lamsar503's manga / #fantasy(10)

Chinese RAWS: http://m.kuman55.com/16793/ I enjoy this comic, but I must say that the novel on which it is based is sooooo long. (;_;) I'm on something like chapter 900 out of something like 1,700 and Merlin and Alice still haven't confessed to each other. Even though they know how they themselves feel about the other person. And (***SPOILER**** they have a kid accidentally. By magic basically.) Anyway: The super OP ML (the Demon King, Merlin, who is bad with money, wants to be lazy, and is suffering from some sort of life-threatening curse) abdicates his throne after his "boss battle" with the FL (a relatively weak but spirited and virtuous fighter representing the church). Some time after their parting of ways that followed their decisive battle (where FL was totally swatted down like a bug by the ML), the two find themselves brought back together by various twists of fate, and kept together due to shared financial debts. Overall, it's a cute story, and the main characters are fairly likable. The romance element between the two characters is developing veeerrrrry slowly, but it is still enjoyable. Also, the FL is continuing to grow stronger, which is fun to watch develop.

Dropped this; stopped reading at chapter 206. It is just too monotonous. The characters never learn or grow in any way and the drama is just boring. All that plus the ethically/morally reprehensible elements make this a "no-go" for me. A fairly typical Chinese soap opera style comic. Basically, an emperor in his mid 30s falls in love with a 12 (maybe younger) year old girl that he found on the street and adopted. They both die; the king reincarnates while the adopted princess' soul transmigrates to the future. She conveniently (?) transmigrates into the body of the wife of the reincarnated emperor. Oh, and they both look identical to their "original selves", minus a haircut for the guy that makes him look like a sheep. Then proceeds the development of a love (?) story between a guy in his mid 30s and his wife (he hated the old soul, but likes the "new" one in his wife's body), who has the mentality of an uneducated 14 year old girl...whom he convinces to get pregnant. I read chinese soap opera comics with a hefty amount of mindfulness regarding the fact that there will inevitably be glaring cultural differences and values that grate my tolerance (such as the attitudes toward rape, love, women, gender roles, abortion, domestic abuse, violence, honor, etc.). Even so, I find myself thinking that if I never read another page of this story again I wouldn't ever think twice about it.

Pacing is way too fast, characters are superficial, story is nothing special. There's decent art, but nothing really noteworthy here.

The original story about Katarina a.k.a "Bakarina". It's one of the better spins on the "I was reincarnated as the villainess in an otome game" story trope. Bakarina's only focus in life is to strategically prepare for (and avoid completely if possible) her own doom as it was written in the otome game she played in her previous life. Comedy ensues when her air-headed nature, limited common sense, and hyper-focus on her survival goals directly results in an ever-growing mixed gender harem, but she doesn't recognize that for even a single second. Meanwhile, the people in the harem do realize what's happening and vie against each other at just the right amount to still maintain their friendships and create a funny atmosphere without any angst. Overall, it's a really well balanced, light-hearted story considering it is primarily about a girl doing all she can to avoid being executed, murdered, or banished...even if that requires learning how to be a farmer and make fake snake toys.

Seems interesting so far. There's not much to it yet, but maybe after another 100 short chapters it'll get somewhere. But, I gotta say, I do wish that the ML would keep his mask on. I don't know where the ML's face from the cover went, but it'd be nice if he actually looked that way in the comic. -- I mean, he's obviously not a monster, but he has the face of a kid somewhere between the ages of 8-14 years old depending on which chapter you're reading (even though he's 22 by the time you see it). Yeah, the face of a sparkly-eyed 8 year old on a adult man's buff, warrior body kinda ruins it for me. I wish the illustrator could learn from the ML in "Beatrice". That right there is a *fine* example of a hot, beautiful, but still "masculine" man in both face and body.

The daughter of the god of the netherworld falls in love at first sight with the god of war. She pursues him only to discover that he is about to face a heavenly trial to increase his divinity by going through 3 mortal lives. She asks her uncle, the Jade Emperor of the deities to allow her to follow him through his 3 mortal lives and is granted permission to do so. The first life she spends raising the reincarnated god of war in a chinese-style/cultivation-martial arts themed world (which is apparently not Earth, based on later chapters). She retained her memories and superhuman abilities while he had no memories of being a god. For the second life, set in modern times on Earth, she accidentally wound up reincarnating as a male, and the god of war as a female. They meet in high school. She (now a he) has her memories and has to figure out if the god of war (now a she) still has his. As of chapter 53, they have just had the drink of oblivion (which wipes all memories of the immortal realm upon rebirth) and have entered the portals to descend to the last mortal realm setting for their final trial. I really enjoyed this more than I expected to. I'm looking forward to more. the novel: https://www.royalroad.com/fiction/6107/three-lifetimes-completed