tl;dr: A bad "superhero" manga. I've read a comment analyzing that it is closer to a mahou shoujo story, and I have to unfortunately agree on that point. The power scaling is inconsistent (the protagonist starts excessively weak, doesn't go through any training, but gets random power ups that are VERY convenient for the story; it can work if you turn off your brain but not if you try to analyze it), and the world building system is weak (like why does every country only have one hero; why is the meeting room in outer space? these weird decisions are not played for comedy or goofiness, nor are they relevant to the plot; so they just ended up being distracting...). Pacing is weird, certain side characters do not add any value to the main plot (they are not interesting nor relevant, nor do they contribute to the protagonist's growth; so they feel like archetypical eyecandy). Every side character on the protag's side except the girl the protagonist saves in chapter 1 and the Russian lady and the Brit guy feel irrelevant and shoehorned in.
DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU ENJOY ACTION STORIES AND DON'T WANT TO HAVE A HEADACHE.
Pros:
- interesting premise (having a weak hero who doesn't outright "save everyone" )
- EXCELLENT character design; all characters have very memorable and unique suits that complement them
- (?) If you like GL or yuri this might be worth one extra point for you. I feel like the author's strength shines more when he focuses on the SoL than the action.
- I've read up to 103, and I do find the plot twist interesting; but it took the author too long to develop it through there. Too much random side tracking. If the author made the vibe more "mystery" ish it could have made the weakness of the series (poor action) less apparent (which is an issue that Ranger Reject has).
Cons
- poor paneling decision which leads to bad action flow; I can recall the scene of the British dude kicking the protagonist and it was very not obvious how it occurs (Ranger Reject also has this issue but at least it is better in other domains)
- anatomy errors and scaling (this can get very distracting at times---where sometimes a character who is much shorter than another one suddenly is almost the same size) --- this is probably due to the artist freehanding stuffs and didn't use 3D model to make sure things are consistent. While I applaud the effort to do things manually, it does get distracting.
- doesn't make full usage potential of the side character cast (sometimes I feel like the artist just want to show them their design; except for Kfufu and the antagonist side who are better developed) e.g. the protagonist team's "team leader" lady just exists...? The French guy is just there? The Chinese boy feels like he's just there and doesn't contribute much other than for cute moment and eye candy. The most popular hero Century or whatever appears like 1% of the time? and is never really focused on?
- some characters are just introduced in a most "random" way that feels inorganic (looking at the ninja power up; like wtf how does it match the "supernatural hero" world building? It can take you out of the immersion.
- power system that is not well explained (just hand-waved)
- Deus Ex Machina developments (protagonist just gets critical power up whenever they need it the most; not organic)
- the fight uptime ratio between the protagonist side vs the antagonist side is 70% Talk no Jutsu 30% action.
Recommendations
The author should have read and study more the paneling of good action stories like OPM, Eyeshield 21, Blue Lock to get their shit together, etc.
If they don't like the action route, the author should just make it a SoL yuri fluff with occasional action, that would make it more bearable since the inconsistencies aren't displayed when he doesn't go for action developments. (I don't even care about yuri but the author definitely has more knack for these "platonic" relationships than creating high stake action sequences; more dating, less fight if the quality is low anyway!)
LONGER RANT HERE ONLY IF YOU HAVE FREE EXTRA TIME (speculation regarding of the usage of the protagonist, "Shy", by the author)
The protagonist decides to deploy a "weak" protagonist like "Shy". This can be a double-edge sword depending on how he develops it, either it will have a good reception or a bad one. It really depends what the author wants to do with her.
First of all, having weak protagonists in superaction stories is not a rarity, it can be said to be a staple (Deku from MHA, Peter Parker from Spiderman, etc.). Often these "weak starters" end up "glowing" up, leaving their past self in the dust. That's the underdog trope.
Now, the problem lies with the establishment of the protagonist "Shy".
If you've read the one-shot which this series is based off, you would realize the author just has a thing for demure, doormat girls like "Shy".
Now, if we let this guy do whatever he wants. The chance of "Shy" changing herself for good is very low. And first of all, why would you go for a hero name like "Shy"? It's like as if you don't want to "change the core of yourself". (It's not established in the story that a hero name is set or whatever). Often in mangas, comics, we would have a character change their name/title to mean "a new self".
But if a protagonist having gone through numerous trials and tribulations, still doesn't grow, it will make it get "grating" for the audience. Especially if it's about self-development. Often readers go for these superhero stories with weak protagonists to "feel the grow" or "self-insert" or whatever.
Eventually, it's all about resolve, the problem with Shy is that, she appears to have a weak resolve (why is she even a hero? That is also very poorly established at the beginning of the story; until you read like really really far like 80+ chapters; but most people won't make it that far before dropping it off! I would say that the issue the author is that he didn't showcase the reasoning of why Shy became a hero, hence making it a cognitive dissonance that such a demure girl who literally just NEET'ed out her hero duties in the early chapters by being "irresponsible" ).
Protagonist heroes showcasing a weak resolve is problematic if you want them to have a following. Because heroes above all things are supposed to be charismatic, and not even having a strong resolve gets into the way of that image. Maybe the author could have showcased scenes where despite being called "Shy", she can be courageous, to go against her "defined trait". The author needs to showcase more of these, and he sometimes do when it is critical to the plot (otherwise that would be the lamest thing ever).
But the problem is that outside of her hero form, the author doesn't exhibit these moments and she still stays the same and doesn't feel like she is actively trying to change herself, which can get grating to go through if you are a reader looking for character developments.
Unless you have a thing for cuddling smol frail baby who constantly needs a mentor to guide them. You'll be like, "oh fck off I'm not your fcking parent/guardian".
Second, the way Shy earns her power-ups feel cheap and random. It's never properly explained why or how she suddenly gets the power up. She just gets them when she needs them. Imagine a speculative situation where Luffy needs to save a critical character who is about to die (I'm not spoiling who it is or if it actually happened), but then MAGICALLY he suddenly can awaken Observation Haki and King Haki and Gear 5. Like without explanations. But only with one chapter ago that foreshadows that he has THE POTENTIAL. Imagine if Naruto suddenly at a mid boss fight suddenly awakens the final form with Kurama or whatever. Without any interlude scenes of how he managed to control the power. Shy is a FRAUD, comparison-wise, and can't beat the ALLEGATIONs of cheap, non-sensical power ups.
tl; dr: Shy has potential but the author lets his fetish of loving low confidence girls get into the way from making her better. He also can't be bothered to research on how to showcase proper transitional power up scenes that make the CHARACTERS EARN THEM. Also, nobody than Shy (and like ONE other character in a cast of like 10+ heroes?) actually gets a power-up? You can see that he doesn't know how to manage an ensemble cast (like Naruto, MHA, etc. where side characters are given even scenes for grasping new level ups).
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