Realist Maou ni Yoru Seiiki Naki Isekai Kaikaku

[Pokari]

@Animemes:

I resent the accusation that I do nothing but spread hate about isekais! I have nice things to say about them quite frequently, honestly. Me saying, "the genre does invite certain flaws, but I'm largely okay with that," is not meant to be vitriolic on my part.

...All of which is also to say: What I was saying here is this one here is remarkably bad, be it among isekai or among manga in general. (That part was meant to be vitriolic in this case, I suppose. I was rather flabbergasted by how awful this manga was. YMMV and all that, of course.)

 

[Colombo]

I like isekai, but this one is bad.

The plot as well as world-building is rather undeveloped. The characters are flat as a punctured tire, and the same could be said about any story elements. Hey, "realist" my ass, but since you have so many great ideas, why not go into depth and describe them? No, the world works on author fiat and essentially does not exist 2 meters past the MC.

 

[Ecstasy123]

that's blsht u call that she's not pretty?!!! she's pretty hot asf!!! (Chapter 48)

 

[The5thSeraph]

...All of which is also to say: What I was saying here is this one here is remarkably bad, be it among isekai or among manga in general. (That part was meant to be vitriolic in this case, I suppose. I was rather flabbergasted by how awful this manga was. YMMV and all that, of course.)

It is stupid... but calling this one "remarkably bad" is doing a disservice to just how far down the gaping trench of isekai quality really goes.
I'd say this one is at least moderately entertaining... in the sense that a child desperately trying to do something that would be easy for an adult is kinda endearing (or at least it is funny to watch how bad they are despite trying their best). But there are a non-minor chunk of isekai series that are so utterly brain-dead as to be completely incoherent and nonsensical... Isekai series that are so bad that they're not even up for so-bad-its-good ironic entertainment. The fact that the smoothbrain plot of this series can actually be followed at all puts it above at least 40% of other isekai.

Now the real question is... how do so many of these even get made into manga in the first place? I mean they're basically all just some kid's garbage self-insert fic self-published as a "light novel", but presumably someone else has to adapt the damned things and that costs money.

 

[OmnipotentCheese]

This feels formulaic and rushed. Bland 2 dimensional characters. Mediocre art.

This manga tastes like sawdust.

 

[Fafuncho]

Personally, it is a good manga, it is a generic piece with some spice.

I think it is a solid 8, I used to consider it a 9 because it fills what it intends to do, it is a light read and the characters are enjoyable, but picking it back after a pair of years, I feel more the "generic" stuff, like the excruciatingly low build up in the development of characters, they aren't empty but the lack of build up is very noticeable; as someone said "you really shouldn't set him up to be the greatest demon king already in the description...".

 

[AlfaT3]

I like the story and the caracters but there are things that doesn't make sense, it's bothersome. Exemple, (spoile) after ryouma's daughter falsely dies, it isn't said anytime that she was actually alive but she appears publicly during the pirates assault. another thing I find dumb is the correlation with our world in the details, I don't think Jeanne should be aware of japanese superstition's mores

 

[megaguil]

This is a fun one. It drags on in places but the interpretations of historic figures are interesting. The art is also pretty great.

It also feels like it takes a ton of inspiration from the Fate series. I can’t help but want to say this entire thing is like one large Grail war. Ryouma is basically an elf FGO Da Vinci. Robin Hood, Hijikata, and Jeanne D’Arc are all here. Different looks and personalities of course but man, it’s definitely there.

 

[Appropriate_Radio_53]

.

 

[DeepSeaDingo]

@Pokari I cringe harder at isekai critics spreading nothing but hate all the damn time.

You guys sure do love reading a genre you hate. It’s almost like you’re tsundere...for isekai.

I'm 3 years late to this party, but I agree. They all come into these comment sections like they've written nothing but best sellers their whole lives. There could be like one chapter available and they would leave a comment like "here's another trash isekai, super generic so far."

 

[Ardius]

I'm 3 years late to this party, but I agree. They all come into these comment sections like they've written nothing but best sellers their whole lives. There could be like one chapter available and they would leave a comment like "here's another trash isekai, super generic so far."

I do not agree with that statement at all. You do not have to be la crème de la crème of writers to be able to give criticism over a piece of content. As long as the criticism is constructive, coherent and most importantly, verifiable in its argumentation, the criticism should be considered.

As for the notion that criticism spreads hate, I strongly disagree. I am not sure why we default to thinking that when a critic is being made, it's main motor has to be a deep-seated anger that want nothing more than to tear apart the piece it's criticizing. I believe criticism can and is mostly born from a willingness to see the original piece be improved. Why when we are fans of something we are supposed to just stay quiet and blindly like while sweeping under the rug the bad parts? Should we disregard guilty pleasures entirely?

Speaking of guilty pleasures; I like isekais a lot. That genre has a lot of potential that often goes wasted in my opinion (I mostly blame SAO and the Japanese industry for mass producing popular themes to the point where it becomes so unformed and tasteless, it can only be compared as if we were served soggy molded bread for the rest of this millenium). Disregarding the notion that I should probably be shot for having bad tastes; I can only have nothing but the greatest respect for those who are able to take a step back and analyze what they enjoy without fear of realizing what they like is sometimes not really that great. That mindset will make sure the good things they like are even more appreciated due to the understanding of flaws they do not possess.

Now that yappin' of mine is over, I'd like to hear if you both have any issues you'd like to say about this manga, even if it's something small. I'm certain neither of you think this manga is a masterpiece without any flaws whatsoever and I am curious to see what you think might be flaws.

Praises be to the Holy flying Apple.

 

[DeepSeaDingo]

I do not agree with that statement at all. You do not have to be la crème de la crème of writers to be able to give criticism over a piece of content. As long as the criticism is constructive, coherent and most importantly, verifiable in its argumentation, the criticism should be considered.

As for the notion that criticism spreads hate, I strongly disagree. I am not sure why we default to thinking that when a critic is being made, it's main motor has to be a deep-seated anger that want nothing more than to tear apart the piece it's criticizing. I believe criticism can and is mostly born from a willingness to see the original piece be improved. Why when we are fans of something we are supposed to just stay quiet and blindly like while sweeping under the rug the bad parts? Should we disregard guilty pleasures entirely?

Speaking of guilty pleasures; I like isekais a lot. That genre has a lot of potential that often goes wasted in my opinion (I mostly blame SAO and the Japanese industry for mass producing popular themes to the point where it becomes so unformed and tasteless, it can only be compared as if we were served soggy molded bread for the rest of this millenium). Disregarding the notion that I should probably be shot for having bad tastes; I can only have nothing but the greatest respect for those who are able to take a step back and analyze what they enjoy without fear of realizing what they like is sometimes not really that great. That mindset will make sure the good things they like are even more appreciated due to the understanding of flaws they do not possess.

Now that yappin' of mine is over, I'd like to hear if you both have any issues you'd like to say about this manga, even if it's something small. I'm certain neither of you think this manga is a masterpiece without any flaws whatsoever and I am curious to see what you think might be flaws.

Praises be to the Holy flying Apple.

Sorry, its been a while since I've read the story. I didn't like it when they introduced the French character. I'm not a big fan of the fate manga style stories. Introducing historical characters just doesn't work for me. Obviously some people like that though.

 

[Ardius]

Sorry, its been a while since I've read the story. I didn't like it when they introduced the French character. I'm not a big fan of the fate manga style stories. Introducing historical characters just doesn't work for me. Obviously some people like that though.

On that, we are in agreement.

I'm not a fan of how they incorporated Jeanne as simply "harem member number 2, power bottom edition." I have French ties, so it certainly irks me a bit, but it would have been great for the character to have more of a personality regardless of my personal feelings on the matter. (I'm still at volume 16 as I write this, so maybe it gets better later, but knowing how these mangas work, and from what I've seen of this one in particular, I wouldn't hold my breath.)

I know I'm getting fixated on this, yet I believe it's an example of one of the biggest problems of this manga: why is it always Jeanne d'Arc? Aren't there any other interesting characters from French history they could draw from? Théroigne de Méricourt? Saint Genevieve? Eleanor of Aquitaine? Lucile Aurore Dupin? Agnès de la Barre de Nanteuil? Jeanne de Clisson? Literally anyone else that hasn't been done to death already? Or perhaps other intriguing historical figures from different regions and cultures?

Does anyone have other good examples?

 

[Werewolven]

The grammar is bad and the lines are cringy af. "Sounds like a guy who deserves to be killed by a dirty tactic". What kind of line is that?