Im - Great Priest Imhotep Review.
Nothing is harsher than seeing what could've have been a classic.
This review contains spoilers for the first 2 volumes. I do believe this is a setup for the rest of the story but be warned.
The great priest Imhotep is a story about the Great Priest Imhotep. I know it was pretty hard to figure. He wakes up after 3000 years and is given a mission to take down Magai. He must take down the king/lord whatever magai. That is his mission, the reason the other priests woke him up from his slumber. However he is hesitant. He does want to kill what he once considered a friend. Also he has pyramid thing that can seal Magai, without killing them..... very convenient. Now set in modern times he befriends a girl who is totally normal and not weird whatsoever.
I honestly loved this series from the start. It had so much charm, so much wit. Sharp humor. I wasn't bored in the slightest. You had a compelling story. Bromance that spans 3000 years. The main character is much more charming than i expected him to be. He's got his childish moments with him. He's serious when he needs to be. And he understands what it means to have a friend. Or learns too.
The side characters are pretty charming as well. The main villain was pretty damn threatening. By all accounts this does have the makings of being a classic and as far as the first 8 volumes go. I do think this is probably one of a kind shounen series out there.
The side characters have there distinct personality. Like i mentioned the bromance is a very big part about the series. Passion of Youth so to speak. I do wished the female characters got some epic character development like out male leads did. The female lead herself does feel a bit last minute in her inclusion to the main plot. I wish you know author's didn't forget that female characters are just important. I guess you know at least they weren't sexulized. Baby steps.
Before i get into the criticism of this series i do want to praise it more.
The art is fantastic and has a great charm to it. But it also feels a bit "I've seen this before feel". It's good but not unique enough. I also very much enjoyed the action to this series. It had the right idea. Give the bad guy some line that will piss off the characters. Succeed. Continue with epic boss fight. The art combined with the dramatic entrances, exits and various other moments resulted in a very bad ass action series. I do think it would've have been better to see more unique transformation or other varying stuff but its not like there was a lack of it here.
The thing that annoyed me was what happens after the 8th volumes. Where the author starts pulling bad guys are people too bullshit but its worse when they do it in the middle of action sequence you know. It just puts the brakes on the pacing. My other issue this is a story based heavily on Egyptian Mythology. Yet it doesn't really take place in Egypt till much later. And even then they have a Japanese festival. Its very disappointing that the author had all these great places to use but doesn't utilize them to its maximum potential.
Like i mentioned bad guys have back stories and you should care about them because author is going to give them way more screen they he should. The main villain also falls in this. I really would've liked it if he was just an asshole. The character has such a dominating presence. So sad it just doesn't live up like it did in the beginning.
Manga being based on the Egyptian Gods we don't really see any of them. Again some wasted potential here.
The ending is... well written. Despite everything the ending to this is well done. Its not rushed, its not super delayed it ends at its own time well. With that being said i think the author pussied out. This is more of a personal opinion (Although that is what reviews are.) i just didn't like the direction of the ending. Its done well enough but I think the author wimped out. He should've made it more tragic more personal.
Despite these issues i still quite enjoyed this series it may not have the been classic it was going to be. But that doesn't mean it isn't worth reading. This is the 2nd time I've read a series in a week that just didn't hold up to the insane quality it had in the beginning.
TLDR: Both Cleopatra and Goddess named NUT is in this series. 7/10 Worth reading.
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