pluckaduck's manga / #dark(43)

story was interesting at first. the plot was messy, but the mc's characterization was solid. the other side cast's characterization was decent (such as Ivan, midwinter, may, miranda, macalo) and def could be explored, and there was other side charas introduced that could've been relevant later (but never was). the overarching plot was slowly but steadily unfolding, introducing new plotlines. but at some point, somewhere in the middle, it all went down the drain. like, it's obvious the author did not care about the story anymore. miranda's characterization and redemption was speedrunned; in fact, the flashback in which it showed how she was shot and captured is inconsistent with the first chapter. like when she was reintroduced into the story, it was with a sudden flashback trying to explain she isn't an entirely horrible person, she just didn't know how to love her kid, etc. it should've been a slow and gradual pace with flashbacks of her time as a mother, which would've made her growth cathartic and eventual death actually bittersweet. midwinter, the mysterious antagonist who was promised to be interesting was dealt with so anticlimatically, and the overarching conflict was trashed along with midwinter's character. so many questions and potential plotlines unresolved, such as the mystery surrounding the death of bacchus, what happened to may, what happened to the children macalo befriended and the rest of the experimented children and her weird doctor, what happened to the hitman organization, who the fuck is midwinter, etc etc. and this is just the first arc. you can tell in the exact scene that the author just gave up on their manga, which was when midwinter just plainly states his ambition in his thought bubble; it was honestly jarring since before he and his intentions were covered in mystique and the story was steadily unwrapping them, but now it's just revealed so suddenly? i really should've dropped it there. but like i said, i like mc's characterization, but with the rapid pace of developments, the decline of quality writing is inevitable. his chara growth was absolutely shit. given his background and fucked up mind, it doesnt make any sense why he was so in love with katy. she is said to be important to him (he claims she is his everything), but it never fleshed out her chara and their relationship, hence her death lacked the gravitas it tried to convey. and what happened to his murderous predisposition, after his mother died? that is never addressed again. anyway, with how the story ended, with a bunch of loose ends and new journey for mc, it's possible the author may come back to the story again.

to be frank, i did not like this manga. it was however engaging and the protagonist was realistic in the sense that she is still as weak-minded as the first chapter and had no growth, even after becoming skinny, which is a sad reality for a lot of people. she's kinda unlikable and pathetic, but everyone else was pretty shitty and weird.