Hello, everyone, welcome back to a new review of mine, and for those who are new, hello, take a seat as I talk about why Raeliana is a great girl-getting-transported-into-a-fantasy-world story.
Mind you, I consumed this story partially blind to this genre. I only had read 2 before this, though both had fairly different concepts.
Now, let’s get the elephant out of the room, and talk about whether this manhwa is worth picking up. Yes, it is. Despite its few flaws, I think it is able to stand on its legs and deliver good storytelling.
Story: This manhwa has a concept that isn’t exactly eye-opening. But I look for stories with great execution and direction. You can show me the same formula all the time and I’d be mind blown if it had great writing. Now, Raeliana has great writing. I think I’d place the story on this scale of 1 – 10. And it’s a solid 8.
The concept is literally just Raeliana trying to survive… in Minecraft… But that’s where Raeliana fumbles a bit. Throughout the series, we are unsure of what Raeliana’s message is. Fans who initially came to see someone survive, might be disappointed, as it starts focusing more on romance rather than the survival. In fact, it might even be safe to say, Raeliana is only a survival story for its first arc. Now, I’m not saying Raeliana isn’t a survival story. It’s just kind of there, in the background. And for a good amount of chapters, we kind of forget it was initially a survival story. So conclusion, Raeliana is a romance story, first and foremost. Besides a few pacing issues, I’d say it does quite a lot of things right. Like the romance. It feels real, and not something where the story kind of pushes two characters together. Mainly, because Raeliana herself is a side character who assumed the main character role.
Raeliana is a romance story. It is not a story with mind blowing world building. There was a few politics stuff happening in the background, but overall, it could be removed and it wouldn’t exactly interfere with the story.
Characters: Raeliana’s story might be a bit all over the place, but it is complimented by its characters. Raeliana, for one, is a strong woman, who is independent. While this is a low bar that stories should achieve, tons of anime and manga fail to reach this bar. It’s safe to say, she actually pushes the plot, considering she doesn’t want to die, which changes the plot of the book she was transported to. The only problem I have with Raeliana is that she is slightly bland. I can’t think of any particularly memorable trait she has, other than being strong and independent. But otherwise, she is a great main character.
Noah, our male lead, is good writing. A cold man who has power who learns to love. He’s a great tease, too. DADDY FOR REALS! He was a bit inconsistent, in my opinion. He was hyped up to be a two faced person but everyone was able to read him in multiple instances, which kind of makes him to be easily understood.
We’ve got a good cast of side characters who don’t feel like copies of other characters. I can name quite a few, as they have quite memorable traits, and that means the characters are good. Mind you, I’m new to the girl-transported-to-fantasy genre, so maybe they are copies.
I would say none of the characters were wasted potential besides the antagonist of the story. Despite getting a small amount of screentime, I think the cast managed to not overshadow the main cast too much despite being fleshed out. The antagonist felt very shallow in my opinion, though. There are a lot of inconsistencies in her character.
Art: The art’s alright. I think I liked it much more at the start of the series compared to the end. The art did evolve. The character designs were pretty good. A solid 8. Raeliana’s outfit at the start really stood out to me. I think the style makes their designs memorable. I think Noah and the cast have solid designs. I personally liked this panel a lot: Spoiler, click to view
Overall: Raeliana is a pretty solid manhwa. It has a few inconsistencies and suffers a bit from bad pacing, but overall, it can be an enjoyable experience. I expected much more stakes, however. I think Raeliana had this plot armor when she arrived at the Duke’s mansion, and it felt like she was never in danger. The romance was good. There was a certain angst scene where Raeliana was fighting her feelings (for actual good reason) and that was great storytelling.
TL; DR: Raeliana is a solid manhwa. It’s a great story that needs a bit of polish. Despite having weak worldbuilding and a confusing concept, it is complimented by its character writing and art. Raeliana is a romance story, first and foremost, not a survival story.
Thank you for reading, and I’ll see you again in another one!
