spoil it and you won't lose anything. HER BACKGROUND is obvious through the actual story, THERE IS NO NEED TO RE-KNOW IT!!! Not wasting time unnecessarily is key to enjoying this manhwa, I am serious. I just hope they had made it shorter from the start so these kinds of self imposed rules would not be necessary.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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