I love this series! I don't even know why I like it this much lol. Maybe because I like the premise?
Criticism first:
-The characters are kind of marysues - the male lead especially. It's even more obvious in the novel. Honestly, marysues are kind of my guilty pleasure, but I know a lot of people really dislike them, so this is just heads up.
-The grammar of the translation is not the best. It's definitely understandable and it's mostly pretty good but has it's moments of awkward phrasing, just because some phrases and words don't really translate well. I didn't mind it, but keep in mind that there are a lot of idioms used so there are a good amount of translator's notes needed. I actually read the novel after the manhua, so I only understood some of the idioms used because of the novel, as the manhua's translator did not include some of the meanings of the idioms. Regardless, it's not a huge ding on the story, and all the events are still pretty understandable.
-As a previous reviewer has mentioned, the chapters are pretty short, and it's not completely scanlated. These aren't really criticisms of the story, though! Just kinda cons.
-Some of the bubbles are empty. It doesn't really change the reader's comprehension, but just me nitpicking I guess. When I first read the manhua, I felt like I was missing out on some of the jokes because of it.
-Sometimes I laughed because some scenes were worded/play out as if they were actually in the game, like SAO, but they are only playing on computers, so... yeah.
who is going around "sightseeing" in that kind of game?? rp to the max LOL
it's not really a huge thing since the manhua is drawn as if they are actually in the game, but just... yeah...
-some of the antagonists can be pretty one dimensional (or should I say two dimensional??), but honestly I'm just nitpicking at this point.
Praise:
-The female lead, WeiWei, is probably one of my favourite parts of the story. She's capable and doesn't rely on the male lead to save her in every situation. She can give as good as she gets, but also knows when to take the high road. She was honestly so badass in some situations and I was rooting for her almost every time. She was also pretty straightforward, not falling into the trap of many heroines where they don't ever speak their mind. This makes it so that the two avoid miscommunications that can be pretty common.
-The relationship between WeiWei and the male lead was so cute, even if it WAS kinda unrealistic at some points. But it's a manhua, it's allowed to be unrealistic! Their relationship was obviously one of the main driving points of this whole story.
-The male lead could sometimes feel a little flat, but that's probably mainly to do with the fact that you can't really see his thoughts and he IS supposed to be a pretty mysterious guy. But despite that, his love for WeiWei was made clear in subtle ways.
Honestly, that basketball scene and the snack scene on the bike ride right before that KILLED ME AHHH SO CUTE
-The gameplay aspect was pretty cool! One of the main draws of the story, and is definitely a pretty accurate portrayal of an mmorpg, at least the parts that they display.
Yup. There's a lot more I could probably say but I've already typed a lot ;;; I've read the manhua, watched the movie, then read the novel (in that order) so I clearly liked it a lot. Not even sure why it appealed to me that much?? I can't really pinpoint it... I'm off to watch the drama next, but I highly recommend both the novel and the movie if you like the manhua. The movie took some liberties at some points, but that's to be expected. I'll update this post after I've watched the drama (if I do lol, I'm pretty busy) to say which I recommend more!
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