Meridian's manga / #DNF(14)

I tried so hard to keep reading for the MC. His motivations were perfect, trying to get back his wife and daughter. It made everything he did so meaningful. Then the way he connected to the side character and treated him like a younger brother was wholesome and such a strong bond! What I couldn't deal with was the pacing. So many fights happen where I just feel bored, we get so much information that doesn't push the plot forward (just throwing fluff at us). Like I don't care about anything other than MC getting his family back and I just want to skip to the end and see if it happened or not.

DNF Chapter 14 Some cute moments from the ML and wonderful art but waaaay too much of the 'oh no, I couldn't possibly change anything from the original story' mindset. Like, do you view the people around you as human beings or dolls? Because OBVIOUSLY if you change how people grow up they're gonna act differently later on in life. The worst trope is when two people are so clearly in love but aren't together yet because MC can't convince themselves that the story isn't set in stone. For me, it's like the misunderstanding trope, an easy way to add conflict that's really just lazy writing. ★

The drawing style and story were a mess. MC felt super passive/useless and none of the characters were interesting.

MC is the kind of FL that's overly 'good'. The kind that in other novels is a white lotus bitch and just cries all the time while being a nuisance. She's overly trusting and optimistic to the point she seems stupid rather than kind. Honestly, I liked the villain better until she became another one of the FLs sidekicks because she 'forgave' her. ML is basic and FL is straight up annoying, the only good thing about this novel were her magic powers and the fact that she transformed into different animals. 1/5

Got bored. Too many mind games/misunderstandings instead of actually developing the plot or characters.I don't think I'd mind if everything moved at a faster pace. EDIT: after reading spoilers I'm so glad I dropped it. She kills him but only after being in a coma for hundreds of years and he becomes a zombie?? Psych it's not a romance just a weird tragedy.

Relies too much on miscommunication to move the plot for me. I also wasn't a fan of how overly indecisive the MC was, like it's fine to struggle to make a choice but let's not pretend like the options themselves aren't super fucking obvious. Either you like someone and want to be with them or you don't, choose and act on it instead of leading people on or hurting them. Even if outside factors are the reason, accept it, explain it, and get over or do something about it.

Too unserious for me, using language like ikr or tbh to make it 'relatable' and 'funny' when it just pulled me out of the experience. Also, MC was just a fucking doormat the whole time. She never took the initiative to do anything, it was always literally paved for her by her brothers or an event happening to her. I didn't need her to be a badass in every moment but I did just want her to have a spine. ML was just annoying, I want her to punch him in the face and cuss him out instead of them getting together, honestly. ★

Dropped. Well drawn but MC doesn't like to use common sense and gets himself into so much trouble that could've been avoided. I like yandere MLs, but this one is toxic to the point that their relationship together just makes me sad rather than happy. The first villain also lives waaaay too long. He basically tortures the MC, using blackmail so they can't kill him, only for them to kill him later anyways. It made it feel like they suffered the whole time for nothing. MC is 'innocent', 'kind', and 'naive', to the point of being annoying. Like a pick-me or white lotus. Ultimately hurting others because they're so stuck on being kind, making things worse, and then crying when shit actually happened.

Nope nope nope. ML straight-up SA's MC, not whoops I got drunk, not I was drugged, not dubcon, just gross pain. He's an actually terrifying person that fights for a living, using his physical demeanor as a weapon against MC at every moment. MC is a vulnerable person that got taken advantage of, then was pressured with fear to stay in a 'relationship' with ML. Sometimes I don't mind when MLs are rude, and I just look forward to their regret arc and then redemption. Not here. I just want ML to go to jail and MC to find someone who deserves him.