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overflown

  • Joined May 26, 2022
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Perfect Surgeon

Mar 25, 2023

This is better than AI Doctor, although I expected very little from this series at first. I love OP stories with idealistic protagonists, but 1) quick fixes that just solve everything are boring, 2) characters becoming perfect without any effort are boring, and 3) shallow conflicts that arise simply because everyone but the MC are antagonists are also boring.

To my surprise, this story manages to resolve those icks of mine.

1) and 2) Ronnie, the AI, does really make the protagonist OP, but aside from giving the protagonist supernatural detection skills, the AI complements and facilitates him more than it solves everything for him. Usually, the AI seems to aid him more as a ridiculously OP sensor that can detect everything from blood flow to tremors, or a tool that supports his own training process; when it comes to thinking, he does it on his own most of the time. I, as an audience, were convinced that he would've still been OP without the AI. Judgement, especially, was all him. Later, we see him encounter a character who tried to convince him that doctors would soon be entirely replaced by AI -- something that seemed to be a bit meta. I don't find the protagonist's rebuke notable (something something human heart), but it does seem to show that the author really did intend the AI to be more of a complement than a panacea.

3) What I like about the conflict between the protagonist and the other characters (his seniors, as well as the management) here is that I can actually sympathize with the people who goes against the protagonist. Although it's not perfectly executed (the manhwa could've given more emphasis to the importance of the protocols actually there instead of simply dismissing it as an issue of "seniority"), I personally can see how the other characters weren't villains for the sake of being villains.

There were some jerks, but a lot of the times (especially the final transgression that got him to the setting for Season 2) the protagonist was truly in the wrong and any other intern that did the same as him would've probably fucked it up and killed someone. The other characters weren't simply being jerks or jealous, but doing what they should have. We, the audience, simply can sympathize with the protagonist because we know something that the other characters don't -- that the protagonist is aided by a ridiculously powerful detection system.

Additionally, we get a story that supports the character's idealism -- in addition to his father's story, we see him have regrets that continue to haunt him after a specific case/arc. There's plenty of room of improvement -- I still look forward to a medical manhwa that executes these conflicts well -- but it makes me enjoy it more because I'm not annoyed at the writer for depending on the characters to simply be jerks.

Characterization (whether of the protagonist, his peers, his ex, or his seniors) wasn't particularly good or noteworthy, but I don't find anything particularly annoying. The protagonist is quite likeable but he basically just feels like a "good guy" to me withotu much depth. I really enjoyed the art, however.

8/10 story
9/10 art
6/10 characters
7.5/10 overall

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