u/BeethovenBeatsABeet

*(No document this time, I promise, just plain ol' discussing)
**(Yeah, I reuploaded this. I don't mind non-Rebirth readers reading this and leaving their thoughts, however I'd prefer if people didn't just comment "Who's this guy?" since I wanted people to give their thoughts, not to comment on who this guy even is.)

I'll try my best to keep this short, and of course I would love to discuss this further if needed (I LOVE LONG COMMENTS). Why am I making this? Because my favorite character is Noah and if I see one more person unfairly shitting on him (on Webtoon or Discord) I might just lose my sanity.

Noah Collins - the protagonist of Rebirth - has been given the shortest end of the stick possible by both the story and the fandom (assuming he even got a stick at all). I feel like he's the most developed character, and a tragic one at that. He was tricked into marriage at 15, had a child at 16, then finding out the child he was tricked into raising isn't his, and thus avoiding him as a result.

(Mind you, he was 20-21 in this - forced to mature too early, and his frontal lobe hasn't even developed properly. Does no one think this is messed up??)

Despite all this, we're supposed to...hate on him and never forgive him? I understand that it was rather cruel of him to avoid Neo from childhood, but might I say that him avoiding Neo was miles better than constantly yelling at him for years? Not to mention, Noah's expressed his regret several times and his desire to atone. And yet he's still getting hated for "being a horrible father". Either to his non-biological son Neo or his actual biological son, Abel.

(I think Noah avoiding Abel was 100% justified however...that boy almost killed him, it's even more unfair how the Webtoon tried to frame Noah as a bad guy for avoiding the person who was so close to offing him...)

Dare I say, Noah's nothing close to being the worst character to have received this much hate from the fandom and the story. In fact, he's one that has shown major changes through his character development. Yet some fans just want to focus on the things he hadn't done in the past to further trash on him.

The story constantly treats Noah like a nobody as well, despite him being the literal protagonist. The plot is extremely one-sided, as it only shows how the situation affected Neo, or Abel - never Noah.

(It really begs the question if the story just wants us to hate on Noah - the adult for thinking rational things while Neo and Abel, the 2 supposed children can get away scot-free for being children.)

This Webtoon angers me greatly and the majority of the fandom angers me even more. Noah's so universally hated that the the fandom can freely hate on, create fake facts and just dogpile on him. And with Rebirth ending soon in 20-ish chapters and with it not gaining as much popularity as before, I doubt a lot of people is going to see my post. Either way, thanks for listening to my TED talk.

Original Title: Neko Mix Genkitan Toraji

Author: Tamura Yumi

Genre: Action, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Josei

Plot: In this world, mice are evil creatures, always trying to harm humans. The protagonist, Pai'yan, is one of the king's seven honorary heroes, famous for his ability to fight mice. Upon returning home, he discovers his son has been kidnapped by the Magic Mouse, and his son's cat, Toraji, has been transformed into a cat mix (half-human, half-cat creature). Now, Pai'yan and Toraji embark on a journey to find the Magic Mouse and his missing son.

Personal Opinion:

I adore the plot, the characters, the everything Toraji has to offer as a story. The plot's whimsical and weird in a good way, the characters are all memorable (main or minor) with their own story arcs, and overall, Toraji is a manga I think deserve more attention - as it's proven itself to be a story much more than "haha cute cat" (well, the cat IS cute)

- Artwork

Tamura Yumi's artwork is another highlight for me; those who read other works by the author will understand. For me, the most special thing about Tamura Yumi's artwork is how she drew the eyes – and this is clearly shown in Toraji – the clear, innocent eyes of the cat Toraji are depicted quite differently from the determined eyes of Pai'yan. "The eyes are the windows to the soul," and indeed, through the author's depiction of the eyes, readers can somewhat understand the emotions and feelings of the characters.

- Disadvantages (slightly)

Despite being so good, the series has a rather significant drawback: the release speed is relatively slow – one volume per year. Therefore, Toraji readers often have to wait a long time just to read one volume, or even one chapter. 17 years for 14 volumes... tragic

However, I still dream of a future where I can hold the final volume of Neko Mix Genkitan Toraji in my hands, because I truly love this series. And who knows, maybe in the future, I'll not only get to see a complete ending but also see Toraji adapted into an anime? That, for me, would be a truly beautiful ending for Toraji.