noah's manga / #4. Incredible/Great(78)

135

Refreshing take on the reincarnation trope, not romance but more friendship. I love the art style and how despite the violence it stays elegant. MC is actually strong and engaging. The mystery is great. I can’t wait for the next part.

58. One of the best manga I’ve ever read. Maomao is realistic—she doesn’t follow the usual “she’s not like the other girls” trope. She uses makeup to fend off predators and doesn’t always reveal the truth because of the empathy she has for others like her who are disposable. She doesn’t have the usual female prodigy cliche where if a girl is good at something, she has to be tortured and oblivious. Maomao is oblivious in the name of reality and she’s perceptive of others around her. Despite this, she still manages to be smart and entertaining and that is why this manga works. But the downside of this is that given its setting, there is themes of p*dophia and pros*itution which are fine if done right. But the story with Maomao’s mother and the empress dowager, it feels like it justifies some of the stories. Like the former emperor was a pe*do with mommy issues, let’s not make it seem like he wasn’t a terrible person. This is one of my favorite series because it has a good balance of realism and plot, but sometimes the romantic nature of it glorifies the wrong things.

94. Love this actually. It has the usual misunderstanding strokes you see in shoujo but they get cleared up quickly. FL starts off weepy and grows to be a very strong character and ML comes out of his shell too. It’s á introvert x extrovert situation.