Omniscient Reader

Both an incredible manhwa and light novel. Based on the LN of the same name omniscient reader is one of the best reads of the modern era. I truly recommend to anybody who is interested in fantasy even though it is not particularly over the top. I think explaining the plotline only hinders at your enjoyment so i suggest going in blind. Give it 5 manhwa chapters and if you're not hooked its not for you.

Brief Synopsis: Our protagonist is an average salary man who loves his light novels. During his childhood he follows a certain one for an extended period over multiple years until current day. After work on the day of the final chapter release he is met with a sudden change; the world has descended into chaos only its a very familiar one.

Omniscient Reader isn't the first manhwa to bloom outside its home, few others managed to do the same but what separates it from the rest is the fact it's very unique and I've personally never read anything like this ever before

Story : Incredibly immersive and Exciting with amazingly written lore. The manhwa starts with our protagonist Dokja realising that web novel he has been reading for years is the reality now. Apocalypse striked, the world has fallen but he knows how to survive and what will happen next. He was a reader, reader he still is, but a reader who knows it all. The characters he read about in the novel are reality but what about the original protagonist of the novel !!

Strange creatures began to appear who seem nothing more than the typical Streamers broadcasting the death game to some higher beings called the constellations. The whole world is like a playfield and we're nothing more than pawns for the entertainment of higher beings. The narration in the manhwa is extremely fluid and feels as if you're reading a book despite not being much text-ish.

Characters : I appreciate the fact our main character Kim Dokja isn't some naive person or takes tons of chapters to come in terms with the reality and I expect nothing less than a 28 year old person. He tries to take full advantage of all the knowledge he has after reading the novel for all those years. He gathers allies who will prove useful and help each other to survive this world and they're all decently written too

Art : Story is what that matters the most but a great art is always a bonus. The manhwa has absolutely fantastic artwork, and it's done by REDICE Studio which does art for Solo Leveling too

Comedy : It's not really a focus but it has its moments. The constellations aka the higher beings are like viewers and their reactions are always a pleasure to read. They give the same vibe as seeing reaction videos.

Overall : A great manhwa where the art is stunning but it's the fantastic plotline and story that carries the show.

**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS MINOR SPOILERS FOR THE FIRST ARC OF THE WEBTOON**

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is one of those webnovel stories that needed to be rewritten from the beginning in order to better fit a visual format. From the unneeded RPG elements to the simplistic plot conveniences to boring world building, ORV has many elements that might work in a webnovel but frankly are just bad when translated to a webtoon.

Starting with the good stuff. ORV is visually stunning. The paneling is superb, the art is clear and easy to understand, and everything is clean and detailed. The only issue is that the character design and world is painfully generic. It's the apocalypse and people look like they're unironically cosplaying for comic con on a budget.

Now... with the stuff I don't like.

1. The main character is a gary stu but it doesn't make sense for him to be proficient in the world he's in. While he might have the "cheat" of being in an apocalypse world, that does not mean that he is actually capable of pulling from that information in a meaningful way. If anything, the story quickly shows in the beginning that Dokja (the MC), is a person who chooses escapism over everything. He is in a dead-end job, in part because he is choosing to not try and better himself and get the life he wants to have.

While I don't mind that the story has the main character rise up to the occassion, the ease and quickness in which he does so to the point of being perfect is just too much. The person who refused an opportunity to make the life (that it seems like he wants) happen in order to escape into a webnovel is suddenly mr. perfect is unearned. Imagine reading I Am a Hero and having the main character suddenly be proficient in surviving the apocalypse instead of being a blundering and confused idiot. The story is pretty much making the case that you can become a doctor by reading a medical textbook, which is obviously not the case.

2. The RPG elements drag the story down and frankly don't belong in the story. This is a case of webnovel elements not translating well into a visual format. RPG elements in webnovels are there to essentially simplify what's going on for the reader and tell them exactly what's going on without needing them to think. It makes sense for a pulpy serialized story to do this because most readers aren't there to actually deeply think about what's going on, and that's works well with limited information with text. However, it makes much less sense in a visual format because there's much more information. We, as readers, don't more help to understand that something is going on when we can see it.

Without going into too much more detail, for anyone reading this webtoon, try to block out the RPG popups and see how much more creepy the story gets. It legitimately improves the story and characters significantly. This might be a 7-8 webtoon without it.

3. The "omniscience" is mostly just deus ex machina for every situation. The solutions that the main character comes up with are frankly just plot convenience most of the time. I think to best illustrate this, is to show the first action scene of the story.

So in the first part of the story, there's this event where people have to kill something in order to live. Naturally everyone assumes that they gotta kill someone. Dokja, however, is a smarty-pants and realizes that someone has a cage full of grasshoppers. Cleverly he kills a grasshopper and is able to live. However, and this is where the story becomes stupid, Dokja is challenged by another passenger who is much stronger than him. So Dokja, in his perfection, saved a female grasshopper full of eggs to kill but because of PLOT CONVENIENCE eggs count as living things so he kills the grasshopper and all the eggs inside of it in order to out-level the strong guy and become stronger than him. I just.... have so many questions with this plot development. If eggs are living things, what about bacteria and other microbes living in the subway car. Can someone just use hand sanitizer and become a god? The human body is murdering worms and parasites on the regular, do those count as living and being killed by someone?

This is the level of "omniscience" that dokja has in multiple instances in the story. It's not clever, it's plot convenience. And I've had webnovel people tell me that "this is explained later" to this I say bullshit, explaining stupid shit at the beginning of the story because of a hand-wavy plot convenience towards the end is not good writing. It's like saying something stupid and saying "Hah! I was just acting stupid". No you weren't and don't pretend like you're smarter than you are.

4. It's not introspective at all about reading. While this is more of a personal gripe with the story and why my enjoyment score is so low. My biggest subjective issue with this story is that Dokja has gotten perfect information from the story he read, as in, his interpretation is perfect. While this makes the "cheat" work, it's a pretty terrible plot element for a story about reading. I challenge anyone to read, watch, or listen to any piece of media and try and interpret it with a group of people. I would be hard pressed to believe that everyone had the same interpretation. Check out the reviews surrounding a movie like Mother! and see how little people actually agree on that.

However this is the beautiful part about reading and I think the author has taken a stance that seriously sucks out what makes art and reading beautiful. Art having multiple interpretations gives depth to art. Dokja shouldn't be able to perfectly predict how people are going to react and/or see how a story will unfold. His interpretation is limited because of his life and point of view. The fact that he can perfectly navigate situations, read people, and understand the world is a travesty and not at all introspective about reading.

In conclusion, ORV is one of those stories that has bravado but lacks depth. While the art is great and the pacing and action are well done, I don't think the story offers much else. It's a stupid power fantasy that's trying to act like it's something else. I think it might be more worth reading compared to other webnovel adaptions like Overgeared or Tomb Raider King, but it's still a middling story at best.

Ahh this seems to be a new addition in here and I was WAITING for this to be added.

Note that the webtoon just recently released a few months back and I will be writing my review for the 36 chapters I have read, not the webnovel.
So let's get to it now, my review might be a bit too long with some spoilers.


STORY: 10/10
This starts off with a simple yet exciting plotline that many readers might be able to relate to. Our MC here is an avid reader of webnovels and he followed one of them in particular called "Three Ways to survive the apocalypse" for 10 years religiously seeking a distraction from worldly matters.
The intriguing part kicks off the moment he finally finishes reading it with the message, "There are three ways to survive this apocalypse. Everything is fading and becoming unclear now. But one thing is certain, if you're reading this, you will survive". He was the the sole reader. Then at once, everything came to a standstill.

Fiction became reality.

It's basically this huge Jumanji mixed with Hunger Games. Except the entire world has fallen prey to it and only the MC knows how the plot goes. Oh and did I mention that the whole world has now become a huge streaming service for the entertainment of celestial beings? The story continues to get more and more and complex and interesting as it goes on but I'll leave that for you to discover. The world building here is *chefs kiss*. Power System is extremely well thought out.

ART: 10/10
From the same studio that did the art of Solo Leveling, need I say more?

CHARACTER: 10/10 (100/10 if I could)
The Characters CARRY.
Kim Dokja the mc. The story at first leads you into believing that he's a naive and clumsy guy. I mean, what would you expect from someone who failed multiple exams getting enrolled into a third rate college and still struggles with work, seeking happiness from reading a web novel throughout his life. It becomes quite apparent once the apocalypse begins though, that he is NOTHING like that.

He stands at this very fine line between good and bad, that he could even be considered a realist. That should be the case for a 28 year old man. He does what has to be done to survive. He's cunning and manipulative as well, leads you to wonder why he did not become a businessman! Surely with his intellect and memory power, he would not have performed this badly at life? Turns out later in the story that there is more to him that meets the eye. It has not been covered completely in the webtoon yet, but I must say I'm hooked.
It's never dull when he's on the scene, bringing out new and innovative ways to clear each scenario, a method that you might have never expected. It's not even about overpowering the difficulties, it's about outsmarting them.
I should mention that while Kim Dokja is the main character, there is a true protagonist, the one who was the actual protagonist of the webnovel he read. Funny thing is, this character would more suit the OP af, good looking trope that protagonists of fantasy genres like these have.

The side characters are great as well. They are a mix of the characters that Dokja actually read about in the webnovel plus characters that are exceptions. Each character has their own specialty, personality and traits and they grow in their own ways. Some mysterious characters included. Their interactions are a treat to read especially. It would take a hundred years if I have to describe each of them so let's leave it at that.

ENJOYMENT: 10/10
The comedy here is surprisingly top tier! It has a very dark and gritty start, so the comedic scenes feel very welcomed and also natural. No fanservice involved, so that's a plus point. Keep an eye out for the viewers of this grand show too, they keep this webtoon very lively with their reactions.
I'm enjoying this quite a lot so far and I would really recommend you to check this out for yourself whether you enjoy this too or not!

OVERALL: 10/10
Yes yes I know that this has been a completely positive review. Unfortunately, I'm unable to find any glaring flaws in this media. If there are any, it was easily ignorable. ORV has high potential, and from what I've heard from the reviews of the webnovel, it doesn't fall of in quality but rather rises in it. The biggest negative I would say is that this is addictive, so I suggest waiting for more chapters to pile up before beginning instead of committing my mistake.
Another little flaw is that the pacing is a bit slow, but I'd say that is good since this is a plot heavy manwha and a lot of the information in the beginning is relevant later on so rushing through the concepts won't help.

TL;DR Read Omniscient Reader and see if it is your cup of tea! I do not think you would regret giving this one a shot!

Since this is my first review, please don't be too harsh! 🙏🏻

I don't have much to say other than wow! If this gets animated it might get into the new Big 3 next to Solo Leveling and The Beginning after the End. A Manhwa Generation I guess.
(Disclaimer: I haven't read the light novel)

Story: 10/10

Our story is about a young man who was the only reader of a web novel called „Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse“. After the last chapter released, this novel became reality and Dokja, the MC, was the only one who knew what was going on. He's going on a trip to change the course of the story and save those that are in need.

Much like Solo Leveling (or other Leveling manga/manhwa) Omniscient Reader also has a leveling system. You can only Level Up by completing certain quests, but those aren't that easy sometimes...

Art: 10/10

I've always liked manhwa drawings and haven't read one that had shitty art. ORV is very similar in art style to SL and I love them both. The fight scenes look very clean and the majority of everything in a panel is drawn with details.
But since I'm not someone who would cry about a few bad drawings I can't say that much about the art.

Character: 10/10

Our MC is called Dokja and he's a normal person in reality. He's an average office worker and loves reading his novel. After his novel became reality, he changed to a new person. Since he knows what'll happen, he can save those who are in need and do what has to be done. Dokja is smart and manipulative, even trying to turn the most powerful person from Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse into his companion.
Since I don't want to spoil too much, I won't be saying anything about his friends or the Regressor. That's for you to find out who they are and what they do.

Enjoyment: 10/10

Eventhough there are only a bit more than 40 chapters out yet and I haven't read the light novel, I enjoyed OR more than many other anime or manga I've seen/read. It sooo interesting to see what Dokja will do in every new quest he gets and how it will turn out in the end. The fights look really good and I'm sure they'll be a banger once they're animated. Everyone has his own special ability's, going from speaking with insects to smashing the whole floor in pieces and much more.

Overall: 10/10

I know it's a bit too early to be rating this manhwa 10/10 but it got me hooked from the second the web novel became reality. I read it in not even half a day because it was just too addicting. If you love Solo Leveling or similar anime/manga/manhwa, you should definitely check Omniscient Reader out.

I absolutely adore this manwha. This is by far my favorite out of all the overpowered mc/solo-leveling genres of stories.

While most of the aspects of the story can be pretty generic, I love the pop culture references the author includes. I remember audibly squealing when they referenced the Survive! Mola! Mola! phone game. I loved that game when I was younger and it was really cool to see it referenced. There are also a lot of allusions to western media (especially movies) that are really cool.

There are many other cool references but you should really read it to find out. :3

FINALLY!!!

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint has finally made it to MAL!

This is one of the few series I can preach about until I completely convert the listener. And that is because I found ORV to be completely FLAWLESS!

Omniscient Reader is a pretty refreshing addition to the list of manhwas with OP MCs because now we finally have an MC who is BY NO MEANS OP in physical strength.

His utilisation of knowledge and wits to adapt to the world, deviating from the one he read about in the web novel, is what makes this story interesting.


Story: 10/10

ORV starts with a simple concept but quickly becomes interesting because of its intricate world-building and attention to detail.

The protagonist, Kim Dokja, observes the world around him plummeting into an apocalyptic web novel he's been reading for years. As the web novel's sole reader, he knows more about the world than anyone else around him.
Thus, he has the golden opportunity to turn the outcome of the events around him in his favour.

Something worth mentioning - This apocalypse is a streaming service to certain celestial beings called constellations, who sponsor the characters they enjoy watching. They keep the story lively and also help the reader view the scenarios though different perspectives.

Each chapter of ORV satisfies no matter where in the arc you are, and every chapter delivers the right amount of humour and seriousness.

Art: 10/10

ORV is illustrated by the same studio that illustrates Solo Leveling.
So, needless to say, the art here is one of the best out there.

Characters: 10/10

None of the characters in the story come across as hollow.
ORV has portrayed its characters so well that it puts many series to shame in such a short number of chapters.

The protagonist, Kim Dokja, is a realist. He is neither too evil nor too good and can adapt to the situation as required. The way Dokja handles scenarios and outsmarts them never fails to amuse the reader.
However, even our seemingly invulnerable protagonist has his own secrets, making his character even more interesting.

The side characters are amazing too as none of them seems lacking and they all seem to be growing well with Dokja.
All of them have unique personalities, and Dokja's party manages to cover almost all different types of characters.

The character interactions are precious, and one can never get enough of them. None of the interactions comes across as forced or wasted, which is a rare sight in this genre.

Enjoyment: 10/10

The comedy here is better than any other similar webtoon out there. The story has its dark moments, and the comedy helps relax the mood.

The constellation reactions are pretty fun too, and they keep this webtoon lively with their reactions on every event in the story.
Seeing Dokja mess around with the minds of his viewers is absolutely hilarious!

Overall: 10/10

No second thoughts here. I've been waiting for this series to be added to MAL for months to leave my absolutely positive review.

This series is as close to perfection as a story can get.

There are no plotholes or flaws in the story, and that is something you can't find anywhere else.

ORV has a very positive review from the web novel readers, so don't expect it to lose its charm anytime soon.


TL;DR Give ORV a shot. Anyone who's into adventure or isekai and isn't reading ORV is missing out on a lot of fun.

Thanks for bearing with this essay of mine! I could preach more, but I don't know when to stop.

Take it from me: If Solo Leveling gets a successful anime adaptation, this series will DEFINITELY get an anime adaptation.