Tensei Shitara Heishi Datta?!

nathandouglasdavis Sep 18, 2022

1

What is this manga trying to be? At first, I thought it was trying to show off the military prowess, leadership capabilities, and tactics of Patt. But the tactics (when even noteworthy at all) are presented in the most dry and boring way possible and don't do anything to make Patt seem impressive, and likewise Patt doesn't seem to be a very good leader. Patt could be said to be a good fighter on feir own, but then why is this manga having fem rise in the ranks in the army (which will only lead to it feeling more and more out of place for Patt's individual prowess to be emphasized instead of the group's prowess). But then chapter seven happened and the next few chapters have seemed to focus more on the idea of Patt interacting with nobility, so is this manga trying to show off Patt's interactions with nobles and shit and are the military aspects just a way for Patt to gain recognition among the nobility? If so, then, again, this is very badly presented. Things are kinda just dropped in Patt's lap and fe doesn't really do any outwitting or court maneuvering or whatever. Also, how is Patt having memories of feir past life at all relevant? There's are some minor and inconsequential things which Patt introduces to this world (ch. 8), but all of Patt's motives and personality seem like they stem from this world. Patt's main personality traits seem to be feir bloodthristy cruelty and unflinching loyalty to the kingdom and neither of those things really make sense as having come from feir past life. I dunno. It honestly just feels like the author included the past life detail purely because isekai is a trendy genre and fe wanted to jump onto that trend. The more I think about it, the more I have to come to the conclusion that the author's main goal with this manga is to just show off gore and violence. To be edgy, I guess. And the author might also be trying to make militaries look cool, which (if true) is just cringey, pro-state propaganda. Ultimately, there's nothing that I personally find worthwhile in this manga--nothing that entertains me or brings me pleasure. Which is why I rated it so low. But other readers may enjoy simply seeing the violence or may find some of the tactical or court aspect less shallow than I did. As for the art: it will often just feel slightly off. Like, I can tell based on some of the individual images that the artist does have some skill, but perhaps isn't putting enough time into making sure things are consistently well-done. Angles will be weird and proportions wrong. The shading is just a bunch of lines--which isn't a bad thing on its own, but it can draw attention away from and also blend together with the foreground a bit. The facial expressions are also alright, but lacking. There were some horses in one of the panels which looked absolutely atrocious with how gorilla-like their front legs were. [Reviewed at chapter 10]