Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

by Sleepy-C, Umi, singNsong

Synopsis:

With all the food destroyed by the goblin, Dokja’s group is forced to venture into the dark tunnels teeming with vicious creatures. But in the cruel new world, monsters are not the most dangerous enemies. When the atrocities committed by the “Major Group” come to light, chaos ensues in Geumho Station. And amidst the bloodshed, Huiwon’s true power awakens...the Time of Judgment is nigh!

The third volume of the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint manhwa covers the aftermath of the group’s arrival at the next station, and their trek to Chungmaro Station. The pacing and storyline all feel pretty much the same as the light novel, so you could almost read them interchangeably (except that the volume numbers don’t match up due to the formats, and maybe missing out on some of Dokja’s internal monologue here and there).

I really love Huiwon; though she’s introduced through a “damsel in distress” type situation where sexual assault has been attempted and she’s in bad shape, that’s a key part of how her character evolves and why she gains the abilities she does. It doesn’t feel gratuitous to me, though I’ve seen some other people complaining about it; amongst all the other violence in Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint, it feels significant that it’s mostly not sexual. The story doesn’t want to focus on that, even while we’re seeing a post-apocalyptic breakdown of society: it’s just important that Huiwon was so vulnerable, that people were so vile to her, more so than stealing food or attacking her or something like that.

Still, your mileage may vary and it’s worth keeping in mind that that’s part of Huiwon’s origin story, and may be touched on again.

I continue to enjoy Dokja’s scheming, of course, and I look forward to getting to the “cinema” section in the manhwa (maybe next volume? or the one after?).

N.B. This is being posted a couple months after I read it and I’ve actually read up to volume 10 by now and have 11 coming up on my TBR.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

by Sleepy-C, singNsong, Umi

Synopsis:

Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse is Dokja's favorite novel. Or it was...until it became reality. He barely survived the chaotic first moments of the new world thanks to his knowledge of the story, but the cruel Scenarios give him no time for rest. Isolated from his group and surrounded by horrific creatures, things look grim for Dokja...until an extraordinary presence approaches. It's time for the only reader of TWSA to meet its protagonist-the Regressor Junghyeok Yu!

The second volume of the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint manhwa (adapted from singNsong’s novel by UMI and illustrated by Sleepy-C) introduces us to a bit more of the world, with Dokja meeting Junghyeok, making a deal with the goblin Bihyeong and meeting the next party member, Huiwon. It’s still very introductory steps into the world of ORV, but I’d say by the end of this volume, you’d definitely have a strong grasp on the shape of the story and background of the world.

I really enjoy the way Dokja remembers what he’s read and comes up with (or remembers) creative ways around the difficulties. I feel like this was a bit less well-explained in the manhwa here, but on the other hand, some of the other background stuff has seemed clearer (maybe because it’s a bit simplified/differently translated).

Love the art, looking forward to more, especially while awaiting more of the light novel! Not that the story in vol 2 has caught up to the end of vol 2 of the light novel, so I’ve got quite a bit more of the manhwa to go before I get onto new-to-me stories.

[NB: this post is going up long after I read more of the manhwa and indeed more of the light novel. I just have a long backlog of pre-written reviews that I space out so’s not to spam people.]

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

by Sleepy-C, Umi, singNsong

Synopsis:

AT THAT MOMENT, MY LIFE TOOK ON A DIFFERENT GENRE.

As a struggling office worker, Dokja Kim's sole joy in life is an online novel so obscure that he's its only reader. Then one day the story comes to an end…and so does the world. People all around the globe suddenly find themselves being massacred by horrific monsters or pitted against each other in sadistic scenarios straight out of the novel. However, only Dokja is aware that this is merely the first chapter of what is to come. Knowing that devastating plot twists are on the horizon, he can no longer afford to sit back as a reader—it's time for Dokja to step up and write his own destiny!

Having read the first two volumes of the Omniscient Reader’s Viewpoint light novel, there’s nothing new in this first volume (adapted by UMI with art by Sleepy-C). It’s really fun though to get a look at the characters: some of them are exactly how I imagined them, to the extent that I do any kind of visual imagining (basically, I found them instantly recognisable), while others I had to warm up to a bit, but now I can’t imagine them looking any other way.

If you’re new to ORV, then this volume is very introductory, covering only the first hours in the new world that Dokja Kim enters when his favourite novel becomes “paid content” and starts becoming true. There’s only really a glimpse here of how things work, but it’s probably enough to figure out if ORV is totally not your thing from the get-go and whether you’re curious enough to want more (of either format, though I think I’d go with the novel for a better intro to how things work).

There are a couple of slightly different translation things, compared to the light novel, but it’s all pretty intercompatible.

Rating: 4/5 (“really liked it”)