pluckaduck's manga / #historical(100)

decent

bruh im on ch 45 and the tag "war hero takes a child, etc etc" completely spoiled the plot twist, if it's true. don't put the plot points in the tags. on the other hand, i love how immersive yet informative of the story. it's not told in an info dump type of way, and it's entertaining. the action is quite good, the stakes are pretty high, and the few comedic moments are so funny. the antagonists are so interesting as well, the samurai who wish to recreate a war, the lieutenant who wants to take over hokkaido, and the other convicts with tattooed skin, their plotlines interwoven together by the allure of gold... it's a really goddamn good story. ch 72. LMAO this entire chapter was bizarrely hilarious. who comes up with 'psychopaths bonding over shared hobby of stitching human flesh together into clothing'? there's even a catwalk scene LOL. not to mention a few chapter back about the gay couple?? that was absolutely peak comedy. ch 120. ok the author's either bi, or he just like men's bodies. the scene where the guys got all sexually aroused because of the sea otter meat's smoke? and the sauna scene where the men's muscular bodies were on full display?? jesus damn I'm not complaining tho.

multiple times i contemplated dropping this story; it's unnecessarily pretentious, dramatic, and lyrical. some dialogue felt awkward and cringe bc they talk as if they're in some dramatic play. some plot points, like Augusta being the villain, and women cain loved: meridiana and emmiline, are undeveloped and poorly written. several characters, like ida and celeste, end up unimportant despite their interesting designs and their character info are shortened to brief info dumps in dialogue. and are we not going to talk about how oscar keeps flirting with a 10-yr with whom he shares at least a 7 yr difference? and they even got married??? the pacing is weird and the build-up is horrible; in general, it feels messy and crammed and needs to be longer. however, i do like how developed cain and riff's relationship is; they definitely feel like soulmates. and the biblical and other classics's references is interesting.

made me cry a bit when tenka was executed. love their relationships. it's pretty short, but wraps up nicely

i think this has one of the best and most grounded take on the found family trope with a lot of nuanced charas. at first, they all were using each other and are uninterested in each other's past and stories, but bc of masa'a entry, that gradually changed to the point they will all leave together to accompany yaichi. the art is ngl messy, but it kinda adds to the charm? also the fact that matsu is in love with yaichi? i think that should be touched upon? ...or maybe that's just a mistranslation.

it has a lot of tropes i like-- smart mc (although mc is a bit mary sue), harem, POLITICS, and various chara dynamics and banter. even without reading the novel, i know a lot of detail is being left out in the manhua bc a lot of the scenes's transitions feel very awkward, and it messes up the flow of the story a lot and breaks my immersion. the art is pretty, but it's only good for 'fan art' level of art, not made for storytelling, bc of the framing and camera shots and general flow. the facial expressions and poses sometimes felt incongruent with the dialogue and scene. for example, panels of a single chara showing an emotion/reaction are confusing bc it was incongruent with the previous panel and/or the emphasis was all wrong. they also need to explain how mc gets his knowledge, like the pencillin thing? felt that should be important enough to tie back to mc's character. i enjoy the dynamics of mc and his love interests; some are problematic, but well, i already turned my brain off. but if there is one thing that i find disconcerting, it's mc's age-- he's 17 yo at the start bro. HE'S 17 YO. yet these old men keep lusting after him and flirting with him (talking about the guard and prince of yu). i know age of adulthood is different in ancient china, but christ, why couldn't he be at least 20 yo before the older mls start liking him?? also, i find it hilarious their kisses are censored, but not mc's nipples lol.

i wonder if every historical GL will have most of the male cast as POS. this is the second story I've read with that sort of dynamic.

cute and poignant story

great great magnificant art, but lets be honest: the pacing and progression is messy asf. i wish the mangaka put more care into the storyline, characterization (except for Marie-joseph) as he did for the art. the art carried. also, probably the only manga where naked guys hugging each other, guys kissing each other is completely platonic... *cue regretful sigh*. also, marie-joseph is really hot. she ended up being the chara readers rooted for the most, and henri-whatever's chara arc is sooo disappointing. I'm glad he recalled his dream again, and stopped being a total ass, but it's not a very high bar. his sudden change to supporting the revolutionaries was also confusing, and i thought it should've been delved into. but i suppose if the manga was trying to be historically accurate, there's only so much the author can do in his characterizations... even tho it felt so random.

beautiful, and an insightful take based on the executioner's family in medieval France. i loved the themes in the manga, about liberty, women's rights(wrongs lol), the social inequalities and injustice, the excessive opulence of nobility, and the inescapable dirty swamp that is being born in the bloodline of an executioner's family. the charas felt fleshed out, and altho henri-whatever's chara development was very disappointing, it was realistic and ties to one of the themes: that men are pigs who think with their crotches. marie-joseph tho... my feelings for her oscillated between like and dislike, and she certainly made my straight ass sweat, but she's ultimately the most admirable chara of the entire cast who stuck with her beliefs. my complaints is that i felt Marie Antoinette's change of feelings for her is very jarring; how and why did she suddenly dislike and disdain her all of a sudden? there is no explanation for this sudden change from admiring/loving her? there is a huge gap in her chara arc. second) if alain was gonna be a huge influence in marie, he really shouldn't have been introduced in less than 5 chapters just to get killed off. his addition felt so random.