For Vagrant Soldier Ares, I'm honored to say that it checks all the slots. I think it's an excellent manhwa, and possibly one of the best adventure stories I've ever read, or at least one of the ones I was most excited about.
The story takes place in a world broken by territorial wars and impressive geopolitical issues. The author immerses us in a complex and painful universe where the law of the strongest reigns. We see this story through the eyes of young teenage mercenaries. This is how we are put into an adventure where various genres and ideas are combined.
First of all, I love the world-building of manhwa. As I said before, the author made a real effort to give us worthy and interesting stakes. We understand very quickly the challenges of the universe and what it implies for our characters. This is a real catching point that allows us to be fully involved in the story. In the course of the manga, the geopolitical situations change and each time it brings its part of surprise. On 26 volumes, it is quite honorable.
Then, a strong point is the development of the characters. The cast of the manhwa is really excellent. We are presented with characters with endearing personalities and sometimes even more complex than it seems. Where some works choose the easy way by accumulating stereotypes, in Ares there is a real work around these characters, and the path they take to evolve and face the challenges they face. The author has fun taking us against the grain by working around the notions of heroism and anti-heroism, war and its consequences. There is a real sublimation of the adventure story genre. There is a real exploration of the typical psychologies of soldiers and the consequences of war.
Finally, I would like to come back to the drawing. I have become a real fan of the author's style. There's a real charm to his imperfect style, where you multiply the size of the line to accentuate feelings or postures. We are in something quite similar to Taiyou Matsumoto, even if the cutting is not as advanced as the latter. In any case, there is a real charm in it. If I had had the chance to draw a manga, I would have gone towards this kind of style.
Ares ... It was really a crazy adventure. I keep very good memories of it, especially because all the points mentioned before really won me over. Nowadays, there are few adventure stories that offer us so much stake and work around the psycology of the characters. I was surprised to be so involved in the story. In a few years, I will probably enjoy reading this story again.
