Reviews Webcomic / Rayfox

Chapters 1, 2 and 3: Visually appealing, but disappointingly esoteric (Pre-Reignited review)

When I first saw this comic and its trailer, I was captivated and intrigued; Not so much when I read it, sadly.

The Good:

The artstyle is a mix of western drawing techniques but with eastern influence as evidenced by the Shōnen-like feel to the characters. The comic is rich in backstory and the way the meta system was developed by the author is creative and impressive given how detailed it is, and explains a great deal about how metas work and are labeled; Anyone who puts that much detail in their characters definitely deserves credit. The atmosphere of the comic seems to be very upbeat like "My Hero Academia", which anyone can appreciate.

The Bad:

The writing itself including the logic behind how certain characters act/react/behave; the whole premise of Ray being hated by the entirety of the Meva Province veers into anti-sue territory, given certain aspects of the story in Chapter 1, and the way the populace are devoid of common sense and how they react is rather nonsensical from a realistic standpoint, and let's not get started about the S.O.S. For a fictional comic that’s supposedly "grounded in reality", an audacious claim to make, it's rather selective and seems more like its grounded in the author’s perception of it; That's not something I'm gonna let slide.

At most, this comic has aspects of reality; A comic having laws and consequences doesn't "ground it" in reality, nor is it enough to.

The writing also seems to have a subtle pro-conformist slant in chapters 1 & 2 especially through Ray’s critics; It has an obsession for enforcing consequences with little to no nuance along with pushing the idea that law and property is more important than justice and results. Ray's the only one actively fighting crime, reckless as he is, without waiting for orders unlike in-universe law enforcement who are woefully unprepared for threats like the Port Town Gang. Yet they're supposed to be right that Ray's vigilantism is more harmful than good, that the consequences are warranted, and that he must prove himself to his detractors and the Law rather than showing them up on their idiocy/incompetence; the parallels that can be drawn between the premise and real-life scenarios as of late, as well as how the writing reflects and tries to justify the same fallacious cold logic used with the latter by some, really just sours the story.

Seriously, is the entire comic built on the oppressively conformist concept of "wa"?

Conclusion:

On a scale of 1-10, I’d give this comic a 3 as it stands. The copaganda-like writing betrays the visual appeal and the motif of “he must face consequences and prove himself to the law and his detractors to become a hero” feels very esoteric, poorly executed, and it leaves a bad taste akin to the conclusion of the Marvel’s comic "Civil War". I wouldn’t recommend this.