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Nothing short of a 10.

For all I enjoy the reincarnated Villainess genre, it has to be said that most of the times the protagonists aren't really villains, nor does the author take much advantage of the setting other than to romanticize courtly love. This is not the case here, and it's leveraged to great drama.

Penelope Eckhart has to suffer through the worst of nobility: The need to keep up appearances, the obsession with bloodlines and the mistreatment of those inferior, like, for example, a fake illegitimate child brought in to cover up the disappearance of the real one. As a result, even though the ... protagonist only has to suffer for a tiny bit of her life, as she has incarnated here, she has to fight tooth and nail to even get the tiniest modicum of respect.9/10

As for the characters, they're all amazing. Penelope is clearly traumatized, and acts harshly and without considering other's intentions because in her mind, they could only possibly want to hurt her. But that's the case for basically every character here. Whether it be the royal court, the witch hunts, or matters of pedigree, every single character is stretched far beyond what they could reasonably be expected to overcome, and it results in a bunch of people, some naturally good and some more grey, to turn on one another at any turn in the hopes that it might alleviate at least *some* of their burdens. It feels like everyone is pulling every other person's strings in a completely different direction to everyone else, which makes for great angst. The characters are all great. They all simply feel like people trying their best to survive in a world that will not tolerate even the slightest imperfection from any of them, and it's heartbreaking. 10/10

In terms of visual design, this might very well be the prettiest manga/hwa/hua I've ever had the pleasure of reading. The drawings are very impressive and beautifully stylized, the color palette is incredibly vivid and striking, while cleverly giving every character their own very distinctive major color, and the art direction is always above average, with some REALLY stunning panels (the last panel in Ch. 143 comes to mind). Even though all of this story is amazing, if I could only give one praise, it would be to the art. 10/10

So, uh... get to reading it already. You won't regret it.

(review at end of S1)
Infinite mage is a love it or hate it kind of series. The premise isn't anything too extraordinary, and the execution is good, but what really sets it apart is the amount of explanations provided for the worldbuilding. When the author sets the story in a magic school, they REALLY mean the school part. Math is an integral part of the magic system, as is physics, and you're expected to be able to understand and follow those explanations to understand both the combat and research. Now I can see why this would turn some people off, but if you like that ... kind of stuff, you'll be in for a treat. The art is good, the story is good, the characters are good... whatever your instinctual reaction is to them mentioning operating with logarithmic counting as a way to make magic go brrrr but even more, should be your clue as to whether you're going to enjoy the series or not. Personally, I really like it.

It's just... so peak. And I don't say that lightly.

First of all, let me be clear. The start (~20 chaps) is slow. Not bad, but it takes it's time introducing the cast and the world for it to develop later. Other than that, this is, without a doubt or competition in my mind, the best battle shounen I've ever read, with the only competition being maybe Jujutsu Kaisen.

The art? Oh it's amazing. Almost reminds me of Zyugoya, but with a more obvious focus on the action. The smear frames on this go crazy, and it's consistently gorgeous even during the SoL fragments.

Speaking of SoL, the ... develoment of every character, even seemingly minor ones at the start, is great. There's multiple factions, and each has a multitude of characters, and I struggle to think of even one I don't really enjoy. The protagonists obviously stand out, but so does everyone else, really.

The world and the worldbuilding is all very interesting to read and quite a creative spin on the Tower climbing formula. It also helps that the author's not afraid of paradigm shifts when necessary.

The plot itself is also extremely unique and compelling. It plays with its "story within a story" elements in a very unique way, drawing attention to details that only exist because of that, to create very curious situations.

Overall, this series keeps surpassing my expectations, even when I think it can not possibly get any better, it just keeps climbing. Barring maybe a terrible ending, which I can't see happening, there's no way I can think of this doesn't end in my top 5 manga/hwa of all time once it's completed.

(review at 198 chapters)