I picked this up solely on the cover without reading the summary. I expected some boring but pretty story and was drawn in with the first emotionally gripping prologue chapter! It is amazing the amount of development, depth and plot twists Yun Hyunseok has captured.
Points: Comparison on today's materialistic/shallow society (over exaggerated) versus what is moral/ethic. Well established characters and back stories providing a full and developed cast with some character development. Great action scenes, fun comedic moments and sweet (minor) romance. Decent emotions and a very nice play on psychological warfare.
Drawbacks: The over exaggeration can a make it hard to connect with due to it being highly skewed to looks and power and greed over everything else. Only a handful have personalities that shine through the 'improved' looks. Some arcs drag a little, especially with filler fight scenes or pointless fun - though these can sometimes help to better connect with characters. Relatively slow character development as focus is on leveling up, X mystery and back stories. (But that's a personal preference of loving development stories).
Characters (there are many)
Dongtae - main protagonist.
He starts off as a bullied kid and, with the help of the dice, becomes a powerful hero who holds onto his belief that dice are a tool that can be used to better the world. He aims to defeat X without playing by the rules X has set for the game.
X - main antagonist.
Game master of his cruel game that plays on people's darker desires to overcome weaknesses and compete against others. He is a lonely personality with child behaviors aiming to have friends to play with forever.
Taebin - secondary protagonist (?)
Original dice user Dongtae encounters. He escaped the fallout of X's last game and is against the spread of dice as he knows it will lead to another bloodbath. May prove to be more foe than friend with the secret he carries inside.
Eunju - secondary protagonist (?)
She is the pure, upright character that both male protagonists like. Determined not to be drawn into X's game, she sees the dice as the cause of evil. Unlike Dongtae, she aims to erase the existence of dice altogether. This often leads to conflict with others who have benefited from the dice by escaping lives of bullying, helplessness, and inadequacies. She is perhaps the hardest to connect with as she fails to empathize with others and focuses solely on her own desire for everyone to accept themselves as they are - something she actually struggles with herself due to past rejection and not being recognized for her hard work. Due to recent developments she has pitted herself against Dongtae and is moving more towards an anti-hero role.
Mio - secondary protagonist.
She has a strong crush on Dongtae and provides a light aspect to an otherwise dark plot. She is the most level headed of the protagonist group but also serves as more prop than key player. She helps often enough to be a secondary character rather than background but as of yet hasn't stood out much. Hints of her back story and recent power displays could mean more is to come of her development.
Mooyoung - secondary antagonist.
Hints that he may be one of the true original dicers, he aims to gain power to try defeating X. He has tried multiple times and failed. To succeed, he plays an anti-hero role and will do anything to reach his goal, including killing friends. His link to Taebin is more than just past connections and may greatly change the playing field of the current gladiatorial game set up.
Che-Hyun - minor character, a personal favorite.
While we know little of him, he seems like a fun and clumsy sidekick. I'm curious as to what his ability is - my guess is clairvoyance.
Inconsistencies:
Adults
Other than the one who joined the game and went crazy, what are all the others doing?? I mean, kids are suddenly and rapidly changing appearance (major changes overnight), abilities and skills. Violence, attendance issues and such are suddenly on the rise. They're all on their phones and playing with some 'dice'. Is a blocked phone really the only deterrent needed to keep them oblivious??
Stealth
During the first arc, we had one character make a big deal about turning off phones and going to a secluded park to avoid CCTVs and other electronic/communication/recording devices so X can't eavesdrop. Yet after that we have our main heroes constantly talking about how to defeat X right in the open knowing he is eavesdropping. If he has the power to change the world...why would you not master a little stealth and strategy?
Favorite scene:
Overnight stay & brain power
After Mio and Dongtae start officially dating, she asks to spend the night (indefinitely) and Dongtae's hormones go on overdrive thinking she means more than just a sleep over. We see him losing rationality and being extremely flustered. Great, light-hearted fun. After he starts getting a little too anxious and bold, Mio succinctly puts him in his place and he's left to sleep in his own bed - alone.
Overall - I highly recommend this manhwa. It has a lot going on and is very interesting with it's concept and execution. The characters are fun and their interactions drive the story with dice powers adding incentives and twists. Give the prologue a shot - I doubt most of you will regret it.
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