Sep 27, 2023
Minor Spoilers
While rather generic in concept, Psychic Studies has heartfelt themes it successfully portrays to the audience through well written characters.
For the first half of the series there is no real overarching plot but rather individual story arcs. It's not until the halfway point that a longer story is explored with the dragon's powers. The first arc is great and gets you hooked with Chankyu (the main character) attempting to go back in time and fix a deadly mistake. It does well to introduce the different kinds of powers and how they're going to work. Chankyu's hypnosis is good at subverting expectations and adding a
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nice layer of comedy. After this first arc, they are rather hit or miss in quality however, the characters are the backbone of the story and are able to carry it. By the second half the characterization takes a step back to focus on the Dragon's powers which I won't speak in depth about to avoid spoilers. This shift in focus made me wonder if switching from the (practically) slice of life genre to a plot focused narrative. Personally, I preferred the characters and their interactions over any of the plot.
If you couldn't tell, I think the characters are easily the best part of Psychic Studies. Chankyu proves from the first arc that while he's clearly flawed he's a good person at the end of the day who owns up and fixes his mistakes. Euijoo (the lead woman) also goes through a great arc. She can read people's minds and gets herself involved in things to her own and others detriment. She has a complex relationship with Chankyu with thankfully doesn't rely on them being in love with each other. Mijung, who is Chankyu's love interest, doesn't fall back on common tropes of the genre. The relationship is natural and takes time to build before they do anything together. Woochan is a comedic relief character for the most part as Chankyu's friend but never gets in the way or becomes annoying. There are no two dimensional characters in Psychic Studies other than the ones who obviously have nothing to do with the plot.
The art was rather average. It certainly gets better over time as the artist grows more comfortable with the characters, but it's never spectacular. I do appreciate the detail in the dragons, but otherwise I have nothing notable to say about it. Character designs don't really stick out from one another and fall in line with other manhwa that follow highschoolers.
I enjoyed my time with Psychic Studies. It doesn't stand out from other stories but it's still worth the read for those who want something more in line with the early chapters of Lookism or Viral Hit.
Plot: 7/10
Characters: 8/10
Art: 7/10
Enjoyment: 7.5/10
Overall: 7.4/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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