I used to be a big fan of Benjamin's art back in the day, but this ain't it, chief. My eyes are seared by all the magenta and red and wet brushstrokes (it is pretty in illustrations but gets tiring after having to stare at it in manga form). And if that weren't enough, the flimsy plot is spoonfed to you. No subtlety, just "world bad, humans shallow". Oh, and something about art fixing people but artists bearing the weight of the "truth" of it and not being able to fix themselves. Yawn.

In terms of social commentary, Saviour beats most manga I've read (the chapter about war was especially brilliant), but the execution is frankly terrible, because this manhua is the epitome of "tell, not show." The illustrations -- while skilfully drawn and gorgeously coloured -- are practically superfluous; the entirety of the plot, including the moral of each tale, is starkly spelt out on the page itself. There's abundant narrative and minimal dialogue, to the point where I wonder why Benjamin didn't simply write a short essay on the subject and be done.

I've read only one other manhua, Ya San, which was another unique storyline suffering from this self-same flaw. Now, don't get me wrong -- I love wordy manga and am a reader of both novels and non-fiction, but there's something I expect from a manga/manhua/manhwa, specifically, that Saviour fails to deliver. It's especially disappointing because if the author had allowed the artwork and the dialogue to tell the story, this could have been one of my favourites in the psychological genre. As it is, I opted to not rate, as I'm reluctant to give it a mediocre score but can't in good conscience rate too high, either.

... Last updated on February 15th, 2015, 6:16am

I have to say that I wasn't sure whether to even start the series with such... let's call it well used plot by other artists, but I was pleasantly surprised. The art is truly magnificent, to the point one of the pages is my wallpaper right now (good bye cherry blossom). The story is also one of my favourite; not cliché, fresh and gripping. It suited the art, or rather complemented it, because it is the centre piece of the manhua. You probably will not like it if you like the usual candy and sugar shojo genre, but even then you should look at it, because it will just change your perspective on manga for ever (I mean my favourite mangakas look like amateurs).

As with all Benjamin's works the visuals greatly surpass the value of it's story. But that's not a bad thing, cause coming up with a story that could leave art like that in it's shadow should be nearly impossible. lol
Images are gorgeous, sketchy and with vibrant colors. The story is depressing... it's not bad, but I doubt that I'll read it ever again. Though I'll probably open it up a couple more times and gaze at the pretty pictures.
Would love to have a hard copy of this one cause the available scans aren't doing justice to Benjamis art style.

The art style is beautiful. But it doesn't matter. I'll stop reading this series. Even if I like the characters very much and can't help staring at the monitor looking at the art.... it's too depressing. If there's a positive, sweet element, it turns dark afterwards.
And everything is completely subjective, all only from the perspective of the protagonist who prefers thinking of the world as something that's all but sweet and lovely. The message "Saviour" carries is too heavy, too negative. And that's exactly the reason I'll stop reading it.
Yes, even though I like the art style and the characters and even though there's nothing else to complain about. Actually "Savior" is the first work I read by Benjamin. It will also be the last, I don't want to imagine what "Orange" is like.