Tale of a Scribe Who Retires to the Countryside - Reviews

In one word,marvellous.It will be going to be a great manhwa in future because the way the story unfolds is remarkable.And also kudos to the translation team for their precise use of different metaphors,similes that made the manhwa more imposing and impressive.It was like a journey through a fairy tale.

Here the manhwa depicts a scholar's(the mc Son Bin) journey through the murim world where he percieves the martial arts not himself as a practioner,but through the deeds and the practices of the martial arts king Sah Jahyouk.Sah jahyouk came to know from the mc that "If people don't know about any event,then it's the same as if it never happened" and so he wanted the mc to follow his journey and to write a book about him that will record his heroic deeds so that the future could remember him.Soon the mc agreed.But he remained clueless for sometime as he had no idea about martial arts,so he sought knowledge by observing Sahjyuk's training and wrote scribbled notes about his dark heaven martial arts and through compiling those notes into a book he gained enlightment which describes his growth in the martial arts and soon in future he follows the path of Sah Jahyouk.

The growth of the mc is slow but still its amusing to watch. Other characters also feel human with their flawed nature,but we still don't know about the past of many characters.

Still I am a bit disappointed in the art especially in the fight scenes where its a lacking a lot,but I think its improving.

But I expect great from this manhwa in future and I highly recommend it.

I have enjoyed the story till the point I have read. The start was sudden but still interesting where he is actually following his role as a scribe. I have also enjoyed all the characters added to the story because most have sensible background and stories. However, I am almost close to dropping this now because of how horrible the MC seems in my opinion atleast. 

The MC is not some overpowered character but he is competent and well aware of the fact that his skills or ability are above average atleast. Despite being aware of this the MC neither acts in a way that would make him seem like a scholar who properly judges different situations and he also does not take action in time when he clearly can. Instead he stands around dumb founded making no amazing observations and just letting the situation unfold. 

Now my review may certainly feel biased but based on recent chapters that I have read, the MC is trash because he doesn't act despite having the ability. I find the side characters to be more pro active and will read some more chapters.

I genuinely hope there is some change in MC and the story improves further. I'll update my review once I catch up on more chapters to increase my rating or mark it 1 star to warn everyone.

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Updated

I have caught upto to the latest chapters now. MC is still mostly similar - aware of his skills but reluctant to use them and lacking in showing scholarly behaviour or deep insight. But looking at the overall story it's worth reading if you have the time and don't focus only on the MC. No change to rating though it's above average but there are more interesting stories to read first. 

It is a beatifully told story. The author uses terms and ways to describe things in an amazing way. In many cultivation or murim series one hears idioms about tigers, dragons and so on, but this series takes that to a whole other level. Those idioms are used so well it feels like reading a poem written by a well known scholar.

Story: (10/10) The story is well written and everything that i said above.

Art: (9/10) The art is well refined and it fits the story perfectly.

Characters: (10) I don't think i dislike how any of the characters have been written. Every character serves a purpose and there are no "generic" characters that are just there to force the story forward. The story flows in a natura and beatiful way with the help of the story and the characters.

Overall: (9/10) There is no hype or excitment to be felt, but that isn't necessary in this type of story. This is a story about a tale rather than a mc escentric one (at least for the 1st half). I'm not sure if it even should have that excitment or iof that would make it better, but if it had and it fitted then it would be a 10/10 for me. I believe many would rate this series as 10/10. I hope my review was helpful.

This is a good manwha. Dare I say a very good one. I've rarely read such an interesting story. So from the get go just know that this is amazing.

What I liked :

• The characters are all mature and well written. That's something I noticed with Korean martial arts stories. It feels like wuxia. Pure martial arts with a little bit of fantasy. Just enough to keep you immersed and maintain your suspension of disbelief. There is no goofy character, archetype or really just stupidly annoying ones. For the most part they all seem like mature people. It's the complete opposite of xanxia stories where characters are goofy, stupid, playing around, making faces and stuff. 

• To continue on my previous point about the maturity, you can see that in the art as well. The color tone is mild and not overly poppy. The palette for these is usually darker which sets the mood. It's a world where people struggle every day to survive. You can see it in the expression and the way the author drew the faces. 

• Finally, the story. It's starting very slowly in the beginning but it gets so much better with time. It's a truly touching story and you just keep wanting to learn more about the characters and their struggles. There's also a bit of a political scheme in the background. Overall, well balanced as you follow the MC's on his journey in the world of Murim and how he balances that with lay people life. 

What I didn't like :

I'd stay storywise it gets quite confusing at times. I don't know if it's because of the translation but the whole political aspect flew over my head. The geography is also not clear and the names of places, sects, noble families are not well defined. Heck even the power structure is not clear. I know Korean martial arts stories tend to be very contained compared to their Chinese counter parts but frankly we know nothing of the world so far. Another thing is the power level. It's kind of important to know what makes a person strong. Is it a weapon, a martial art they practice, a special constitution/blood ? Can anyone learn it and become strong? Can you artificially enhance yourself with pills and medicine? I want to be fully immersed in the story and for that I need more details about how the world works.

That said, it's still one of the best martial arts comic out there and you definitely won't get bored reading it.

An awesome light read...

Requires you to be patient..