Dec 23, 2021
"Lvl 9999: Unlimited Gacha" is another fantasy, op mc manga, but hear me out: It comes with a twist. That's right, you heard me. And I know what you are thinking right now: "but dude, all fantasy mangas have a twist now". And here comes the motivation for this review, the sole reason I was motivated to write a review to another run-of-the-mill fantasy manga. The art.
Most fantasy or isekai manga have the same art over and over again. By the same art, I mean the same characters over and over are the sole focus of the panels throughout the chapters, which, with the lack
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of backgrounds and multiple props, at least for me seems a little bit amateurish. Another feature that repeats through a lot of these mangas, that not necessarily is a bad thing per se, is the level of polish unique to digital drawing. I know most, if not 99.9% of manga nowadays is made digitally, but these fantasy mangas I'm talking about feel more like character illustrations in every panel. Like, the connection between panels is often lacking, because characters are so "plastic" that every panel feels like a showcase of the characters, more than a story told by drawings.
That's the part when this manga makes a difference. The art is like multiple sketchs. If you could not tell by now, I love this unrefined-like art. Because 99.9% of the times a manga has this "artstyle", It has a deep range of emotions, faces, poses, close ups, etc. Every panel feels like a rough sketch, but that's because we are accustomed to the digital era where every panel is plastic levels of tones and filters put on. The characters in "Lvl 9999: Unlimited Gacha", as was my prediction in chapter 1, do go through a myriad of emotions in the arcs. Specially in the little group of humans featured shortly after the beginning. Those little dudes feel alive not because of the realism or the polish of the art, but because of the raw emotion that the mangaka managed to portray in their faces. They do feel alive, yes, because of their story, their bonds and their trials and tribulations. But the artsyle really manages to go further beyond, and makes them feel not like heroes, but just as little, brave, kids.
So, as a brief summary, "Lvl 9999: Unlimited Gacha" is a good manga, that is so-so on the story department, but excels in the art department. The story is key to the enjoyment of the manga, I know, and many mangas are succesful only due to their story, I know. But the quality of the character development and storytelling conveyed through the details in the drawings is OUT. OF. THE. PARK. Oomae Takafumi, more than a good cartoonist or artist, is a genius illustrator. I truly hope he gets featured in other, more succesful works.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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