Rebuild World (original) (raw)

In a world where nobody is there to help you but yourself, a constant live-or-death situation with everyone out to get you. Rebuild World is about the protagonist in a survival of the fittest world, figuring out realistic solutions, and forming relationships that benefit him. While reading, you appreciate not just the great art that enhances the story, but the underdog story of a slum kid that finally gets his break.

Updated as of 2023-01, Chapter 42 (Fixed and added more to the review, making it easier to read.)
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Art: 9/10
The art is very detailed, not "gritty", i.e Berserk or similar, but has a very clean,... sharp style that seems to be practiced multiple times. Mixed with the world's grittiness makes Rebuild World a very enjoyable read, that also mixes with the story very well. The panels are expertly done and the author knows when and what's important to show. While it does get better over time, it's not a lot of difference in style, mainly because it already looks great with the early chapters, and only improves upon that.

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Characters: 9/10
The characters, while not amazing, have a realistic mindset within their own world. They know that failure means death, and saving others shouldn't be instinctual since they very well know the consequences.
Even so, let's start with the only negative thus far. The biggest issue with the protagonist is although he does have his moments, he's far too reliant on someone for most of his decisions. Yes, it fits the story and doesn't ruin any immersion, but I would like to see him forced to be completely alone with his thoughts. Because as the manga continues, you don't really feel like our protagonist is in complete danger.
Although to add to that, our protagonist does not always follow the female main character's suggestions, even at times suspecting her. Again, it doesn't ruin the plot in any way or break immersion but might feel cheap at times.

The protagonist's backstory is generic and you would think it'd be a detriment, but his character was made to fit into their world, and a realistic take on it. His backstory is meant to be as if most young children in their world are forced with this mindset, and we are just following one of their stories. He's not driven by revenge or anything complicated regarding his background but rather driven to survive another day and a life of comfort - however small it may be.

There are many characters that don't have a trope which is a big surprise, actually changing depending on their situations and what they have learned. Both the "enemies" and side characters are also not stupid, especially later on. They're not completely one-noted without any purpose or thought. Most characters calculate and try to figure out their best moves, not in a BS way where you Sherlock Holmes hyper-analyze everything, but some of the enemies look through any other possibilities other than immediately engaging in a gunfight.
Overall, I don't believe there are any characters in the story that are exceptionally dumb and make large mistakes for no reason. It's often because the other character beats them with tactics/strategies or whomever that makes the quicker response. I find this manga a great way to write any exposition, even for the enemies.

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Story: 9/10
Now, for the meat of the story. A funny comparison is - Cyberpunk 2077 without the bugs, and an arguably more interesting world and characters.
It doesn't follow our protagonist with a large and specific objective in mind. Rather, we follow someone that slowly builds up what he wants. Better living conditions, better gear and weapons, and connections he might benefit from. Because of how the story progresses, it weirdly feels like a video game. I'm not kidding when I say whenever our protagonist becomes stronger or even weaker, it actually feels like we've leveled up and gained EXP with every "mission".
What makes Rebuild World feels like a video game is the gear we get to see; some of them are incredibly rare and powerful but could only be used a few times, and some others could be sold for a vast sum amount of money. Money is a large component of this manga as well that people might not realize, as despite being able to live a luxurious life, nothing is forever and it's best to invest in other things. This is true for our protagonist, as we get to see both sides of the world from this concept.

Slowly, we get to see another part of the world as he becomes stronger and gains more experience. And wow, there is a lot in this dystopian, sci-fi world. We get to see how traders and missions are operated by a varied number in a group, how much a single wrong step is the death of you and a big opportunity for others.
From the comparison to a video game, this world might not seem so bad. While it's not horrific as some other mangas out there, it's a bleak world that most would struggle to stay alive, never mind the potential of luxuries. We see how the bottom-feeders, "weak", manipulative, and many other, varied characters live their lives, grasping their straws to survive another day without getting stabbed by a potential foe in front of you, or a comrade behind. Heck, even with some of the strong and smart characters, we see it's not that simple to thrive in.

This part is a bit random but bear with me. Because I want to talk about one of the main troubles people might think the writing has; the exposition. Whilst it does feel dragged out at times and with one character that does so, it's very much not there often and gets better with it over time to make it more interesting.
Literary exposition can be used to provide more to the story, which this manga does. I feel like people just putting "exposition equals bad" somehow means "writing bad". A big example is one of the characters being very much of a guide, that's their purpose, to explain.
Rebuild World is doing exposition justice, by making it advancing the plot and giving characters choices and decisions that will not always be followed. It's not used to be just a tool to write a summary of the world down, which is what bad exposition does. Something this manga does have faults over, at times, but mostly keeps the manga visually pleasing.

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Overall: 9/10

Rebuild World is a manga done amazingly with its dystopian world.
I'd say if you enjoy reading about a character exploring this world, getting to know many varied characters that truly feel like they could've had their own mangas, you'll very much like this.