Title: Lore Olympus

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2018-2024

Country: New Zealand

Genre: Drama/romance/fantasy

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Lore Olympus is one of the best-known and popular Webtoons, and it 100% deserves that distinction. There's so much that's fresh and unique about the series while also having a lot of classic elements. For the uninitiated, Lore Olympus is a retelling of ancient Greek myths in a hybrid 21st century/ancient Greek setting. Webtoons bills it as a romance, however I call it a drama because there is so much going on beyond the romance plot: action, political scheming, revenge, trauma recovery, familial relationships, independence and interdependence...

The art style is bold, stylish, unique, and very aesthetically pleasing. The characters are fresh and interesting, drawing heavily from ancient myth mixed with more contemporary traits and personalities. The overall fusion of ancient and contemporary is fantastic; the entire series is full of little details pulled from old myths, right up to the end. The plot is engaging, and the pacing is mostly consistent. The main cast is huge, the supporting cast even bigger, and they all get fleshed-out personalities and storylines, and most undergo significant character development. Even though much of what happens in Lore Olympus was composed thousands of years ago, I didn't feel like the plot directed the characters, rather the characters drive the plot. For how much happens in this series, it's all surprisingly well organized and balanced. Yet a surreal, dreamy tone persists through the series, beautifully complementing the serious plot elements. This webcomic really utilizes its medium well.

I think Lore Olympus gathered some hate during its third season that I completely chalk up to the weekly release format. Readers complained that the plot wasn't moving as quickly as they wanted, which I attribute to readers' expecting the exciting pace from the previous arc's climax to continue (which would be bad storytelling) as well as frustration from fast-pass readers that they weren't "getting our money's worth" out of each chapter. I binged the series instead of reading it weekly, and thought the pacing perhaps got a tad slower than it should have during season three, but the story was clearly progressing and at a fairly consistent pace and wrapped up well. There are plenty of Webtoons where the story pace grinds to a halt or starts flailing as the author runs out of ideas while their editors push them to artificially extend their golden goose, but Lore Olympus isn't one of them.

I've also seen some hate around how some of the characters and/or relationships are handled, which I think a full read of the series combined with researching the original myths would generally dispel. In my opinion, Lore Olympus does a fantastic job maneuvering around the elements of Greek mythology we'd consider especially tasteless today (such as the incest), and given that the original myth is literally called "the rape of Persephone," I think the author's renditions of myth to better appeal to 21st century tastes is brilliant (from non-consensual encounters to giant age gaps). Mild spoiler:

The characters span a wide range of ages, but generally look and act like young adults and middle-aged adults. The characters express both maturity and immaturity, and overall I think this is a series that older readers will greatly enjoy, especially as the older characters are introduced and take more prominence in the plot.

Lore Olympus is a truly unique and well-made series that I would unreservedly recommend any fan of comics at least give a try.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Train to the End of the World (English); 終末トレインどこへいく？(Japanese)

Type: Anime

Year: 2024

Country: Japan

Genre: Surreal

Status: Completed

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: No, but I (mostly) enjoyed it anyway

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Train to the End of the World (TEW) is perhaps one of the worst "cute girls doing cute things" series I've ever watched, and yet it's probably the series I've enjoyed the most this year so far.

Much like Girls' Last Tour, this is an entry into the "cute girls doing cute things, but in a dystopian setting" sub-sub genre that in theory hinges upon the bizarre juxtaposition of two seemingly incongruent elements. However unlike Girls' Last Tour, (or the currently-airing Dead Dead Demon's Dededede Destruction), TEW probably would have benefited greatly from having literally any other cast of main characters. I thought the girls were really cliche, annoying, and forgettable, with painfully uninspired dialogue, and were regrettably-yet-unsurprisingly subject to a level of sexualization that would probably make most older audiences uncomfortable (nothing extraordinary, just the anime standard treatment of high school girls). Honestly I zoned out during most of the scenes involving the girls chatting amongst themselves, and I doubt I missed much plot at a result.

Despite all this, the premise/setting/world building of TEW makes up for its flaws. Once the girls STFU, the show gets to show off its weird, fun, creepy side. This is a series that makes you go ah, this is what the animated medium is for: surreal nonsense that would require a buttload of fake-ass CGI to even attempt to portray in live action. I really like the tone of the series, which is generally upbeat but with an uneasy aftertaste that puts you on edge while never actually venturing into tragedy (as can happen with surreal/dystopian series, looking at you Kaiba). There's a good balance of exploration and action, with some decent comedy tossed in on occasion.

Maybe I'm biased because my first trip to Japan, I spent a few weeks living at a guest house in Oizumi-Gakuen along the Seibu-Ikebukuro Line featured in this anime, and I'm a complete sucker for series that utilize real places (and TEW has a whole train line of them). Regardless I absolutely loved the premise of riding a train through a vast, unknown land of magic and horror, stopping at each station to learn what became of various previously-sleepy commuter towns in bizarro-Tokyo, intensity growing the closer you get to the city-within-a-city of Ikebukuro. TEW is a bit like Kino's Journey, but with socio-political commentary replaced with the train scene in Spirited Away albeit with more menacing vibes.

In summary, TEW is weird and atmospheric and I am here for it, despite the obnoxious (and occasionally uncomfortably-portrayed) main cast of cliche anime high school girls. Perhaps the creators didn't quite nail what they set out to do, but I couldn't help but really appreciate the attempt.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: Nonesuch

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-2024

Country: United States (?)

Genre: Thriller

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

If you're like me with decades of comic reading under your belt, you're likely on the hunt for series that have something a little different to offer, and Nonesuch delivers. While a bit rough in spots, Nonesuch is a solid series, with good pacing, an engaging plot, and quite a bit of novelty, plus it's short enough that you could complete it in one or two sittings.

First, the novelty: this series is set in rural Appalachia and that''s not just an aesthetic; the characters are gun-toting, Christ-loving, red-blooded Americans. To each point: I know jack-all about guns, however my impression is that the series portrays them accurately. In the creator notes at the end, the author mentions that her intent was to create a "Christian" series, which I think is quite interesting given that I spent most of the series wondering if the Christian elements were supposed to be dismissive of the religion or not (in other words there's nothing preachy about Nonesuch, and the inclusion of Christianity definitely adds quite a bit of realism to a series set in the Bible Belt). Overall I really felt the setting in this series, which is a huge breath of fresh air not only in the world of comics, but American media overall (which are very California/NYC-centric).

Further bits of novelty: the art style, while not my favorite, is bold and distinctive. The plot/premise share vibes with various horror/thriller/mystery series (strong zombie and X-Files notes), but regarding the specifics I can't think of any examples that are similar. Probably my favorite aspect of the series is that one of the main characters not only has a disability, but it's a rare (yet real) condition that most readers probably haven't heard of, and it's an invisible disability, and it's integral to both the plot and character development. I'm assuming the author has personal experience with the condition, because it's handled with significantly more understanding and gravitas than nearly all depictions of disability/non-lethal health conditions in media.

The rough edges: while distinctive, the art style feels a bit clunky at times, with occasional bad anatomy and a limited range of facial expressions (I get that none of the characters are having a good time, but does "grimace" have to be everyone's default expression?). The series also does the thing where the characters often make reckless decisions that, while perhaps justified by the situation they are in, are nonetheless frustrating for the audience to witness (and indeed, often lead to completely preventable bad things happening). I think one other misstep happens when the characters discover what's causing the supernatural situation they're in (minor spoiler):

Of the three main characters, two are in their mid-twenties and the third is middle-aged. Everyone acts their ages, for better or worse (the younger two can be a little grating with their inexperience/immaturity in various things, including their relationship with each other). Other than this, there's nothing in the series that would turn off an older reader.

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Title: 1HP Club

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-?

Country: Unknown (comic published in English)

Genre: Dungeons & Dragons (fantasy/action/adventure/slice-of-life/comedy)

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter 130)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

1HP Club is a webcomic series about a group of adults playing Dungeons & Dragons. That's it, that's the premise. However due to a combination of eye-candy art, rapid pacing, engaging action scenes, and interesting characters, 1HP Club actually manages to be a surprisingly fun and easy read.

There are a number of works out there that take place in the D&D (or similar) universe, ranging from the live-action Dungeons & Dragons: Honor among Thieves, the animated The Legend of Vox Machina, and webcomics like The Weekly Role. However 1HP Club takes the approach of primarily taking place in the D&D universe but occasionally pulling back to a (also fictional) table-top setting. In my opinion this dual-setting is handled quite well and overcomes the issues frequently inherent to D&D fiction that primarily focus on one or the other: bouncing between table-top and in-game action helps facilitate good pacing and avoids "downtime" in both settings, helps ease the issue of "suspension of disbelief" (because not only is it "just a story," it's "just a story within a story"), and adds padding to character development (because every character also has a character playing them).

Do you need prior knowledge of D&D for this series to make sense? Not necessarily, but without at least some basic knowledge of game mechanics and/or general tabletop gaming experience readers are likely to miss at least a few references, plot points, or jokes; the series isn't quite a parody, but it does assume prior D&D knowledge. However even the completely uninitiated may still find the action/adventure plot and eye-candy art to be more than sufficient to enjoy the series. On the topic of art, I really like how it's handled: both the table-top and in-game settings done in a colorful and aesthetically-pleasing style, but the table-top characters look more like normal people while the in-game characters are more attractive with some occasional mild cheesecake (interestingly of the male characters only, which is strangely refreshing given that nearly all non-romance fantasy series are more about sexualizing their female characters).

Ages of the table-top characters and in-game characters aren't mentioned, but they act and look to be in the 20s-30s range. There's no content "objectionable" to older readers, and while zany antics abound, they're thankfully of the standard D&D/role-playing variety. It shouldn't take more than the first ten chapters or so to figure out if this is a series you'll enjoy or not, and with each chapter being about a one-minute read, why not give 1HP Club a try?

As with all my reviews, the above is nothing more than my personal opinion. Have you read this series? What did you think? Post in the comments!

Featured: Revolutionary Girl Utena (Shoujo Kakumei Utena / 少女革命ウテナ), a manga and anime series from the 1990s with a bisexual, gender-queer protagonist and an equally 🏳️‍🌈 colorful 🏳️‍🌈 cast of supporting characters.

Title: Live with Yourself!

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2016-2024

Country: United States

Genre: Comedy/Sitcom/Sci-Fi

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 3.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Live with Yourself! (LWY) is one of those many-genres-in-one series: mostly a comedy, but with a sci-fi premise, a sitcom style, and plot-lines that vary from action to slice-of-life to romance to drama. The plot is organized with one large over-arching plot that lasts all 545 chapters, and lots of tiny sub-plots, some of which only last a few chapters, some of which pop in and out every few dozen chapters, and some chapters are standalone one-shots. In other words, this series is kind of all over the place, but in a mostly good way. Like most semi-episodic series, some plotlines/chapters are way superior to others and you'll encounter a few duds along the way, but fortunately the chapters are so short that even during its lowest points LWY typically doesn't take more than a few minutes of reading before it picks up again.

For a mostly fluffy, goofy series, the premise and plotlines can be somewhat heavy: after interacting with a mysterious machine, the protagonist, 20-something-year-old Todd, accidentally becomes four versions of himself (Todd the baby, Todd of today, Todd of tomorrow, and Todd the old man) and is thus forced to "live with [him]self." While he tries to continue life as normally as he can while dealing with constant time paradoxes and shenanigans, he encounters a variety of other supernatural and weird individuals and experiences, culminating in "Time City," a place outside of time that regulates and polices time anomalies (such as himself). However don't expect hard-core sci-fi out of LWY: the rules of comedy prevail, and when your entire premise is based in a paradox, it's easy to make logic take a backseat as needed for the plot or a joke.

LWY is a fun, albeit somewhat forgettable, easy-read series. Most sub-plots are only a few chapters long, and the chapters only take a minute or so to read. There aren't a lot of laugh-out-loud jokes (this is more an "amusing" comedy series than a "funny" comedy series), and the goofiness factor can sometimes get out of hand, but if nothing else, LWY is unique and generally engaging. It's a doozy to try and marathon, but fortunately its episodic nature makes it an easy series to pick up and read a few chapters here and there whenever you have downtime but don't want to get into anything too engrossing (like on a work commute, or when you're stuck on hold). The characters are a mixed bag: Todd is IMO a bit too much of a typical "white guy nerd" in that he is techy, likes video games, is a bit of a bumbling idiot when it comes to "adulting," is slightly socially awkward, and... that's about it. This primary character blandness can pull the series down a bit at times (especially given that it's a sitcom/ensemble series, and a full quarter of the ensemble--baby Todd--has basically no personality at all), but fortunately as the series progresses more characters are added to help add substance (even though most of them are also pretty two-dimensional). LWY is a bit like the old days of newspaper comics: not a lot of depth (except in occasional small chunks), but that's not what you're here for anyway. There's not anything in LWY in particular to attract or repulse the 30+ crowd, except that Todd can be annoyingly immature at times.

While far from groundbreaking, LWY is amusing, easily digested, generally upbeat, and definitely different. I found it lagged a bit somewhere around/after chapter 400, but it picks right back up around chapter 500 for a solid, albeit slightly abrupt, ending. While a bit lacking in substance and subject to quality variations, its fun nature that isn't afraid to play around with its paradoxical premise and try different things throughout the series makes Live with Yourself! a (mostly) worthwhile read.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free ~~country~~ fediverse.

Title: One Room of Happiness (Original Title: 幸色のワンルーム)

Type: Manga

Year: 2017-2022

Country: Japan

Genre: Drama/Psychological

Status: Completed

Platform: Licensed by Crunchyroll (license discontinued?)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Warning: One Room of Happiness contains difficult subject matter such as suicide, abuse, and rape. Many of the characters are or have been victims of abuse, and as such this series has multiple scenes and chapters that can only be described as "emotionally unpleasant." However the series also has many "warm and fuzzy" moments, and while there is tension that things could suddenly go horribly wrong underlying much of the series, this is balanced with joy and hope. In this way the series shares a lot of thematic and tone overlap with Oyasumi Punpun.

Given that Oyasumi Punpun is an infamous emotional trainwreck of a series, and given that the premise and initial chapters of One Room of Happiness send off super-skeevy vibes, here's a mild spoiler about just how bad One Room of Happiness gets:

The core of the series is in its character study of abused individuals dealing with trauma, and the character development that comes with working through it and connecting with others also scarred by abuse. The plot is fairly engaging, and there's some cat-and-mouse as the "kidnapper and kidnapped" try to evade the police. The art, pacing, and dialogue are all quite good. Because one of the core themes of the series is recovering from trauma, the series is overall more wholesome, heartwarming, and uplifting than most "psychological" series, which depending on the series can border on torture porn. IANAP (I am not a psychologist), however I left One Room of Happiness feeling like the difficult subjects handled in this series were done respectfully, gracefully, and at least somewhat realistically.

The two main characters are on the younger side (14 and early/mid-twenties), however the subject matter is mature and, likely due to their trauma, the characters act mature for their age. The series's overall quality is high, and the "turn-offs for older audiences" that I try to watch for with these reviews are basically absent. As long as you are prepared for the heavy subject matter and can get through some of the more questionable content/vibes of the early chapters (including one chapter with non-sexualized 14yo nudity), I think this series is both appropriate and enjoyable for older audiences.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free ~~country~~ fediverse.

Title: Clinic of Horrors

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2021-?

Country: It's complicated (distributed team; comic's original language is English)

Genre: Horror/Comedy/Dystopia/Sci-Fi

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter #116)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Maybe

My rating: 2.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

The early chapters of Clinic of Horrors are real rough. The dialogue is so clunky the comic reads like a mediocre fan translation of an East Asian series, the comedy element is weak, the bizarre setting (while intriguing) is barely explored, the art is bright and snazzy but anatomically questionable and lacking in details, and there's no character development or plot to speak of (the format is monster-of-the-week, but with each chapter only being a few panels long each concept is introduced then resolved in the blink of an eye, like if Black Mirror tried to make TikTok shorts). Fortunately the series improves dramatically as it progresses, especially once the chapters get longer, more is revealed about the setting, and an overarching plot kicks in.

Unfortunately the progression is only enough to drag the series out of "not good" to "just okay albeit with potential." There's a definite attempt to tell a dark dystopian, anti-capitalist/anti-monopolist sci-fi tale, but unfortunately the quality is still a bit lacking. While there are some interesting ideas being played with, none of them are all that original, and while this particular concoction of concepts is perhaps unique, each individual dystopian/horror/sci-fi concept has already been explored much better in other works. For example there's a plotline about a fungus that is taking over people's bodies, effectively killing and turning them into zombies, to create a mycorrhizal network of sorts; this is an interesting enough premise except that it was resolved when the protagonist dumps a handful of antibacterial vaccine vials into the water supply and triggers the sprinkler system (which is... incorrect on so many fronts). If the art were truly bad (like, early chapters of Tower of God-bad) I doubt Clinic of Horrors would have ever gotten off the ground, because the other aspects of the series are definitely not good enough to carry the series.

However, that's not to say Clinic of Horrors is completely without merit. If you're looking for a bubblegum series with bright and colorful art, short and easily-digestible chapters, and a mildly-creepy pop-sci-fi setting, this series isn't a bad way to burn an hour or so (the chapters, especially at the beginning, are really short, so even at over a hundred chapters you should be able to blow through the whole series in one sitting). There's nothing in particular that stood out to me as "older audiences won't enjoy this" other than the series's general mediocrity. Because it is so short and such easy reading, I'll probably stick with the series and hope that it continues to improve.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free ~~country~~ fediverse.

Title: Heaven's Design Team (original: 天地創造デザイン部)

Type: Anime TV

Year: 2021

Country: Japan

Genre: Comedy/Educational

Status: Completed

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

The greatest irony of Heaven's Design Team is that a series about creationism is actually one of the best science anime out there (not that there's a lot of competition). While some elements of the show would undoubtedly make many biologists squirm (for instance, the show's premise inevitably leads the series to portray evolution as intentional rather than incidental), however if you're willing to brush off certain scientific inaccuracies as a consequence of artistic liberty, this is a really fun, mildly-educational show.

The premise of Heaven's Design Team is simple: God burned out when having to create Earth and everything that lives there, so He outsourced the work to a team of designers (the main cast). Most episodes revolve around the design team receiving a specific request from God for a new animal (like "an animal with bones as weapons" or "make more stripey animals") and then they walk through different possible ideas and why that would/would not work given physiological limits and environmental pressures. It becomes a bit of a puzzle show: can the viewer guess what real-world animal the design team is building up to? (Or for the more obscure animals: have you even heard of this species before?) Between the brainstorming and trial-and-error, there's a lot of failed designs along the way to a design that God deems "accepted," and IMO the most interesting part of the show is when they go into why certain designs failed and the tweaks necessary to get around it (for example: bigger eyes means better eyesight, but then the eyeballs take up so much room in the skull there's no room for the musculature necessary to move them, so the design team extends the animal's neck so it moves its head rather than its eyeballs).

The show has very little objectionable material in it (a PG-rating at worst), and the deluge of "fun facts about animals" is reminiscent of kid-oriented nature shows (like Wild Kratts), however I think Heaven's Design Team has plenty of entertainment value for adults too. I consider myself quite well-educated on animals for a layperson, but most of the facts and many of the animals I had never heard about before, so there were plenty of surprises and much trivia learned. There's also a good dose of (G-rated) adult-oriented humor, mostly of the office workplace variety. Mostly though I think older audiences will appreciate the series's solid execution: the animation is bold and colorful, the dialogue is decent, the pacing is snappy (exceptionally so for a comedy anime), and the humor is on the gag side but the jokes usually land. While the characters are extremely two-dimensional and undergo minimal character development, that actually works in the show's favor, as it gives each animal designer a "style" that influences the creatures they create (whether they're more likely to come out cute, creepy, delicious, etc). While some topics of humor are used multiple times (e.g. "Tsuchiya/Saturn is obsessed with making everything into a horse!") on each occasion the reused humor was always presented with a fresh spin and never wore out over the series's 13 episode run (sadly rehashing the same tired joke over and over is par for the course in comedy anime, so this is impressive). I think the series goes a little off the rails at times in the last few episodes and gets extra goofy (although bonus episode 13 brings the series back to its roots), but even the weaker segments of the series are still very watchable.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free ~~country~~ fediverse.

Title: An American Tail, and the sequel: An American Tail: Fievel Goes West

Type: Western animated movie

Year: 1986; 1991

Country: United States

Genre: Kids/comedy/action

Appropriate for 30+?: Unable to judge

My rating: N/A

Note: IMO it's impossible to give a piece of your childhood a fair review (nostalgia and dozens of rewatches heavily warp one's perception of a work), so I decided to go in a different direction from my typical reviews and focus on the rewatch experience instead.

An American Tail: Fievel Goes West (hereby: FGW) was one of my favorite movies as a young kid. I watched it so many times I could practically recite the dialogue from heart. After learning that it was actually a sequel I watched the original 1986 movie (hereby: AAT) once or twice, but didn't like it as much. I remember feeling that while the sequel was a laugh-a-minute romp with engaging action scenes, the original just wasn't as fun and was instead a bit of a downer with some scary/creepy moments (especially the climax when the cats attack and the Mouse of Minsk is released).

Several decades since my last viewing, I decided to give the two movies a watch to see how they held up. I started with AAT and found it somewhat rougher around the edges than I expected, but still above-average for a kid's movie. I then watched FGW, and wowza I was not wrong as a child: the sequel is such an improvement on the original. It's the kind of sequel where they basically go through the plot of the original again with a different setting (ala The Hangover), but FGW is such a superior movie that it was more like watching a wildly successful reboot. The animation, soundtrack, pacing, dialogue, humor, and villains experience a huge improvement over the original. There is mild value in watching AAT first (as it explains a few confusing parts of FGW, like why Fievel is willing to risk his life for a hat, and why his father is confident he'll survive getting lost by himself in the desert), but 99% of FGW stands up on its own.

One major difference between the two is that FGW is infinitely goofier, and is possibly one of the best examples of Looney Tunes-style slapstick humor out there. I haven't been a fan of slapstick this side of elementary school, and had I had been introduced to these movies as an adult this aspect might have put me off to the sequel, however whether through the power of nostalgia, quality choreography, or the fact that the slapstick is intertwined with other types of humor, I did not mind the slapstick segments much. Additionally, it was quite fun whenever a joke or bit of dialogue came along that made me go, "aha, I'm pretty sure I didn't catch that as a kid!" I know I didn't properly appreciate the performances of John Cleese and James Stewart! FGW runs at a mile-a-minute, and there's so much nonsensically-brilliant dialogue, tight choreography and cinematography, and easy-to-miss details that elevate the movie beyond just a kid-pleasing goofy romp.

I walked away from this exercise in nostalgia relieved that AAT and FGW still hold up over 30 years later (there are some racial stereotypes in both that probably wouldn't pass muster today, but they're mild compared to the stuff from that era that didn't age well). I was impressed with how effortlessly AAT and FGW were able to portray "the American story" in a way easily digestible for young children while still including subtle real-life details (like the pogroms that pushed the Mousekewitz family out of then-Russia-now-Ukraine). I don't know if an adult watching the movies for the first time would enjoy them, but I definitely had a blast.

Title: Spy x Family

Type: Anime TV

Year: 2022-2023 (Seasons 1 & 2)

Country: Japan

Genre: Comedy with some thriller/action

Status: Ongoing? (Movie forthcoming, and sequels likely)

Platform: Crunchyroll (watch here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Somewhat

My rating: 3/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Watching Spy x Family can feel like rolling a roulette wheel: is this week's episode going to be a spy thriller? A gorey action sequence? A goofy comedy of misunderstanding? A slice-of-life? A heartwarming tale of family? All of the above smooshed together? At its core, the series is a sitcom: the premise rests heavily on the unique traits of each cast member, so the plot almost always revolves around how those characters interact with each other and resolve a variety of situations that get thrown their way, usually in an humorous manner (so yeah, situational-comedy).

The series' elevator pitch: because of circumstances, a super-spy undercover in enemy territory, a secret assassin, and a child psychic (and later a dog with precognition) form a fake family that slowly becomes real as they spend time with each other, while frantically keeping their secrets from each other. The series introduces various side characters, like the sis-con brother who covertly works for the secret police, who also have amusing traits that interact with the main cast in funny ways (that's the idea anyway). And sure, there are some funny scenes and moments that result from these interactions. But like most sitcoms, both character and plot development are horribly stifled by the fact that the entire series revolves around each character's set bio, and any change to that would disturb the series' delicate balance. This removes a lot of tension from any action scene or occasion where a character's identity might be found out, because we the audience know that any major plot development would spell the end of the series, thus encapsulating everything that happens in a thick layer of plot armor. It also results in repetitive situations (how many times can you joke about the sis-con brother's unhealthy obsession with his sister before it gets stale?) because there's only so much material to work with without changing the base dynamic, and as nothing can be taken seriously in a series with such a preposterous premise, the wacky-hijinks factor is quite high. It can feel like watching Saturday Night Live: some skits are haha-funny, some are heh-funny, and some are not funny at all (and feel like a drag to get through). There are some cute and hearwarming moments and I'd say that this was at least a turn-your-brain-off wholesome-comedy series, if it weren't for the sporadic fight scenes, which are sometimes "TV-Y7" levels of violent, and other times quite bloody.

One of the difficulties with being a long-time fan of anime is that the cliches really start to wear on you after a while. While Spy x Family has some novelty to it, it also has jokes (so many jokes) about how the mother character's cooking is terrible to the point of inducing severe illness. Throw in the complete lack of character development among the 2-dimensional cast, multiple boring "skits" (there's an episode where the entire plot is two characters look for a lost cat and surprise! hijinks ensue, 'nuff said), lackluster plots revolving around the spy/thriller/action sequences (while there is a TON of room for political drama and nuance given the setting, the series is way too frivolous to include any), stir it all together and you get a series that's just okay.

Despite all this I'm not surprised Spy x Family is a popular series; I'm sure I would have enjoyed it quite a bit had I watched it as a teenager, especially because anime has historically struggled with making comedy that's actually funny—part of this is the lost-in-translation factor, part of this is just the vast heaps of mediocrity out there—and Spy x Family is undeniably funnier-than-average when compared to other comedy anime. But it's not funny enough (or consistently funny enough) to be a pure comedy series, it falls horribly flat when judged by any other genre, and it overall has a feeling of immaturity of plot and premise. It's not a show that couldn't be enjoyed by adults, but I definitely felt like I was watching a show aimed at the teenage demographic. At least the parts I found cliche were boring rather than grating, which saved the series from getting a much lower rating.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this work is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free ~~country~~ fediverse.

Title: Gravity Falls

Type: Western animated TV

Year: 2012-2016

Country: United States

Genre: Mystery/adventure/comedy/fantasy

Status: Completed

Platform: Cable TV

Appropriate for 30+?: No

My rating: N/A

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

I discovered Gravity Falls through numerous Reddit threads where self-identified adults swore up and down that despite being a kids' series it was still thoroughly enjoyable for the older crowd too. Intrigued I downloaded both seasons, trudged my way through season one, then went back to the internet because... really? "It gets so much better in season two!" "The ending is fantastic!" I was assured. So I trudged my way through season two, right through to the ending.

Folks, I was duped. This is just a kid's show, nothing more. Sure, it's better than the average kid's show, and sure if I found myself in a situation where I was hanging out with children and we needed to pick something age-appropriate I wouldn't object if that's what they really wanted to watch (but I would probably push them toward something else, like Avatar TLA or any Pixar/Dreamworks film). The truth is Gravity Falls is very painfully geared to a pre-teen demographic: the characters are annoying, the jokes are immature, the plot is grossly lacking (it's literally X-Files for children), and most of the drama/predicaments are about pre-teens dealing with pre-teen problems in a mildly-spooky fantasy setting. There isn't even enough here for a session of "hey let's get really drunk/stoned and watch some kids animation!"

I did not give this series a rating because it's no more appropriate for me to do so than when Roger Ebert had to write a review for the first Pokemon movie, which he begins by stating that he's "plain in over my head" and ends with the acknowledgement that "I may have completely bypassed the point and misinterpreted crucial Pokemon lore" (he ended up giving it two stars). I am, after all, completely outside their target demographic for this show.

Not recommended for the 30+ crowd.

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this piece of media is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review... it's a free ~~country~~ fediverse.

Title: Cursed Princess Club

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2019-2024

Country: Unknown (English-speaking Western World?)

Genre: Comedy/Drama

Status: Completed

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Perhaps not, but don't let that stop you

My rating: 4.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Yes, Cursed Princess Club is a series for teenagers/young adults (of any gender). The characters skew young, wacky antics abound, and the series is basically an illustrated self-help book for struggling youngsters trying to figure out who they are as they transform into adults. I'm sure many 30+ readers will be bored by this series, especially in the beginning. However it potentially has a lot to offer in the right context.

First off, the series gets much better with time. The art improves (albeit from bad to tolerable), the jokes shift from quantity to quality, and the plot gets much more engaging, even exciting. Two of the series' greatest strengths take time to pay off but do so in spades: plot and character development. I don't know if the entire series was pre-planned or if the author is just really good at working with what they've already thrown out there, but little details from dozens if not over a hundred chapters back become critical plot points on many occasions, culminating in a satisfying ending. The primary cast of characters is pretty sizable, and the minor cast even bigger, but they're almost all memorable and endearing, and most experience notable if not tremendous change over the course of the series. The "good guys" make missteps, and the "villains" have redeeming qualities (or at least make some good points now and then).

Second, the lessons and morals in the story are actually really good, not just in what the lessons are but in how they're portrayed. I usually bristle at attempts at "lessons" that come off as naive, ham-fisted, condescending, or absolutist, but I found Cursed Princess Club to skillfully handle all sorts of complex and nuanced topics, from self-hatred to burnout to abusive parents to forgiveness and making amends. I won't say it gets everything right all the time, but the series at least acknowledges that people are complex, best intentions can backfire, platitudes are insufficient to resolve personal issues, and "happy endings" are not always as planned. Topics covered are diverse and contemporary; even the "incel" phenomenon makes an appearance!

Cursed Princess Club isn't a series for everyone in the 30+ crowd, but consider bookmarking it for a rainy day. Unfortunately the series is a slow burn where the first half setup doesn't start to pay off until the second half, which means that before it can really start getting good many readers will have probably dropped it for not living up to the hype. I recommend saving the series for "sick day" reading, an occasion when you could use a wholesome pick-me-up, or perhaps as a pre-bed quiet-time activity (this is how I read most of the series, until the last third or so when it takes a turn toward drama/mystery/action).

As always, this review is nothing more than my personal opinion. Anyone familiar with this piece of media is encouraged to express their own in the comment section. Or submit your own review… it’s a free ~~country~~ fediverse.

Title: Covenant

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2020-?

Country: United States

Genre: Action

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter #77)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Not especially

My rating: 2.5/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Covenant is by no means a bad series, and has very little that's wrong with it, but it also doesn't have a lot of strengths either. The pacing is fine, the art is erratic but generally acceptable, the supporting characters are more interesting than in most series (but that's a very, very low bar), the action scenes are decently choreographed (but so are hundreds of other action webcomics), and the dialogue isn't brilliant but definitely avoids being cringe. I didn't find the plot that engaging, and despite being low-key bored I stuck with the series for way longer than I should have because based on the premise, I kept expecting the series to at some point dust off the cobwebs of the setup and take off.

The premise has potential: a secretive sect of Catholicism where humans form pacts with angel patrons to gain special abilities, primarily the wielding of holy weapons, so they can fight any demons that might make their way to Earth. On the plus side, this is a breath of fresh air among the sea of "monster gate," monster dungeon," and "generic superhero" series that currently dominate the fantasy action genre. However Covenant simply does not live up to the high standards set by using Christian mythology as a setting; there are, after all, thousands of years of media using this as inspiration, and it's pretty difficult to bring something new to the table at this point (especially with the recent uptick in demonic-themed media: Lucifer, Chilling Adventures of Sabrina, Hazbin Hotel/Helluva Boss, etc). Not that Covenant doesn't try, however the problem is that at the end of the day, the Christian mythology theme is little more than an aesthetic: you could easily replace all the Biblical references to generic fantasy/JRPG gibberish and barely affect anything.

Covenant is a very queer series, in an "everyone's apparently gay and no one gives a shit" kind of way, so at least the series adds representation to the sub-genre, but romance is a very minor part of the series so this too feels mostly aesthetic (with a few subtle gender swaps, you could make all the characters straight/cis and have almost no impact on the plot or character development), plus we're a good 15 years out from having an LGBTQ+ cast alone be a notable quality (and again, they're currently in good company; the previously-mentioned Hazbin/Helluva world is also very queer, and WAY louder about it).

While the series generally lacks the worst of young adult fiction cliches, Covenant is definitely YA fiction. Which is fine, but I don't think there's much here for the 30+ crowd.

Title: SSS-Class Revival Hunter (Original title: SSS급 죽어야 사는 헌터)

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2021-?

Country: South Korea

Genre: Action

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter #114)

Platform: Tapas (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Sure, if you like this kind of thing

My rating: 3/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

After watching Gigguk's latest video on the rise of "regression" series, I thought I'd give a few that he mentions a try. First on the docket was SSS-Class Revival Hunter, which I was honestly underwhelmed by given Gigguk's glowing review. The series is basically on par with Solo Leveling and Omniscient Reader, which does put it head and shoulders above most "a gate/dungeon/tower opens up in the real world, some people get superpowers, and the loser protagonist somehow gets a super-OP skill and now heads off to level his way up to the top" series. Frankly I could end this review right now with: "if you liked those series, go read SSS-CRH, but if not, don't."

Warning, spoilers ahead

SSS-CRH's biggest flaw is that it doesn't offer much we haven't seen before. Sure, there are enough distinctions (especially in the beginning) that it feels like we're not just reading a clone of similar series that came before, but the similarities overwhelm the differences (especially as the series goes on). Most of the series' novelty comes from the protagonist's ability: he goes back in time 24 hours every time he dies and it's stackable, allowing him to rewind the clock as far and as many times as needed. This means that rather than the cliche of the hero facing impossible situations and somehow just barely eeking out the necessary power to overcome them, the hero gets unlimited redos; the challenge isn't even about winning anymore, it's in seeking the ultimate outcome for the situation. So while this is an infinite-leveling power fantasy, there's a puzzle/strategy element to it with a heavy dose of unwavering persistence (the protagonist will die hundreds if not thousands of times and as excruciatingly or painfully as needed to accomplish his objective). This twist also allows the protagonist to be kind and caring rather than ruthless because the entire premise is about how many other people he can save and how many missions he can clear with an "optimal ending." Unfortunately this is undercut somewhat by how calculating and cunning he acts, because once the series becomes a puzzle of how to obtain the best ending, the characters he meets inevitably become little more than chess pieces he can utilize to obtain said best ending.

The series' negative qualities really drag it down into the realm of forgettable: the setting is super generic, the art is good but also super generic, and the abilities the protagonist gathers are nothing new (and in some cases, practically identical to those of other series). The protagonist is also pretty bland, and I worry about how long the series is going to go for (114 chapters in we just cleared floor 25 of 100). But the biggest problems with the series are shared with its genre brethren. For example, all characters other than the protagonist are mere two-dimensional pawns: either challengers to defeat, or potential allies to win over (in the case of SSS-CRH, it's almost always the former leading to the latter). This is extremely common in infinite-leveling series, especially when the protagonist has an ability they must keep secret from every other character, however it's not inevitable (Hand Jumper's protagonist also has a time-leap ability she must keep secret, however the series still manages to have decently fleshed-out secondary characters, and Hero Killer has the OP protagonist getting treated as a pawn rather than the other way around). Another example of a cliche weakness: every challenge in SSS-CRH is overcome with the protagonist as the UMVP (ultra-most-valuable-player). The side characters help out here and there, but their help was always orchestrated by the protagonist in the first place. After all, the protagonist never needs saving if he can go back and try again as many times as he likes (or use the time loop as a means of grinding until he obtains enough strength to solo the challenge). Even the most cliche Shonen Jump series at least have moments where the protagonist's efforts are insufficient and the day is saved by someone else (or the day isn't saved at all).

I'm not terribly bullish on the direction of the series; SSS-CRH was at least entertaining until we hit the library arc (tower levels 21+), then a few things started going wrong. The pace slowed way down, the dialogue weakened significantly [note: I did not realize there was an official translation so I read a fan translation; perhaps the official translation does not have this issue], and the "solutions" to challenges began to feel very hand-wavy with a lot of "the plot dictates the action, rather than the reverse." Mostly though, by creating a scenario where the characters have to travel into books of different genres, this was an opportunity for the series to refresh itself by breaking out of the tropes and cliches of the "monster gate" genre and explore a fresh setting. Instead I felt like the series just became worse, by first being a weak martial arts series, and then an absolute flop of a romance series. (To be fair, there are some redeeming moments during the martial arts arc, but the romance arc read like an unintentional parody of some of the worst examples of the genre.) I'm still not sure what to make of the latest few chapters... the protagonist actually falls in love with and marries a character in a book in the tower? She's essentially a double-NPC! And the way the protagonist goes from being completely clueless about love and dating to "taming a shrew" in a matter of chapters... Plus now the deeply-in-love married couple are just going to part ways and live their separate lives except for occasional meet-ups? I think the concept of having two lonely regressors meet each other and fall in love because they're the only people in the entire world who understand each other is actually quite brilliant, but the new regressor starts as a psycho crazy bitch then shifts to compliant useful chess piece fast enough to give you whiplash. This series was never great at character development, but it really stumbles hard during the romance arc.

There's nothing in the series that's explicitly offensive to the older crowd: no sexualization of minors (there are hardly any minors to speak of), no "teenage antics" (again, most characters seem to be in their 20s-30s and act their ages). So if you enjoy the infinite-power-leveling genre, you should feel confident in starting this one. Just don't expect it to break beyond the well-established limits and weaknesses of the genre.

Please feel free to make your own discussion posts for this series

Title: In the Bleak Midwinter

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2020-?

Country: Unknown (Western World?)

Genre: Action/Sci-Fi (sort of)

Status: Ongoing (review as of chapter #74)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Maybe

My rating: 2/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity)

Warning: spoilers ahead

In the Bleak Midwinter has a big problem with expectations: from chapter one it sets up a string of mysteries and secrets, but keeps its cards so close to its chest that it's impossible to tell if we the audience are ever going to actually be privy to what they are. The series is over 75 chapters and four years in, and yet all we've gotten thus far are crumbs. This wouldn't be as much of a problem if 1) the subjects of the secrets weren't so fantastical that it's hard to believe the authors actually have a good explanation, 2) the secrets weren't so integral to the setting and plot, and 3) the secret-dependent setting weren't the only thing carrying the series. Elaborating on these three points:

1. The two biggest mysteries of the series are introduced early on: the first is that (most? nearly all?) people have a timer on their wrist that counts down until the moment that they'll meet their soulmate, and the second is that the protagonist is apparently immortal for some reason. Being a "sci-fi" series you'd expect/hope to receive some kind of explanation to both of these, but so far we've gotten almost nothing for either, and by now it's hard not to suspect that either there isn't an explanation, or it's a wholly unsatisfactory one (strong Lost vibes...). But on top of this there are so many other unresolved mysteries it's getting hard to keep track: what happened in the "accident" that killed Anya's sister? How was Delta & co's mother killed? How exactly did the war start? Why is Anya's soulmate an android (android hybrid?)? How human are Omega and his siblings? What is the current state of humanity (characters repeatedly say "millions" were killed, but humanity seems to be at the brink of extinction)? How did Anya's brother come to be in charge? How did they make the air chemically toxic to humans only (and why did it backfire since it was supposed to target androids)? What exactly is Dramaxil? It starts to get overwhelming once you realize the author keeps piling on mysteries without ever providing more than fractional answers to the mysteries that already exist.

2. The plot, setting, and characters' personalities and actions are all a direct result of things that happened in the past (all the mysteries listed above). Normally when a series has a mystery it's something to fill in the blanks, to explain a setting/plot oddity or character quirk, not literally the entire explanation/motivation for everything that happens and everyone it happens to. The series feels empty, similar to a dreamscape where things just are they way they are and just happen the way they do without any underlying rhyme or reason. This makes the series sci-fi in aesthetics only, because if the author has anything to say about humanity's relationship with technology, it's completely buried under the ever-growing pile of secrets and unsolved mysteries.

3. While it appears decent quality at first glance, broken into its components I don't think the series has much going for it. Hardly any of the characters are memorable or even likeable. The art is mediocre. The action scenes are dull. The dialogue is bland. The pacing is slow. Realism is lacking (e.g. every trained killer insists on talking before taking the point-blank headshot (resulting in their wasting just enough time for something to interrupt it), the weather is constantly snowing yet there's only ever a few inches on the ground, how are everyone's hideouts and scouting parties not instantly discovered by their footprints in the snow? etc) All of the sci-fi elements are tropes that have already been thoroughly explored by other series, usually better (The Matrix and The OC just to name two). At a certain point I realized I gave zero fucks about the plot and was just reading out of a (fading) hope that the series would start providing answers to its many mysteries.

While there's not anything specific in In the Bleak Midwinter that would be off-putting for 30+ readers, I struggle to imagine someone who's not a teenager actually enjoying this series simply because I'd expect anyone with decades of media exposure to have read/watched too many similar series that were much more interesting/thought-provoking/entertaining, and thus struggle to find any value in this series by comparison. In the Bleak Midwinter isn't bad so much as unnecessary, with little to say, nothing novel to offer, minimal entertainment value, and heaps of frustration over unresolved mysteries and perpetual secrets.

Title: Everfallen

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-2023

Country: Unknown (presumably the English-speaking Western world)

Genre: Fantasy

Status: Cancelled(?)

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: No

My rating: 2/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity))

Everfallen is a bit of a mess. The art wavers from mediocre to distractingly bad, the pacing is uneven, the plot is confusing at points, and worst of all, the predominantly adult characters all talk like they're desperately trying to sound smarter than they actually are (and bombing badly at it), while acting like a group of high school girls hopped up on energy drinks at an anime convention. There's a lot of cringe and not a lot of maturity here, but unlike most cringe young adult works it doesn't read like it's written for teenagers so much as by a teenager.

However, the real tragedy is that the series actually had potential. Somewhere in the mess is a surprisingly intriguing setting and premise, and with a better artist and an actual dedicated editor (not the overstretched rubber-stamp "editors" that Webtoon provides) to help rewrite the dialogue and clean up the more confusing chapters, this could have been an okay if not good series. Everfallen is definitely weird and at times off-putting, but at least it feels somewhat original. By the end of the series the author had dangled enough unsolved mysteries and incomplete lore that I found myself thoroughly plot-committed to a series that by all accounts I should have dropped chapters ago without a second thought.

Unfortunately, it would appear the series was cancelled by Webtoon; there was never an official announcement from either Webtoon or the author, just a cliffhanger final chapter with "series finale" stamped on the title. Rumor has it that Everfallen suffered in popularity and engagement from the get-go following a marketing flub on Webtoon's part where they tried to compare the series to Fullmetal Alchemist (which apparently enraged FMA fans and gave the series a bad reputation before it had even started). So now we'll never know if the author was actually building up to anything worthwhile underneath Everfallen's many flaws, or if we were unknowingly spared from another 1-2 seasons of sub-par quality culminating in utter disappointment of an ending.

Title: Hand Jumper

Type: Webcomic

Year: 2022-?

Country: United States(?)*

Genre: Action/Thriller

Status: Ongoing

Platform: Webtoon (read here)

Appropriate for 30+?: Yes

My rating: 4.25/5 stars

(Rating scale: 5/5 = masterpiece, 4/5 = quite good, 3/5 = mostly good, 2/5 = bleh, 1/5 = I regret ever being exposed to this series, 0/5 = affront to humanity))

*The series is written in English, takes place in South Korea, and the author is reportedly Korean-American

Hand Jumper may be yet another entry into the over-saturated "super-power dystopia" genre, but so far it's proving itself a superior series to most of its peers. It features plenty of exhausted tropes (the protagonist has an OP-yet-difficult-to-master superpower, the setting is "super-power boot camp," only the cream of the crop will succeed, the "good guys" aren't actually good, etc), but despite all this Hand Jumper still manages to feel fresh. The overall quality of the series has a big role in this: the pacing is great, the characters are (mostly) interesting, the art is unique and striking, the plot is engaging, and most importantly, the series is showing signs of actual depth (at least, for its genre).

One of my biggest gripes with a lot of South Korean action series is that they don't seem to actually have anything to say: the violence serves no purpose other than to be entertaining, the villains only exist to advance the plot, injustice is present only as an obstacle for characters to overcome, and the setting has little depth beyond "imagine a world where [premise], wouldn't that be cool/shitty/terrifying?" This is especially true for dystopias, for any dystopia story lacking any kind of underlying message is just torture porn. Hand Jumper is only ~50 chapters in and is still developing its world, but the seeds are planted for some interesting thematic exploration in future chapters. It reminds me a bit of the X-Men series: humans without powers fear those with powers, so discrimination, human rights violations, and terrorism inevitably follow. I also suspect the author is crafting a subtle critique of modern South Korean society—where students are expected to throw themselves into an academic battle royale with other youth to compete for corporate jobs, just for those corporations to treat their employees like disposable resources—however perhaps that's just my interpretation. I highly suspect that Hand Jumper's status as a hybrid series (the author is Korean-American, so while the series is set in South Korea and fits squarely into the Korean action genre, it bares a distinctive western flare) gives it an edge in this regard. Also rare in SK works: the protagonist recognizes from the start that the world she lives in is fucked up and wants to fix it, at first by being part of the system, and then after recognizing how broken it is, by blowing it up from the inside. I can't help but assume the discourse over the last few years in the United States about our broken police and judicial systems is a clear influence. I fully expect a "seeking power to change a corrupt system is itself corrupting" theme to emerge at some point. The series also succeeds where most fail at having a cast of strong female characters (the gender balance is actually somewhat female-skewed, very rare for a non-exploitative action series), and body proportions for both sexes are refreshingly restrained (no beach-ball-boobs or cheese-grater-abs here!)

Most characters are in the 18-to-20-something range, however they generally act with maturity, and the series is devoid of grating "teenage hi-jinks," so I think it's still enjoyable for the 30-and-up crowd. The series has little sexual content to speak of, but does include some brutal violence. However the violence feels proportional to and appropriate for the setting and plot, and isn't flippant or gratuitous. I would give the series a 16+ rating. I struggled between giving the series 4.5 stars (for being great at what it does) and 4 stars (because despite having some fresh takes and twists, it still suffers from being part of a tired, well-trodden sub-genre), so I gave it a rare 4.25 stars as a placeholder until season two shakes out and the series has a chance to really show us what it's got.