Oct 2, 2016
This is a manga I REALLY wanted to like when it first started. Probably following suit with the other reviews here, it was an interesting start with interesting ideas supported by good art. Jaegu seemed to be a bit forgettable in his design but the other characters stood out. Queen, Moon Young and Dal Dal are so good I can actually remember their names which is rare for the usual harem fluff you see in manga and manwha. The slow progression of the main character was nice as he wasn't the stereotypical over-powered fullfilment fantasy and the surrounding support characters and love interests were
...
characters over members of a harem. This being put in a martial arts setting with an upcoming tournament was a great way to have an over arching story with smaller archs along the way and it was an enjoyable read. The only issue at that point was the tournament came up and was done so early. Why is that a bad thing? Because that is where things began to take a turn.
While the character of Jaegu was never approaching the point of someone I wanted to root for, he was still a decent human being and never grated on my nerves but as the series went along, his actions became more and more annoying after the tournament. This wasn't helped as the martial arts aspect of the series was barely making a cameo. The melodramatics always dragged out and each chapter left with annoying cliffhangers more and more often when compared to the first part of the series where it wound at the end of an arch or the cliff hanger would be welcomed, like in the middle of two people punching each other or the introduction of character. Instead as the series progressed, it just feels as if the author is just cutting into the middle of the story all the time like a child constantly mashing the pause button. The pacing can come to a hault only to ramp up, just to leave us on another cliff hanger.
While the later parts are still enjoyable in some fashion, it is almost for a completely different reason than the beginning. We hardly get to see the girls in the "harem" fight and Jaegu's development has come to a screaching halt or maybe a crawl if you're being nice. Combined with contrived plot twists, change in tone and sometimes setting, the series is okay but it is more about the melodrama and it completely drowns out the initial martial arts style the series was going for.
The art is probably the only consistent thing about this series. The bright vibrant colors are nice and characters have distinguishing features and there aren't too many of them to where you end up having to remember a small army of samey characters. Action scenes (while more and more rare as the series goes on) are beautifully done, with the art depicting weighty impacts, characters showing wear and tear and impressive finishers being displayed in full glory. It is just sort of sad to know instead of these awesome action scenes, for nearly 100+ chapters, it doesn't get to be put on display much and instead we get characters idly chatting.
Would I recommend this? Right now, no. If only the first bit about the martial arts was around with the romance as a subplot I could easily do it but it isn't that way. This new heavy emphasis on the melodrama. If you are in it, i wont blame you for dropping but if youre going to start, wait. Read something and wait for this to finish. The change in tone and the annoying cliff hangers make it not really worth subscribing and waiting for new issues.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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