@Podi125 Alright.. here we go again.
Being able to project yourself onto a character doesn't really make the manga universally better. If that was the case, everyone would just eat up every power fantasy to ever exist.
Here is your first problem, I never said universally. My method only applies to me, I never said "You have to project yourself onto a character", it's a "me" thing. And your second problem is that you think that people DON'T eat up every power fantasy to ever exist. I'm gonna give you some examples now, one of the most recent ones, Anos Voldigoad from The Misfit of DKA. The Misfit of DKA is such a generic story, the MC is just another flawless OP character, side characters are uninteresting, yet regardless of all that people still enjoyed the shit out of it. Objectively, it's such a horrible anime, but who cares about that? All that matters is how much you enjoyed it. People DO eat up almost every power fantasy, although there are a fair amount of elitists always preaching about objectivity, those are the people who bring down scores of these power fantasies, and that is why I don't trust ratings (Unless its a Japanese site like Anikore). Did you know that there are countless power fantasy light novels/mangas that never saw the light of an English translation, yet they are super popular in Japan and are doing pretty great in sales. Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, another power fantasy with an OP MC, the anime was basically an advertisement for the source (The light novel) and turns out that the anime did really well and the sales of the source were boosted as a result, go MAL and you'll see Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry with a terribly low score. Gakusen Toshi no Asterisk War is just basically a re-skin of Rakudai Kishi no Cavalry, even me being a huge power fantasy fan didn't like it, but turns out, a lot of people did, A LOT of people, that is why it also got a second season as well. Statistically, people do eat up (almost) every power fantasy, of course, there are some truly hated and terrible power fantasies out there, like Kenja no Mago, even people from Japan hated that trash.
Some get 9 stars like Solo Leveling others get 4 and 5 stars. The main reason why people like Solo Leveling is a combination of a solid power system (as in the rules of the world aren't broken very easily), a protagonist that isn't super cringeworthy, and overall a really nice art style.
Oh please, just please, don't talk about ratings or stars, just.. don't. Why are you bringing up ratings anyway? Do you actually trust MD's ratings? Please tell me you don't. Let's just not talk about ratings. "protagonist that isn't super cringeworthy" Oh wow what a different way of saying "Gary stu", you can't deny this, Sung Jin-Woo is a Gary Stu, and always has been. "Combination of a solid power system" wait what? What are you talking about? The power system in Solo Leveling is very basic, even I can understand it after reading it once. Solo Leveling is a combination of a chad looking OP as fuck MC, the "Weakest to strongest" trope, the "Most powerful girl falls in love with the most powerful boy" trope, the trope of constantly surprising others with your insane powers, some great ass kickings and last but not least, a really good artstyle. That is what Solo Leveling is a combination of. Even after being this unoriginal, I and many others like it, why? Because of my aforementioned reasons. One person cannot be a representative, you are not a representative. Most SL fans you ask will say "I like SL because the MC is very strong!!!" and if you want to see it for yourself, then go make a post on r/SoloLeveling asking them why do they like Solo Leveling so much.
Idk why you assume that the vast majority of people read manga for the same purpose you do. Sure we all want to escape from reality, but to varying degrees.
I
WILL assume that people read manga the same way I do, you know why? Because anime/manga is an escapism medium, almost all entertainment mediums are escapism medium. Now don't go ahead asking me "wHy aRe U aSsUmInG tHaT mAnGa iS aN eScApIsM mEdIuM" you can do a Google search right? So do your own research. Even now, I often see threads in Reddit like "Do you use anime/manga to escape reality" seriously, there are TONS of people that read manga the same way I do, TONSSS. And yes, they are the vast majority, they always have been. Otaku culture, anime tropes etc. etc. tons of shit to talk about, but I won't, cause this is a waste of time, and I doubt you'll even read all this.
I rarely project myself onto characters, mainly because I rarely agree with any character's actions, I typically just try to understand them and their actions. I don't think you can objectively determine a manga's worth based on whether or not you can project yourself onto the MC.
Ever heard the quote "You do you, and I'll do me"? You do you, and I'll do me. You can do whatever you want, I never stopped you, but that doesn't mean that I have to do the same. Looks like you took my whole comment in the wrong way, thinking that I'm ordering people to project themselves onto the MC, sigh... Different people have different ways to determine how good is manga, I have my way, you have your way, and it is only a mere fact that my way is the majority's way, but that doesn't mean that your way is wrong.
Not trying to diss you here but if you are ONLY looking to project yourself onto a MC, its would be best for you to only read power fantasies or ones with upstanding/relatively flawless MCs.
Off to the assumptions, are we? When did I ever say that I only like flawless perfect MCs? Did you skip the part where I said that I like Subaru? Does Subaru look flawless to you? No he isn't. Via projecting myself on him, I understood his struggles, I understood that he is in pain and everything he does, he has a rational reason to do, all of his mental breakdowns, everything, it's completely normal. Many people (not me) had problem projecting themselves on Subaru, that's why many people find him annoying, those kind of people are hypocrites, they'll shoot down a character for being too flawless, and they'll also shoot down characters who have flaws. My likings aren't only limited to OP characters.
