I had such high hopes for this manga, and it unfortunately missed the mark for me.
Most fans of this manga tend to simp for this character "Sato", the main villain of this manga. Understandably, the scenes featuring the main villain (Sato) are incredibly breathtaking, but it did not do enough to change my stance on how I much enjoyed the story---where I have a bias of weighting the overarching narrative over a single character's beautiful performance.
ART/ACTION: EXQUISITE/10 (was 9/10 and became a 10/10 once the new author wanted to go more batshit insane with the scenes)
PLOT: LOST TRACTION/10 (was 8/10 became 3/10)
CHARACTERS: NOBODY CARES ABOUT THEM/10 (was 6/10 to 3/10) Rationale: because in the new direction, the author doesn't bother fleshing them anymore, introspection-wise---at first I cared but the more it went on the more the inconsistencies in behavior was baffling, so I stopped caring since the new author also stopped caring.
Recommendations:
- It is like Solo Levelling, if you don't mind the plot losing its way/steam, you'll SUPER DUPER ENJOY IT.
- If you love western comics/movies, you'll loooove the SFX!
Unfortunately, that ain't enough to make me enjoy it. As my enjoyment and reasons to read do not come from the visual. Things feel like a mess, with the amount of actions weighing over the other types of sequences. (It started more or less metaphysical then went full on action---not the best type of transition) For me, a few cool action scenes was fine. But then it tried to engulf me with a buffet of them, I had to puke them all out. (I do enjoy series with lots of actions like Blue Lock and 4 Cut Hero; so it is not that I hate action; but the problem is, this series' other facets than actions are just LACKING. Lacking to the point thatt I can't enjoy it anymore)... Think of it like this, there's this restaurant, serving this 5-star course meal, and you are invited to attend everyday. HOWEVER, you only get the dessert, while yummy, YOU CAN ONLY EAT THE SAME TYPE OF DESSERT EVERYDAY... Some people can do it, eating the best dessert ever on a daily basis, but not everyone. And unfortunately, I'm not one of these people.
After reading by some commenters where it is said that the author has quit the story halfway and relegated to the artist (new author stand-in), I can totally see it. Hard agree with @exo_genesis' review. The parts where the cool Sato sequences ain't in the are just a boring snoooozefest (after the story direction change occurred)
I think the disappointing score is mostly the expectations set for the change of style/direction of the story. I found the initial premise fascinating and wanted to stick with it, but it didn't deliver due to the change in staff.
Why did I give it such a score? Because if we were to convert this story to a novel version, without the outstanding visuals, it will become bland and flop. However, the good thing is that the manga medium allows the good parts of this series shine. I'll probably enjoy this series as much just by framing the cool scenes as posters, make a cool YouTube video with matching beats and AMV. Like this, you'll only get to enjoy the best part of the series without the middling part. You get the good parts of this manga now? It can exist as a standalone WITHOUT IT BEING A MANGA IN THE FIRST PLACE.
(Perhaps, an artbook can work too...)
