alchemist1113

Solo Leveling is a really great Webtoon, if you want to just have fun. It's beautiful, the pacing is well done, and overall it's just a great time. That being said, if you're looking for anything more out of this than a good time, I would look somewhere else.

Art - 10

The art is really top notch. It probably has the best art of any webtoon I've read and is up there with the best manga art-wise. It definitely wouldn't lose to Berserk, Vagabond, or One-Punch Man if compared side-by-side. The action is well set and movements have some serious weight to them. The double-page spread equivalents are a treat to the eyes and always look epic.

The only weakness I would say is the character design though I wouldn't say that it's due to the art and more due to the world just being relatively unimaginative. The execution is 10/10 so I can't really complain.

Story - 5

The story is kind of just painfully mediocre. If not for the excellent pacing, it would have been a 3/10. To start with the good stuff.

The pacing is really good. This story is a real page-turner and you'll be hooked from the first page. There are some light hearted moments inbetween the nearly non-stop action which gives a nice break to the reader as it builds anticipation to the next epic fight scene.

The plot structure is a good time but it's honestly kind of trashy. The plot is essentially this. Some people lose while near the MC, the MC is strong so he swoops in and saves the day, the side characters look in disbelief (while the women look aroused, don't forget this is a power fantasy), and then the side characters talk about how strong the MC is. In between the MC fighting for the side characters, we get solid moments of him training on his own and leveling up.

The plot itself is fine if not generic. Without too many spoilers, it's an implied "good" vs "evil" plot which isn't bad on its own but the execution is just... eh. Good vs Evil can work out really well like in the Lord of the Rings if it has good characters and serious heartfelt moments. It's just too bad that these moments are essentially non-existent in Solo-Leveling. For example, I love Gurenn Lagann to pieces but its story is kind of dumb too. The self-awareness and the heart of the story is just so great that I can't help but get into it. Solo Leveling's story has no heart and feels almost manufactured to appeal to young men who are into power-fantasies.

The world is really the weakest part of this story as it's so abundantly clear that the writer didn't think about the history of the world, at all. There are just so many questions. Why is everyone using Medieval European equipment (aside from the katanas, lol)? Who makes the equipment? Why do people care about the stuff in the dungeons if there are little traces of this affecting the everyday lives of the people outside?? What are the implications of literal human natural disasters existing and why do they bend to the government's will? There are just so many conveniences in the world so that it fits a generic MMORPG world that it drags the story down.

Another big issue is that it's not particularly clear why people care about dungeons in the first place and why it became an industry a la capitalism. We mostly see it as a point of serious human suffering so it's unclear why people are trying to exploit it for unclear profit. Given what we know about the world, it makes more sense for a dungeon to be a government's/military's problem rather than the free-market's problem. Had there been technology that could only be gained through exploiting dungeons, that would make more sense, though we see none of that in the world of Solo-Leveling.

Character - 3

The characters in this story are pretty tropey and flat. The MC is more interesting in the beginning but gets more flat the more powerful he gets. The other characters don't really have personalities aside from how surprised they are at the MC being strong.

All the characters are there in service to the MC in some way or form. The weakest characters are the female characters as they exist to pretty much just get horny at the MC for being strong. The male characters are not much better, mind you, as they're either there to be surprised, scared, or be an obstacle. I honestly can't really remember who the characters are except for the MC, Jin Woo, if that's anything to measure by and I read everything just a couple weeks ago.

Ironically the best characters are the MC's subordinates. Without too many spoilers, they aren't really characters per se so their characterization is more through the art itself. It's just a little ironic that characters that can't speak have more range than every other character, including the MC.

Enjoyment - 9

It's a good time and I would definitely read it again. It's trash though. I get similar enjoyment from it I would from John Wick or Pacific Rim. Stylish and fun but shallow. I would best describe it as a trashy Isekai that cut off the fat and focused on the parts people care about.

Overall - 6

Again, this is a good time but I can't really say it's particularly any good. I would wholeheartedly recommend it to someone but I'm not going to really remember anything specific about it a month or two after I'm done reading it.

In short, read it, just don't really think too hard about it and you'll have a good time.

Do you wanna see people becoming psychopath murderers just from wearing a mascot panda masks?

Do you wanna see dumb main characters in a horror manga?

Do you wanna see atrocious but also hilarious art in a horror manga?

Well look no further ladies and gents, this manga has all those questions answered for ya!

I honestly don't know why I decided to check this manga out. I will say, this manga cover is pretty dope but I dived into reading it, I was disappointed. This manga had such potential to becoming a pretty good horror story if it honestly tried. It seemed like I was reading a parody horror manga cause all of it was such a joke. The characters just looked as if they hadn't a clue why they are in the story in the first place.

I would advice all horror fans to just stay away from this manga, it's so poorly done and stupid!

Strongly disliked this manga.

For some reason I expected a lot from this one. I remember it was hyped very hard in the horror manga community when I was in high school (or at least I remember it was) but I hadn't read it until now. I was very let down. I feel like I must have been mixed it up with something else or everyone who hyped this has shit taste.

Not sure if I'm stupid and the plot was too complex for my small ADHD brain or if the plot just didn't make much sense at all. It did not keep me engaged. Found it very hard to make it through it. The second part of the book completely lost me.
Spoiler! The two rape scenes were completely unnecessary. Felt like they were just added to fulfil the minimum page limit. Definitely did not enrich the story at all honestly made me hate it more. I just feel like of all things to add to the plot, rape would be at the very bottom of my list.
The cursed kokeshi was creepy though I'll give them that. Wish there was more gore.

Heroes inevitably trample on others in pursuit of their dreams.

People of the Desert is about those others, who are are subjugated and enslaved by ambitious invaders. More specifically it is the story of Tem, a young boy. Like any sane person he has no desire to war, but circumstances form him to fight to survive. As he fights those close to him are endangered, requiring larger and larger force of arms to protect his ever-growing comrades. Tem overcomes the pain of death vicariously through his people, while growing into the hero who may one day lead them to victory.

The story is told with a unique presentation. Rather than speech bubbles, dialogue is placed outside the frame; and rather than sound effects or visual motion cues, actions are often communicated in prose. Combined with the dark and muddy, yet somehow clear and expressive art, the resulting experience has a film-like feel.

Sadly, the short length never allowed People of the Desert to completely mature. Bystanders remain largely stereotyped, and almost all named characters are static. The themes, too, suffer from an overt focus on a single faction. The deaths of the subjugated are presented as tragedies, and indeed they are; however, there seems to be a moral flaw in casually disregarding the deaths of enemies, who are simply following orders under a system they cannot individually control.

I still liked this manga, both a history lesson on Miyazaki and as an independent work. At barely over 50 pages, there is not much to lose in checking it out.

From the teachings of his German Nationalistic teacher in school, to the cold and bitter trenches of the First World War, from the debris of Germany caused by the Treaty of Versailles, to the Beer Hall Putsch in Munich, Hitler's rise of power is akin to a hero's epic, as he rises to regain Germany's honour.

The only reason I read this manga is because of my fascination of Hitler and the Third Reich and such. I found the four chapters akin to its Mein Kampf counterpart. Think of this like a book made into an manga adaptation. If you read Mein Kampf paper-to-eye there is not much to expect, even maybe disapointed because some parts where not included in the manga. But remember that reading the manga is much more different than reading the book as-is.

Unless you really want to know more about Hitler (which is in my case), or want a really fast background check on why Hitler became such a bad-ass, then this something you should read.

Apparently, there is nothing to rate for the story line and the character as it is historically bounded. But as mentioned, the story was cropped from a 384-page book to a 4 chapter manga, so some parts were not mentioned. But considering what you could put in 4 chapters, the author did a pretty decent job in at least putting up an aura of Hitler's ingenuity in his rise of power. But it was also cut short in few parts.

The art is really nothing to brag about actually, it's just a standard drawing and such. But the drawings were much akin to its human counterparts, so that made me give it a 8 because of its facsimile to each other.

Awkwardly enough, I enjoyed animetized Hitler-chan and his adventures in gaining power. It added suspense because instead of reading a black and white book, you could really see the emotions of the people there. You could see the sheer sentiment of the people when they cheer and shout unlike in the book where it is only written.

Overall, I enjoyed the manga a little too much I think (lawl), but I recommend it to those who are fascinated of the Third Reich and/or the World War 2 era. Also if your history teacher needs a book report of Mein Kampf tomorrow, dump the book and read the manga instead.

This collection of oneshots is sickeningly sweet and filled with shoujo cliches. Shoujo oneshots are usually bad for their lack of good development in the romance department because there are so few pages, and these stories are no exception. Although the first "oneshot" lasts three chapters, it, too, is not long enough to develop the illicit relationship between student and teacher. The second oneshot is the most decent. although the situation is something I've heard of before, I liked it the best for its most realistic story (a love confession accidentally told to the wrong guy). The third was good for its originality (a girl with a talent in nail-painting), but the romance did not make much sense. And the fourth had one of the biggest shoujo cliches of all and was not anything special.

The art among the first three oneshots was pretty consistent given that they were by the same author. The fourth is also from the same mangaka, but she took a cuter approach with it, so that was adorable. Art-wise, you can really tell it's shoujo and I have no complaints.

Characters throughout all of these stories did not stand out to me at all; as frequent as the cliches were, these characters fit the picture just as well. They weren't bad, but they were normal.

Taking another look, these oneshots are all right but don't strike any particular chord in me. I was constantly cringing through the first oneshot because of how typical each certain event was, though the other oneshots following it were tolerable. If you like shoujo no matter what, you probably wouldn't mind reading this stuff. Otherwise, it might do you better to read other things.

Sometimes there is just a manga series that needs to be read by everyone regardless of quality or more importantly, regardless whether you are into manga in the first place.

Like an essay written by a famous philosopher, Super Cruel and Terrible Tales of Mangaka is one of those that deserves to be in some form of Manga Hall of Fame must read category because from my knowledge it is the only completely translated in English manga that talks about the mangaka side of manga as of my writing this review. (At least based on the last few days of OneManga's manga listing)

The only two other manga I know of is the prequel to this series which the author reveals at the end but to my knowledge I can't find any scanlation of it and the other series is Bakuman which I'm currently reading but as far as I know it isn't completely translated yet plus there's more of a bishounen feel to the latter while Super Cruel is not afraid at all to include such subjects as ugly characters, perversion, unlikeable characters and all things related more to gag humor than stereotypical manga design.

...and yet it's able to couple this with the type of heart warming conclusions that I even dare say you could replace all the famous classical fairy tales (Disney or Grimm version it doesn't matter) and replace their prestige to each chapter of Super Cruel and the world would be a much better place for kids to grow up in. Truly, each moral tale of Super Cruel is way up there in life lessons and far outgrows the mangaka theme it claims to be about in it's premise.

If there is one downside is that in any type of works especially hyped up ones, it tends to feel like a fad you're parent is into and starts to become uncool. Super Cruel isn't that popular at least not on the level of a Bleach, Naruto or One Piece but I could imagine if it ever were more praised, most of the artwork criticisms and the over-focusness of certain names and directions in each episodes would start to decay it's quality. (Much in the same way the over-exposure of most fairy tales have degraded the morality of the lessons to the point that they become obvious "boring" tales.)

Since Super Cruel is enough of a niche series, the above worry is irrelevant except I kind of do want it to be more famous and I kind of hope more people review this and raise this series' popularity which is why I'm sharing this review even though there is already a reviewer who rated the series highly and the series isn't that obscure in Google searches and it's also included in one Amazon review of a different but similarly themed book which is how I discovered this series..

Link of the review:

http://www.amazon.com/review/R23ABSF3VDV1FK/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R23ABSF3VDV1FK

...but with sites like OneManga shutting down, it is going to be much harder searching for these jewels unless you're highly connected to an otaku community (which I wasn't) so this is one of those series where I'm very conscious of my review for fear that instead of making you want to check out this series, I end up overhyping the whole thing and in turn you become disappointed and no longer feel this is a series worth sharing at all.

I guess what I mean by all of the above is that there are some series on par with The Dark Knight for Hollywood movies that a lot of people would want to share with their buddies and then there are series that are just on par with Citizen Kane that it's one of those movies that "has" to be on top not because it's always going to be entertaining to all generations of movie watchers but because the substance, the subject matter, the presentation, the detail --- it's like a historical book that just shouldn't be covered up especially since a manga series tends to have less respect than a philosopher's book on Project Gutenberg. This is just the type of series that needs this exposure so if after checking the manga and you found my 10 review to be overrated, I hope you replace this with a 1 or a 2 or an 8...whatever number that will make you enjoy the seiries because I think this series is too important to be overshadowed by more "entertaining" series and I feel all people around the world deserves the chance to know about this series so that at least those who can be best inspired by this series may at least hopefully find the incentive to search for this once these "instant previewable easy to skim" Manga sites are taken down and the only way to preview a book is to buy it or download it via some other illegal manner because again, regardless of how redundant this point is, I really feel this series has to be exposed more especially in this juncture of time. The view in this series is too under-represented right now especially outside the non-otaku community that until this series is more exposed this is one of those important series (not just for manga but for all of literature) that this needs to keep getting a 10 until the lessons of these stories start to feel second nature to most of the world.

First off I'd like to say something... I CAN'T BELIEVE THIS IS NOT HENTAI. Okay, moving on... do you like taking baths? You might enjoy this. Also, it has HAREM in the title, so expect one.

STORY:
MC buys a slave. From chapter 2 it was heavily stressed that the girl is okay with being a sex slave. He falls in love with her and bathes her a lot and ofc they have lots of sex. Oh I forgot that they do a bit of adventuring every now and then.

ART:
Bruh, this feels like hentai. I even forgot that there was a plot. It's how good it is.

CHARACTER:
Generic thirsty MC with a fetish of giving baths. Slave girl is submissive.

ENJOYMENT:
Idek how I reached 25 chapters. It must be from the thicc plot.

OVERALL:
6/9. Jk. You might enjoy this if you are looking to pad your manga stats without having to hide it from others as it's not labelled as hentai.

Story:

For 22 chaps (which is short of me) the story does well. It seems to end abruptly, but there's enough closure for a spin to a series to like, but you'd have to be familiar with the main story to understand some of what's going on.

What I don't like the most is it's one of those stories that "hints" a "never ending battle" type-thing. Like a "This time may be called upon us again" thing. I'm one of those people highly annoyed by that. I'm putting this here for future reader's sake, in case you're one like me.

Art:

One of the best! Everyone's design is very sleek and sexy looking! I like the female school uniforms, Kaworu's uniform and the details on the landscapes.

Characters:

Asuka has very similar issues as she does in the main series, but Shinji's issues have a surprising twist to them, I say in a good way. You certainly wouldn't except what goes down in this series if you're very attached to the original.

There isn't any sure "closure" with Rei's character, unlike some of the other mains of the series, but it's still a cuteness to it.

What I enjoy most is it's a series that doesn't try to force Shinji into picking between Asuka and Rei. The series more allows for Asuka and Rei to pick HIM.

Don't expect anything to happen different with Kaworu in this. Just like other series, because he's an angel he'll get close to Shinji, but then "disappears".

I enjoy seeing a more confident Shinji running around with a gun! He's not all "*sob* OH LAWD WHY?! *sob*" all the time.

Enjoyment:

I've seen a good share of EVA spin offs now, and it's better -- It's just better. The fact that is has more focus than Shinji, Asuka, Rei, (and sometimes Kaworu, even tho we know it won't happen) love conflict going on makes it better.

Overall:

If you're interested in seeing the NGE characters in a fantasy action with not as much psychological impact, and drawn all sexy you'll enjoy this!

If all you enjoy is the comedy factor of Shinji, Asuka, Rei, Kaworu love conflict you'll hate it, because in this it doesn't exist.

Well to start off. this is my first review and i'm pretty lazy with my work so ill just give you the gist of everything. The start of the anime was interesting, PLENTY of fanservice and all the characters seem interesting. Sadly this was all cut short by the fricken rushed/ terrible ending as well as the manga being axed. this is possible the only reason as to why my score is what it is. It deserves better but that is the reality and harsh life of the manga/anime world. It was just sadly wasted manga as it had so much more room to grow but if only they had made a second chance im pretty sure everyone would be hooked. The humor is also a light touch to the story but like i said, the ending sadly ruins it all even though its not even the writer's fault. I suggest this anime if you're into some fanservice harem with a touch of comedy.

Story: 7
Art: 8
Character: 7
Enjoyment: 8
Overall: 8
I really enjoyed this anime despite the piteous ending.