Sep 6, 2022
Trying to keep this spoiler-free, but some minor spoilers cant be avoided. The only paragraph with major spoilers is marked.
STORY
I am really having a hard time to make up my mind about this manga. I enjoyed the first half a lot with it’s focus on the conflict between Crimson Robe and Raven, which is probably in large parts due to Raven being one of my favorite characters in this series. The story is rather slow paced as the different main characters slowly begin to interact with each other. With Crimson Robe and Raven facing off more and more often, the story begins to uncurl the
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backgrounds of some characters, then letting us know of the antagonists goals and the three artifacts, finally culminating in one big, last fight between Crimson Robe and Raven. This fight is the point from which onward the storytelling experiences some rather noticeable changes.
While the goals still stay the same and our protagonists still want to beat The Sun out of various reasons, everything seems a lot more complicated and convoluted. I found the story from the big fight up until the last two or three arcs not only difficult to follow, but some things don’t make a whole lot of sense to me.
[VERY BIG SPOILERS for the next paragraph]
I don’t understand why Cloud couldn’t cooperate with Chris and Kim becoming a homunculus. The finale was fine, but the atmosphere was ruined by Yi Ae coming out of nowhere and how the hell did Crimson Robe survive having his neck snapped?
[END OF SPOILERS]
The main conflict is a typical fight between good and evil, but there are some other interesting inner conflicts with Crimson Robe and his backstory. There are also some other themes and conflicts, but I think one big spoiler box per review is enough.
In the beginning the story wants you to believe it’s a detective mystery, but at least after the halfway point the detective part disappears almost completely and the mystery takes a less prominent role. This should mainly be considered a fantasy/sci-fi/action manhwa with lesser aspects of mystery.
Overall I think the story is good, but has some flaws in the second half and changes a lot in both themes and premise. The ending does not feel rushed, but it isn’t what I would have wished for.
WORLD
The world building is mostly focused on the city where the whole story takes place, a place where magic using humans and sorcerers coexists. A city built on the corpses of dead sorcerers. This establishes some natural conflicts with a magic playing a special role in the new society. The rest of the world building is done through backstories and although the scope of the world isn’t huge, there are always secrets to be found.
CHARACTERS
The strongest point of this manhwa are most certainly it’s characters. We have a big cast of important characters and multiple protagonists, each having their own motivations, yet still united under the goal of defeating The Sun. The backstories are very elaborate and intricately intertwined with each other.
Crimson Robe a young mage with a pitch-black secret, driven by revenge for his dead sister. The more we get to know about him, the more we learn about his hidden side and his inner fight.
Hyun Wook Kim is a normal investigator who is involuntarily dragged deep in the conflict between The Sun and the sorcerers. He plays a special role as he is unrestrained by the goals of either side and doesn’t want to use magic. He is a fresh breath in the otherwise sorcerer-dominated main cast and a major force of change.
Ji Yul Ham is the son of the Sage Ji Jon Ham and the character who receives the most character development. He is introduced very early and has both an interesting backstory and the involvement in important events that have him adapting quickly.
Chris and Cloud are also characters I enjoyed a lot, but talking about them would not only massively inflate the word count, but also bring along major spoilers.
Even so I want to take a second to talk about the antagonists. Raven and Icarus were both portrayed as murderous black mana users, yet at the same time they also had interesting backstories and motivations. The same can sadly not be said about The Sun. Although they were played up as the final antagonist, they failed to impress.
The interactions between the characters feel pretty good, not much I can say about that.
ART
The artstyle is not outstanding but it does improve along the ride and I see no reason why it should affect my score in any way.
CONCLUSION
I really enjoyed this manhwa and would rate it between a 7 and 8. First half 8 and second half more like 7, maybe even 6. In the end it was the characters who convinced me to give it a generous 8. Maybe somewhat overrated, but I would definitely recommend City of Dead Sorcerers. At the point of me writing this it only has 106 members and this is its and also my first review. I hope to have more people reading this manhwa in the future, because it is definitely worth it.
tl;dr
great characters, story very convoluted in the second half, read it
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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