It subverted all the tired tropes of the shounen genre without making it any less fun. IUpdate after reading all the volumes:
*sigh* This was amazing.
It subverted all the tired tropes of the shounen genre without making it any less fun. I especially liked that none of the fight-scenes were unnecessarily extended beyond a chapter. While I love action in itself, its tiring to read through chapter after chapter of boring ass action sequences which without any character or narrative development. Tatsuki Fujimoto kept them short, exciting and crisp, very reminiscent of Attack on Titan. Its truly nothing like I have ever read before though there are very obvious inspirations, Fujimoto really made this story his own in every way possible.
And don't even get me started on the underlying political themes of the systemic abuse of the lower class and their literal commodification as a weapon. "Nuanced" does not even begin to cover it - I was pleasantly blown away by how thoughtful and full of empathy the story ended up being. It is deceptively juvenile with its in-your-face barf and turd jokes (which actually quite funny sometimes) - this childish veneer hides a profound depth. There isn't a single uninteresting character and honest-to-god the best villain I have ever read about. Thanos and Light Yagami wished they were this villain. They were just *chef's kiss*.
I went from "not invested enough in the characters" to "I would die for these idiots" in the spam of like 4 volumes. Denji, Aki and Power have all my heart and I just want them to be happy, eating unhealthy fast food.
=========================
This was fun, undoubtedly. I am all for insane and juvenile plots but while the action was extremely well done, the comedy was lacking. Since comedy is subjective I think anyone who ever liked One-Punch man will enjoy if not love this.
I have read 4 volumes of this and I don't think I will be continuing because I am just not invested enough in the characters or the story.
Merged review:
Update after reading all the volumes:
*sigh* This was amazing.
It subverted all the tired tropes of the shounen genre without making it any less fun. I especially liked that none of the fight-scenes were unnecessarily extended beyond a chapter. While I love action in itself, its tiring to read through chapter after chapter of boring ass action sequences which without any character or narrative development. Tatsuki Fujimoto kept them short, exciting and crisp, very reminiscent of Attack on Titan. Its truly nothing like I have ever read before though there are very obvious inspirations, Fujimoto really made this story his own in every way possible.
And don't even get me started on the underlying political themes of the systemic abuse of the lower class and their literal commodification as a weapon. "Nuanced" does not even begin to cover it - I was pleasantly blown away by how thoughtful and full of empathy the story ended up being. It is deceptively juvenile with its in-your-face barf and turd jokes (which actually quite funny sometimes) - this childish veneer hides a profound depth. There isn't a single uninteresting character and honest-to-god the best villain I have ever read about. Thanos and Light Yagami wished they were this villain. They were just *chef's kiss*.
I went from "not invested enough in the characters" to "I would die for these idiots" in the spam of like 4 volumes. Denji, Aki and Power have all my heart and I just want them to be happy, eating unhealthy fast food.
=========================
This was fun, undoubtedly. I am all for insane and juvenile plots but while the action was extremely well done, the comedy was lacking. Since comedy is subjective I think anyone who ever liked One-Punch man will enjoy if not love this.
I have read 4 volumes of this and I don't think I will be continuing because I am just not invested enough in the characters or the story....more
This is dark academia at its best. Absolutely delicious and beautifully written - I was surprised by how intensely psychological this book was. I alsoThis is dark academia at its best. Absolutely delicious and beautifully written - I was surprised by how intensely psychological this book was. I also like how much this toed the line between fantasy and science-fiction. Not to be missed.
If you like The Folk of the Air series by Holly Black you will love this....more
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