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”)