Yh so I'm ngl this was an annoying read. TLDR of my essay: Albert and Asha's "love" for eo is uncompelling, the action (the Davis dude trying to kill them plot) of the story is uncompelling and massive power gaps in relationships r annoying (this one is a personal opinion).
First of all, even tho Albert says to himself "oh *I* like Asha and it's not bc of Arden" it clearly is. He (Albert) is originally attracted to Asha bc of Arden's influence and we even see him being compelled to love and obey him by his past self. Then, we're not rlly shown any real reason y Albert (current self) would fall for Asha outside of his past self's influence. Tbh, if it was properly developed it could've been an interesting plot point (current self's autonomy from past self's identity) but atm it's more of a tell don't show situation.
The same goes for Asha loving Albert, which I find even less believable. Asha is clearly attached principally to Arden. The only reason he allows the other Blake family members around him is to use them as replacements for Arden and we also see him thinking that Albert is rlly similar to Arden, which is also the point Asha becomes more affectionate towards Albert. Now obviously, Albert is Arden to an extent, but since the author decided to go down the route of them not finding out Albert is a reincarnation of Arden, it feels like Asha is also just using him as a replacement, albeit a higher quality one. Even in Asha's dialogue w his imagination of Arden's ghost, when he asks if he can love someone else, the answer is yes bc Albert is similar to him (Arden). So despite the claim that Asha loves Albert independently of his past self, it's also a tell don't show situation.
The "tangible" plot itself, i.e. the actual action, is also pretty lackluster. Literally, Albert tries to kill Asha --> Albert doesn't want to kill him anymore bc love (I'd insert the sparkle emoji but I'm scared it'll delete the text after) --> smut --> random evil dude wants revenge --> random evil dude "kills" Asha and Albert --> wow, SHoCkingLy Asha is immune to silver --> random evil dude gets killed --> Albert gets turned into a vampire --> the end. I'm not going to harp on this too much, since the manhwa is short, but it still is so anticlimactic to kill characters only to bring them back immediately and v predictably. Honestly, the time spent on this 4th act drama could've just been used to develop the emotional plot between Albert and Asha instead, which would've been enough for a 15 chapter story.
Lastly, is a personal gripe of mine w big power gaps in relationships and while it's not an objective assessment of the story, I'm still gonna mention it bc I find it rlly annoying. Albert literally has no one left in his life not tied to Asha who would also take his side instead of Asha's. His father isolated him from a young age bc of his obsession w Asha and then in turn, Albert is basically brain washed by his past self to love and obey Asha. Albert is also Asha's servant and is turned into a vampire by Asha (idk if it's the case in this story, but usually vampires can mind control the ones they turn, but either way Asha as a pure blood is stronger than Albert). So, what we've ended up w is isolation from other ppl, couples w a gap in emotional intensity, strength, wealth and a master x servant relationship. Ik relationships can't be 100% equal and idm some elements of inequality but when one character is at such a disadvantage it makes me stop rooting for the relationship.
Yh so I'm ngl this was an annoying read. TLDR of my essay: Albert and Asha's "love" for eo is uncompelling, the action (the Davis dude trying to kill them plot) of the story is uncompelling and massive power gaps in relationships r annoying (this one is a personal opinion).
First of all, even tho Albert says to himself "oh *I* like Asha and it's not bc of Arden" it clearly is. He (Albert) is originally attracted to Asha bc of Arden's influence and we even see him being compelled to love and obey him by his past self. Then, we're not rlly shown any real reason y Albert (current self) would fall for Asha outside of his past self's influence. Tbh, if it was properly developed it could've been an interesting plot point (current self's autonomy from past self's identity) but atm it's more of a tell don't show situation.
The same goes for Asha loving Albert, which I find even less believable. Asha is clearly attached principally to Arden. The only reason he allows the other Blake family members around him is to use them as replacements for Arden and we also see him thinking that Albert is rlly similar to Arden, which is also the point Asha becomes more affectionate towards Albert. Now obviously, Albert is Arden to an extent, but since the author decided to go down the route of them not finding out Albert is a reincarnation of Arden, it feels like Asha is also just using him as a replacement, albeit a higher quality one. Even in Asha's dialogue w his imagination of Arden's ghost, when he asks if he can love someone else, the answer is yes bc Albert is similar to him (Arden). So despite the claim that Asha loves Albert independently of his past self, it's also a tell don't show situation.
The "tangible" plot itself, i.e. the actual action, is also pretty lackluster. Literally, Albert tries to kill Asha --> Albert doesn't want to kill him anymore bc love (I'd insert the sparkle emoji but I'm scared it'll delete the text after) --> smut --> random evil dude wants revenge --> random evil dude "kills" Asha and Albert --> wow, SHoCkingLy Asha is immune to silver --> random evil dude gets killed --> Albert gets turned into a vampire --> the end. I'm not going to harp on this too much, since the manhwa is short, but it still is so anticlimactic to kill characters only to bring them back immediately and v predictably. Honestly, the time spent on this 4th act drama could've just been used to develop the emotional plot between Albert and Asha instead, which would've been enough for a 15 chapter story.
Lastly, is a personal gripe of mine w big power gaps in relationships and while it's not an objective assessment of the story, I'm still gonna mention it bc I find it rlly annoying. Albert literally has no one left in his life not tied to Asha who would also take his side instead of Asha's. His father isolated him from a young age bc of his obsession w Asha and then in turn, Albert is basically brain washed by his past self to love and obey Asha. Albert is also Asha's servant and is turned into a vampire by Asha (idk if it's the case in this story, but usually vampires can mind control the ones they turn, but either way Asha as a pure blood is stronger than Albert). So, what we've ended up w is isolation from other ppl, couples w a gap in emotional intensity, strength, wealth and a master x servant relationship. Ik relationships can't be 100% equal and idm some elements of inequality but when one character is at such a disadvantage it makes me stop rooting for the relationship.