Maou to Yuusha no Tatakai no Ura de
Reincarnated into a Game as the Hero's Friend: Running the Kingdom Behind the Scenes

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6.4/10


It’s always a bit daunting to write a negative review on a beloved story, no less a manga with no reviews at all, but I do not see the love or hype for this manga — to be honest, there’s just a huge issue with this that really ruins any form of intended enjoyability.

The pacing of this manga is weird, dare I say horrible. Apparently this manga didn’t have the best pacing with how the source novel was directed, but this manga also does just that while cutting out a lot of world-building/extra information, which I can’t say I understand.

To be blunt, the manga ... skips a lot of potential plot points that would usually be used in a story for the reader to be familiarized and grow an understanding/attachment with the main character or side characters; instead, the reaction to every struggle is more like: “Wow, I know this is supposed to be bad for that guy, but I have absolutely no idea who that guy is besides for one panel of introduction, so I don’t really care.”

Adding to that, the plot is sort of a jumbled mess, since the shift from each plot point is so random due to the usage of time skips where the author just says, “And so, the mc …” instead of showing the actual process — sort of a similar point to my previous statement about plot points, but I just don’t enjoy that, and the development seems half-assed and rushed.

Here’s a small pet peeve of mine that this manga apparently loves doing: Revealing a future spoiler of the mc’s future and then immediately flashing back to the present to add suspense — I can’t tell you how idiotic I find this. This not only ruins any immediate threat the mc is in the present or burn off any bridges of present theories of the mc’s relationships, but if I wanted spoilers, I would just go look at spoilers.

The art is a bit weird — I see a lot of people complimenting it, but the style seems shojo inspired character-style wise, as I feel like I’m being seduced by the male characters … ok, that was a bit off-topic a hyperbole, but they do have a different style from the usual isekai, gore manga. Also, the fight scenes are sloppy as if paint was dripped on the battle scenes to add blood or blur.

As for the positives, the main character isn’t horrible despite not having much of a proper introduction, and the plot is relatively creative with how it’s less of sunshine and rainbows; however, the execution is a different matter. Oh, the mc also has some cool solo fight scenes, but that’s about it.

I’m not deflecting, but I don’t love these types of stories where the whole emphasis is life or death; however, where I have loved a story about the lack of power, plot armor, etc. it is when the story has a proper foundation of the world, characters, and storyline, which this story never once had. Call me a hater, but that’s just my opinion, and I guess the story’s appeal could be gathered from some bad@ss moments, but it’s too lacking in other departments to be worth the time for me.

Reading Rankings (Portnoy inspired + A Huang-Teizan Original)
10 - God’s penmanship
9 - Must-read. Drop everything else.
8 - Instant bookmark
7 - Entertaining
6 - Good to pass time
5 - Why are you reading this?
4 - Bad.
3 - Typical garbage.
2 - My head hurts.
1 - Retirement is a thought.
0 - “Did they even give you a story?!”