I feel like I'm in the vast minority of people who actually...
liked the developments in this chapter? Maybe I'm having an easier time 'cause it's been a while since I've binged the series so I'm coming in without any baggage from reading the earlier arcs.
1. I'm glad he didn't fight the evil puppet kid in the first five minutes they meet this arc, like one chapter after he was introduced, because that would've been super anticlimactic and unsatisfying?? The kid is actually a cool villain with a cool powerset, and I like cheering for him to get punched in the face soon - a far cry from any of the previous ones.
It would've been such a tremendous waste to make him irrelevant now, so I actually prefer that they delay his inevitable confrontation with MC until it can have more impact later. I like that they realized they had a cool villain and gave him time to breathe so that he could be fleshed out before he gets his ass kicked.
(*unless they never have their fight, in which case I'll be mad)
2. Same thing with the MC 'hiding his power' which has everybody riled up.
After all of this time, how unsatisfying would it have been if he revealed his power... now, at a non-dramatic moment with little tension or build-up? I'd feel cheated if they made me wait this long for that moment just to waste it here where there's kind of stakes but not anything that interesting leading up to it.
Besides that, what they showed here about his mindset regarding it was great - he's now steeled himself and fully willing to use his full power at a moment's notice, come what may. With some ruthless inner thoughts about how he'd try to salvage it by force. Wasn't that like... the coolest thing he could've said in his head for this situation, since - as I mentioned earlier - him having to actually pull that trigger would be a waste here?
3. The end of this confrontation actually makes sense!
The MC cares more about the immediate threat of
everyone I love just got teleported to danger more than these schmucks trying to mug him.
From his perspective:
- Trying to run away with the points means they'll chase him, which means he'll have to waste time evading / fending them off.
- Every moment he spends trying to actually defeat them means another second his friends are in danger without him.
- Even if he runs away the crazy sadist puppet boy might still chase him, but the odds of that happening go way down if there's no 10 million point-based incentive to do so.
And from a narrative point of view, it's clear that the puppet boy being interrupted twice has been thrown off his game and isn't in the mood to chase down some 'weak' dude now that he doesn't have an external motivation (the SP points) giving him the excuse. It actually makes sense for him to put off their inevitable fight, and fleshes string boy out beyond being
'that asshole sadist villain'.
4. Potential bigger conspiracy plot involving the academy, instead of just some strong kid causing trouble for another arc?
Now, all of the previous chapters in the series could have led up to this arc better. The execution could've been
way better because the core concept was great - an all-powerful MC has a legit reason to lay low and have his slice-of-life adventures, but keeps having to risk using his power because of the trouble caused by kids who've been twisted by their isekai experiences.
Regardless, we're finally here - an arc where the academy staff might actually be involved in the conflict directly because there's a conspiracy that could actually threaten them.
If there's any conflict that would be worth having the MC power reveal, wouldn't it be one where the all-powerful academy has a genuine external/internal threat to deal with?
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So basically, this chapter was 10/10 build-up for me.
- I'm excited to see when the MC reveals his power, because things are escalating to the point where it'd make sense and be satisfying.
- I'm hopeful that since there's more build-up, the fight against puppeteer boy will be more cool and impactful.
- I'm interested in seeing what bigger threat could actually concern the academy, which has so far been depicted as basically all-powerful to the point where MC doesn't wanna fuck around and find out.
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tl;dr
I know the
'when will he stop being passive and kick ass' routine is frustrating, but since we've already waited this long can we all agree that we want that moment to actually be cool and mean something when it happens?
My biggest fear is that after all this time pushing it back, the manga somehow wastes it.
/essay over