Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint

Kim Dokja does not consider himself the protagonist of his own life. Befitting the name his parents gave him, he is a solitary person whose sole hobby is reading web novels. For over a decade, he has lived vicariously through Yoo Joonghyuk, the main character of the web novel Three Ways to Survive the Apocalypse (TWSA). Through Joonghyuk, Dokja has experienced secondhand the trials of repeatedly regressing in time, in search of an end to life-threatening "scenarios" that force people to act out narratives for the amusement of god-like "Constellations."

After reading 3,149 chapters—long after all other readers lost interest—Dokja finally resigns himself to the story ending. However, he receives an enigmatic message from the author, stating that the story will soon be monetized, before his surroundings suddenly go dark. He swiftly realizes that fiction has become reality and he is now living through TWSA. Although he is the singular omniscient reader of the events yet to come, his success in the scenarios is not guaranteed—but perhaps his advantage will empower him to step into the protagonist role that never suited him before.

[Written by MAL Rewrite]

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Background

Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is originally a webtoon series which has been officially published in book format by A.Tempo Media (에이템포미디어) since December 29, 2020.

The series has been published digitally in English as Omniscient Reader by Webtoon Entertainment since August 19, 2020. The volumes have been published by Yen Press under the Ize Press imprint since December 12, 2023.

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Kim, Dokja

Main

Han, Sooyoung

Main

Yoo, Joonghyuk

Main

Uriel

Supporting

Jung, Heewon

Supporting

Lee, Gilyoung

Supporting

Bihyung

Supporting

Secretive Plotter

Supporting

Yoo, Sangah

Supporting

Lee, Jihye

Supporting

Reviews

Dec 30, 2020

Addy_theOtaku

Recommended

Preliminary (36/? eps)

Ahh this seems to be a new addition in here and I was WAITING for this to be added.

Note that the webtoon just recently released a few months back and I will be writing my review for the 36 chapters I have read, not the webnovel.
So let's get to it now, my review might be a bit too long with some spoilers.

STORY: 10/10
This starts off with a simple yet exciting plotline that many readers might be able to relate to. Our MC here is an avid reader of webnovels and he followed one of them in particular called "Three Ways to survive the apocalypse" ...

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Feb 16, 2024

expo-_-marker

Mixed Feelings

Informative

Preliminary (100/? eps)

Okay. Here's the thing. I absolutely adore Omniscient Reader. The webnovel is easily beside my favourite novels/series like Les Miserables and Lord of the Rings. Seriously. The novel is just that good, and I honestly, wholeheartedly recommend reading the novel if you're someone who loves stories and great characters. There are a lot of impactful and heartbreaking moments in the book, and it moved me to tears both while reading it and thinking about it. So yeah. I love this novel. But then why did I only rate the webtoon a 7?

The thing is that Omniscient Reader is a story told from an unreliable point ... of view---throughout the story, Kim Dokja is constantly misleading the reader, hiding things from you, and thus you rely on the other characters who are more concise and clear with intent (Yoo Joonghyuk, Han Sooyoung) to fill you in on what he may have left out of the narration. Kim Dokja does not like conveying his emotions, he wants to *appear* like a calm and level headed leader who totally knows the best course of action, but the narration of other characters, the fourth wall, and even his own views on himself betray this. It shows you just how lonely he is and how lowly he views himself, and why he has no value for his own life, and why he is willing to throw away his life for his companions (because they are his everything). The point of view changes in this novel can let you into how the others view the world, and how Kim Dokja actually felt during a certain moment. On top of this, it lets you know what other characters might have been during between periods of time (ex. When YJH threw KDJ into the Han River during the itho-im not spelling that-saur scenario, he actually came back to the bridge and waited for him for 3 days). The webtoon chooses to focus almost entirely on Kim Dokja, and the effect of an unreliable narrator loses all of it's meaning when you can see the action rather than having to trust Kim Dokja to accurately describe what is happening. I think that the loss of the unreliable aspect of the novel, combined with the fact that you don't really read all of his thoughts, I can get why people don't think his motivations make sense, because his motivations lie within his constant commentary, and the rumblings of the fourth wall or the viewpoint of another character help further your knowledge of his character. As a result, I think his webtoon counterpart lacks depth that his original webnovel self had. Removing the context of Kim Dokja's thought process and ramblings, it makes webtoon Kim Dokja come off as flat sometimes (not all of the time, but definitely certain moments where he had plenty of internal dialogue reduced to a few sentences).

I also feel like the reader loving the story metaphor is lost in other forms of media, and that is why I fear the release of the movie to be honest...with the webtoon, those elements are completely removed since you can't hear all of Kim Dokja's thoughts and the thoughts of other characters, and I feel as if it focuses entirely on the action instead. Also, the addition of new characters (like that one dude from the peace land arc, whom I cannot recall the name of. in the novel it was just Asuka Ren, which ties in to the theme of authors and readers loving the stories that they make, and the peaceland arc was way longer now that I think of it) is something that I believe to be unnecessary.

The art is amazing, beautiful colours and clean lineart, and some panels are so beautiful I'd frame them if I could tbh...

But other than that, as a reader of the novel and the first person to sing it's praises to the highest point in the Alps, I think that the original meaning and overall emotional impact of the novel is lost in the webtoon because of the lack of external narration and because Kim Dokja is no longer an unreliable narrator. Thanks for sticking around!

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Apr 7, 2024

gasura

Not Recommended

Funny

Preliminary (85/? eps)

This story is the peak of deus ex machina(a.k.a Random BS Go!!!) if I've ever seen one. Almost every conflict and problem is resolved by introducing a new element or character instead of with wit and determination. None of the characters hold any weight in the grand scheme of things. You just know that some new BS plot armor will save the day no matter what.

The world-building is a huge mess that lacks any consistency and logic. Again, new elements and characters keep getting conveniently introduced and immediately dropped/killed off once they're no longer useful to the plot. Even the leveling in the game ...

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Poll: Omniscient Reader Chapter 208 Discussion joe_g7 - Apr 23	7 replies	by Raizel »» Jun 1, 12:44 PM
Poll: Omniscient Reader Chapter 202 Discussion joe_g7 - Mar 12	3 replies	by Raizel »» Jun 1, 12:05 PM
Poll: Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint Chapter 212 Discussion heartwyrm - May 29	3 replies	by cornpuffs »» May 31, 4:00 AM
Is the manhwa a faithful adaptation of the novel? keepinup - May 28	6 replies	by heartwyrm »» May 29, 6:03 PM
[spoilers] dokja’s love interest mrjdko - May 25	5 replies	by tls_123_ »» May 28, 9:04 AM

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