#just realized this is like a typical isekai mc moment

[dyingturn]

Time travel au where at chapter 2, shin gets voted at the main game and wakes up in his highschool body. And he does everything he can to avoid sou to not get involved with the death game.

Alright, to be honest all I know is that shin met sou at his highschool, thought he was student, realized he wasn't. But they somehow became friends, (or he saw midori as a brother figure?).

I just think it would be funny how shin would react just from going back to class, seeing these people he forgot the names of, and studying... again. Of course he wasn't paying attention to that at all, he's confused, he was literally just fighting for his life to make the Joe ai work before he dies and now he's here?? What if this wasn't even real.

Anyways, he walks down to the hallway, and he sees it. A familiar green rat tailed hair, who's just smiling at him. No- he's dead. But...

Sou approaches him with that eerie smile of his and tries to have a small talk. Instead of answering he just ignores him, and when he pesters him long enough he just glares at him, before running off.

I'm thinking this would probably intrigue sou because shin isn't really acting like his past self and is wondering what event led to this drastic personality change and behaviour. And observes him even more. (Imagine if one day, sou actually transfers to the school just to do that, I know he can't but just imagine--)

(Because if he does, he would be able to pry more information from shin and shin would sometimes slip up when agitated/over confident like what happened at the main game, and sou was able to put together that shin either a) knows about asunaro therefore him b) pretty far fetched but time travel or something similar like false memories c) knows about the death game )

I have no clue how to end this, I'm not thinking of this au as a ship but more of a trying to avoid death flag kind of thing. Maybe he achieves avoiding sou and now lives a pretty normal life, hears about the news of Alice going to prison, not his problem but it Is concerning. And then wakes up at the death game, and was like "not again", but surprisingly, his percentage is different now.

Or maybe y'know, he meets or sees the other participants. The whiplash he gets when he sees keiji without his piss hair, sees q-taro in the television, passing by a delinquent looking mishima or something, I have no clue.

That's basically it. I'm sleeping early today, yeyy.

[rikan-oo]

So I was thinking about creating a loose list of recs for ORV fans or, in other words, "If you liked ORV, you also may like this." I decided to add things less obvious because I think people already read works like Trash of Count's Family, etc.

Princess Tutu

“The beginning of a story is a sudden event; the start, a happy accident, the end, the fate for which it's meant. A story that never ends is a sad fate.”

Let's start with Princess Tutu (PT), anime, not manga because they're different. I watched it about a week before ORV and after finishing both, I can't help but notice their similarities. However, meanwhile, ORV is about the relationship between the reader, the author, and the protagonist, and PT is more about the relationship between the author and their creation: the story and its characters. Don't let the name fool you, don't be like me. It's much darker than I expected from this style and genre. Be ready for angst.

Plot: Ahiru is a small duck in a pond. One day she notices a dancing boy with a very sad gaze. Boy every day goes to dance near the pond and the little duck is completely mesmerized by him. She can't help but notice sadness and loneliness in his dance. She wants to make this boy smile and at that moment a writer Droselmeir appears. He tells her that she could do this by collecting shards of his broken heart but under some conditions. He gives her a magic pendant that can transform her, first into an ordinary human girl, then into the graceful ballerina Princess Tutu, a fictional character from the tale that was doomed for tragedy in the original story.

Later we find out that this city is kinda enchanted by Droselmeir's tale (reverse isekai before it became mainstream) and some characters broke out of the tale like the boy by the lake - Mytho or Raven - the villain of this tale. Tale elements blend interestingly in the city and its residents.

Also, I have no idea wtf is happening with the main characters' dynamic in this complicated rectangle, but there is no straight explanation for this.

I can't help but see some parallels between Mytho - KDJ, Fakir - both YJH & HSY, Ru - HSY, and Droselmeir - Dokkaebi. I love how the story describes characters doomed by narrative and the struggles of being a writer. Also, all of these subtle references to fairytales at the beginning of the episode? Love it. I bet there are more references for the ballet part, but I probably didn't get it. I gently encourage you to check it out. (Definitely not gently, I'm as desperate as Kim Dokja trying to advertise TWSA to other people)

“May those who accept their fate be granted Happiness, may those who defy their fate be granted Glory.”

Miss not Sidekick

It's a much simpler read, just to chill and have fun while laughing at Mc shenanigans. Plot: Typical isekai story, where Mc is a fan of the internet novel of the reverse harem genre. When isekaied decided to invent popcorn and enjoy full time 4d immersion in the story.

There are not so many similarities in themes like with Princess Tutu, but more the role of MC – Latte as reader. I liked how she continued to behave like a spectator of a story inside Isekai world, treating it like she's inside a special 4D theater, not existing in this world as a part of it, until she couldn't.

Until her 4th wall is shattered (*badabums* it's a bad pun, she doesn't have it like kdj) and she realizes she could actually die, (quite shocking I know). Also, MC invents BL for this world and converts other people into it. Overall, the art style is different from other isekai romfant and it's something you need time to get used to, but after a while, you understand it suits perfectly for the narrative and silly tone of the comic.

Inso's Law or My Life as an Internet Novel

I feel like it's more reverse isekai similar to orv, where the story becomes part of your life. But if in KDJ's case, this transition is obvious and life-crashing, then in MC's situation is really creepy. It blends seamlessly into her regular life making her feel insane because everything remains the same except having a whole new friend who behaves like your bestie and a different school, where everything starts to feel like a romantic novel full of clichés. MC like KDJ is also unreliable in her perception of others here and thinks her knowledge of clichés like a reader-outsider makes her more omnipotent than she really is. Too bad they used 3 person POV, so it's really obvious, but funny nevertheless. (One of the cases where she thinks one of her classmates is a girl pretending to be a boy cause of some kind of cliché family drama, when in fact it's just a boy and I find it funny how this classmate looks like Jang Hayoung twin and have similar fate, poor souls) guess she also has similarities in her character to pre-scenario or regular life KDJ. They both seem to have this introverted avoidance type of personality. I'm curious about supernatural events happening in manhwa and I hope we'll get some explanation for it.

Pandora Hearts

Nice little thing with funny and cute tea parties that everyone would enjoy. 😍

SHHH, nothing about the plot. Let it be a small surprise for you.

It's all vibes and similar tropes now, folks.

Like dynamic between the main trio: Gilbert - Oz - Alice YJH - KDJ - HSY. Also this time loop thing? Daddy issues? Self-sacrifice as a form of love? Ugh. (Also, I need this scene with Oz and Brake "Where in the world are you?" But with KDJ. Maybe I even draw it).

It's all for now, maybe I'll write more. Please share the recs if you have them!

[blueteller]

"Trash of the Count's Family" Review Series: Chapter 0

I've realized something quite terrible today.

I joined the TCF/LCF fandom recently and I wanted to see some reviews, since reading comments and seeing other people's reactions is half the joy of being in a fan community. Except, when I tried to check out some reviews...

I couldn't find any.

Seriously, I can't find any reviews!! Anywhere!!! This is criminal! How can there be no reviews?! This series is quite popular, or at least it seems like it! There's plenty of fans on tumblr! Why is the review section of this fandom like a barren desert!?

Then, came my moment of enlightment:

if there are no reviews, then I shall make them myself 😎

Reviewing the webnovel would be an incredibly daunting task, I'm not gonna lie (with over 770 chapters, it would take years!), so I'll stick with the manhwa for now. There are currently 77 chapters out (almost exactly 1/10th of the whole story – nice!), so I'll have plenty of material for a while, before I run out.

Just so you know – I like analyzing stuff, but I do not consider myself a harsh critic. I'm inclined to be more forgiving of things I actually like, in contrast to how many errors I can find in something I disapprove of. However, I will try my best to acknowledge flaws and be a fair judge of content.

With all that said – let's begin Blue Teller's TCF/LCF review series. Please enjoy!

***

Trash of the Count's Family Manhwa: Chapter 0 (Prologue)

The first chapter is numbered 0, as it serves as a prologue instead of an actual chapter. It mirrors the webnovel well in that aspect: as the book also starts with a prologue, told in 1st person point of view – unlike the rest of the story, which has typical 3rd person POV. It is an important detail, as the majority of this story's comedy comes across through various misunderstandings. It would be impossible for the reader to experience them fully if we were stuck in Cale's POV. But the prologue being in 1st person POV also gives the novel that classic isekai vibe: which is fairly misleading, as we will find out in the future. I believe it is a deliberate move on the author's part. But we will get to that later... much, much later.

We begin with a dark background. Then, fire appears. Ominous. Something terrible is going on, the reader can already tell.

Then we get the title "The Birth of a Hero".

With flames connecting images, we get exposition about a book: classic fantasy isekai premise, with a Korean teen (kinda?) as the protagonist. We see our MC, Choi Han, meet people in a certain village, then return one day to find them all dead. The narrator explains how Choi Han was pure and innocent before, but the incident causes him to snap and kill people for the first time, in revenge for the villagers who were like family to him.

The panel with Choi Han's enraged expression is pretty amazing, as we can still tell that his facial features are supposed to be young and soft, despite how twisted they are in the moment. There are subtle shadows around his eyes, and sparks float around him: partly because the village is burning, partly because they symbolize the spark that made such a kind-hearted person go on a bloody rampage.

In the next several images we see Choi Han fighting and killing the assailants: the artist displays their skill with dynamic images. You can tell Choi Han's movement in every frame, despite the pictures being still. It is very well done.

While the scene isn't nearly as bloody as it probably should have been, you can tell the artist is under obligation to censor most of the violence, including the gore. There are splatters of blood visible in several shots, but not much of it. Considering how bloody this webnovel is – in the most literal sense – some fans could take that as a bad sign. However, I am not a big fan of gore either, so I can't say I mind it... There's still some blood, so it could have been much worse.

We can still tell that Choi Han definitely, very much murdered a bunch of people. I don't care if the scenery isn't entirely covered in blood, even if technically it should be. (It was probably also easier to draw, to be honest.)

The next is another close-up of Choi Han and to be honest with you, I can't tell if he's sweating or crying. Either way... it looks very painful and quite heartbreaking. You can tell that revenge did not give Choi Han as much relief as he would have hoped.

The narrator explains that Choi Han failed to get any information from his enemies, and once he snapped out of his blind rage, he was overcome by despair.

Next we see Choi Han burying the villagers and crying (this time it's definitely crying) while swearing revenge. The narrator tells us that Choi Han then truly understood sadness, and Choi Han leaves the village, ending the dark background which had been present since the beginning. The dark introductory part is now officially over.

Next, we see a noble crest of a Golden Turtle, with a shell shaped as a rocky mountain. Choi Han arrives in a city, which to my knowledge is either called Weston, Westin, or Rain City, depending on translation.

Next we see the face of our true protagonist for the first time, and to be honest – the style is kind of weird for me here. I noticed there are numerous images where there is only one character present, and yet for some reason, the author refuses to draw their eyes. It's certainly a convenient shortcut in drawing, and I've seen some mangas and animes apply this technique. However, usually that's reserved for background characters, character's with faces yet-to-be-revealed, characters standing far away from the viewer, OR characters hiding their emotions.

While you could argue that OG Cale (original Cale, the character before our MC's transmigration) is a mysterious figure and thus not showing his eyes is justified... it's not the only moment where I find the use of the "no-eyes" technique extremely awkward. I will be definitely mentioning more in the future, as I think this author has a problem with it. It doesn't look terrible, but... it doesn't look good, either.

Anyway, Choi Han gets angry at this noble "ruffian" (BTW, Choi Han's "no-eyes" shot look much better, at least there's a fringe and shadows covering them – as it should be!!) named Cale and beats him up... with a lamp? LOL, that part wasn't in the novel?? But it's kinda hilarious. I approve. You can make so many puns with that: "Allow me to enlighten you, Young Master~!" 😂

(Also, how the heck a lamp like that works in this world?? There's no electricity here... I assume it must run on mana or something. Eh, whatever.)

Then finally, we are given the first look at our true protagonist, Cale Henituse; in all his bare-chested glory, haha.

I admit, I am kind of a prude, so I don't like looking at the shots of Cale's bare torso very much. But I can imagine the crowds of thirsty fans eagerly thanking the author for the fanservice. I checked the novel just to be sure, and while Cale looks at his body in the mirror and comments that it is very handsome and fit, it does not mention whether he was looking at himself naked or not. I mean, he takes a bath soon afterwards, so it's not a big leap of logic, but... Let's face it, the author just wanted to draw Cale half-naked. Very well, who am I to judge. Since this novel has no romance in it, this is the most action those poor thirsty fans will get. Enjoy it while it lasts, I suppose. Next time Cale exposes his skin to this extent, he will definitely be dying or something.

No, wait, there's also that bathrobe scene in like 50 chapters, isn't there...? Darn, the author really likes drawing Cale exposed. Ok, have some fanservice as a treat, why don't you... I'll just politely avert my eyes.

Anyway, we are finally meeting our MC, Cale, aka. Kim Rok Soo, the transmigrator who fell asleep reading a novel, and the next day woke up as one of its minor villains. We see a glimpse of Cale's old body, and all we can tell is that KRS has (probably) black hair, a fit body and a black outfit. Pretty non-descript.

KRS, which will be called Cale from now on, looks at himself in the mirror, and thinks that this is bad. His expression is kind of cute, as you can tell through the sweat drops that he's distressed, but he keeps a rather calm expression in spite of the situation. This will become a trend, because even though the Manhwa made Cale more expressive than in the webnovel, he's still someone who appears calm almost all of the time. It will cause quite a lot of misunderstandings in the future.

Cale thinks about his situation and provides some background about himself: he was an orphan who didn't have friends or family to miss back home. So, he decides to make most of this new chance at life.

We get more shots of Cale as he considers his lack of scar, and who OG Cale was as a character. Once again, I really love his expressions. They're very calm and thoughtful and they really fit his character a lot. The author truly came up with an excellent design for the MC.

There is some more of exposition monologue, which the author birlliantly illustrates with images of the room Cale is currently in. It's a clever technique, as they are clearly from Cale's POV, and we get a better idea of his surroundings and the atmosphere. Simply put: Cale's family is loaded, and you can tell from every item in the room. Very good use of "time" by the author.

We also get the first "chibi" image of Choi Han, and it's adorable.

The panel of Cale's Very Serious Face as he states "For now, let's try not to get hit" is the first glimpse of comedy in TCF. It all starts with Cale's very simple and very selfish motive: he doesn't want to get beaten up by Choi Han, the protagonist of "The Birth of a Hero" novel. Cale's very simple plan will soon become very complicated, and the viewer can tell from the dramatic ZING effect in the background. Cale, darling, I have a strong feeling it won't turn out quite as you hope...

Another shot of Cale's naked body, the biggest thus far, please spare me I am a poor little prude over here... also, I can hear all the thirsty fans fainting and nosebleeding over here. My goodness. That's enough of that bathing scene, thank you!

We finish off with Cale stating his dream – to live a peaceful life – and that's the end of the prologue.

Nakedness aside, this chapter was a very solid introduction. The art style is very nice, and depite my nitpicks I think the author is really talented. The story is framed in an interesting way with a glimpse of humor, which will get explored later. Overall, not a bad start, not at all.

Feel free to leave comments!

[Index] [Next >]

[otakween]

I'm Standing on a Million Lives - Volume 1

Hurray! Moving on from 100% Pascal Sensei, this is the next series on MAL alphabetically due to its Japanese title (100-man no Inochi no Ue ni Ore wa Tatteiru). I'm excited to be catching up on something so recent as season 2 for the anime is actually coming out this month! I'm going in 100% blind so, I guess we'll just see where this goes. Chapter breakdown after the "read more."

Ch. 1

-Well, this was really awkwardly paced and written, not a promising start if I'm honest. I hate it when people are isekai'd and barely react, it's so jarring.

-Protag-kun is an edgelord who "hates Tokyo and all the people in it," has no friends, and just wants to play video games. Of course his video game skills are rewarded in isekai-land. Typical cliché BS so far. At least he had a self-aware "oh wait, I'm being a self-centered prick" moment.

-The art isn't hideous, but I don't sense any creativity here. Everyone looks very generic, including the monsters. At least the two-page spreads look nice on my new e-reader

-I feel like this would read as batshit to people who aren't familiar with the isekai genre. They just assume that people are so used to these tropes that they don't need to explain anything. I would have liked it if they showed us more of the "normal" world so that the isekai moment would be more of a shock and we could get a better feel for the characters/setting.

-Game master dude is really annoying. I hope they explain why he speaks in partial sentences. None of the characters even acknowledged it which was really weird.

-Kinda dumb how Kusue saying "I want to be useful to people!" just completely blew Protag-kun's mind and changed his whole world view. First of all: can we save epiphanies like that for at least the end of volume 1?? Second: how easily swayed is this man!? He felt like he went through the entire A Silent Voice MC's character arc in 2 seconds.

-I feel like the level of gore doesn't fit the tone they're going for. It just feels out of place and gratuitous. Like, this isn't Attack on Titan, this is more of an adventure series (I think)

Ch. 2

-The characterization in this is really annoying. So far the characters don't feel like real people, they're just assigned archetypes. Yuka is an otaku, Kusue is the "frail girl," etc. I think one thing that's lacking is the girls barely get a chance to speak and we're stuck with Yotsuya's incel monologues. Hopefully this improves.

-Real convenient that all the chosen party members are girls so far. The setting/make up of the party reminds me of Konosuba a lot.

-Why are bullying scenes in manga always so over the top? I'm pretty sure bullies don't typically go the sexual assault route. Similar to the gore feeling out of place, that felt unnecessarily dark. The character's also reacted to it as if it wasn't a big deal (???)

-Today in "fancy words used in manga": polyandric. Apparently it means an animal that mates with multiple males.

-I was honestly triggered by the centipede monsters. I have house centipedes in my apartment and they're horrifying. The thought of one wrapping around my head...-shudder-

-The bullying rescue scene was interesting. I feel like normally it would be a big, heroic moment, but instead they chose to show how all the girls (bullies and victim) were afraid of Yotsuya for suddenly showing up and acting like a maniac. It was kinda nice to see his "you love me now, right?" rejected lol.

-The self-aware anime stuff is obnoxious. MC being like "woah this is a harem situation" and the girls being like "gap moe!?" at the end of the chapter. It's jarring when characters that aren't supposed to be otaku bring up otaku things.

-Game Master showing up on Yotsuya's phone was pretty funny lol. I liked his selfie.

Ch. 3

-Shindo's backstory was so weirdly written and awkward: she was a bad kid, made friends with an older girl who taught her to be good, and then that older girl killed herself. She then overheard her family members being like "lol that dead girl was ugly" so...she vowed to protect the weak...or something? I dunno it was confusing. Also, more needlessly grimdark content with Shindo's parents basically saying that girl deserved to die because she was ugly.

-I don't think this mangaka understands anatomy, the abs on the male characters look...off

-Interesting rule where they lose EXP for fighting humans. Although, that does make me wonder about the cover art for this volume. Are the "million lives" supposed to represent all the times the characters die and are revived or...?

-Yuka being like "I don't think Shindo's a good person because she's got pretty privilege." Rubbed me the wrong way. She reeks of the "not like other girls" trope

-When Yotsuya said he's "not like other boys" because he'll listen to your tragic backstory and Shindo reacts "are you gay or something?" That felt like a mix of casual homophobia and toxic masculinity, not cute.

Ch. 4

-We get a new harem addition and her stupid quirk is that she likes cutting people up. I dunno, something about the way she robotically announced that while fighting felt so unnatural and forced. This manga is anything but subtle.

-Only now realizing that the artist and the author are two separate people. Honestly, I was surprised to find out that this is just a manga and it doesn't have a corresponding light novel. It really feels like it's being adapted from something, but maybe that has to do with the writer and artist being separate?

-Every time they mention a new fantasy name it kinda seems like the author just threw scrabble letters at the wall.

-The design of the bipedal steeds wheel attachment looked like it wouldn't work. Like, how do those things walk with a big giant wheel right in front of their feet? I guess I'll find out in the anime lol

-Very, very confused about Yotsuya's "career." When he became a chef he dressed as a chef, but now that he's a wizard he's back to dressing like a farmer and using a hoe? That seems like a continuity error. Either that or they didn't explain how things work very well. Can you switch between your past careers?

-They reveal that they only feel 1/36 of normal pain in this world, which would have been nice to know in chapter 1 when people were being torn apart, but okay.

-One of Yotsuya's new skills is "the ability to raise or lower the persuasiveness of your words." Immediately I was like, "wtf? In what situation would you want to lower your persuasiveness?" Maybe if you're using reverse psychology? -shrug-

-I enjoyed the author's mini essay at the end about stories standing the test of time. I guess this is their first serialization so now I kinda feel bad for trashing it so much lol. Oh well, gotta be honest in my reactions...