I applaud its good intentions. And I can also see how a lot of effort was put in it. There are, however, some slight idiosyncrasies. 

This is the deal presented to you, in this manga: you are trading high budget art for the originality of the designs, the sheer personality of the artstyle. You also trade the usual op shenanigans for some rough and tough character building, with a writing which is quite clean at times. The most peculiar thing, however, is the action. 

Who is MC? He is talentless. And the regression he undergoes doesn't give him any edge except his memories. That's the whole concept. The manga's goal is to make his struggle interesting without giving him gratuitous power ups, and that's commendable. At least until it fails. 

It's not cause of a lack of effort. They gave him infinite mana processing, and it wasn't enough. They gave him 2100 years of training, and it still wasn't enough. By their own design, everything failed. And so it was, we came to the inevitable: "MC cheated death cause he was blessed by Eldritch Demon Gōd the Author, the end".

I dunno how they will manage, from now on. I dunno if they can make me care again. What I know is that, as of chapter 88, I'm a bit disinvested. 

This wasn't our deal. I gave you the right to forego the usual shiny art. I gave you the right to center your entire characterization around MC's being a headstrong hard worker that gets no easy handouts. YOU DON'T GET TO DO ASSPULLS NOW, because if you do then I want the shiny keychain rustling back. I want the usual high budget art, OP system power building, I want great fight choreographies with no murim büllshit. Same goes for the romance: if you spent this much on a relationship, I'M NOT tolerating an harem down the road. 

With this in mind, this is a 8½ on the Ivern Scale™️, but it is a betrayer. That much should be clear. Let's hope it'll repent. 

"But Ivern, making an action manga about effort is imposs-" Eternally Regressing Knight. Yeah. Shût the fùck up.

Art is okaish. But that's not the point. The point is the characterization. 

It's both incoherent and deeply misogynistic. And also japanese, but I repeat myself. 

The only character who is given a basic amount of effort is FL, whomst incidentally is so fùcked as a person I'm constantly reminded of how Japan was a mistake and maybe, just maybe, a third nuclear strike could actually improve the situation. Two gave us anime, maybe the third time will bring out women rights. You don't know it won't! Don't be so negative! 

Okay so, FL. FL is every degenerate's dream of the perfect stay at home sèx slave. She cooks for you. She compliments you. She will have s** with you and pat your head, in a deranged incestual mom-vibe, but also you get to insult, abuse her and generally treat her like literal zebra shīt.

But there is hope! Once she gets cheated on, FL decides that divorce is the only way forward. You might think, woah, she actually can grow as a person and regain autonomy? Fùck you, because the decision makes no fùcking sense at all when you look at her behavior afterwards: it will in fact dash all your hopes and make the character utterly incoherent. 

She doesn't change, she remains the old self sacrificing doormat with no dignity, aspiration or a ego, but she is divorced now, I guess. The author describes her as the ideal woman in a word full of slùts (read: normal people) who don't slave away in the kitchen anymore and don't mom their men into failing upward in life. In this crazy narration, the ex isn't wrong because he treated her like an object. 

He is wrong because he didn't cherish his object enough. The lesson here is: treat your pets kindly (aka women) or they will find another owner. You know, like a dog. 

Japan needs to go. You know I'm right. 

3 on the Ivern Scale™️. I'm loading up the bombardiers.

Have you ever met an addict? 

"Ya I read like... I've read a lot of toxic BLs"

...sigh. *SLAPS*

"ARGH WHAT THE FÙCK IVERN MY GÓDDAMN FACE YOU ANIMAL"

What was I saying? Ah yes. You never met an addict. 

"LISTEN PLENTY OF MY FRIENDS PLAY GACHA GAM-" *SLAPS again, backhanded* "ARGGGHH"

I'm talking about drugs, you asinine idiot! Well, for your information, addiction makes people ugly. Trauma and addiction make them uglier. It is NOT a nice show. It is, in fact, a tragedy. 

This manga knows. It's rare to witness, but here we get a plethora of ugly, uncomfortable situations that have no place in historical romance as we know it, clichès and all. Drugs, violence, abuse, discrimination: these are humans who deal with them, and try to stay afloat, dabbling in cruelty and shame. 

Characterization is up to the challenge, and I find the way it tells a story about ugly things and good people in bad situations very compelling. It does not have prejudice, in its storytelling: ML is a proper fùcked up druggie, and I say that without an inch of judgement. He is a victim, and a perpetrator. FL is a good girl, but also impulsive and delightfully inexperienced. They make for a compelling romance, side cast included, and it's even better with a good translation: art is nice enough too, but the writing truly takes the cake. 

All in all, a more mature art style would've benefitted the plot's theme greatly, but it is a 9+ on the Ivern Scale™️, and it is complete. So, kinda a miracle.

🏅

*meme with the couple walking where the guy looks behind towards another girl*

*the couple is made up of MC and the Concept of Being Fùcking Normal*

*the other girl is Brutal Death*

Normally, I do not kinkshame... but Enkrid, you have issues. You gōddamn deathsexual. You suicide addict. You perv. 

What is it with mangas about death loops tropes and being fùcking incredible? This is like the fourth one. At this point, I'm starting to get suspicious. And by all accounts, it's not like with the revenge trope, where I would slurp literal shīt if the shīt had been betrayed by its own brother türd or something. These fùckers put gōddamn effort in it. 

Picture it: a realistic, gritty world, at war. How? An art style so good it had me in shambles. The lines are heavy, the anatomy is mouth watering, the character design is immaculate. It is NOT the usual action art, it is NOT shiny, it is rough and brash and I swear to GŌD they did PROPER HISTORICAL RESEARCH ON THE FÙCKING WEAPONS UGghhh

I could harp on the bods (thank you Yaoi Gōd I have eaten well today too), but I truly, sincerely adore everything about it. It's THE definitive medieval art style.

Everything else? I swear, ON PAR with the perfect art I described.

Characterization? Diverse, varied, funny, articulated. ON PAR. Writing? GŌDDAMN WRITING, IN A SHONEN? ON PAR. The action, the themes, the sheer brutality? The growth devoid of anything flashy, attaining hype by using ONLY sword choreographies and adventure, no shiny bullshít? Fully focused on a character study based on a talentless, canonically HUNG autistic boi who just wants to be good through SHEER EFFORT? And save people? And he is ready to fùck and sùck Death's cóck on Gmail just to get a chance? Like, "I curse ye, feeble mortal!", and he goes: "omg rlly 🥺🥺 thank you!!".

It is perfect. Max grades, and a GAI (Grand Accolade of Ivern™️) too. If it goes to shīt after chapter 60 I'm taking this entire site down with me in a nuclear suicide detonation.

It's decent, actually.

The art is the clear winner here: the style is obviously Korean, so it's a span above your usual manhua visual terrorism. Very nice, with shading, colors, pecs and all.

Writing is localized like shít, as is tradition with chinese melodrama. But the characters do have their charm. FL knows how to stand her ground, ML is a uncharacteristically vibrant green flag... They are likeable.

Problem is, this more careful characterization is an improvement paid for by a substantially slower pace of the drama. Chinese stuff typically has this fast and loose barrage of arcs and bìtchslaps and secret adoption nonsense that keeps you on your toes, but this one... Lacks action.

The good guys do very little. The antagonists, while admittedly insufferable and hateable, do fùck themselves up alone, with little to no intervention from the main couple. And it's slow. Few things happen, fewer are due a proper revenge or comeuppance.

It's not the most exciting thing in the world, but it's an okay read. 8- on the Ivern Scale™️. Again, the art is doing a lot of the brawn work here, and I'd like less agency given to obvious pieces of shìt, more counterplay for the leads.

This is it. This is the final answer. To what question? It's simple: "can we make Ivern like an harem?".

The Polygamy Illuminati gathered and laboured with one, burning objective: to make me fall. To conquer me. Me, the Ultimate Castigator of Harems. The Avenger of Screentime. The Arbiter of Characterization.

They created this one. They employed good artists, and even added a bit of male body fanservice, to please my dìck. They designed a well rounded power system, with interesting magic and original uses of skills. And they managed the impossible: they juggled 5+ LOVE INTERESTS with average parity in screentime and characterization development. The writing was given attention too: each of the girls has a definite psychology and clear tropes, they are coherent, they are a side cast worth its name! Not to mention the form: actually great!

It was...a miracle.

And they failed.

Because there are objective, impossible limits they cannot overcome. Those are built in the harem trope, and that will never change. All of the corrections you made, Polygamy Illuminati, have a price. And all miracles require sacrifice.

The insane amount of screentime required to make the girls work demand that the action has little space. This is, in fact, not a shonen, but an illustrated dating sim playthrough. Fights aren't built with meaning behind them, are sparse, and clearly not the focus. What is there IS enjoyable, and it is too little.

As a romance, to make the harem work, it had to sacrifice MC. Ed has no feelings for any of them, he remains dead cold, and he has no choice but that, for the manga to function. Ergo, I do not feel invested. It's courtship masturbation that remains superficial, and I find it boring. Its end, by intent or inevitability, is to pander, and it shows.

All your efforts availed you a 8+ on the Ivern Scale™️, Polygamy Illuminati. You made a high functioning harem, and I still don't like it. Congrats.

🏅

Yeah. I gave it the GAI (Grand Accolade of Ivern™️). Mmh mmh. Did it.

"HEAR HEAR IVERN IS A RÀPE APOLOGIST HE LIKES RÀAAAAPE!"

am not, do not

"HE IS A WHŌOOOOORE!"

That is true, but beside the point. Listen, I'll be frank. ML is a prosecutor. In my book, that's worse than being a ràpi OKAY OKAY. I mean, being a prosecutor is just as bad FÙCK, FINE! Dear prosecutors I deal with a work, if you are reading this, you are not worse than or as bàd as ràpists. You just stink of poopoo like please it's unbearab

"STAY ON POINT, YOU CRIMINAL DEFENDER!"

That's my actual job description, so I'll let it slide. Anyway: I'll make my point. The manga has, in order:

- sèx hot as fùck
- art hot as fùck, also very beautiful, touched both by a bit of realism AND a faded and pastel art style.
- PROPER writing and a GOOD characterization.

Last one is important. I threw myself at bad psychological manwhas who dealt with themes like abuse, ràpe, humiliation, pheromone coercion, omegas' rights in ABO, and violence. I did that not because stories can't have main characters that deal with them, but because those were written like shït and they were actually normalizing crimes.

To avoid that, one must:

- give the perpetrator a coherent psychological background capable of EXPLAINING why he did what he did.
- make him realize his mistakes, then actually WORK to get better
- make the victim REALIZE the extent of the damage, deal with it, react to it, and then DECIDE if they are gonna forgive, freely. From a position of power.

ALL those boxes are checked here. ML is a bad person, with a cruel past. He can still fall in love and change. Good writing can allow for that and more. Just find the official translation, and you will love this story.

These bïtches gay. Good for them. Good for them. 

Ya'know, I saw this one in paper cover. Like, physical copy. In a library. I was around other people and the sun was out: honestly, a ghastly experience. Hated that.

What I want to say is, it's wildly successful. Why? No, because the art is... Is. And oh göd, it's in black and white too! It makes no sense? How is the planet going to end up, when there are no more respectable art whōres? Being serious, the cast's design is diverse. And the point here is really the writing.

Have you ever been a teenager in love in 2000ish England? Whomst among us hasn't, right? It's a popular guilty pleasure. Well, be prepared to relive those times! Now with 10x times the fluff! 

Young, pure love! Exaggerated, unadulterated, free and tender! None of that murky, p r o b l e m a t i c shît the GÖDDAMN KOREANSSSS give us! (peace be upon Mingwa's name) Notably western, this tale about innocence and warmth will make you awwwww until you die! In the blessed name of Yaoi Gōd! 

But it's all fun and games until you realize the homophobia undercurrent... is there. It's paltry and inane, because that's how teenage homophobia is. Puny, in its cruelty. Then the cute is sad, and the sad is cute. Why, why do we have to live like this? In the shadows? Why are we diff-

YEAH NO! Not having a mental breakdown today. Sorry society, I'm at quota for this month. It's a really nice comic, I'll give it a 8½ on the Ivern Scale™️. The writing is realistically millennial, but still stretched to be universally accepting: it's that kind of gentle affirmation that Tumblr was known for. (along with the pōrn, violent infighting and pïss ballpits)

It's naive, in a way, even if it feels forced. And I like that, especially these days.

Go read it on Webtoon, it's up to date there. Then you can go back to the usual ràpe and Yakuza omegaverse. As you should.

Being the original isn't always a good thing. It means you are treading uncharted paths. I know it sounds strange! Uncharted? Original? In the regression trope? But so it seems, they say this one was the first. And it shows.

Not in the art, of course. It's actually competent. Especially faces and character/environment/monster/item design. Anatomy is the only outlier, but it's not that distracting. (MC's arms are deformed and as a bicep whōre I'm appalled)

From an action formula standpoint, the author didn't really follow through with the initial premise. It's kinda a betrayal. The first half of the chapters is a highly entertaining rendition of the informational monopoly via regression trope: dungeons, rewards, hidden secrets, system powering up. It works extremely well, it's fun, and I miss it.

Then the red zone comes, and the central trope isn't information asymmetry anymore. It's standard, reckless adventure.

The good news? Adventure needs a great world to explore. And on that, the manga did its homework: the world building is interesting, the environments are creative: the power level is now item-based, and I guess that works.

But adventure also needs good characters to explore all of that world. Here, we have a problem. MC is a bit apathetic: he wants his waifu, kinda, but that's all. He follows his friends' counsel, and that counsel is:

- kill everynyan Owo
- omg savvvvvve peeeepppple

Results? Awful pacing in the action. Incoherent approach to the side cast. It does not help that THE MAJORITY of them are... Like, legitimately some of the most annoying and persistent characters I've encountered. All of them, anyway, are monotone and two-dimensional. This is why the adventure arc is a bit... boring, actually. 

8- on the Ivern Scale™️. Kinda a pity. A lot of potential squandered, for now. (Ch. 80)

Why? No, really. Genuinely asking. Why create something like this? If it is a tragedy, it isn't presented like one. If it is a love story, the author is a moral criminal. So, why?

Incredible art, visually arousing sèx. A well written characterization in form. Technically, it's a high-budget bait to seduce you in condoning horrific abuse.

"But Ivern, stories can be about bad peo-" shut the fùck up. I'm tired. I'm fùcking done. A character can be bad, you can make me sympathize with an abuser, sure. But if THE WHOLE point of the story is the abuse, then I'm gonna ask: is this romanticization? You chose to write it like this. This is fiction. I'm gonna ask why. WHY?

TWO timelines. Both horrifying series of ràpe, abuse, violence and vile egoism. As I said, it is well written, character wise: the psychology IS taken straight outta one of my homicide and stalking cases. I have the one in mind, names and all. She died, she left two children. Other parts, from the one where another woman defended her abuser saying she loved him, in court too. He taped the times he insulted, hit, ràped her. I read the transcriptions, it's similar to the dialogues here. It is that realistic.

The narrative seems to verge towards the "the past life was a bad ending, but we can make it work in the new one". Except nothing changed. What is gonna work, author? Answer me. He is irredeemable, so who is getting redeemed?

The answer is: fùck you. It doesn't matter how it ends. If it is in tragedy, actually stay away from it. If they end together, STAY FÙCKING AWAY FROM IT.

It's understandable if you like the drawings. Read it without parsing the dialogues. As a mute pōrn, it's actually worth a fàp. As anything else? Not a chance in hèll, you animal. Stay away from me.

I wish I had a super power. You know, nothing fancy. Just the reality-warping authority of manipulating retroactively the amount of budget a manga gets into its production. Ideally, by stripping it away from the undeserving ones. I would be a menace, but also a force of good. 

The first thing I would do is depriving the plethora of pōrnwhas (you know which ones, hetero hentais with no characterization where a paper doll MC fùcks insane amounts of pus****) of their artistic prowess, dynamic visuals (used for fùcking) and glistening fluid depiction (used guess for what?). Then I would inject a good amount of those in this manga. 

Repurposing all of that art budget in great anatomy for MC, visually impressive fight choreographies, better faces, better item design, better environments! All things this one lacks, magically transplanted! 

Transplanted in a manga with a remarkable rendition of the action formula. With a great pacing in power acquisition and evolution. With a good sense of adventure! With interesting characters! Decently written, even genuinely touching at times! 

In fact, this manga actually has one of the most stable and competent examples of the tower of trials trope. And I fùcking love that trope. I fùcking love the floors, the rewards, everything. Is it clichè? Fùcking yeah? And? It's clichè for a good gōddamn reason. It's fun and relaxing.

But then I remember that the art is... Okay. And my dreams end. I do not have reality bending budget powers. And I cannot give this one the GAI it deserved in another universe, with a better artist and more time to develop the fights. And that kills me inside. 

8½ on the Ivern Scale™️. It is so, so enjoyable. And sadly, also a bit ugly and wonky. You can relate to the second part, I'm sure, so be kind with it.

This manga likes to betray me. Just like my mother. Unlike my mother, this manga isn't a highly accomplished professional, and I resent that. But it also isn't a middle aged nagging woman, so I say it's a three stars overall. Anyway, let's get into the specifics.

First betrayal: the art. It starts great. Then the style changes. Then the quality drops. Then it gets good again. Then dad's face is like totally different. But the character design is good! Scratch that they are all similar FÙCK.

Second betrayal: the story. It started by seducing me. "Oh haaiiii Ivern, I'm a quirky lazy boi! My MC is just like you! He doesn't want to work, he doesn't want to bow his head to his family's expectations, and he just wants to live his best sloth life and maybe have money like lots which he steals!"

I was very much ready for that, except BAM! MC is now generic murim guy with massive-gorilla-bàlls body constitution or 'sum shieeet. Well then: not what you promised me, but I would eat that anyway. Is it any good?

Sigh. Listen, I get that things in ALL SHONENS happen because "the author said so". BUT you need to trick me with enough suspension of disbelief so I don't feel that, gôddamn it. MC, notorious failson, is a genius now. He is philosophical as all àss. Also learns everything by watching it once. But still weak. But not! But yes. But fùck you, honestly. It's standard mediocre murim powerleveling and it's okay at best.

Third betrayal, courtesy of Mangabuddy: at a certain point, the manga switches to medieval Europe regression. Because why not?

It had great potential for a lupin-like rogue murim heir wrecking havoc by playing on his own rules, like the cover implies. It degrades in the most average asian shonen. A 6½ on the Ivern Scale™️, but it is kinda a travesty.

Aaaaaaaahhhh. No, don't mind me. It's just... the comment section... yeah. It's particularly bad for this one. It takes a toll. A bunch of idiotic, whiny, booger-licking edgelords that will actively worsen your reading experience. But what else is new?

Welcome all to the latest Ivern Review™️, the show where I'm right, you are wrong and the oxygen you consume to spew your usual bùllshit is gonna be put on your tab. No more free air for you!

Know what else isn't free? Art. Costs a lot. Of time, of effort. Especially if you need to create visually impressive fights, characters with good design, a nice overall style... Thank gōd this manga is positively stunning. Particular attention is given to the fights, and it shows. A good shonen, if I've ever seen one.

To be precise, it is a murim. Yeah, I know. Another one. And it comes with the usual: Ultimate Techniques Names of Ascendant Büllshit, nonsense Chinese mystical theory that goes on for entire chapters, the occasional asspull enlightenment. This is no growth here, let's be clear: MC is op. He is very powerful. And he will shīt on your head. But he will be cool while doing it, and the fights are great, so all is forgiven. 

Lastly, characterization. It's actually decent. The choices he makes are understandable, coherent with his writing. He is a charming person. Side cast is nominally agreeable. Both the cool moments and the funny ones are pulled off extremely well. There is no Nanomachine-like degeneracy. It's all around great. 

Yeah, so, ignore the complaining and enjoy a very competent murim flick. It's a 9+ on the Ivern Scale™️. The + is bonus points due entirely Blue Horn as an adorable sidekick noodle. The comment section will instead receive a middle finger on the Ivern Scale™️ and a swift kick on the teeth.

🏅

Follow me, Joanne. 'Tis time. We are delving deep into the great realm of Cheating Men Must Die.

Certainly, sir. But are the laurel crown and funny sock-hat really necessary? It's itchy.

Of course, Jordan! You must wear them! You are my Dante, and I'm your Virgil. In this Hèll of a review, the funny sock-hat is indispensable! Now, marvel at CMMD!

But Mr. Ivern, Sir... the art is... A bit Chinese. Like, badly Chinese.

NATURALLY! It's part of the charm! As are the barely localized dialogues! This place has negative budget, after all! It's not the art nor the writing that create the perfect clusterfück that is CMMD, but something else entirely. BEHOLD!

*the two men arrive at an enormous cavern, where a gigantic and serpentine woman stands proudly*

Witness Su Luxia! Mistress of Pain, Administer of Retribution! Hers is fury and vindication, hers is cuntyness itself! Look at how her tail masterfully coils around the sinners, dictating to which layer of Hèll they are bound to with every embrace! Minos takes in her image, for none can defy her judgement! She is justice and vengeance, she is infallible and magnificently maleficent!

I-is that an hamst-

OF COURSE NOT, YOU CRETIN! Evidently, it's a bamboo rat! True ML, btw.

A w-what? And male lea- no wait, sir, how can you give top grades and the Grand Accolade of Ivern™️ to an average, shabby manhua?

I pity you in your ignorance, Jasmine. May Su Luxia, the System Sultana, forgive your heresy, because I won't. Understand: with each self-contained arc, made on average of 2 dozens of preternaturally paced chapters, CMMD walks one step at a time towards perfection! Forget technical quality! The Great Republic of China brings us the science of drama, scheming and perfect revenge distilled into its purest form! None can dislike CMMD. And even if you do, you will probably like the next arc anyway!

Hence, I award it my GAI! And it isn't even 'cause of Bamboo Rat's pregnancy subplot, I swear! I just love the manhua!

🏅

Jennifer, send the next manga to review.

Mr. Ivern, Sir, I'm Jerem-

Shhsh. You exist because I allow it, and you'll transition because I demand it. Now, tell me, my ditzy assistant, what is the manga about?

I-it's... unique.

Unique? In this economy? Jennifer that is simply preposterous! I smell trickery! Is this a trap?! Are the Catholics involved? Those dàmn perverts!

No... sir... I don't think so... It's just a manga with a transmigration trope, subtype D, videogame system conjugation.

Jeanine, I don't buy it! Fùckery is afoot! Let's examine it properly, give me the details. Uhhhm, good art, smooth art style, that's great. The writing is... Somewhat difficult to translate? A comparative analysis between scangroups gives me multiple and persistent errors in some phrases. I wonder how the original Korean reads, the form seems good... Nice, nice, great pacing I see. Reader attention remains high. As for the plo- what

S-sir.

What IS this? Decentralized focus point, with no real protagonist? Still, great care for the character writing, even with a big cast. An atypical soft power system, with use of themes, skills and imagery, all incredibly peculiar and striking. This... Of course this is a... Sort of... kingdom building trope, but... r-religION!?!

IT'S THE CATHOLICS! I BLŌODY KNEW IT?! THEY CONVERTED A KINGDOM BUILDING TROPE INTO THE FÙCKING BOOK OF EXODUS! AND IT WORKS?? WHY is the gōddamn plot so well thought-out? And emotional? Is this an advertisement for the concept of faith?!

Sir please this is not the time for one of your anticlerical tirades, the revie-

SHUT THE FÙCK UP, I'M HAVING A MOMENT! Well, at least Nebula has The Slūttiest Waist Ever and is serving cūnt 24/7h, a gōd I can (literally) "get behind"! Info on the rest of the cast? Wait a minute, why is lizard Moses Daddy Rakrak so... alluring. Oh. Oh, sweet merciful jesus.

Catholic furries.

Review's done! Grand Accolade of Ivern™️ awarded. Jenna, crucify the unbelievers for our scaly overlords!

🏅

Inside this manga there are two (winter) wolves: one has a thriller soul, while the other is a fluff fan. Both of them are smüt fiends. They are hōrny as fùck. They hook up everywhere. Verily, I say unto you, having a penchant for slūttery myself, this is my kind of shït.

Both the components, mystery thriller and slice of life comfort fluff, are executed excellently. The first part keeps your attention high with suspense, while the second rewards you, like the good patient doggy you are, with marital bliss. During all that they are going to serve you some of the hottest and raunchiest hetero sèx scenes you'll ever see.

How? Thanks to a positively mouthwatering art department, with character design for daaays (looking at you, giant hunk ML AWHOOOGA).

BUT the writing is also remarkable, with a decent plot and a characterization that keeps up with the thirst. I liked how ML is written and I loved how self aware he was about their circumstances. Some readers criticize FL's character as stupid or willful, but I think she is fine. Young, traumatized noble ladies in peril do have a tendency to act naively at times. She is also coherent in her unpredictability and reactions: she isn't stupid, just inexperienced in, like, being a homicidal fugitive. And if I say that, it means it's true and you are wrong and you should shut up forever about it.

All of this, of course, means nothing to me. I'm here for the sèx. Remember? I'm a slûuuuuuut. And I'm giving it a GAI (Grand Accolade of Ivern™️) not just for its quality, but for what it is. A mystery thriller historical smüt slice of life with a tiny bit of angst and lots of penetration. A must read in its high res, uncensored release.

This shīt was written for me.

Japan, I gotta ask. Is it the misogyny? Or do you just not know how to characterize properly? No, because this is impressive. You had an incredible premise! And you botched it at light speed!

Enter FL, a noblewoman destroyed, forced into prostitution. No second chances, no regression: sis had to sùck and fùck on Gmail until she became a pro-whōre. And she's proud: no self-hatred, or denial. She knows what she had to became, and she wants revenge using the tools of the trade.

How do you fùck up such a badass character? It's simple. You make her blush after a man she slept with a bit, you make her a damsel in distress in constant need of rescue, you make her stupid so she cannot anticipate the basic moves of the antagonists, and then you give her a superficially written tsundere as a ML who falls for her in 10 chapters, without even knowing her well or anything, for no reason.

We could have had it all. Imagine: the struggle of a ML slowly falling in love with a bad bìtch whose job is seducing, fùcking and tricking the antagonist. A smart and ruthless FL hardened by her tragedies who slowly gets to open up and then fall for her employer, without even knowing when it happened, gradually. Base antagonists who get proper comeuppance and aren't actually smarter or quicker than the good guys.

But Japan went "Ettoohhhh, aahhuaaaahhhh" and fùcked it all up, right in front of my salad. What do I even do with the art, which is actually okay? What do I do with such a great premise, squandered away?

Fùck all. I'll do fùck all with it. Except giving it a 6 on the Ivern Scale™️ and a bad look.

Kiss Me Liar is the poster child of old generation yaois, at least in the omegaverse genre. When you imagine one of those, you get a clear archetype in mind. No complicated psyches, just a whole lot of animalistic fùcking. 'twas a simpler time.

First of all, the art is geared mostly towards the sèx. Yeah okay, the character design is good, but we all know why we are here. And we are here to see a twink get dynamically railed by a hunk of manmeat, while fluids splash everywhere and his guts get rearranged into a straight line filled with cüm. That's it, that's the whole thing.

Of course, this means that the writing is... very omegaverse. Everytime these two idiots utter "my alpha" or "my omega" I read the line in Stanzi Potenza's voice. Not great, not terrible, very cringe.

So the characterization will decide the grade then. Who is Yeonwoo? A decently strong-willed twig. He is written okaishly, but I enjoy his scheming and his lies: I didn't get bored while following him around. Then, who is Keith? An idiot. No, really. He shares his one, lonely brain cell with the global population of orange cats, and he gets his turn with it very rarely. Contrary to the cats, tho, he is a disloyal, furless fùckboy, so that makes him somewhat lesser than them, if not outright unlikeable. But at least he is hotter than the average ginger (This is a non-furry review).

In conclusion, ML has the personality of a cheese grater. That's it, the manga sucks then? No. Not really. Old style omegaverse stories, with light characterization and an uncritical focus on pheromone dynamics, have their place and their appeal. It just so happens that I think this is prime wànk material.

8½ on the Ivern Scale™️. A classic.

I really don't like having to give four stars to this one. My heart says it deserves 5, but... Okay, hear me out.

We have a breezy and cute art style, with handsome faces and wonky body proportions. You just know the budget was restricted for most of it, but sometimes it has great panels. Of course, it's good, but 4 stars good.

The writing? With the official translation, it is quite funny. Great comedic timings, but the dialogues suffer when dealing with more serious tones. Again, worth 4 stars, easy.

The plot? It's a sequence of non-cohesive mini narrative arcs, following the kingdom building trope. But it does not put effort in it: it cares more about being funny and light than being interesting or having satisfying developments, with built-up stakes. Clearly the weakest part, at risk of being boring. Again, 4 stars. Maybe 3.

Lastly the characterization. FL is funny, straightforward, very free in her expressiveness. Her relationships are genuine, affectionate and natural. The side cast is okay. 4/5 stars.

But this is the point where I talk about Harry. Harry is the ML, and, in order, he is:

- handsome
- cute
- funny
- has world-ending pyromancy
- cute, again, but with more emphasis
- fùcking hot
- a simp
- literally a Samoyed
- like a dog, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?
- a dork
- a smùt aficionado
- clearly an otome Isekai addict
- demonic

This brings us to an update for the characterization rating: BABY SWEETY MY LIFE FOR YOU HARRY I LOVE YOU PLEASE I'D GIVE MOST OF MY INTERNAL ORGANS FOR YOU 5 STARS 5 STARS FIVVEEEEEE AAAARGHHH

Do you see my problem here? The question is, can you base a whole manga solely on the main couple's chemistry and cuteness while not caring about much else? Sure. But can it get max votes? Sure. If it is smùt.

Otherwise, it gets a 8+ on the Ivern Scale™️. Like this one. HARRY PLEASE FORGIVE ME I SWEAR I LOVE YOU IT'S NOT MY FAULT YOU HANDSOME DEVIL

🏅

"Give it to me."

no

"You dàmn whōre give me the Grand Accolade of Ivern™️ or what the hèll that thing is called right the fùck now! You cannot rate and review me with anything less. I DESERVE IT, I DESERVE THE 5 STARS, AND YOU KNOW IT"

no!!

"This is so stupid. You are so stupid! I'm a manga with characters so good you had to actually concede already at chapter 10 that my representation of trauma and depression was spot on! I have excellent pacing! I have the bàlls to tell a full story without stupid additions! Just in 50 chapters! No fillers! NO FILLERS, YOU DAFT CÙNT! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT! I even manage to have a toddler written in a cute and likeable way, that's nothing short of a gøddamn miracle!"

:/

"WHAT IS IT? My love story is among the best! My ML is charming, green as a fùcking dollar! What. Is. It. Is it my art...? Dear merciful Jesus... you are incosolable. Beyond help. MY FEMALE LEAD DESIGN WAS CREATED BY GŌD HIMSELF! What are you complaining about? I deserve full marks!"

...change ML's face it's UGLY

"FÙCK YOU!"

do it he has bootyface he has cacapoopoo in the hair

"This is preposterous! His design is perfectly fine! YOU ARE BEING A BÌTCH AND YOU KNOW IT! Stop!!!"

do it and I'll give you the GAI

"ARGGGHHHH CHANGE THE ARTIST I DON'T GIVE A FÙCK ANYMORE"

Deal!