Hxnm
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c756
Status: c756
February 11, 2023
Just wanted to preface this and a few concessions, as a reminder that this is MY opinion (before the diehard fans of this genre and Silkworm come for me). This review isn’t for you, you’re to biased and unwilling to acknowledge clear discrepancies where they lay. -Secondly, if this is you’re first introductory to this genre or artist, I can empathize and imagine how Euphoric or “Novel” or fresh this feels. This review isn’t for you either. -I also acknowledge that Xianxia has certain tropes and elements that are bound to ... more>> be used within the story. Its the nature of the beast, It’s a matter of how it’s delivered/ executed that’s important to discern. This is targeted for those that have been here for a while. (As of 756) I wanted to get pretty far into the story (I assume we’re about half or 1/3 of the way there, considering his previous works) before I formulated an opinion and... it’s just not good. In this review, I’d like to define “art” as an artist or author’s entire body of work, that showcases a transformative or qualitative change as they progress. This means that as the artist’s career continues, it not plagued by REDUNDANCY nor does gives off a feeling of stangnation. The art work ultimately goes through some sort of qualitative change. Qualitative change DOES not mean: (Someone from an earlier review wrote this and I think this is very apt) “Changing Qi to resonance or energy, pills to essence, among other names and ranks just reminded me of how unoriginal and lazy the writing is.” This is essentially the crux of the issue, if you’ve read Heavenly Silkworms previous works, it feels as though he has a template - beautiful almost unobtainable FMC, handsome/extremely talented MC, all the female characters are enamored with the MC, and just a boat load of BS plot armor to cover up for poor and/or lazy writing. Everything suddenly happens by coincidence or pure chance or Insert a wild OP character conveniently that is there to help or deter the MC. MC and FMC separate for some bs reason, etc... Just for him to eventually come back and inserts arc of him vying and competing with some nemesis/rival for her love. It’s just dumpster fire and lazy writing. All of these things plaguing the story will inevitably cause your Suspense of disbelief to be discarded out the window and roll your eyes as some BS that is so absurd occurred. What is even more telling, is when something absurd happens especially during the (No spoilers ahead) House Luolan arc and onwards - the sarcasm and disdain (deservedly so) from some of the readers is palpable in the comment section. The pacing feels awkward and is very inconsistent. Sometimes a lot of times will transpire through a few short chapters. Alternatively, at times, H.S.W. will devote like 80 chapters to a particular instance in time and still not fully end of whatever the conflict is (just so it can be used later) it throws you for a loop. This ultimately feels like if Silkworm took “Battle Through the Heavens” (BTTH) and “The Great Ruler” (TGR) and roughly mashed them together and you got Li Luo and what will most likely be the story of “Absolute Resonance”. With all that being said, because of the constant clichés and rendundant plot tropes, this is ultimately is BORING and without the awesome translation team. I would hesitate to say this is even palatable. For those who haven’t read his previous works and are waiting for the next chapter like it’s an unhealthy addiction. Might I recommend reading his previous works and just insert Li Luo and Qiange’e in the MC and FMC roles and there you go. In all seriousness, this is probably going to be a 2/5. And that’s mainly due to the translation team and the interactions between Li Luo and his family/ loved ones. <<less
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