Da Wang Rao Ming · review
Chinese web novels are known to have that formulaic plot of cultivation or hoarding resources with that generic comic-y artstyle as they drag things out by pulling a plot progression catalyst out of their ass, and this manhua doesn't stray from those qualities. The only reason I tried to read this was due to how promising it looked when its anime adaptation got released. The curiosity got the better of me and I ended up reading more than 700 chapters on a website last year that was very up to date with a very clean scanlation up until that website disappeared, so I tried rereading thisfrom a legit website/extension on my manga app.
Now for the review:
- Good starting story of two siblings who are poor and trying to get by in life
- Decently introduced and somehow unique power system (web novel standards)
- OP is somehow a good comic relief and his powers getting stronger by gaining points from negative emotions (him annoying everyone) is captivating
- The first few arcs up until the Japan Espionage and Europe Visitation Arc were still good since those arcs showcased the potential heroines/love interests and how they fell in love with the MC despite his scum-like attitude. Anything after that went downhill and it became your typical dragged powerscaling slop while also rendering the previous power system obsolete.
- The last few arcs focused on a certain antagonist which is good but again, the story was dragged too long at this point and the explanation on MC's continuous growing power related to his vague past can't be taken seriously with how random the elements come in to the story.
- Dialogue from my understanding wasn't that great. Either because of the shitty English translation not capturing its nuances properly, or maybe because Chinese humor/wordplay was too literal and alien for me. It's basically your typical Manhua slop and how you shouldn't expect too much from this medium literary-wise compared to how narratives work on mangas.
The manhua would've been 8/10 at most if it was able to pace itself better while also introducing certain elements smoothly. The first few arcs I mentioned were really captivating, but progressing past that would be a painful read. At this point, I'm just finishing what I started and am only reading this whenever there's a new scanlated chapter update.