axelmania's manga / #seinen(394)

this shouldnt be my kind of thing, but what can i say, its really funny. ive saved so many expressions the characters make as reaction images. as always theres a lot to wonder about worlds like this. where are the trans people? why is everything so conveniently falling into place?? but if you can get past the het its a good time.

not sure if this is gonna be good trans rep or not but i guess well see..

the art style looks cool..

beyond the "haha look hes smart not trash" moe, the heart at the center of this manhwa seems to be the protagonists compassion for others hiding behind his self-centeredness. its just not enough meat for me, because the relationships are shallow and operating at level 1 reverse harem shoujo capacity. the protags weakness so far doesnt make it very action-packed either! im probably gonna keep reading this but its only okay.

a story obsessed with stories, with the central premise that we really do need them to survive-- even if creating them means the continuation of tragedy. you wouldnt know it from the beginning but this turns out to have a ton of gay subtext. the reader and the original protagonist get treated like soulmates on a long path of mutual pining, so look forward to it. im not really a fan of hopeless apocalypse settings where humanity unanimously chooses to kill rather than to cooperate. however, the writing in this is superb, and the art in this manhua adaptation really brings it to life. the careful machinations of the protagonist are exciting, and so is the way he tries to supplement his weaknesses with the strengths of the other characters. its maddening and yet all too natural how quickly trust and friendship between characters can be cut down in an instant. luckily it can sometimes be rebuilt, but too many mistakes can only lead to death. i can tell now that dungeon reset is amusingly almost a parody of this series. it is also cool how women are just as powerful as men, with plenty of scary heroes and villains alike.