pretend i have a cool username's Topics (14)

Woops accidental downvote Me too for real I love this one so far!

From what I know the novels authors only other works are "How to deny the route" and this is the artists first official work besides a short anthology that wasn't bl

Really?? No wonder I like it sm TT both of the manhwa are cute and makes me wanna giggle till I die

Lolll I felt the same way the author definitely has a talent for making stories like that

Are you me? Cause same

Twinninggg

Ur username is so unique, I love it (╯°Д °)╯╧╧

Omg tyyy

fr they getting out of hand

Does anyone have any good Egyptian mythology inspired Manhwa recs? Preferably not romance bc I don’t want another ennead

think of this as a fanfic of Egyptian mythology and I wish I could recommend you anything but while there is an abundance of Korean/Japanese/Chinese, as well as Greek mythology-inspired content, this is the first and only Egyptian one that I've come across with

also, I'd love to read your detailed review (๑•ㅂ•)و✧

It's not like you're wrong for it but putting tw for incest and rape in an ENNEAD comment section is kinda hilarious ngl.


I don't really understand why you're freaking out over incest where in the original mythos it was full of it. Other than Seth/Horus, the other relationships are canon to the religion. Horus married Hathor, who is his GREAT GRANDPARENTS sister. Uncle doesn't seem that bad in comparison.


Maybe we know different versions but in the one I know Seth did not rape him. Those were his intentions, certainly, but he did not as Horus was just acting drunk but In full controll the whole time. Then he made Seth eat semen filled lettuce. The lesser evil of the two of course but he wasn't completely innocent either.


I understand it feels wrong when a story twists what was so evident in what was to you the original you loved(like the new gen monster highs) but imo religion is honestly just fanfiction that made it big. There are so many retellings and so few records.
I'm not well versed in Egyptian mythology, but just look at the Greek one. Ppl believe Poseidon raped medusa, because a guy with a massive problem with authority wrote it that way, even though prior to him there are NO recollections of their relationship having been like that any whatsoever. They even changed her origin story just to pull sobs and hate.

En times to any sort of faith, just believe what you want to believe.



Sorry for the rant, and that I can't help with any good recs, hope you find them!

I do agree putting a cw for incest and rape is quite funny in a ennead comment section but I did it mostly to warn new readers.

I should have clarified in my previous comment that I don’t fault the creator for including incest; I actually am surprised they included it since it is a very bold choice (honestly make the relationships in ennead way more complex). I’m not freaking out over the incest, I just find it’s a very questionable choice for a romance manhwa.

I think you are referencing this specific version of the myth(?): “ Seth invites Horus to a party and convinces the teenage Horus to drink more than Horus could normally cope with. When Horus is drunk, Seth seduces him to sleep over the night in one bed together. When lying together in one bed, Seth grabs Horus and rapes him. But Horus has tricked Seth; his drunkenness was staged.” Source: Wikipedia. (while Wikipedia sometimes isn’t a reputable source, I find nothing faulty in this accounting though if I find a better one I’ll update this thread) Also to add to your comment about Horus being in full control the entire time, I find that a bit hard to believe considering the power dynamic of this relationship (though this is my own personal opinion). To add on, yes Horus wasn’t completely innocent either as he tricked Seth eat semen-contaminated letture. My main issue with the manhwa’s depiction of this incident is how the author includes a scene of Seth sexually assaulting Horus and somehow spins the event so Horus rapes Seth. I find this a very disgusting spin: demonizing the victim by making him the abuser in this event.

Yes, that is my main gripe with this story (why did the author have to demonize the victim in this situation?) and yes I agree mythology has been around for so long, there are so many versions that its hard to keep track of which is the original. Also thank you for the fact about Poseidon and Medusa, I was actually unaware of that. I’m a huge fan of Greek mythology as well ( if you like Ares/Mars I’m your go to person, I know practically everything about him!), I’ll be sure to keep the information you gave me in mind next time I hear someone discuss this.

Don’t be sorry about ranting, I find rants extremely informative and interesting! (If anything I should be the one apologizing because I wrote a lot in this reply) thank you for listening and have a nice day!

Yes I’ll try to see ennead more as fanfic Ty for the advice. Also please do recommend manhwas based on mythology (any kind! I love learning about all of them). Since you shown interest, I have decided to write a full blown review of ENNEAD! However this time I won’t be posting it in the comment section, (instead I’ll post it in the review section, I’ll privately message you my review when I finish) I wrote my original comment in a fit of rage and now looking back on it, it’s a rude to write a scathing comment about a series people love in the comment section said people use to communicate. I’ll most likely delete this comment after i write my review and after I respond to all the replies. Thank you for listening and have a nice day (๑•ㅂ•)و✧

Eh- Σ( ￣□￣||) I followed this post just for the review (and to learn something).. only to find out ur gonna delete it!? Lol please send me ur review too! ヾ(❀╹◡╹)ﾉ~

Since this comment is probably gonna get buried anyways, I’ll probably leave it up and I’ll probably post my full review here too for people who want to read it.(I’ll still privately message you the review anyways!) Though the review might take a few days-weeks since I’m pretty busy and I need to sort certain points out. Thank you for your interest and have a nice day! (๑•ㅂ•)و✧

https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/tags/japanese-mythology
https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/tags/ancient-china
https://www.anime-planet.com/manga/tags/greek-mythology?page=1

browse through these lists and if smth catches your interest then give it a go :D
looking forward to your review <3

dude I love your passion XD if you ever feel like writing a lecture/essay on Ares/Mars I'd love to read it :D:D:D

Tyyy p.s. I’m glad you shown interest in Ares! He’s one of my favorite gods and pretty underrated. I’ll probably do an essay on him after I finish my review of ennead. Thank you for being so kind; I’m honestly very happy to share my love of Greek and Egyptian mythology with you guys!

Woahh thanks for the lists I’ll definitely be sure to check them out. Thank you for your encouragement honestly

Heyy, I'm so sorry for the delay on the review, my life got extremely busy just as i was in the middle of this and i never quite got the time to finish it up (until now). Nevertheless, I’m very happy that people expressed interest in this and I do hope my review lives up to your standards!

TW: rape, sexual assault, incest
First, I want to preface this review by saying that if you do enjoy ENNEAD, there is nothing wrong with that. There is nothing wrong with enjoying a series with problematic elements as long as there is more to said series than just those problematic elements (ex: you can enjoy Panty and Stocking while still acknowledging the racist depictions in the show. You cannot, however, enjoy shotacon hentai since that problematic element is the entire work.). On the other side of the coin, people are also allowed to not like a work because of its problematic depictions. I personally found a lot of issues with this series hence why i couldn't get into it and dislike it. I saw a lot of positive reviews for this series so I thought I might as well write a negative review just because I feel there are some valid critics for this manhwa.

Now before I get into the negatives, I want to talk about what I like about this Manhwa. I love the art style and the fact that you can tell the author did a great amount of research on Egyptian mythology. In addition, I find that some of the rape and sexual assault seems are handled quite well.

And the negatives, anyone who saw my original comment will know that my biggest gripe with ENNEAD is its depictions of rape and sexual assault (so i’ll be focusing on this mostly throughout the review). Now I'm not stickler for making retellings the exact same as the ancient text(s)(that would defeat the whole point of a retelling), however, I do think that you must keep them in mind when making a retelling. And, in my opinion, ENNEAD did a very distasteful retelling when you take into account the events of the ancient texts. To fully understand what I mean, I’m going to have to provide some historical sources. After hours of scouring the web, three legitimate accounts stood out to me the most (if you find any other versions, please tell me and include a legit source, i will not take a source that does not reference the location the version of the myth is from.). These three versions have very mixed depictions of Horus’ and Seth’ relationship. Two of them implies reciprocated affection while the other is a account of rape. I will only talk about the last one since I find it is the one ENNEAD references the most. In Papyrus Chester Beatty I, while certain details are different, the events pretty similar:

Papyrus Chester Beatty I version: Seth wants to rape Horus in an attempt to humiliate him and drive him out of Egypt.
Ennead version: Seth wants to rape Horus to humiliate him and take his frustration (on Osiris) out.

Papyrus Chester Beatty I version : Set rapes Horus.
Ennead version: Seth attempts to rape Horus but fails. He does, however, sexually assault him.

When I was at the end of chapter 30, I had expected ennead to go in this direction: the Manhwa was going to provide a more in-depth aftermath of the rape, turn the focus onto the effects the rape had on Horus‘ mental and emotional well-being. While the original text doesn’t victim blame or shame Horus for the rape, it leaves a lot to be desire. Like most anicent texts, It doesn't talk about the emotional or mental strain rape causes. Instead, focusing on the fact that Horus played “the role of a woman” in the rape. The saddening part of the original myth was that if Horus wasn’t able to disprove Seth’s claims, he would’ve most likely been humiliated and never could've been king (and that would've been normal). This really fits with ENNEAD’s narrative that the Ennead are morally gray people in their own subtle ways. If ENNEAD had shown how quickly they turnED on Horus, a guy they mostly feel positively about, when they learn he did something that is “feminine” or “unkingly”, I find it would've been able to raise a very compelling point for discussion. Utilizing the setting of ancient Egypt, the author could’ve made a parallel about the way our modern society treats male rape victims and how their experiences are often ridiculed or supposedly “makes them weak.” ENNEAD could’ve been an amazing modern retelling, incorporating modern values clearly into the iconic ancient myth. So the fact that the story suddenly U-turns and made Horus the rapist was shocking to me and genuinely not a good call, especially when you consider the version it references the most (why turn the victim into the perpetrator?). When I consider why the author decided to add a scene of Horus being sexually assaulted, the only reason I can find is to introduce Seth’s trauma which is disgusting (using an event where a victim is traumatized to introduce the perpetrator's trauma is just, no). In addition, the way that Seth literally sexually assaulted Horus was swept under the rug and never mentioned again doesn't sit well with me.

As mentioned before, i actually find the depiction of Seth’s rape to be partially well done. In instances like with Osiris and the caravan, it really shows mental and physical toll the rape has on him and just how truly horrifying rape is. But other than that, I find even those depictions to be flawed. In a lot of the chapters, Seth’s rape and sexual assault scenes are drawn in a way that is very similar to how a sex scene is drawn and heavily sexualized. In addition, sometimes Seth’s rape and sexual assault is played for laughs; in one of the chapters where unnamed guy buys Seth, Seth being sexually assaulted was depicted as comedic, which obviously is not good representation. What baffles me about ENNEAD is how it tries to show rape as a tramatic and horrible thing yet ignores it, treats it like a joke, and sexualizes it.

Another gripe I have with ENNEAD is the amount of love interests the series has. There is no need for 2 different love interests (three if you count Osiris) when Horus and Seth have barely even bonded. Also, why is Anubis one of Seth’s love interests? I know it sounds stupid complaining about incest in a story where the main love interest is literally the guy’s nephew but why his son that he only ever viewed in a fatherly way? Why get rid of the high stakes Anubis plot line where he can die at any moment for a generic amnesia plot line where all the stakes are practically erased? It also really rubs me the wrong way that Anubis is a love interest when the new Anubis is very child-like.

I think the last critic (this one might change since I find ENNEAD is most likely going to give Horus another arc that focuses on himself more ) I have of ENNEAD is Horus’ character and arc. Horus’ whole character revolves mostly around Seth. While having a character whose personality/arc revolves mostly around another character doesn’t necessarily mean bad writing, you need to give the character some substance that makes them stand alone. If you don’t, the character is going to become way too reliant on the other character and it might become a writing flaw. I feel Horus’ character would really benefit from more moments alone and/or to have his relationships with other characters (that are not Seth) explored on a greater level. In addition, I really hope the author writes about Horus’ backstory through his lens. I find much of his backstory isn’t really personalized which downplays the effects the things Seth did might've had on him (also why I feel Horus forgiving Seth later on really fell flat to me). Also idk if this is intentional but Horus is kinda unlikeable as a character to me. I understand that he never wanted to be the king of Egypt but, dude, at least try instead of running away to chase after your uncle (that doesn’t even like you).

That concludes my review of ENNEAD. I hope this review was not a huge snooze fest and thank you so much for reading.

Oh this was interesting. I don't really see it that way but still understand your points. I think the reason the webtoon author decided to turn things around is because Seth is supposed to be the Maleficent of this story: the one where the basic theme is the alleged "villain" proves a difamated person can still hope to escape the role of the unlucky scapegoat they've been forced into, and manage to get redemption even after everyone has accused them wrongly. It's a cliché theme that's supposed to show readers that people can still survive and gain resilience even after their whole lives have been ruined by a combination of false difamation and bad choices, as well as teach readers not to believe everything they hear is what it seems at face value....

Those themes are at the heaty of the topic of this story: mainly a make believe What If alternate version, to show what would have happened if it'd turned out to be true that "the humans who wrote these myths down never got to know the full story of how things really went on between these gods, and thus the myth that has reached us to this day is a completely distorted story". For it it to be that way, it had to be able imply that Seth had been wrongly accused of at least... ONE of the things he had been accused of, in the original. And for this story to be able to imply that Seth had been wrongly accused in the original story that reached us, the author had to keep some parts of the original, while changing others, with the essential point that to make it work, they had to make Seth at least innocent of "one" of the crimes attributed to him: be it of the killing Osiris, or the killing humans, or of the raping Horus. The author had to chose one of the three to exonerate Seth from, and to do so they couldn't just add a "sad past" to justify his actions: making Seth a tragic figure that killed Osiris to get revenge for being raped wouldn't have turned Seth into a "wrongly accused" figure, but merely into a temporarily tragic one, and readers would NOT have seen that as justification for Seth's rape of Horus, even with that. Any smart author would have to have known that they couldn't have their protagonist do something like that... Otherwise readers would have all dropped the story like hot potato.

So, no rape of Horus. However... the the webtoon author still needed to keep some of it as TRUE, otherwise you wouldn't just imply that humans who wrote the myth got a distorted version: you would imply that they completely fabricated it... To exonerate humans of this veiled accusation, the vital parts of the myth had to remain true, so *some* form of sexual abuse had to happen... so, the only way for the abuse to take place, while exonerating BOTH Seth and Horus, was to make it the way the author made it: by getting Horus to act under someone else's control.

Anyway, this is my opinion... at least. I hope I managed to explain it effectively.

Very VERY late reply but I just want to say I really appreciate your reply and a lot of your points are very interesting! Though ENNEAD was not the story for me, I can definitely see the appeal, like you said, the theme is cliche but very effective and interesting to think about. You explained it extremely well and once again thank you for your reply