Return of the Mad Demon

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[More info about my review style can be found on my profile]

▶Summary and recommendation: -----------------------------------------------------------------
This is a very satisfying power fantasy with a somewhat unique main character, and some well placed humour.

I wholeheartedly recommend this to fans of power fantasies and fans of the low power cultivation subgenre.
I also recommend this to anyone new to the genre with the caveat that it suffers from the problems every other power fantasy does. The protagonist being as powerful as he is means there is little tension and it is difficult to be invested in battles asides from just wanting to 'see a badass do badass ... things'.

▶Story: -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This is a regression "isekai" story, where the protagonist dies and wakes up in the past with all his memories of the future.
The introduction relishes in how edgy the main character "The mad demon" is, but a bit of humour defused any worries I had about the story being too edgy.

We are slowly introduced to the kind of character [Lee Jaha] the protagonist is across the first few story arcs. He has a lot more depth to him than most power fantasy protagonist, despite being one of the edgier ones and deliciously cocky.
Very little will surprise fans of the genre, as it follows the standard power fantasy format, but it is still a very satisfying and engaging read with well placed humour when it fits.

My primary complaint is that the author neglects to give time to setting up the scene for a story arc, so I felt like the story was always in a hurry. Jumping from conflict to conflict, without much time to get to know the new characters and what is at stake. I wish the author had dedicated a bit more time to downtime between the fights and setting the stage before jumping to the action.
I also find it disappointing that him waking up in the past with memories of the future has not been a focus of the story or even addressed much at all as of writing.

Overall I felt the manwha started out strong and managed to stay quite strong for over 80 chapters (which is a lot more than most) before starting to encounter the questions that plague a lot of power fantasies "Where do we go from here?", "Who is the next big bad enemy?", and "What even is our character's motivation?".

▶Setting: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
This manhwa is set in a cultivation xianxia (chinese fantasy) setting. This subgenre focuses on the pursuit of immortality by honing the body through medicine as well as physical and spirutual training. There are high power and low power versions of the setting and is the latter where characters are only slightly fantastical. Having the power to shoot fireballs, not the power to destroy a planet by smashing it into the sun.

▶Characters: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Lee Jaha] lives up to the title of the manwha, but has a lot more depth than most power fantasy protagonists. Despite being a 'Mad Demon' he displays strong morals and care for the weak. It may perhaps feel a bit out of place in such a ruthless setting, but the author does a good job in justifying his beliefs through flashbacks to his past.
While there is character development, it moves at a very slow pace and not much has changed at a hundred chapters in.

At first glance it seems like all the side characters only exist as comedic relief, but there is a good few who are fleshed out (though this does not mean they are not also comedic relief). Sadly as of writing the rest of them have not been given sufficient screentime to go through much character development. The characters that do get enough screentime has developed in very predictable "tropey" ways, i.e. "Bad guy is forced to play nice and then discovers that being nice is fulfilling, so they turn good" but it is still satisfying to see a character grow throughout the story.

▶Artwork: ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The art is well above average, but can be hard to follow during battles. It does not flow that well during attacks, and the fights are lesser because of it. The art serves the humour more than the power fantasy.

Extremly Entertainnig manwha everybody must Read

Story: 9/10: Basic story but every part is juicy. Not very twisted but very enjoyable. Non stop action manwha. Dialog is extremy fun and i am enjoying the depth of it. Main Charactrer is comidic and serious at the same time.

Art: 9/10: One word Art is superb

Charecter: 10/10: I love the way charecter is developing. Jaha is so much powerful funny and at the sme time so careing. well written charecter. Love that when Jaha went mad during fighting. Dam care attitude make him even ...........

NB: Everyone must read it. Its fun to read. best manwha ... so far beside Northern Blade

TL;DR. He mad.


Actual review:

Story 6/10
So far, the story lacks direction and has a few promises that are loosely strung over the protagonists head. As it is common in this type of murim tale, there is the demonic cult leader that is a looming threat. Even in his previous life, the protagonist never faced him so it is kind of a detached goal so far (there is no personal stakes or narrative tension about it). This is not too much of an issue as this is a kind of parody comedy manhua. And thankfully, Mad Demon is very aware of the tropes it commonly operates ... with and even sometimes cleverly subverts. Lee Zaha never assumes the moral high ground, but he does make it a point to avoid mindless slaughter, and that very admission often followed by a catchphrase "That is me," becomes the crux of his actions. There is a lot of potty humor, but it is done very uniquely, and it somehow worked for me. It is like it is admitting "I am a high effort sht post" and I found it stupidly funny. Overall, the story allows for the gags and the shenanigans of the protagonist to flourish.

Characters 8/10
This is a very MC centric story. Lee Zaha is truly mad and that is one of the most appealing parts of this manhua. If you buy into his character, the rest of it will follow in suit. However the reason I gave it an 8/10 and not higher despite personally seeing no flaw in Lee Zaha's immaculate characterisation, is the side characters and villains. The side characters are actually vaguely charming, but so far none has fully won over me. They still feel like pawns compared to the demon Lee Zaha, except the doctor character that comes later on. I would like to see some characters that can form a deeper bond with him. However, the characters really suffer from not having any compelling villains. If there was even one sect leader or assassin that had a compelling motivation (at least so far in these 120 chaps. I have read) the story would have been ten times better.

Art 9/10

I really like the art and character designs. It fits the story well.

Overall 7.5-8/10

He really mad.