Been enjoying this manga a lot! I've been seeing the same criticisms over and over for the manga to which I find them to be quite interesting.
The common ones are:
- He's too overpowered
- He doesn't struggle enough or go through enough hardships
- Making him attractive and good-looking sends the message that to be valued is based on your looks
I don't believe Yuuya is overpowered like someone from Overlord but I do believe he's very powerful. A lot of that has to do with what was left behind to him (hence the cheating part in the title) His grandpa clearly was intentionally leaving his legacy behind to someone who he knew was worthy of it based on their character. His grandpa saw he was suffering and made sure to pass along something to him that would make up for it.
I also disagree heavily with some of those other criticisms based around his struggles. Why exactly does he need to suffer in a particular way? (i.e lose battles, learn slowly, get betrayed etc) The start of his story is suffering, he's already internalized that, which is why he has no self-confidence despite repeatedly getting compliments. He's spending time training, researching and cooking etc. It is for sure coming easier to him, but why is that a bad thing exactly? He suffered already from the intense bullying and societal ostracizing but people still want him to suffer even after all that? You can write a story where the obstacles someone faces in life aren't just external.
Him being attractive instead of the small, ugly fat version of himself is a pivotal point. It's not meant to celebrate attractive people over less attractive people. Is that not a fact of reality? Are we really going to pretend superhero movies cast unattractive people? That we don't enjoy things that we perceive as beautiful more than ugly? Attractive people exist and because they are attractive, we make cursory judgements about their character. However, that doesn't mean they are not awful people. This is what's important. If he still looked as he was, sure it would be more difficult for him to overcome those obstacles of self-esteem. In fact, closer to impossible. But I think it was a wise decision to change his looks the starting line of his own self-improvement was pushed forward more. I think there is this common sentiment that we believe that looks don't matter. I think it's ridiculous. We all know looks matter. Pretending otherwise is patronizing to those whom it impacts.
TL;DR let my man cook, he's already had a shitty time. Why do people need others to suffer before they can empathize with them?
Also the anime adapation is kinda whack