Rating is around near the end of Season 2 (280 chapters in), it would have been a 7/10. But Fuck Rachel.
Now I'm gonna add this a disclaimer and say these are all my opinion, you are free to disagree so we will all just be free to disagree. I'm writing this on my own, not speaking on behalf of anyone.
Art: 10/10 (Season 1 is not any means great but it does get better in Season 2. Likewise the world seems very more interesting visually after Season 1. Character designs are kinda hit or miss but nothing that is off-putting imo. Plus points atleast for keeping the visual interest and development of time through casts changing their clothes. And also, you get a considerably diverse enough set to differentiate each)
Characters: 6/10 (Too many and no big character developments. If you want a more character-driven story with growth, this may not be for you. I would say some are interesting even if many of them seem like walking tropes. Would've been nice to have more interactions and emotional growth of the characters)
Writing: 4/10 (it relies on a lot of foreshadowing then dragging on for so long you forget why you should care about now. Too many questions. Not much answered. Suffers from too much sometimes. Dialogues are not interesting, character interactions are same-y/awkward. You get only 1 out of 5 interesting dialogues/interactions post season 1. Has confusing moments) A lot of exposition due to worldbuilding. I do not know what is the purpose of a lot of things at this point.
Khun Aguero Agnes- 10/10. This is my only regret in putting down this comic for a while til it gets completed. I have some problems with how he is handled at times but he's consistently what makes this comic enjoyable for me. He needs better character development outside of being with Bam tho 🙁
I like:
-The art: the art gets better. They have nice details, the backgrounds give a feeling of vastness and interest past season 2. The areas in the 20th floor giving us a nice view that there is some resemblance of living outside tests and the test places are nice. The tower looks pretty empty for the 1st season so it wasn't as interesting. Almost everyone looks sick in season 2.
If anything, the author really improved the worldbuilding aspects in the second season. Since it's a fantasy story, it makes for an immersive read. And in my opinion, it is one of the interesting things in the whole webcomic because we don't know much about the Tower. There are some lore bits in the author's blogs that are nice finds as well.
-Imo, the morally gray characters or atleast the morality. While it's still the subject of heated debate, it's still a fairly refreshing take on most stories since the MC and the character's aren't inherently evil or good. So it's not something sugarcoated for the most part and there are consequences for the actions for most part.
I'd explore more about our MC Bam later on but sadly from this point onwards, i dont have much to give him..
The series also gets a plus point to me atleast for not sexualising the female characters so I'm gonna give the author that. It's not something unique but credit is where credit is due.
What I don't like:
-The pacing. God the pacing. There are a lot of subplots, some enjoyable, some not, some absolutely unnecessary. Not necessarily bad because it gives some breath between chapters but there are lots of times that'll make you think "What was it all for?".
I think the author does indeed planned it out due to some foreshadowing elements but see this: the readers don't get to see
the plot about the main two (Bam and Rachel) move for the most part. It took more or less 150 chapters for them to meet u. Just as we thought the MC will leave her alone, the girl baits him yet again to chase her because she knows his past. If you were to cut out a lot of the chapters in season 2 and combine those, you'll get a very short compilation. We do not get info about Bam's origins until 200 chapters in after season 1. And now we're on the 3rd season, still no interactions between the two so I'm not waiting another season just for a few panels of MC being naive and Rachel doing crazy shit again so Bam would go after her
I think for the most part, it's enjoyable to see other characters since it's about tower climbing. However, the results of these long-awaited interactions of the main two are well, disappointing.
-Characters. They are a hit or miss. As much as I do like a lot of them and understand why they climb the tower, once you get a villain that has the same tragic backstory as every other else, it doesn't have the same effect.
Unfortunately, if you ever do like a character that is not Bam or Rachel, you would be disappointed about the treatment of the others in the later story as individual characters of their own. A whole lots.
My pet peeve would be characters that get hyped up a lot then turned into comic relief.(like Boro or Rak) The character's don't have very meaningful interactions save for a very few. And my biggest gripe is when characterization is sacrificed for plot reasons for smart characters like Karaka and Khun. Or when the characters just act as fodders to make some of the member's care for their death and thus need to avenge them.
And another thing that's more of disappointment rather than criticism is the lack of conflict between characters? Even if some characters do say things and such to MC, it doesn't really push through and there are times where someone might think the characters should have conflict (NHS station, Khun/others and Bam regarding Rachel, Bam's choices) but nothing much really changed. Aside from FUG.
The MC is yet another hit or miss. Oh boy. This is where the bag of worms come in. I do not absolutely recommend reading this work if you can't handle naive MCs. Our MC is understandably compared to that of a child as he's literally raised in a cave by the girl. I won't say he's too deep, I think he's almost inhuman.
He grows a bit in Season 2 but it's mostly wanting to save his friends because he's afraid of being alone. The problem I have with him is his moral compass which just changes...just cause' .It could be interesting concept but can make or break to certain readers. Like I said, he is a bit of a child so he is still exploring some concepts. He is still not the sharpest tool in the shed unfortunately and continuously refuses to learn from his mistakes.
-It is repetitive.
2nd season is just...full of this. Hostage here, hostage there, FUG here, FUG there. So if you are not fan of the MC being hellbent on saving every time a teammate is held hostage (plus points if it's a character who has no impact much in the story), this would be hard to read through. Power-ups one after another. I think it also suffers a bit of plot convenience/devices. Again, not entirely bad, just makes one go "Oh x item has this use for this very exact situation. What better way to showcase it than to use it exactly in that situation without telling the reader's beforehand about what it can do." And powerful characters showing up at the nick of time to save Bam.
-No much threats and Confusing at times. And lots of plot armor cause hey it's plot.
IMO, It's a series better read as a whole after it's finished because the pacing is slow for the plot part. I wouldn't call it action. I'm not sure about the main genre but it does feel like shounen for the most part.
Just don't expect too much action in Season 1 and the fights imo are not comparable to stuff like One Piece, Naruto, where there are battles as there's more energy blasts exchanges. The dialogue is again nothing particular for a lot of part. It can get repetitive (look at hostage situation, MC attitude) with some few twists, some nice, some not, some meh.
I'm dropping it for a bit then pick it up maybe years later when it's finally done and maybe I'll reedit this. Overall, it's not something I would personally suggest if you're not into worldbuilding and not too fleshed out characters. My suggestion however, is to give atleast season 1 and some of Season 2's arcs a try first to see if you like it or nah. You may enjoy lots of things better than mme/
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