pluckaduck's manga / #sci-fi(9)

I'm so confused about the ending... so what exactly was the teddy bear robot? what crimes did the guy gesicht killed did? what happened to the robot kid he adopted?

oh it's the sequel to 20th century boys. since it was a while since I read the main story, I forgot who's the real friend and who the fake one. also, it seems the author incorporated some sci-fi thing that allowed mc and the scammer guy's ghost to travel into the past and meet their younger selves...?

i would give this a 10/10. every life failed, I could sense the magnitude of the task and the fact that it can't be so easily solved by bullshitting your way through, he's gradually making more progress, gaining allies, but it still seems so far away bc of those damn greedy bastards. such is the sympathy i feel for mc, who lived 5 lives, worked so hard, yet still hadn't succumbed to depression, and say fuck it all. there is a lot of terminology i don't quite understand (astrophysics??), but still very enjoyable. there's practically no romance, and it honestly doesn't obstruct the story progression in any way bc mc doesn't have time for that. honestly one of the best manhwas, bc of the realistic take on this genre. edit: looking at the tags "isekai" and "reincarnation", I sense some readers seriously don't care to know the difference, and take their time to read thru this gem of a story, and that would explain why the rating is only 9.2 ch 50. ooh the plot thickens!

I dropped this less than twenty chapters in, cuz i was annoyed at the love drama, like was it necessary to add a second love interest for mc? but then she turned out to be a much more interesting chara than i thought cuz she is badass and her banter with other charas are fun as well. her friendship with the fmc is touching, and their fights over mc is not to be taken seriously. the mc is so cute, he's nerdy, dorky, and sincere. but my impression of him really cemented when he was jealous of fmc's first love and despite that, he recognized jiji was sincerely friendly and became good friends with him. like, it's rare to make a good-looking chara who looks better than mc visually and the fmc's first love, to boot, a sincerely wholesome dude. anyway, the action scenes and art is amazing. the story, at some moments, bordered on absurd, bc these aliens are wacky (and scary). the worldbuilding/lore is quite interesting, the alien and yokai designs are unique (and for some, creepy), the cast of charas are unique and fun and their chara developments are pretty good (not to mention, they look hot when they transform using their yokai powers).

i love how detailed the background art is, especially the building where akira was kept... it was like the author drawn out a model of the entire building, every nook and cranny of it before planning out the action in which it would take place. and the romance is honestly pretty good. i love the themes of the rebellious nature of youth vs corrupt govt and humanity vs profound power, what could happen if such immense power was attempted to be tamed by mere humans, and putting it in the hands of children no less... obviously, disastrous results.

the premise that they're such young looking dolls for humans in the first place, is kinda concerning. the concept is certainly unique, and the story does explore different types of love, the chara designs are really cute, but... it kinda falls short of its potential. it might be bc of the limited premise; there's only so much u can do with dolls + love in the first place, but i think it could've been more succint, and certain areas could be explored more

my only regret is reading it before it's completed. and the update schedule is also hella slow, so ill probably forget the chara's name in the meantime. sigh. the story is phenomenal, and there's no shortage of smart charas beside the glasses mc. he;s definitely not the strongest, or the smartest, but he sometimes come up with great plans/scehemes that could be pulled off with luck and boldness. the plethora of relevant likable side charas with their own personalities and strengths/weaknesses and interpersonal relationships and team dynamics creates a sense of realism and community, and i applauded the author for juggling all of that while creating logical and creative strategies using the world's power system. and need i mention the power system and battle play? the power system is relatively easy to understand, it's more sci-fi than fantasy. and there are so many ways to utilize triggers. the battles are always unpredictable, bc every chara is reasonable smart, with their own talents, it's very common for initial strategies to fail, forcing charas to come up with more various clever strategies that utilizes and boisters the team ace or make up for the weakest's weaknesses. also, i like how low the stakes are for the story, there's plenty of action but it also feels rather slice-of-life bc of a relative lack of intensity.