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Feb 10, 2025
I am going to be the party pooper here but I think this is shaping up to be quite mediocre. The idea of the story is fun but I think that the set up leaves a lot to be desired. It is very hard to find it believable that such a large group of people really want to harm the male lead that badly. It is like a parody of misery itself. I understand there is going to be a larger plot reveal for why and how this is but I think the fact that the story is set up in this way in the
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first place is a bad sign for the quality to come. While the idea of the MC returning in time to save the ML from doom is interesting, we have yet to see how the story is going to keep this fresh. Admittedly the story has only just gotten started so there could very well be a shift in focus. But currently none of the solutions the MC has for problems are particularly convincing. They mainly seem to work because the story wants them to. Another issue I personally have with the story at the moment is that we aren't given a particular reason to care for what happens to the main character. Sure, we pity him. But aside from his situation being seemingly unfair, he doesn't really have much of a personality or really anything going for him. I can see why the mc cares about what happens to him, but there isn't enough fo a character there yet for us to care as well. A similar thing can be said for the bully characters we have met in this story so far. They just appear crazy for the sake of it. We have only really had attention for two figures at this point but both seem unrealistically unhinged to the point that it takes you out of the story entirely.
The art of the manga is generally pretty decent. There are a few awkard character poses and faces here and there but overall it is consistent and serviceable.
For now I would say to wait and see how it carries on from here. But I personally don't really see any potential.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Feb 7, 2025
Not sure why there are only 22 chapters according to MAL. The official English translation, that is the one on Tapas, has 231 chapters for the main story excluding side story content. This review is for all 231 chapters however please keep in mind that I have also read the manhwa up to the most recent chapter at this point in time which has a big influence on how I interpret the story.
Villains are destined to die, or death is the only ending for the villainess, is an otome isekai story known for a more melancholic and dark tone, atleast as compared to contemporaries.
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It fits well within the umbrella term but luckily aside from general story conventions I would not call this work clichéd. Penelope, the main character, is consistent and flawed in ways that are interesting to follow along with. Her perception of things is often flawed, or tainted, but for us as the reader we are shown why her perspective is the way it is and it makes sense most of the time. The mistreatment Penelope has to endure is presented in a way that feels believable and the extremes of the situation that aren't very believable in a normal situation, like hard mode Penelope potentially getting killed for the smallest things, are explained in other ways that feel plausible in context.
The character development of the Eckles family in particular I think is well done. How the interactions Penelope has with the Duke and her brothers evolve is really interesting and I like that the story shows how gradual the changes are. All the male leads are likeable or atleast understandable to some extent and I enjoyed that the story allows for Penelope to deal with each of them directly instead of leaving some, perhaps popular, routes open ended. It is also nice to see that from the get go the actual love interest was established as being who it is. The chemistry the main couple has is very fun.
How Penelope handled one of the male leads in particular was probably one of the more interesting aspects of this story. Her decisions are rationalised and understandable here but not exactly morally good all the time. Reading these interactions leaves a bad aftertaste from both sides and I think that uncertainty is an aspect that trope heavy stories often fail to establish in any way shape or form. Some people might dislike the main character for moments like this but I feel it makes for a more interesting and complex character.
The world building in this story plays a fairly large role and is done well. The plot reveals are organic, feel believable, are paced very well and aren't overly complex. It is the right balance between being too simple as to where you wouldn't care about the events in the world of the story. And being overly complex to the point that you take away focus from the actual story and characters. Notably this story does not focus much on the social climb aspect that many villainess stories do. It plays a role, but most events are resolved not by political games, but by feats of skill/strength/intellect from the main characters. There isn't a focus on the public opinion of our MC through the eyes of others, but there is a focus of the reputation the MC has and how she acts accordingly. It is a perspective shift that I think works well for an otome isekai like this.
Sadly I do not think this story is without its flaws. While it is not cliché in how it handles its tropes, the story set up itself is very trope heavy. Initially the set up is as such that you are led to believe that these tropes will be used as a subversion technique. Sadly I think this element of the story remained under developed and ended up falling really flat. For me it takes away a lot of my interest as it is the mystery of how it all works that is the constant driving factor behind all actions the MC takes. It is constantly at the back of you mind while reading. And for it to kinda go nowhere is a real shame.
Overall I think this story is great. It is a very good example of a villainess story and the character writing is top notch. The worldbuilding is great and interesting and I just think it is generally a really satisfying and fun story. Sadly I do think that some of the mystery 'hooks' and more meta elements could have used some more fleshing out and thought put into them.
As for the formats in which the story are available:
For the webnovel I think the translation that is available is decent. I think that the tapas translations are good. They do the job, no noticeable errors, inconsistencies with pronouns, characterizations or sentence issues. It is a very readable story and even enjoyable to read with these translations but I do think a bit of character is lost. I think anyone that is reading Korean webnovels is very familiar with how much translations can differ in quality so in that sense this type of quality is to die for (if it wasn't locked behind a pay wall of +-60 usd). But judging by the webcomic adaptation I feel that some of the subtleties of the story seen there are not as visible in the tapas translation. It is ofcourse possible that this flavor, if you will, is added by the adaptation team. But considering how faithful the adpation is otherwise I think it is likely not that. There is also a machine translation with minimal editing that is pretty much unreadable so make sure you don't read that. Ofcourse this is purely my opinion hence why I am not including this in the actual review.
On that note I do personally think that currently the manhwa is a better experience than reading the webnovel. However, I do not think the difference is massive. It is a pretty direct adaptation so far. And with it being around 70-75% of the way done I do not see it changing much. There is some room for the manhwa to slightly improve on certain story elements that I think could use some tweaking though so who knows. But even if they don't, as alluded to previously, the manhwa to me is the more enjoyable version of this story.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Jan 20, 2025
Pick me up (infinite gacha) is an action manhwa series that puts a slight twist on the 'transported to a game' concept. In pick me up the main character is transported to a gacha game he played as a 1 star summon, meaning the weakest possible pull, or just a normal person. He has to use his wits and effort to continue to survive. The main twist here is that aside from game aspects there is actually also a 'player' role in this story, named master, that controls the summons, also known as heroes, that we follow. The main character is tasked with climbing a
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tower with increasingly hard challenges to discover more on why he was transported to the game. This story does a good job of keeping its game aspects relevant. Concepts that you would encounter in gacha games like in game purchases, summons, party selection, daily quests etc are what the narrative is built around and the way this is incorporated is pretty creative.
One thing that I feel is worth highlighting though is the whole concept of the society that is forming in the waiting room. The way characters are expected to react to this is honestly ridiculous. The attempted justification is that those who pull their weight are given subsequent rewards but not only is that premise absolutely ridiculous, it is also just not consistent. If a character is not able to fight/provide they are shown as being whiny, lazy or otherwise negative presences deserving of punishment. But for the narrative to make sense the focus should instead be on how helpless these people are against the unstoppable tyrant that is the master. You cannot make the argument that it is dependent on how much the people are willing to work whether they are able to keep living when not every person is predispositioned for fighting, cooking, blacksmithing etc. On the one hand the story tries to show that using synthesis is bad but on the other hand whenever synthesis is used they try to make the people getting synthesized appear like the bad guys for some reason. It is pretty weird and it gives me a very weird feeling of disconnect. Having a story that just showcases a harsh reality works much better than this almost propoganda like piece on why the useless shouldn't be allowed their rights to exist. This also plays into how the story treats the main character.
The MC is your average cold and composed strategic mastermind type which can definitely be done well, but the way the story treats him is inconsistent. This story constantly warps morality around the main character. What the MC does is never allowed to be wrong, inefficient, morally grey etc. If he does something that might appear to the audience as wrong it is always warped to seem like the compassionate choice or the least wrong one. It really pulls you out of the story as the way the gacha game is played is a major part of the narrative which is intertwined with how the MC played. Our MC is also not very consistent in how he carries himself. He takes contradictory actions and how he acts just does not at all align with how the narrative wants the reader to view him. This also leads to some pretty misplaced 'emotional' moments that feel picked straight out of a textbook on how to do story beats more so than feeling correct in the setting.
More largely, the characters in this series just are not a focus. They are flat, uninteresting and usually have one defining trope. It makes any character heavy scene feel very out of place and any stakes feel unimportant. Luckily, the focus is instead on the action, world building and mystery. The world building in this series is a bit hit or miss in my opinion. The idea behind the world building is pretty cliche. Tower stages being reflections of actual societies and some of the other concepts done in this story are interesting but have been done better before by stories like suicide hunter, the tutorial is too hard, omni reader and even the tower of wish arc from the novels extra to name a few popular ones. What has been pretty unique is the mystery surrounding the game itself. This mystery is well tensioned and leaves you wanting to know more.
The art is very good, action manhwa readers are generally pretty spoiled regarding art quality. This series has a very dynamic action style and generally looks fantastic. It is also consistent and aside from maybe looking a bit too standard at times I don't really have anything to complain about in this regard, definitely a highlight of the series.
Overall I think this series is decent if a bit bland. While the concept is more unique than the most standard action series this is only marginal and the uniqueness of the blend of ideas does not make up for how one note the character writing and world building can be. I also really dislike how this story treats the waiting room and the society that forms. Neither angle is portrayed well and there is neither tension for the characters we care about nor a feeling of fairness. It just feels weird. If you are following a villain type character that would be perfectly fine. But in this manhwa we are following someone with a similar mindset that is instead heralded as the savior who can do no wrong, except for the plebs who do criticize him who happen to be all bad in some way and are punished for their actions. It just feels weird and for me personally it is a reason to drop this manhwa.
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 15, 2024
Uninspired, bland, subpar art and absolutely no cohesion. With the isekai trend dying down we have no entered late stage kicked out party member slob. Except I cannot personally think of a single exceptionally good story with this trope. And this manga is an example of one that is exceptionally bad. I truly think there is no reason to recommend this. Everything done here can be found done better in another story. There is no unique element. The creator doesn't even take it seriously so why should the reader? The art is not great but it does have some panels that look decent. The character
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writing is two dimensional and lazy, the plot progression is just one wish fulfillment trop to the next with no in between time and the first chapter is basically all that this manga had planned going into it.
Reviewer’s Rating: 3
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Nov 30, 2024
This series is quite good, I believe it was axed at around chapter 105 or so, I could only find 85 translated chapters but that is fine. You don't need more. This is a slice of life story that also touches on how to deal with self loathing, and not fitting into societal norms. However, unlike most manga that aim to deal with similar themes in this episodic short chapter style, it is neither too indulgent in excusing negative behavior, nor does it demonise or glorify it. It is a more mature healing series, and the connection between the main characters that comes to be
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throughout is quite fun to see develop. Because of the succubus theme this story has quite a bit of sexual adjacent stuff. I say adjacent because it is often played for comedic value and not actual sexual elements. I suppose it is the seinen element showing up as it is more the straightman/dry contrast that is done for laughs then it is the sexual acts themselves. The story also doesn't shy away from openly discussing sexuality in a somewhat mature way. Granted the story does struggle to really go in depth on certain issues due to it's short chapter format. It is a cozy narrative but I think the quality of the writing could work even better for something with a bit more of a linear and continual storyline. My rating is as it is not because the story in its execution is directly lacking anything major, but rather because to me a story of this style can only be so impactful. It is good, great even, if this is the type of comic you are looking for. It is still a fun time if it isn't, but it is not going to be anything life changing, and that is perfectly fine.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 17, 2024
This manhwa came to my attention due to its interesting premise and beautiful artwork. I was hoping to find a story of self discovery and healing not dissimilar to something like Karina's last days for examples. Sadly this comic sticks with the idea for a whole of 6 or so chapters before the main 'conflict' if you will, is resolved. In the 11 chapters I have read, which is admittedly not a lot, I could tell there was a major lack of direction and understanding of what makes a story like this interesting and worth reading. You can tell that the intention was to make
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the characters around our MC likeable and nice but there is no context for their action so it all ends up feeling quite random and meaningless. A similar thing can be said for the MC themselves. in the 11 chapters I have read the story introduces 2 sets of characters without developing anything in a meaningful way, there is no real continuity in the world building and it just all feels very disjointed. I am disappointed with the low quality and would not recommend others try this in the sea of similar style historical fantasy manhwa.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Sep 26, 2024
This manga is very fun and I honestly think anyone should atleast try reading a few chapters to see if they like it. It might just be my picks but I feel like there has been an increase in short weekly manga about a daily commute with an unrequited theme to it, whether it's love, admiration or other uncertainties. This manga puts a bit of a twist on this by having the story be primarily told via three onlookers that are rooting for the boy and girl to get together. It has a bit of a love is war aspect to it except it is
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all happenstance and the onlookers are just narrating it very passionately. All the characters here are very likeable, the art is great and actually pretty unique in its style and the concept is fun as well. Definitely hope this keeps it up and is allowed to continue. The only thing that I can imagine happening is that the spark is lost due to it continuing for too long and having to expand in some way. For what it is currently though I 100% recommend it, strong 7/10.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Sep 20, 2024
Initially when I started reading this a year or so ago I did not think much of it. While I liked how it flipped the whimpy guy trope on its head a bit I was not a fan of the wish fulfillment aspect that showed itself in how Runa treated Ryuuto. However having now read the first 6 volumes I think it has really developed into something that is somewhat unique. The main draw of this manga is just how frank they are in how they portray young relationships, particularly the female side. Especially in the later chapters they really start going into the aspects
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that make young love work and how superficial some parts of it can be. However there is no judgement given, it just is like that, in this story atleast. Sure there are definitely still aspects that are idyllic, but for what it is it is a pretty fresh take. This permissive characterisation of the people in this story helps them feel more like human beings instead of characters in a story. That being said I am not going to argue that this is done without flaws. It is generally pretty messy in most of the other aspects. Most of the things in this manga are decidedly bland and somewhat inconsistent. I also think there is some tonal whiplash between the tropes that are used and the confrontation with the aforementioned style of story telling. It feels more like a PSA at times for teens in Japan reading this than a story with a genuine message to share, that is to say that it can be too in the nose.
Overall I think this manga is fairly interesting and above average but ultimately fails to be something truly special, for now.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Sep 10, 2024
In Japanese pop culture romance stories the trope of a famous love interest seems to be very popular. Even if you go back to early visual novels you will often see an actress/idol or some other form of celebrity being one of the potential options. Whether this is just to add some flavour to the character or if it is a way to make the main character feel like they are important in some way I don't know, but what I can tell you is that recently I have been seeing it pop up more often in romance manga. This series being no exception. We
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follow Ichiji Takuya, a hard working highschool boy, and Saegusa Shion, a former idol who is in the same class as Takuya. The story focuses on how their relationship develops, first as friends and later (likely) as a couple. The manga tries to differentiate itself from its peers by using certain tropes and character quirks but this sadly falls pretty flat due to the lacking execution. The characterisation of Shion is a bit hit or miss. Her awkward quirks are inconsistent and over the top in a way that is not endearing but rather a bit jarring. There is not a baseline for these moments to build on, when she is being quirky that is just her for the reader, we don't get to see what it is supposed to be a contrast to, or atleast not in a way that is convincing. The childhood friend character and the other girl in the friend group are given even less room to develop. There is no romantic tension, no stakes, no atmosphere and no real reason to get invested in the characters. I also think that the art is a bit lackluster. The character designs are simplistic and tend to be a bit inconsistent. The backdrops are also uninteresting and simplistic. Basically, this manga simply lacks an identity and is fuly replaceable by any other story with a similar concept that has a bit more care and thought put into it. Even though this manga is not really bad in anyway, it is consistently below average in the most forgettable way you could imagine.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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Aug 15, 2024
I started reading this right when the first episode of the anime aired because I generally tend to prefer manga over anime and thought the concept was pretty interesting, Having now watched the anime, or atleast the episodes that have aired (which have gone beyond the most recent manga chapter) I can now confirm what I felt was missing from the manga. You can tell while reading this manga that the story itself is actually pretty well put together, the side characters and even our loner mc have a ton of personality. The tone is light hearted and bubbly and the settings in which the
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characters get together feel a lot more auhthentic than what you normally see in highschool stories like this. The major reason for this is that this story actually considers the relationships its characters have outside of the main cast. It feels more like a living world and less like a setting for the drama of the main characters to commence. That being said the manga iteration of this story is missing a part of this charm. The art is fantastic but the subtle character moments that really makes the anime so endearing are lost in the transition from light novel to manga. They make the main character too much of an outcast in the manga, the chemistry between him and Yana isn't as fun, the other characters in the main cast also don't have the same chemistry as they do in the show, the weirdness of the president is turned up to eleven, you loose the subtleties and are left with the extreme character traits which does this type of story absolutely no favours. Granted I do not know how this is in the light novel, but seeing how the anime does it I am inclined to believe that the manga is the outlier.
Overall I would say that this manga is above average on its own, but inferior to the anime adaptation and likely also inferior to the light novel it was adapted from. Solid concept with a unique vibe though. Try it and form your own opinion.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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