apopoi's manga / #fantasy(202)

I like it. It's a nice read. I like how the MC is shaped by his time as a graduate, as is mentioned in every page. I like the connections he made, and he seems to be a good person at heart. His choice of friends is also very applaudable. The immense mana, one in a talent thing is not a first but I like how he focuses on the basics and unlike other MCs actually has no qualms with working hard. It's about that hustle man. The characters are still one-dimensional and there is no risk or life-threatening situations yet so maybe this isn't that type of manhwa. His family wasn't showcased..I am guessing that we will learn more about them as time goes on. The Wood spirit did say he resembled a Wardener lunatic from a hundred years ago in terms of his temperament and talent so you never know. Also I hope no love interest cuz authors can't juggle the two properly.

Ugh this became increasingly cliche as the plot progresses. I noticed this in other manhwas that involved this type of regression or dungeon-esque plot, is this a trend? I have to drop it, I can't waste my time reading this when there are so many hidden gems out there. It has potential but I was prepared after being disappointed with 'The beginning after the end'. That's something that makes me sad just thinking about it. I read upto Ch38. When he was a year old, that inner monologue he had that 'All I do is sleep, shit and eat' went semi-viral so I knew of it. Also when he protected his sister from that wild dog, I saw that on a YouTube short. I cringed from it and I am still cringing now tbh.

How inspiring. This made me change my outlook on this genre, it invokes such emotions out of the readers (me). Normally, when I read a series that I really like.. I just consume it at light-speed, binging it but I was not anxious at all while reading this. I wanted to savour it and sometime halt my reading so that I could ponder on the things that is being conveyed to us by the author through the characters. The MC is such a good and kind person (upto where I read). He started from the bottom and worked tirelessly to where he is now, a trait that is common. Yet what separates him from other MCs that fall into this category is his dedication to stay true, to be humble, to not end up emotionless, numb and apathetic to the plight of others. He goes through such lengths for others and when they show gratitude toward him, that is enough to give him happiness and make him think that is the reason he died a hundred times for. The characters and their interaction with Gong-ja is unique in their own ways, some of my favorites are - the Sword Emperor and him : the former constantly hounding him, training him, advising him and being impressed by his will power and kindness while being dumbfounded by his tricks and bluff. The latter being tired of him yet listening to him but rebutting him as well. I also admire him telling off the Heavenly Demon on teaching him the sorrows of the world while he hasn't experienced the joy this world could offer, that time is too short even to experience joy. That he hasn't yet experienced love and has not even dated anyone yet. It showed me how much he cared for Gong-ja. He said it was too early for him to act like he was carrying the burden of the world when he hasn't experienced happiness. The Sword Saint and him : I still mourn the first timeline where Gong-ja expresses his true feelings about how he feels not worthy and being embarrassed to act like the bigger person in front of him and the Sword Saint being shocked and trying to match him up with his granddaughter (then getting angry when he seemed to be opposed to the idea), telling him where he should get his suit and being so warm towards him. Then that disappeared with Gong-ja dying and since he couldn't repeat the same actions (if he did, it would lose it's meaning and seem insincere, also Marcus would be able to see through his act). But their relationship has gotten better with him gaining his recognition although Gong-ja lied to him about being a prophet. The Witch and Gong-ja : I won't be mad if she were the love interest, I assumed her to be a bad person because of her introduction, with the Flame Emperor asking the Saint if she made her poison him, to old man Marcus doubting her as well. But she cares so deeply for the lives of people, the reason she was so lifeless and seemed apathetic was because of the hundreds of lives lost on the 12th floor, as the number of casualties changed.. So did her expressions. From beaming with happiness with only hundreds of lives lost, to being speechless with only fifty, then her eyes crinkling and tears flowing with ten then her holding Gong-ja's hand and praying while thanking him repeatedly when there were no lives lost. I love her, also her speech amping up the Aegim Empire soldiers then her failing to convince Gong-ja that it was her copying the politicians in Ukraine. Gong-ja also seem quite taken with her. And lastly, the Heavenly Demon and her disciple : This must be the most I have seen Gong-ja care for an individual, not to mention the lengths he went through to become her disciple from starving to death, dying from thirst etc seeing the trauma of those he killed to experiencing it himself, eating mud-cookies dried in the sun, to drinking contaminated water and so on. Him being sad when he couldn't fathom the duel between the Sword Emperor and her to her patiently teaching him. Him crying when she died, all of it moved me. Aaah! The 10th floor was brutal. The children dying unfairly, being burned to death, being trafficked.. I saw the scene on a YouTube short and being creeped out by the dolls and not understanding him playing hide-and-seek with them until I came across a comment explaining. That was when I saw Gong-ja in a different light. I also think that was when the Sword Emperor truly acknowledged him. I dropped this on seeing the first chapter not knowing that it was the story I saw on that short but seeing his envy and continuously saying the same shit 'I want to be like the Flame Emperor' was annoying me and made me feel a way that I didn't like. With him having his room be filled with newspapers about him, watching interviews of him.. He seemed so real and so miserable that I couldn't take it. This is why I need to practice how to see things through because this is a gem. I like him committing to kill himself 409 (?) times just to kill him, to eradicate the threat that his existence would bring. I am also looking forward to how this story progresses. Who are the six pillars? Who made the tower?

This single-handedly cured my exasperation of this genre. Most of it from male-leads but female-leads as well, everything felt formulaic so I guess I like how straightforward this manhwa is being. I don't like how the male lead sees people as chicks or underlings but he atleast has five people he cares for now : Ron, Master, his sister, Charlotte and the bulky crybaby. He spares no expense for them. The plot is generic at best and it follows the typical cultivation method of Chinese novels but in place of that is mana and sword aura. The MC still possess the skills he has but not as proficient as he used to be and the longevity is halved. I hope to see his sister as a brand new person after the trigger has been placed. Their father is trash, so fucking narrow-minded. He has his eldest child who has the potential to become a master in his grasp but because of his idiocy, their family fell into ruins. Just because she is a girl, she didn't inherit her family name(?) And became the plaything for the royal family. Her younger brother parades around young lords asking if they want to bed her just to gain their favour. Jack cares deeply for his sister but he is a realist and makes preparations for his sister's change. I think his Master is the one he cares for the most, his sister comes second probably then Ron probably. The last two are interchangeable. His master is such a fascinating woman and would be the usual MC for other manhwas I feel.

Aaahh! I thoroughly enjoyed this. If we were to rank mangas on the level of enjoyment it gave us, it would be a 10/10. The plot itself is not the forefront of the story, it's the characters, the gags, the side tangents, the impossible physics of it all. Everything is illogical, it is not realistic at all. The mass absurdity of everything is at such a level that u kind of leave all your apprehension behind and just enjoy it. The MC is 'One punch man' and 'Mob Psycho' mixed into one. The former because of the physical strength and the latter because of the character design. I am certain the author heavily draws inspiration from the two. The MC is OP as hell and grows at an unprecedented level, like he just powers up without any apparent reason. Even God is shocked at Mash for his strength. Cream buns are his lifeline and his subtle shade gives me life. Poking fun at other shounen mangas while at it is also another element that I appreciate. It is a parody afterall. Sister complex on steroids is essentially Lance. Like that bro breathes in air from his little sister, Anna. He has pins of his sister all over his body and gets literal whiplash when seeing her face. I do think Mash comes second to him with maybe the hot-blooded Dot following suit. Ah! Dot and his dynamic is worth exploring. At first I think Lance just puts up with him because of Mash so they always butt-heads with eo but when they fought the third brother, it was the moment Lance actually acknowledged him. "I will fight for your sister's sake as well", he said. The brothers are also interesting though they are one-dimensional. The first is the most interesting to me because he has a principle he follows, the second is just a nut-job with a bit of an inferiority complex (?), The third who btw looks the oldest, he looks like a typical middle-aged Japanese business man, is arguably the most insane one to me, he believes in Puddingology, creates potions sucking life and magic energy from people. Which is why Lance lost his cool since Anna suffered from that. The fourth..hmmm..who was it again? He escapes me..I guess he was the least memorable. Oh! He fought against the siblings..Raynes and Finn. The Fifth..Dominas was born in the same year as Mash and possess the most magic energy out of all the siblings...it doesn't mean he is the most powerful (just in terms of magic). What else? He has a bit of a redemption scene..he craved his father's love and would do anything to obtain it. So he was unsettled when he came across the kind of love that Mash and his pops had for eo. He envied them. He used his last magic energy he had left to stall for time for Mash's recovery. The pops isn't that interesting..did it say he is 75 years old now? Mash is only fifteen as of now so that's a big gap. Maybe that's also the reason he is so doting towards him, he scolds him but then easily forgives him when Mash seems like he regrets his actions. Mash never learns from it tho. He doesn't know if the door should be pulled or pushed up until now. If it were grounded in reality, I would worry that Mash would've had to see his pops die. Considering that he spends most of his time in the academy and only goes home during holidays, he doesn't have a lot of time together with his pops. The one who made Mash attend the academy coming to truly care for Mash was heartwarming indeed.

Well well well.. This is just a bundle of joy to read. The 100th life of the witch Lucy is none other than the prophesied priestess. There is the thing about the mentor of Lucy which gave her the seed to want to destroy the world. Then there is the person who pleaded with her not to destroy the world while poisoning her, she forgets all this. I'm sure it was intentional since that will make more sense. Currently on Ch4

I saw this from a YouTube short. The comments lured me in.. A toxic mom? Let's fucking go!!!! Update (27/8/23): It's not the best but it's readable. The MC is still childish but she isn't the typical 'reincarnated or regressor MC' so I can cut her some slack. The plot is a bit cliche and the dialogue cringy but it's fine. The mother is deplorable and the Emperor only sees his children as tools. Very stoic and no affection exists in his bones. The third prince is cute but man is he spoiled, I wanna beat his ass. The fourth princess is adorable af and Chloe is a naive lil child. The first prince is the most interesting of the Royal family, he surprisingly cares for the MC and seems irritated by his mom and uncle's schemes to make him the next Emperor. When he saw a hurt expression on his sister's normally prideful face, he was surprised then when she cut her hair, he assumes (wrongly) that a man made her this way and mumbles that he would make him pay. Btw I saw this in' Your Name' as well, when the MC cut her hair, her male friend assumes it was over a man. Is that a common misconception? The potential male leads are of course the og ML and the knight. The former is also fine, he has history with MC and liked her for a long time. I don't know how it went in the previous timeline but there is chemistry between the two, with only him being privy to the true feelings of the MC (when she wrote 'The Emperor is bald, he is wearing a wig, his ears are donkey ears' thinking that nobody would know the ancient language except her), he laughed quietly. And I like how that is in line with us seeing him for the first time in a library. He was also one of the potential engagement candidate for her. The knight and her are linked literally and can feel each other's bond (or maybe only she can?). I hate that the princess doesn't think twice about sacrificing an innocent just so she can cure her illness but whatever. Her speech to him was more personal and resonates more with me than the og MC's speech to him when he asked the reason for them choosing him. Well we all know that she will come to care for the two she calls "birds trapped in her cage". Right now I am leaning more towards the knight because he's so adorable. Also my favorite moment was when MC's maid showed him all her baby videos from her first walk to her first words to him because according to her 'no one can resist the princess' cuteness'. I like how it ties back to him finding solace in her from his terrible homelife with his insane father.

The MC is literally so normal and average. The trauma isn't even that deep, it feels like a children's book. I thought she would be more mature but she is mature for her current age 14 (not her real age that is 20+). Anyway Shelby likes her but she doesn't like him back. I hope that she doesn't come to like him, that's too weird. He is a literal child whom she saw grow up. Even now he is only 12 years old, anyway the story is going into the generic dense girl plot so whatever. The name Geoffrey for her brother was so out of the blue that I was amused.

This was so lovely. The MC is just lovely and so adorable, I hate her previous family. Why would u pamper your two sons yet neglect your one and only daughter to such a degree? Anyway I love her and her father's bond. I like that the maid was a bad person, it was a twist that I didn't expect. I just thought she had an eccentric personal since it's pretty common in this medium. I like Richard and the young priest, the narcissistic prince is adorable as well. I couldn't care less for the tsundere grandpa tho. He hurt our MC way too much. Richard and his dad share some twisted traits, maybe it runs in the family? Who knows? I like that the og MC and her get along. She was so happy when she called her "Unnie". Though her dad seemed displeased by it, I also love her dad's personality. I thought he liked her from the get go but it seems it was only an interest. After she risked her life for him to procure those berries, it was only then that he started to view her as his daughter. Also that speech by his wife was so touching. Maybe she is his daughter in some way? Wouldn't be surprised.

This is a dumpster fire. The plot is all over the place, the characters don't make sense and the translation is shit. I don't understand anything, it feels like the MC is oppressed by her incompetent parents yet seems to be the one running the duchy behind the scenes (or maybe they are a marquis household). It's confusing. Anyway the sister isn't as annoying as I thought she would be based on first impressions. The ML is not as influential as the mahwa makes him seem or maybe the author sucks ass at writing a coherent plot.