The Ember Knight

It's hard to write a smart protagonist. It takes a lot of time and planning, and if you want it to feel good you should have sufficient steps in the story that after a reveal is made the reader can look back and go "Oh, I see how he got to that conclusion".

This isn't that. The author intentionally omits details that would lead you to the conclusion just so Nagyunn, the MC, always gets his "Aha!" moment of figuring things out. There is no "Aha!" for the reader or trying to work it out yourself. It's just wanking the character for being so, so smart that they have information that you weren't privy to. It's like all the worst Batman comics, where he knows the solution because he's Batman, not because the narrative delivered you to a conclusion. Even with this ass pulling, the "Aha!"s don't make sense half the time. Nagyunn will intuit exactly what was said in a conversation he wasn't present for by parties he barely knows. It's ridiculous. Interestingly on rare occasion the author will actually set up a payoff in such a way a reader could look back on it and follow along, but only rarely. It somehow makes it all the more annoying when the author doesn't do so.

He also has the thickest plot armour imaginable. At any given time pretty much any other character can oneshot him. They never do though. Even when they have perfect opportunities to with nothing preventing them... They just won't attack him. They'll rip his companions to shred and then go "Nah, let's not hit the one guy still standing". I could give it a pass if it just happened once or twice but he has gone untouched in encounters where the opponent has no reason to ignore him or hold back literally dozens of times at this point! The few times he does get hit, it barely damages him for no discernible reason! An enemy character who is strong enough to take on multiple knights and apprentices at once hits him with an attack and Nagyunn is only slightly staggered with a wounded arm, he doesn't even fall down! He should be literal paste with how these characters crack geography when they fight! Some people argue in this scene the enemy was intentionally going easy to harass him for taking his spear, yet even if this character went easy on him, he is of the impression he is the strongest Knight's apprentice so would use appropriate force for that rather than what is effectively a villager -- he would still die! It's ridiculous.

The one credit I give the series is tension. It is tense watching the protagonist lie endlessly through the whole series with no one to properly confide in. Gut-wrenchingly so at times. Unfortunately it's just completely undercut by the ridiculous resolutions presented. Want similar tension with better results? I recommend Usogui instead.

On a side note, he looks identical to Len Kagamine. That's not relevant to the review, I just think it's funny.

If you enjoy HxH's Successor Arc (especially the one where there's pages of Rihan monologuing), you'll have fun with this series. Not only this series' pacing and action-to-dialogue distribution is very reminiscent of that arc, the protagonist's personality is also very close to Kurapika's.

To add to that, you'll discover that some characters in this series' powers scale by "conditions" (but under the concept called "Geas". Like an individual can be very strong, ONLY UNDER CERTAIN CONDITIONS.

Vibes wise, there's a lot of tension, some action scenes sprinkled here and there. So ultimately, this series should be classified as a mystery psychological thriller suspense. But unfortunately, many websites would catalog it as action fantasy shounen; which can be the furthest from the truth, since it is very far apart from conventional "action fantasy shounen" tonal-wise and development-wise. However, it cannot be denied that its first impression does lend some credence to that (as there are some action fantasy shounen that start with a similar opening).

When reading this, there is a high tension throughout without much of a breather. But unlike HxH's succession arc, the setups and situations in this manhwa can become comical (albeit unintentionally), such as the protagonist thinking that he actually grew strong (while a manipulator, he is still innocent and hopeful---good dichotomy), but no, it's actually the weapon or some other kind of situations. It's funny in a sad way, e.g.

- There's also a lot of meme potential with the protagonist wanting to learn an martial art style called "Galaxy Style" (which is a purely physical thing) after witnessing its prowess, but he never really got the chance to, so the readers always say that the best he can do is a "Galaxy Style Brain" (galaxy meme time).

• Imagine ending a chapter with a cliffhanger where it might imply that the protagonist has some talent in magic just to start the next chapter where he basically has none. The author's a real tease!

While it can be inferred by the previous paragraphs, I'll reiterate this point directly: Unlike many other series that start off with a weak protagonist who "grows strong" as a "progression" series, this series hinges on the protagonist staying weak throughout THE WHOLE SERIES, but make use and highlights his weakness as a strength, rather than a detriment. He's weak, but he's so brazen, while being opportunist and strategic at the same time. But of course, he can't always win every encounters, so high tension unpredictable developments happen due to it. It's kinda unique due to this, and you're more or less be like "Ah the author got us!". It's a fun read if you like being challenged on that domain while enjoying surprises.

If you expect this series to be the typical action series, then you'll have a bad time. The protagonist, while weak, is as determined and as he can get, without veering to the sides of being a complete amoral individual (I have seen lots of manipulating protagonists ended up like that---which is not really to my liking). Because I enjoy the mismatch/contrast of having the duality of a multi-faceted protagonist like this. It creates friction, but it adds more stakes that way, rather than a character who doesn't feel dilemma at his actions. And this creates a sense of gravity and intrigue.

However, I cannot earnestly give it a 10/10 because some parts are a slog to get through. The perspective shifts, while interesting, sometimes land on characters I find not as much relevant or developed. Many readers stated that it is primordial to read the "prequel" "Epic of Gilgamesh" to fully enjoy it. But I focus on rating this as a standalone, and so the focus on some characters who do not seem relevant to the overarching narrative seem to detract from it. The action scenes, while impactful, seem very filler-ish and I would rather the author just off-screens it (70% of the fights and their results---might as well be fillers because it wouldn't change the narrative but bog down the pacing---feels like the author is milking it). Like some developments like the protagonist facing a very dangerous antagonist -> I find the action scene inclusion relevant; but sometimes the author spends a lot of time on this OP character (Black Hen), and while it's well drawn, I find it meaningless except for conveying that oh Black Hen is a doo doo and now here's some fan service action! So yeah, action scenes that are not climax to this story should just be cut or skipped forward and only add fractions of panels instead of dedicating CHAPTERS on them.

When I first gave it a try, I didn't think that it would soon become my top manwha series by far. I don't tend to keep reading series focused around fighting because it gets boring quick; this simply doesn't.

Despite being Nagyunn's main driving force, his revenge is not really the focus point. Not only is there the omnipresent threat of war and adolescents training for it, but the question of who is Nagyunn becomes more tangible as the mask on his face adheres a bit too smoothly. We see glimpses of Nagyunn hidden under his brother's skin as he refuses to mourn the most important person in his life. He manipulates in various ways his allies and foes,but it's clear to see that he cares for others and that he feels cornered to manipulate as he has no fighting talent whatsoever and he has a hard time trusting other people (for good reasons). His growth is interesting as well as the mysteries surrounding the deceased Najin and his death (it's been often hinted that Najin was not who he appeared to be).

Characters are fun, interesting, different from each other and varied. How can anyone forget chaotic Black Hen? Or Qilin and his exasperation? The fact that every knight follows their own type of justice and honour makes for interesting characterizations and explains why they have so much difficulties working with one another. The characters, even the villains, have believable motivations and reasons for acting as they are and the world is shades of grey rather than black and white.

I sometimes find the fights between knights-level individuals to be too long but it's never tedious. Nagyunn's fights are always interesting to say the least as he has to 'survive' fights in which he's always the weakest.

I highly recommend Ember Knight.

I do warn, for those that this is a dealbreaker, that this author has no qualms killing off some of his characters if his last work is anything to go on.

After one chapter, I was like WTF and then thought "nope"... And that is how I dropped this series after one chapter.

I read this series on a site that did not have that "psychology" label attached to this series... so the mind bending storyline was a surprise to me and made me drop this series like it was on fire.

So, readers of this series... beware that this series deserves that "psychology" genre label.

The start is great ,nothing too special or original.
It's similar to basara's start and many other classic stories playing with a destiny and a prophecy that's getting fulfilled by trying to stop it ...

The series uses many premises used in his other manwa Epic Of Gilgamesh, with knights being absurdly strong and having a geas (restriction given by their king or whatever). That premise in itself would be original and interesting, but I don't like the author's style. He drags things out and is the worst tactician ever.

All in all I keep going back to it over time for it's world building though but author's annoying habit of making as if totally irrelevant details that are purposely omitted were essential really kills it at times.

So far so good, I'm liking it every chapter. This webtoon is quite underrated I guess people don't really like it when the main character doesn't have insanely overpowered fighting skills..

It was really great!
The pacing was genius and the artstyle was soo eye pleasing too!

It's a story with a unique character, one that is physically weak instead of strong. The environment he's in also values physical strength a lot.

However he is very emotionally intelligent and he uses that to his advantage. About every episode I read is filled with curiosity about what will happen next and how he will get out of dangerous situations. That is very important because I tend to lose interest quickly when it comes to the action+fantasy genre.

The art is also really cool. Please give this a read! I really hope this webcomic continues to be awesome and I wish an anime adaptation would happen but its probably unlikely haha.