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Mar 2, 2021
When I first read this in 2017, it disgusted me and I rated it a 1, thinking that it's a story targeted at adults who're somehow proud of their shitty lives. Time has either broadened my view on life, or I've become such an adult.
The character to the story to the art, the author has really done everything to get his feelings across. Sometimes I just stare at a panel and wonder how the author managed to do that. Everything in this story is a reflection of reality, it's just not a direct reflection. It's a reflection distorted in such a way that all the
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ugliness is magnified (you can mainly see that in the side characters, who are clearly caricatures). It's Punpun's view of this world. It may differ from mine, or maybe yours, but we can more than clearly recognize it.
Since there are already a lot of general reviews, I want to skip that and give my analysis of specific parts of the story. From now on there may be SPOILERS (though not huge).
-My favorite character is Punpun's mom. Her inability to show love for her son isn't because she doesn't love him nor because she doesn't know the importance of it, but because of stubbornness. And stubbornness sounds childish ("stop being so stubborn"), but sometimes it's really something uncontrollable. She has abused Punpun throughout his life, and now showing love is like lowering herself and showing vulnerability. No matter how logical it seems that saying "sorry" and "I love you" is the right thing, it's just impossible sometimes. That tragic stubbornness can be traced back to her childhood, in which she had the responsibility of bringing up her little brother while bearing the sexualization of the kids around her. The weight of all that made her stubborn, or rather "strong-willed". It also made her lack love and desperate to be cared for. She could only find that care in offering the body she was sexualized for through her childhood. In the end, she didn't find a family to receive that care from, which causes her to break down, releasing the pain on her son. A stupid woman, but that stupidity is inevitable.
-The author's choice to draw Punpun and his family as penguins somehow made them more understandable. Partly because the author has no limits with showing their emotions by changing their design, partly because they are removed of their human shells.
Punpun's design changes based on Punpun's mentality. I can barely remember when the first drastic change was (was it the triangle?), but it pains me to realize how he stayed a white penguin throughout his abusive childhood. No matter how tragic life is, when we were young we could find happiness everywhere, even if it's only very small. Now, it's sometimes nowhere to be found.
-I didn't like the "pre-ending" storywise, the part where he ran away with Aiko. It suddenly felt so rushed, but maybe that's due to my inability to relate to the situation.
But I did like Punpun's change in behavior. His dreams as a child have become faded. He has become like the people who made his life (this manga) so f*cked up since childhood. Aren't we all in a never-ending cycle of mass production in this society, as society molds kids into adults in similar ways? Haven't we all become someone we used to detest?
Why do we even have children? Can children of miserable people even be happy, since they'll mainly be influenced by their parent's misery? We keep taking part in the production of misery solely due to tradition.
-I did like the ending for a few reasons:
1)I somehow really liked it when we saw Punpun turning back to a white penguin at the crosswalk, waving. He'll probably never be fine, but he's better now.
2) It touched upon the futility of individuals. Nothing changes in the end, not due to Punpun's experiences, not due to Pegasus' actions. The universe keeps moving forward.
3) We view the world through the eyes of another character (let's call him A). A's world is still the same as Punpun's, but it's clearly less dark. We all live in the same world, but we view it differently. Punpun's world might be a bit unfamiliar, but it's definitely the same world we live in. At the very end we see children in primary school, discussing the same things Punpun and his friends discussed back then. Somehow, through Punpun's eyes it all seemed f*cked up, but through the eyes of A it's all so innocent.
This world is much darker than we think, but life has hope as long as you believe in a brighter world.
In conclusion, this is a wonderful manga through which the author is able to convey complex emotions through inner dialogues and pictures. Right now I only wish for a future where everyone is required to go a psychologist, funded by the state.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Dec 25, 2020
Story:
The story is pretty decent. It's basically just about Paulina helping the emperor deal with stuff as his loyal knight. The storyline isn't anything special and there isn't anything too memorable, but it's a pretty enjoyable read.
The outstanding part is the way the author portrays sexism. We follow Paulina through her way to prove everyone that she, a woman, can do things just as well as any other male knight. No "female character casts the men that made fun or her a look and the men are overwhelmed by her presence" bullshit. Paulina has to deal with sexism over and over again, and though she
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might change the opinions of many, some remain unchanged. Many might accept Paulina's achievements, but that doesn't mean that everyone suddenly become feminists. The author didn't write this whole gender conflict from a modern standpoint but from an ancient one. Even Paulina herself can't see the sexism besides her own experiences, though that'll slowly change.
So thumbs up to how the author made the sexism in the ancient setting believable.
Characters:
Alright here comes the part where this story excels at. Paulina, A GODDAMN KNIGHT WHO'S STRONG, HAS MUSCLES AND SHORT HAIR. MUSCLES. MUUUUUSCLES. No "long shiny hair, waist as thin as an A4 paper but stronger than anyone uwu" bullshit. She looks the way her character should look like. Also, she isn't "insanely beautiful". She doesn't suddenly look like a heavenly maiden when she wears a dress but looks 10x worse. And I love that.
I also love Paulina's personality. Her personality is a perfectly realistic and believable reflection of how her surroundings have shaped her. She finds it unfair how she's treated as less because she's a woman, but doesn't lash out because of that like other FL since she knows that'll get her nowhere. Though she has to fight for equal treatment, she doesn't see a need to fight for the rights of all women (in the beginning at least), and that aligns with her background and the setting. I can only say that she's a character with a depth well thought out by the author.
Too bad the emperor is drawn too pretty. This is clearly a "reverse the norms" move. It'd be better if they just broke all norms instead of reversing them. Also, his behaviour after he fell for Paulina is too much. However, I do admit that you can see it as a comedic element which is why it can be excused (I think that'll depend on one's preferences). Also, overall he does his job as an emperor should, and his love for Paulina doesn't distract him from his duties, nor does he distract Paulina from hers.
Art:
Not very good, but not bad. Just ok.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Dec 16, 2020
While rating this I've pulled out my shounen wow-those-fights-are-so-cool heart in order to review this as fair as possible for the mangaka. Still couldn't give this a high mark.
Story:
The story and worldbuilding are so incredibly weak. The mangaka pushes you straight into action and from that point on you're in a rollercoaster that's only going hard downwards with no rest, meaning that there's no time to rest and therefore no time to enjoy the hype (no light without darkness yknow).
Towards the end, the story underwent an acceleration. The story that didn't even have anything to offer, underwent a goddamn acceleration. I couldn't even believe
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the plot twist. I thought that there must've been something behind it, but guess, what, that was it. I wouldn't have know that I finished the manga today if I didn't add it on MAL.
Thinking about it now, maybe the manga was already going at the speed of light from ch 1.
At a certain point, the only bait was the question of who the protagonist is going to bang.
Art:
The fights aren't even that cool either. They're just normal. Sure, if this is your first action-gore and you discovered your action-gore kink with it, then I understand. But there are loads of other manga's out there with much better and more original fights and gore. Chainsaw man has nothing special to offer. The only things worthy of mentioning are the details and the originality to make monsters out of objects (though personally, that was really childish, but that's really subjective).
Characters:
The simpleness of the protagonist in the beginning should be praised. It fits perfectly in a feel-good/cool-fight shounen. But then it got too simple. Until the end, we had almost no insight into the protagonist's past. Not that that should be necessary, but there was also no character development. Nobody had character development.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 15, 2020
Story:
Ennead is an adaptation of Egyptian myths about the competition between Seth and Horus for the throne of Egypt. The author's take on the story is original enough, but also doesn't stray too far from the historical sources. I really love how the author rewrites it. (For those who don't know, there's a myth in which Horus impregnated Seth)
The story starts as a competition for power, but as the story unfolds, you'll find that there's more behind the characters' motives than it seems. The fights are epic and the mystery is gripping.
The only thing that annoys me is the complexity of the dialogues in
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the middle of the story. Since it's an updating webtoon, it's difficult to understand and remember what's happening if it's too complex. They give you bits and pieces in a difficult way, and in the end, they'll all connect. But what's the use of that if you can't grasp those bits and pieces?
The chapter lengths (or you can say the updating schedule) is also just f up, but that's more general issue with all webtoons. How much chapters do you need to tell one part of a story? How do you expect me to keep my interest if I need 5 weeks, with one-week intervals, to receive a sub-story?? Idk if the author or the publisher can do anything about this, but I have to mention the ch lengths nonetheless bc it impacts the enjoyment of the story.
Art:
The art is stunning. It's simple but stunning. I especially love the character designs: how they keep the character's appearances pleasant to the modern eye while keeping them historically accurate is truly amazing. The characters are also just hot.
The action scenes are designed and drawn beautifully, adding to the action scenes. I also have to mention how the author utilises symbols to display the character's moods (for example, when Seth's mentality worsens, vines often appear).
I also love how the artist sometimes "simplifies" the art when telling a certain story or to show the change of space. The "simplified" version is also amazingly done and ensures refreshing changes.
Characters:
The characters are definitely 3D with each their own characteristics and personalities, but I somehow miss just a tiny bit more insight to fully understand their changes and motivations. I would normally tell that off, but since the characters in this webtoon are all gods, I think that it can be justified. It even adds a touch of alienness and mystery to those immortal beings.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Nov 25, 2020
We've heard of saintesses, who managed to defeat the villainess with her honesty.
We've heard of villainesses who were wronged and managed to get revenge.
Now get ready for: a saintess and a villainess understanding and supporting each other. We love seeing women support each other uwu.
Story:
The story begins from the pov of Medeia, the villainess, so it seemed to be another villainess who wants revenge story. But after she switched bodies with Psyche, the saintess, they'll both discover the difficulties of the other and why the other did what they did. Slowly they'll start to repair their broken friendship and help each other overcome
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their difficulties.
Medeia and Psyche discover that the people around them aren't as they seem, and most importantly that they don't have to put up with their bs. And in order not to put up with the bs of others, they'll have to fight.
It starts with a simple story of a fight between two girls over a man, and slowly develops into a story about two girls and a boy (another boy, not the man they fought over thank god) helping each other overcoming their own demons and growing so much stronger mentally. They're both so badass.
Another thing I love is how they didn't do the "omg I was wronged" thing like other manhwas with villainesses. Both the villainess and the saintess admit to the reader what they have done. Surely, they've done those things for a reason, but that doesn't excuse their action. And they don't act as if their actions are excusable. I won't get into whether those actions are actually excusable, but it's good that the author doesn't make them hide.
Characters:
Enough depth and development. You'll also discover more and more about them throughout the story, as if with every few chapters another layer of their defence is being peeled off by the author.
Art:
Pretty good. Adds to the story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 29, 2020
Story:
I just can't put my finger on what the author wants. This whole story is just so frustrating that I'm wondering whether it'll be the start of a theme for masochists exclusively. In the pro-prologue you see the protagonist striving but then you get like around 90 ch of her suffering??? The author can't write anything else besides that for 90 chapters. And it's not even a dark psychological story! It's bright, bright but depressing. It doesn't make sense. (edit: I can't possibly consider this angst since there's nothing to choose between. There's only aimless suffering).
And the reasons for the protagonist's suffering are so weak
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in the sense that the author tries too hard to force suffering on her. First, she can't communicate. Our empress who excels in all areas can't communicate with her husband to tell him what he's doing wrong and just expect him to know it himself (which he should, but if he doesn't at least try and explain. You have to put up with him for the rest of your life (she didn't know she would remarry then)).
Now I get that communication isn't always easy so I'll let that slide. But why in the world is the husband, a whole ass emperor, so stupid as not the know that it's obvious that his wife won't like the concubine??? And he expects his wife to organise everything for his concubine????? Let's just suppose his concubine is a sweetheart (which is also what he thinks), it's still perfectly logical that his wife will still dislike her right? His stupidity as a normal man doesn't make sense, let alone as the emperor. Where's his education?
Now the only logical character is the goddamn concubine Trastha. Despite f*cking hating her, I'd rather read the story from her perspective cause that girl is smart. Just imagine what it's like for one of the most hateable characters to be the most realistic and understandable.
Art:
The art is sooooo stunning. The protagonist is so pretty, It definitely helped the story. Too bad the story didn't help the art.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Oct 25, 2020
9/10 because, although it's nothing special, it lives up to its marketing. I personally hate cute chibi stuff, but I guess there's nothing else to do when you're obsessed with MDZS.
I really like the length of the episodes. It's quick, light and heartwarming. The sentence "This series hopes to heal the audience who loves the main story of Mo Dao Zu Shi, but were “injured” by the melancholy plot of the drama." is true. It heals with cuteness and gayness.
This chibi series is really like f*ck the censorship. I'm not even going to say anything else, just... is nobody going to mention the advertisement
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where WWX says "everyday" and LWJ's ears grow red lmaooo the production team slyyyyy.
Honestly, MDZS is like a rollercoaster. So you want something healing after the main story and you come here, you heal, but then you see LWJ caring about WWX (which is more prominent than in the main story) and you get reminded how he had to wait 13 years... And you watch how JC and WWX are still friends...
Damn MDZS really isn't letting me rest.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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Oct 4, 2020
This really surprised me as to how good it is. So the bar had been set by MDZS and TGCF (Heaven's official) is also about to air, and this shit just decided to pop up too with 3D animation... I was so mad.
But I couldn't stop myself from watching it when I came across it on yt, and I ended up binging it all in one go.
Story:
An isekai-villians-side cliché, but a good one. The humour was what really got to me. What can I say, this is PURE COMEDY. It's hilarious. You might already be familiar with Shen Qingqiu's behaviour because of the novel, but
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you'll still die from laughing (or at least I did). That man's a straight-up clown.
Now about the storyline: as someone who read the novel, I'll give 1000x thumbs up. However, without the novel as backing, I'll have to admit it's pretty mediocre (not bad, but mediocre), and I'm trying to rate this on its own without the book's influence (I also forgot like most of it). The book that it's adapted from is a BL, which is why the relationship between Shen Qingqiu and Luo Binghe is central and important. Now if you take that away (cause this animation isn't a BL), all that you have left is a master+disciple relationship. What kind of weak genre is that? Including the fact that this season is basically only the beginning of the big story, there isn't much "WOW!"s going on. The ending was also really abrupt. Can't they at least make a proper ending? Did they run out of funds midway or something?
Which is exactly why it's good that the comedy is so on point. It holds the whole show up. THE COMEDY IS HONESTLY SO GOOD NOTHING ELSE MATTERS. Which is also why I decided to rate this as a comedy.
But I do realise that you can argue that you can, knowing that China bans BL shows, watch this as a BL. I completely forgot this isn't a BL while watching it because everything is so close to the novel (*rants* although I do miss the part in which SQQ transfers qi to LBH every night). There they did do a good job preserving the original story, which is also really important.
As I said before, the story is mediocre but not bad; they didn't half-ass it. I have to give a shout-out to the tournament part. That really showed the serious and action part of the story. I can definitely see this gaining non-novel fans.
It is to be noted that, at least in my eyes, this isn't marketed as a hardcore action series nor as one with a good storyline. So what is it marketed as? Simply as the adaptation of a popular novel. Their target audience is primarily fans of the novel and fujoshis. Keeping that in mind, they did a good job in preserving the story of the novel despite the censorship.
Art:
Wtf, like why. I gave it a 2 instead of a 1 because it could be even worse. Now, 3D isn't even a big problem(I mean look at Ne Zha). But this 3D is honestly so bad that the lips aren't even moving in sync with the sound. The characters' facial expressions suck if not non-existent. The movements are bad and stiff. I can't describe my detest. Also, the hands are so big. I mean OK, I get it, yaoi hands, but why does LBH's disciple sister have the biggest hands I've ever seen????
Sound:
GOD BLESS THE PERSON WHO VOICED SHEN QINGQIU. That man's a god. He's the reason the comedy delivers so well. The transition in the voice of SQQ's thoughts and him speaking to other characters is gold.
The best part is the beginning when SQQ summarized the book's plot. I died. "Sending him on a scholarship" LMAOOOOOOO.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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Jun 2, 2020
Story:
This is a story about subjectiveness, about the different views of different people.
The toxicity is what makes this story great due to it being realistic. And while romanticized toxicity will make you frown in disgust, realistic toxicity will ironically deliver goosebumps because you can't help but find it beautiful through the eyes of the characters.
This manga is also a great study of humanity and society. How do we behave towards something unknown, something shunned by your surrounding which has been brainwashed? Love, friendship, family, homosexuality, misunderstandings, illness, rape, suicide.
So many sides of society are shown, so many kinds of people are introduced.
How should
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we behave in such a society? How do we behave in regard to each other, in a place where everybody is so different?
And why is it that despite the passing of time, some things remain unchanged? You can recognise so many problems (although subjective) from a time so long ago, in today's society.
Let Dai doesn't answer these questions. It makes you think about them.
For years (cause I used to re-read this every year) I couldn't grasp why this story is so beautiful. I thought that it was because I liked dark, psychological stuff and tragedy.
That's partly true, but now I finally understand that what truly defines its beauty is how awfully realistic and relatable it is.
It is so beautiful because it carries such a heavy yet subtle message, while taking you on the journey of two flawed boys, living in a world so unfamiliar yet known.
Characters:
Another outstanding point is the character study. The side characters are really deep with each their own stories, and the main characters are even more complex. There are people whom you won't be able to understand in real life. But now you do because you've crawled into their skin and experienced what they have experienced.
They aren't heroes or good examples you should take notes from. They are your everyday people, and that's what makes them so complex.
Art:
The art is stunning. Considering the fact that the manga is pretty old now, the art style can be said to be "outdated" so you'll have to get used to it. Despite is being outdated, it's still very beautiful. It's an art style of its own.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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Mar 12, 2020
Story 10:
A combination of sweet romance and dark reality.
Most of Dark Heaven is told through flashbacks, so it has the "at that time we never knew we'd become like this" feel to it. You follow the life of two boys who go from friends to lovers, and have supported each other untill one incident destroyed it all.
This story doesn't shy away from racism and homophobia, and actually targets it in the right and realistic way. It shows us the reality that is often ignored in mangas/-hwas/-huas that take place in the west. You see how racism destroys people of all ages, which is why baffoons
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should teach their kids that, instead of thinking that they're too young.
Also the couple is an actual realistic gay couple, no seme and uke bullshit. How more real do you want it to be?
Art 9:
Pretty and original. The goofy faces are cute af.
Characters 8:
You see the protagonists deal with their difficulties throughout the story.
You got the "well-behaved" MCs, this bunch of psychopaths, racists and homophobes. Quite a variation, but there was no character that made me go wow. But that may be because the environment in the story is too close to reality. But the romance made me squeal.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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