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Peerless Alchemist (manhua review)

It’s been a while since I reviewed a Chinese manga, a.k.a manhua. When I first started this blog I hadn’t read much Korean or Chinese stuff, nor did I intend to. But I’m on an isekai kick lately and eventually I ran out of Japanese stuff to read. Not to mention most Japanese isekai manga only release once a month, which is torture to wait for. So I had no choice but to go foraging for other series. I found some good ones, too, which I will introduce on this blog as and when I get the time. Today: Peerless Alchemist.

Blurb: A nameless 24th century cultivator is thrown back in time after being struck by a missile. Yes, Truck-kun was busy so he sent a subordinate. She takes possession of the body of the late Ji Fengyan, a much bullied and mistreated young lady of the Ji family and goes on to become the head of Ji City. And to all those who used to mess with her, beware! There’s something different about this new Fengyan…

And by something different, I mean she is one tough cookie who is a ton of fun to read about. I’ve been reading a lot of isekais with female main characters and they’re usually very good, but the main characters tend to be soft-hearted little flowers who go about sparing enemies, trying to hide their powers and being flustered whenever a male character shows the least bit of interest.

None of that for our Ji Fengyan. She doesn’t go out looking for trouble, but if it comes knocking at her doorstep, whoo boy, get ready to see the fur fly. My favorite part is when an enemy threatens to spill her misdeeds to the emperor and she answers, “How can you tell him anything… if you’re dead?” And she wasn’t kidding either, though she did end up sparing them because they wisely struck a deal.

But it’s not just her ruthlessness that makes Peerless Alchemist such a good read. I don’t know about others, but I really enjoy the Superman/Clark Kent dynamic Fengyan has going on with the male lead Xiao Liu Huo. She picked him up from the side of the road and decided, hey, you’re mine now. And that was fine, but it turns out Xiao Liu Huo has another form… Hidden behind a very thin disguise that absolutely no one but the readers can see through!

It’s better explained in the novels where Xiao Liu Huo is a teenager who is even younger than her while his other persona, the State Master, is much older. But in the manhua, apart from different eye colors, a different face mark and a much larger physique, they’re practically identical. It’s hilarious seeing Fengyan going “Squee, Xiao Liu Huo!” one second and “That damn state master!” the next second without knowing the truth. 😀 She’s going to find out eventually but until then, it’s just too funny.

Though truth be told, I think the State Master is better looking… And even Fengyan agreed, until he made an unwarranted pass at her… Chapter 54, nevar forget!

You might be wondering if there’s much of a story behind Peerless Alchemist beyond Ji Fengyan beating up the haters and being lovey-dovey with Xiao Liu Huo. For the first 70 chapters, that’s pretty much it. She moves from beating one dumb enemy to the next without a break in the middle. No real story, no rhyme or rhythm. It’s only now after 70 chapters that things are starting to move, in the form of a relic known as the Destroyer Armor left to Fengyan by “her” late father.

Everyone wants to get their hands on it. It’s the Empire’s trump card against the evil demons, and yet… Why does Xiao Liu Huo make her promise never to use it? Why is he determined to get the Armor off her? Why are all the bodies of past destroyers missing? The latest raw chapters have Fengyan going to the Imperial Academy for Destroyers, so maybe we will finally get some answers there.

Wait, the latest raw chapters? Yes, the latest raw chapters. I like the series so much that I started reading the raws online. I’m up to chapter 80 now. With my intermediate Cantonese skills, the Japanese kanji I recognize and the little Mandarin I learned back in college, I can get the gist of most chapters. Ideally I would do some hardcore Mandarin studying and be able to read the original novel by the end of the year, but I like the manhua so much better because the art is great. Reading the manhua is good practice too, because the pictures make things easy to follow.

This isn’t the last I’ll be posting of Peerless Alchemist, not while we still have at least another 200 chapters to go (the original novel is over 1200 chapters long). In the meantime, go check it out. You’ll like it if you enjoy: Powerful main characters who aren’t afraid to show it, great art and good-looking guys, bad guys who get what they deserve, a romance where characters don’t hide their feelings. Apart from that, it’s not that different from other xianxia manhua out there, so if you’re sick of the same old formula… well, try it anyway!

I read Ascendance of a Bookworm manga up to chapter 31

I’m still reading many different isekai manga. It sucks that so many of them are in very early stages, sometimes only 3 or 4 chapters are out. Usually there’s a light novel or web novel behind them, but I can’t be bothered to track those down for most series. Ascendance of a Bookworm / Honzuki no gekokujou is one of the few exceptions where I read the scanlation up to chapter 12 and then read the raws all the way up to chapter 31, the latest available right now.

Summary: Urano, a bookworm who had finally found a job as a librarian at a university, was sadly killed shortly after graduating from college. She was reborn as Main, the daughter of a soldier in a world where the literacy rate is low and books were scarce. No matter how much she wanted to read, there were no books around. What is a bookworm to do without any books? Make them, of course. Her goal is to become a librarian! So that she may once again live surrounded by books, she must start by making them herself. [from novelupdates]

What’s so good about Ascendance of a Bookworm

Although it’s an isekai fantasy series like a hundred others currently running, it’s low fantasy with a bigger focus on slice of life and everyday survival. Main lives a life far removed from castles, demons, goddesses, stat level ups, just a little kid trying to get by in the world.
It has one of the few protagonists who is not hopelessly overpowered right from the start. In fact Main is totally weak and prone to illness.
Main is not super-intelligent either, just blessed with a lot of book knowledge. In particular she doesn’t know much about business and would be swindled regularly if it wasn’t for adults looking out for her.
No harem, no huge crowd of adoring fans lapping up his every move. A few people know just how amazing she is, but the majority of people including her own family see her as an ordinary, rather weird girl. She does have the obligatory good-but-not-too-competent isekai companion though.
You read a lot of manga where the heroine/hero can make a lot of stuff just because they saw it on TV once, but Main doesn’t have it that easy.
The art is excellent and the little children are drawn suitably adorable. The food looks great too. I know there’s a web novel, but the manga is so cute and clear and easy to follow that I have zero desire to try the WN.
The pace is relatively slow and there’s no real story so there’s plenty of time for world-building. You get to know a lot about how the city is run, how society is organized, how people relate to each other, etc. It’s very down to earth and interesting if you like to get immersed in fantasy worlds.
I learned a lot about making paper from scratch by reading it. That should come in handy if I ever go to another world, right?

What’s not so good about Ascendance of a Bookworm

It’s ridiculous how few people are suspicions of Main’s true identity once she starts making paper. It’s an extremely convoluted process requiring very specialized tools and materials and yet she knows all of them and all the right proportions? At only 6-7 years old? No one gets suspicious and starts fishing around when a kid that young starts going in and out of various workshops under Benno’s guidance, ordering this strange item and that? The world is a little too idealistic. The adults are a little too conveniently dense.
The world-building gets a bit too much sometimes. Half of the chapters are devoted to long treatises on how the city works, politics work, business work, etc. It’s interesting at first but later on it gets in the way of plot progression.
There’s a long slowdown between Main being diagnosed with consumption and any further advancement being made in her treatment. Then another long break before a more permanent solution (joining the church) comes along. Some of that time is taken up by the paper-making process, but there’s still a lot of dead time spent on stuff. I know it’s a slice of life kind of show but it gets a bit tiring anyway.

TL;DR

Ascendance of the Bookworm is good and I want more!

Tian Jiang Xian Shu Nan manga review (spoilers)

Tian Jiang Xian Shu Nan (天降贤淑男) is a manhua title I randomly picked up to read when I was looking for completed series to read. I haven’t read too many manhua (and TBH if it’s a Chinese comic then I would rather read a wuxia title) but it was complete and I was bored so I gave it a try. The title Tian Jiang Xian Shu Nan literally means “Goddess of Mercy” according to Google Translate. Yeah… that doesn’t help but thanks anyway.

Story: It’s the story of a love triangle between tomboy martial artist Su Jia Ao, her ultra-submissive fiance Ji Chun Qing and wild guy Xiao Yao Jing. You see, Su Jia Ao is from a tribe where women are expected to be rough and tough while the men passively obey. Having been brought up in the city, Su prefers macho bad boys like Xiao Yao Jing. And yet there’s something about that Ji Chun Qing…

…and that something is an almost-stalkerish level of persistence. Talk about Dogged Nice Guys. From start to finish it’s never clear what he sees in Su Jia Ao besides tradition demanding that he marry her, but that doesn’t stop him from hanging in there anyway. In the real world the police would have to get involved, but in Tian Jiang Xian Shu Nan it’s almost funny after a while.

This could have been a good, funny love triangle series. Could have been, and almost was. I read up to chapter 95 out of 129, skipped to 120 and read to the end. Even that required me to force myself at several points.

The problem? Su Jia Ao herself. A love triangle series only works as long as the feelings of the key players are clear to the audience but not clear to the persons concerned. There should be room for doubt if not wholesale denseness. If Girl likes Boy A but isn’t sure how he feels about her and Boy B likes her but isn’t sure how she feels, that can work. But when the feelings of all parties are clear and Girl likes A but keeps stringing B along and pulling him back whenever he tries to pull away… Su Jia Ao, die in a fire.

What happens is that Su has a huge and obvious crush on Xiao – and he likes her back – and she knows it – and they’ve even dated and almost kissed. But Ji Chun Qing and her family keep putting pressure on her. That’s hard for a teen to deal with, so I was sympathetic up to that point.

Then Su got the chance to break the engagement with Ji off cleanly, no hard feelings. But noooo, for the sake of her pride she decided to fight for Chun Qing’s hand. And she won. That means she likes him, right? Nnnnot quite. When Xiao’s parents arrange a fiancee for him, Su goes crazy and does everything in her power to interrupt that deal as well. Then right after that Chun Qing gets kidnapped. And of course she runs after him again. I’d had enough of her fickleness by then and skipped to the end to find out which guy she ends up with… But I won’t tell you to avoid spoilers.

The good thing about Tian Jiang Xian Shu Nan is that it’s short, colorful and action-packed with pretty nice character designs and a likeable cast. Yes, even Su when she’s not being a horrible two-timer. The bad side is how frustrating it is to see a main character cruelly toying with people’s emotions. She’s a prime dog in a manger – doesn’t want him, but doesn’t want to see him date someone else. What do you want? Luckily the situation doesn’t drag on too long before the series ends so it’s worth the read if you’re looking for something short, light and romantic – for a given definition of romantic.

Mammoth post about a ton of isekai manga

After watching In Another World with my Smartphone and Knight’s & Magic, I became interested in seeing just how trashy and generic isekai (protagonist thrown into another world) series could get. For the past couple of weeks I’ve been going around the various manga aggregator sites reading what seem to be the most popular ones. Only there are so many isekais and they’re all so similar that I’m having a hard time keeping track of them. This here post is to help me keep everything straight while making some brief comments on each one.

Dungeon Seeker – Main character Junpei is thrown into another world with his crush as well as some bullies. He soon finds himself trapped in a dungeon after being betrayed by the one he trusted most. After somehow avoiding a gory death at the hands of a skeleton, he instead eats the monster and acquires news skills! And so it happens that Junpei goes around defeating and devouring various enemies while living for the day he can get his revenge.

Dungeon Seeker is one of the earliest ones I read and it’s one that I enjoy more than most. The main reason is the lack of a sidekick. In 9 out of 10 isekai series, the hero quickly acquires sidekicks. Usually attractive females, competent but not too good so they don’t outshine him, and of course madly in love with the hero. This series don’t have any of that nonsense so I can focus solely on Junpei’s exploits without an adoring audience standing around explaining every little detail for me.

The drawback of Dungeon Seeker is how hard it tries to be dark and edgy. Someone has been reading too much Berserk. Junpei himself also tries to be cold and hard but is actually pretty weak and easily flustered. It’s a bit annoying sometimes. But each chapter is fast-moving and full of interesting occurrences and cliffhangers, so it’s a good read.

Rising of the Shield Hero – It’s about Iwatani Naofumi, a hero summoned to another world who becomes bitter and angry after being betrayed by someone he trusted. He gets better though, and he has to work with other heroes to defend the world against a series of monster attacks.

The manga art is very good. While Naofumi is strong, he’s far from invincible so this might attract the crowd that likes isekai but doesn’t like overpowered heroes. It also takes a while for other characters to warm up to him, so this isn’t one of those series where everyone worships the hero from day one.

That said, it’s not that interesting a series. Probably the biggest disappointment on the list since I’d heard too much about it. Exhibit A of “the hero gets an adoring harem of competent but not too competent sidekicks,” which is cute the first time you see it but gets old quickly.

Since Naofumi fights solely with a shield, I was expecting him to use it in all kinds of unconventional and inventive ways, but he really doesn’t do much but just kind of stand there. The author too has been reading too much Berserk and now has an evil shield that threatens to take Naofumi over. Yeah yeah, whatevs. Dropped after 30-something chapters because it’s not that interesting, though I did enjoy seeing him get revenge on his betrayers.

Arifureta Shokugyou de Sekai Saikyou – This one is about Hajime Nagumo, who is summoned to another world with his friends but is abandoned and betrayed by one of his companions (we don’t know which one), which leaves him injured and bitter. Eventually he picks up some good skills and an adoring but not-too-competent sidekick and makes his way out of the dungeon. And that’s as far as I read before I dropped it.

I’ve heard good things about the light novel and web novel versions, but the manga is rushed trash. It zooms from one event to another without making any sense and the art is terrible too. The action is so hard to follow that I have no idea how they defeated that dragon – or indeed any other enemy in the series. It’s possible that the upcoming anime will be better, but the manga didn’t compel me to watch it.

Kumo desu ga, nani ka? – I love this one. It’s about a nameless heroine who dies in the real world and gets reincarnated as… a spider?! Yup, a tiny little monster spider in another world. And when you’re a tiny spider, everything’s out to either squish or eat you. How will she ever survive?

The best isekai I’ve read so far, 90% because Kumoko is just sooooo cute! I never thought I’d find a monstrous spider cute, but Japan managed it somehow. The other reason I like it is because of the minimal human interaction present. It’s all monsters all the time, no harem nonsense or political intrigue.

Kumoko gets very strong very quickly, but the enemies are always one step ahead so there’s still plenty of tension. The best part was the fight against the angry monkeys, in which she almost died several times and the enemies just kept upping the ante. That was a good one. The only downside of this manga is… I’ve caught up to the latest chapter, so now I have to wait! Waaaaaahhh…

Tensei Shitara Slime Datta Ken – A 37-year old man is stabbed to death and reincarnated in another world as a lowly slime. And he may very well have stayed a lowly slime for life if he hadn’t befriended and absorbed the most powerful dragon on the continent. Now renamed Rimuru, he’s a force to contend with as he goes about creating the world he’s always dreamed of.

This would have been really interesting if Rimuru had stayed a slime/monster all the way through. Unfortunately he soon gets a human form and looks and acts like all the other isekai heroes before and after him. Boring. Instead of a single groupie, he has an entire nation full of them, so that’s new I guess. Otherwise there’s nothing interesting about this series.

Rimuru meets someone, adds them to his host of worshippers, meets someone else, adds them too, and on and on. Repetitive and unexciting. I thought at least the fighting would be exciting since he was a slime, but once he gains his human form he mostly fights like a human. Blah. Dropped after 30-something chapters.

Jaryuu Tensei – The main character is run over by a car and dies. Then he’s reincarnated as a powerful dragon. An allegedly evil one, which has adventurers clamoring to defeat him. Still he’s so mighty that he doesn’t need to worry about puny little humans… until he accidentally eats a magical item and gets reduced to a human being himself!

Same mistake as Slime Datta Ken. Jaryuu Tensei was funny and different when it was about an actual dragon, but once he takes on human form he becomes like everybody else. Quickly makes friends, picks up an adoring and powerful – but not too strong – elf slave and goes around righting wrongs and fighting evil. Very forgettable series, and it’s sad because it didn’t have to be that way. Mr. Author, next time you write a series about an evil dragon, please ensure that it is actually about a dragon, kthxbye.

Kenja no Mago – A normal guy from this world is reincarnated as a baby in another world. He grows up as Shin, a magical prodigy and the adopted grandson of the most powerful sage in the whole world. Eventually he goes off to magical high school just in time to foil a plot to destroy the country with a demon. Now it’s up to Shin and his band of high school buddies to save the world from the evil demon wizard Oliver Strom.

The one good thing about this manga is that it is very much not a harem. Shin falls in love with one girl quickly, she loves him back, everyone is fully supportive and they get engaged within a few chapters. Refreshing! Apart from that, Kenja no Mago is just like all the rest. Shin is so clever, and so inventive, and everyone thinks he’s so wonderful, even the king and the royal household and all the enemies. He makes an attempt to train the rest of his team but it’s obvious he’s miles ahead of them. There’s no real story besides defeating Oliver either so, meh.

Isekai Tensei Soudouki – Strictly speaking, this is not isekai. Rather a baby in another world, Balud Cornelius, is possessed by the souls of an ancient Japanese warlord and a perverted high school boy. This makes him a powerful fighter who knows a lot about business and making money. He quickly catches the eye – and ire – of the rich and powerful as he revolutionizes the world with inventions like gold-plating, water pumps and… hair conditioner? The sky’s the limit for this unlikely trio!

As with the other series, Balud quickly gathers a troupe of loving fangirls and fanboys. And as with the other series, the author sends him off to magical high school, which made me groan in despair. Not another one! But before too long he’s sent on a political mission to Not!Spain where the series finally picks up and gets somewhat interesting. At least I want to know how he beats the pirates.

The problem I have with this is that the warlord and high school characters might as well not exist. They hardly ever show up except as Deus Ex Machina, then they’re quickly banished to the void until they’re needed again 3 chapters later. This makes the whole premise pointless.

The author was clearly trying to avoid the generic “reincarnated in another world” trope, but he failed to follow through with the full potential and implications of a split-personality hero. In short, despite his backstory Balud is just like all the other isekai heroes. Isekai Tensei Soudouki is still interesting once it gets the political focus the other series don’t have, but apart from that it’s nothing special.

Mushoku Tensei – A jobless NEET is thrown out by his family and dies a pitiful death. After being reincarnated as a baby named Rudeus, he vows to work harder and treat others better. As he grows up, Rudeus becomes a tutor and picks up some fans, but then the whole country is split by an earth-shattering disaster…

This one was actually surprisingly heavy on the feels. Especially the feeling of anger I get whenever Rudy’s good-for-nothing lout of a father is involved. Apart from that I read it quickly and forgot about it because it’s very slow. It’s good for marathoning, but as a monthly series it lacks the impact to keep me reading. The characters aren’t memorable at all either, since as usual they exist mainly to lick the hero’s boots. I might read the whole thing in one go whenever it’s complete since I like Rudy’s try-hard attitude. Otherwise it’s dropped.

Tensei Shichatta yo. Iya, gomen – A self-loathing high school boy with an unhappy family life is accidentally killed by “god” and reincarnated as Will, a ridiculously cute baby with all of the high schooler’s memories. By a lucky chance, all magic in that world is powered by kanji – and Will knows all of them already. Blessed prodigious magical talent, a supportive family and a loving group of buddies, Will is living the dream. Now if only those pesky assassins would stop attacking…

Not much has happened in the 17 chapters I’ve read. It’s a very feel-good manga with very cute characters and art. Despite his immense powers, Will is actually a very sweet and kind little boy. His small size also keeps him free from any harem shenanigans. I hope they keep him small forever.

Kuro no Souzou Shoukanshi – Tenseisha no Hangyaku – High school boy Tsuguna is accidentally killed by a “god” and reincarnated in another world. On the plus side he can summon otherworldly helpers through a special book. On the minus side, he’s born with black hair and black eyes, a curse and a calamity in that world. After years of ill-treatment, Tsuguna escapes from his family and takes on the challenges of the new world. But of course someone as special as him could never hope for an ordinary life.

I’d even forgotten that I read this one. Of course he’s taken in by sexy elves who are madly in love with him. Of course he quickly finds his not-too-competent but cute sidekick. Of course everyone who is anyone in the world is intrigued by this amazing black-haired boy. And there’s stuff about an evil church full of mysterious bad guys. Unremarkable, unmemorable stuff.

Manuke na FPS Player ga Isekai e Ochita Baai – An online FPS player nicknamed Schwarz Powder falls off the edge of the game-world and lands in another world. He can’t log out or go back, but for some reason he can still make in-game purchases. In-game purchases that include guns and advanced armor in a medieval world. Some guys have all the luck.

I’d heard this was terrible, but it’s not that bad. Certainly not compared some of the other dreck I’ve been trying. The gun thing is different. I don’t know enough about guns to rage over his gun choices like other fans do, which is a plus. And while Schwarz has an least one admirer, she hasn’t joined his harem full-time yet. I prefer solo players for these isekai series. Schwarz’s character design is a bit goofy but I like the world and I like the gun combat. I’ve only read 11 chapters but I like it so far.

Gunota ga Mahou Sekai ni Tensei Shitara – Not even going to bother with a proper description. A gun otaku revives in another world and forms a harem of gun-fighters. Because he was such a good metal-worker in the past that he can even create machine guns in another world. Dumb-looking art and a fanservice-heavy focus. I finished one chapter and that was enough.

Tenseisha wa Cheat o Nozomanai – Protagonist Mira is a normal 6-year old in a fantasy world. Until she hits her head one day and recovers memories from her past life in our world. She doesn’t remember everything, but she does remember enough to know that isekai protagonists always end up in a world of trouble. That’s the last thing Mira wants. “Please let me be normal, please let me be normal,” is her plea. Unfortunately fate has other plans.

Very cute manga, seems like the kind of shoujo that would run in Ribon. Female isekai heroines are rare enough, much less ones as small and cute as Mira. But of course she’s still overpowered with a moderately competent sidekick. When the scanlations left off, Mira was on her way to a magical academy (of course) where she is sure to catch the eyes of the whole world (of course) but she hasn’t gotten there as of chapter 6. When I get the time I’m going to hunt down the raws and find out what happens to cute little Mira… or that’s what I thought I’d do, but it turns out the manga is on hiatus. Noooo!

That’s all the isekai manga I can remember right now. Any future comments on these series will be on an individual basis and most likely not until I’ve completed them. There are a still a few popular series I haven’t tried yet, but I’ll remedy that in a couple of days and maybe do another post on that. I also watched one or two anime series in the past month so I’ll write about those some other time. ではまた。

Kaikisen manga review

I don’t have the energy to read long volumes these days, so I turned my hand to a one-volume manga by the late Satoshi Kon. The blurb of Kaikisen goes as follows:

The legend has it that once upon a time, a pact was sealed between the Shinto priest of the town of Amide and a mermaid. Ever since, abundant fishing has guaranteed the town’s prosperity. This pact has always been honored by the priests of the Yashiro family. However, the legend has attracted both media and property developers, and the acting priest has acceded to their demands. Yosuke, youngest of the Yashiro family, has doubts about the existence of the mermaid, but will soon change his opinion as strange occurrences begin to unfold…

What I liked:

The art was clean but detailed. The story was short but action-packed, it felt a lot like an action movie especially near the end. Not too much happened, which kept the events simple enough to understand. The “big bad” was a little ridiculous in the lengths to which he would go to keep the egg, but the other characters in the story were believable and understandable.

The tension between the islanders who wanted to modernize and those who wanted to keep things the same was easy to sympathize with as well. The resolution was positive, but it didn’t magically clear way all the tensions that had existed in the town.

What I didn’t like:

I can understand the motivation of some of the characters, but that doesn’t mean any of them are likeable. The main character Yosuke in particular is just a chain-smoking unmotivated slacker who happens to do the right thing for once in his life. Kudos Yosuke, but that doesn’t make you any less annoying. His friend might as well have been air and his not-really-relationship with that girl who just came back from the city smacks of one of those relationships Hollywood throws into every action movie just for kicks.

That’s the main problem with Kaikisen. You’re not really rooting for anyone, except maybe the mermaid who stupidly entrusted a precious egg to those perfidious humans. The bad guys are given a treatment at the end that suggests they might not be so bad after all but given that their motivations were never really explored and the ‘good guys’ weren’t that easy to sympathize with either, it just smacks of Satoshi Kon trying to end things on a realistic note (bad guys aren’t killed) while not leaving a bad taste in the reader’s mouth. It… doesn’t really work IMO.

Overall:

Well whatever. That’s the beauty of a one-volume manga. On the minus side it might rush a few things and tie up some ends too neatly, but on the big plus side, when it’s over, it’s over. Kaikisen is a short, action-packed read with a good mix of modern-day realism and the supernatural. There’s a bonus, unrelated short story after that, but I disliked it after one page so I dropped it. The main story is worth a read as long as you don’t have to go out of your way to do so. Enjoy~