SSS-Revival Class Hunter Review

My first review is now out into the world!

Hi, hey, hello. 

In case a short introduction is necessary, I go by TurtleMe. I am the author of a self-published web serial, “The Beginning After the End,” which is now on its ninth volume and has been adapted into a webcomic across the globe. 

So…why am I here? Well, I come from a bit of a non-traditional webcomic background, but I read a crap ton of web serials and webcomics for fun and to scout out the competition. I figured I may as well barf out some of the many thoughts I have about these works and share them with any of you that stop by. 

A few disclaimers:

Do note that these thoughts are my opinions, so if you think differently from me…that’s allowed and encouraged! If I say something you don’t like and you think “but Turtle, you do something similar in your own comic,” I’ll probably respond with, “I know. That’s why I can say it.” 

I’ll try my best to avoid spoilers beyond the necessary details to get into the gist of the story. I will discuss a few reveals that occur in the first 10 episodes, but I won’t spoil any major plot points.

Finally, some of these titles have intense content, and I’ll do my best to warn you when there’s triggering material. In this case:

CONTENT ADVISORY

This series constraints depictions and/or strong implications of the following:

• Violence

• Suicide (a lot of it…) 

Crisis Text Line in the US and Canada: Text Reason to 741741

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline: 1-800-273-8255

For those of you who choose not to engage with this review because of its themes, I’ll see you next week when we get into another title. 

Now, without further ado… 

SSS-Class Revival Hunter

The first work we will be talking about is SSS-Class Revival Hunter, a modern action webcomic with its own take on the RPG and isekai genre. 

Premise: (3 out of 5)

What’s the catch, the hooker, that makes this stand out?

SSS-Class Revival Hunter hooks you with a main lead who absolutely hates his life, and will do anything to get out of it. Kim Gong Ja (literally translated as Confucius Kim) is introduced as a loser. Like…peak loser. Is this the author trying to make the protagonist relatable to fantasy readers less-than-content with their current lives? Perhaps. Does it give the protagonist room for growth? Definitely.

The entirety of the first few episodes is used to establish how weak and unworthy Kim Gong Ja feels, especially compared to the Flame Emperor, the strongest—and the most widely admired and a bit of an ass (but in a cool way)—player in the tower. Kim Gong Ja’s jealousy and desire to be like the Flame Emperor is so strong that the tower rewards him with a skill card. Go figure…

The catch? 

To activate this skill card, Kim Gong Ja must die.

And Kim Gong Ja?

Yeah, he’s not going to try it. Despite his aforementioned desperation to get out of his life.

Building upon his misfortune, Kim Gong Ja accidentally becomes the main witness to the Flame Emperor murdering another elite player (because he’s a bit of an ass in a cool way, remember?) and has no time to process these events before the Flame Emperor kills him. Kim Gong Ja dies, and thus, his skill is revealed: He can copy a skill from the player that caused his death.

Kim Gong Ja thus obtains the Flame Emperor’s ability to rewind 24 hours from his time of death. (Even in a world where these powers exist, do you know the probability of being killed by the person with the only ability to offset the absurd condition that Kim Gong Ja’s skill has? You’ll probably have more luck getting struck by lightning each step as you walk into the gas station to get yourself a winning lottery ticket…but that’s not the point.)

Now with the knowledge of the Flame Emperor’s true nature, Kim Gong Ja kills himself more than 4,000 times to bring himself back 11 years, to before the Flame Emperor awakens the very same special skill. He swears to officially end the Flame Emperor, saving the tower from his future reign. (And also so the author can avoid wracking his brain over the different timelines created by having two rewind-time users…) 

It’s funny and enjoyable, but it still has the elements of your typical power-fantasy storylines. 

The story’s plot and action make it a good read for folks who already like action-fantasy webtoons, while its balance of comedy and drama makes it a good introduction for someone who wants to slowly ease into the genre. It’s not outrageously gory, even though our hero tends to die quite a lot (...does it count as a spoiler if it’s the entire premise?). The webcomic skips over the psychological impact of what killing yourself 4,000 times might do to a person because…that’s no fun. Despite the missed opportunity for depth, it is a pretty cool way for our protagonist to get stronger.

World-Building: (2.5 out of 5)

What is the world like? The rules? 

Is there anything special about the world of SSS-Class Revival Hunter compared to other action-fantasy titles in the same genre?

Not really. The complexity of the tower doesn’t stand out and the worldbuilding is minimal. The author expects readers to know what the power-fantasy game system genre is, and how it operates. Similar to the medieval backdrop that myriad fantasies post-Tolkien have put themselves in (like yours truly), the author relies on what’s popular and established; depending on your tastes, this can be satisfying or stultifying.  

In SSS-Class Revival Hunter, a tower magically appeared on Earth one day, allowing anyone in but no one out. You may enter for the thrill of adventure, to hunt monsters, or to accomplish your wildish dreams—but the chances of success are slim. It’s a clear-cut example of towers and dungeons from other RPG and action-fantasy stories, with different levels that lead you to worlds where you may encounter possibly sentient beings. 

Skills of different levels are rewarded to certain individuals and certain players, but there’s no uniform method of developing these skills. Take Kim Gong Ja—he got an S+ Class skill just for being a jealous loser. Like Solo Leveling, it appears that the protagonist is the only one who can “grow” amongst all the skill-users of this world. 

Plot: (3 out of 5)

Where does the story go? 

The author makes up for the lack of worldbuilding by relying on the characters’ growth and a strong plot.

Since the story begins in the future, we are given a glance at who rises to power in the most powerful guild. Once we’re sent 11 years into the past, we travel alongside Kim Gong Ja as he rebegins his journey alongside the very same players. A lot of the excitement and suspense comes from wondering how he will grow into the player he had yearned to be from the beginning of the story—and how many times he must die to get there. Throughout the first season, Kim Gong Ja faces a set of challenges that comes with resituating yourself over a decade back in time. Armed with information from the future, such as who will eventually make a name for themselves in the tower, he chooses his company and makes his moves wisely.

Still, the tension is limited. It can get a little slow sometimes.

Kim Gong Ja is not afraid of death. Why? Because he literally can’t die.

We, as the readers, are fully aware of this fact (I mean, it’s the entire premise).

Although Kim Gong Ja does encounter characters who you could label as ‘antagonists’, I find them a little lacking. There seem to be many small hurdles, rather than one big one to tie all these characters together.   

Absent the thrill of danger that typically makes up for a lot of the plot and drama in action-fantasy webcomics, the audience gets invested in how rather than if he’ll get past a certain challenge. We keep reading to find out how many times he needs to die—or kill himself—before he can overcome the trial in front of him. 

Characters: (3 out of 5)

How likable are the characters really?

Although Kim Gong Ja starts out as unlikable in the first episode (just skim through the comment section-–no one likes him), he becomes a main lead you can’t help but root for. 

You may be wondering how, considering I just wrote poetry about what a loser he is.

First, his dynamic with his new sidekick/mentor/friend “Sword Emperor” is fun and humorous (and my favorite part), and it definitely helps that Kim Gong Ja is the only one who can see him since Sword Emperor is an apparition of a special skill. (Yes, a special skill he copies from another player, but I did say I would limit the spoilers ;)). They share a lot of lighthearted moments and inside jokes, even as the Sword Emperor shares some of Kim Gong Ja’s burden.

As he keeps dying, Kim Gong Ja also grows at a rather impressive rate—not just physically, but emotionally. He shows a refreshing duality; despite acting recklessly most of the time, he has an emotional maturity that main leads in the genre tend to lack. A lot of this depth can be attributed to the author successfully creating moments along the journey that evoke emotion for the readers.

Currently specifically thinking of Kim Gong Ja’s challenge on the 10th floor…

After he cleared it, I definitely felt emotional relief and a sense of accomplishment on his behalf. 

The more you read about Kim Gong Ja, the more you cheer for him as he grows. Other than the Sword Emperor, we’re the only ones who know of his ability; privy to information the protagonist cannot share with anyone else, it’s not hard to empathize with him on his journey. You also can’t help but really root for the poor guy to make more friends. 

(Which he does, but I’ll stop there on the spoilers.)

Art: (3.5 out of 5)

How visually appealing is this title?

Maybe it’s the special effects exclusive to just the prologue, but they definitely make it a strong opener and add to the appealing art style. 

The character designs are nothing unique—everyone say hi to another main protagonist with floppy black hair—but how “plain” Kim Gong Ja looks really adds to how he’s just your normal guy trying to conquer the RPG tower.

The studio relies on 3D assets for the background (when they’re not just solid-coloring the background for a lot of their panels) and more tedious objects, like cameras, but they do a good job of tracing over or blurring it so it stays cohesive with the hand-drawn characters.  

The main artist does a good job conveying emotions with the use of natural (sometimes purposely comedic) expressions and lighting/shading. 

The sfx lettering is expressive but not too in-your-face and while the panel shapes are pretty standard, the team spaces the gutter (the dead space between the panels) well, for an intuitive reading experience. 

Overall, the art style stays consistent throughout the comic and the “corners” they cut are minimally intrusive so that readers wouldn’t complain and the team is still able to output a chapter a week. It’s very clean with its use of cel-shading and makes for a pleasant reading experience.

Final score: (3 out of 5) 

Not bad~ 

I mean-–sure the story feels a little repetitive every time Kim Gong Ja throws himself into death to restart a battle, but can we really blame him? After all, his process is similar to how we play video games: Save right before you battle the Gym Leader, and if you’re losing, die, restart, and try again.

And he got his skill because his jealousy and desire to become powerful was so strong that the tower rewarded him for it. Ah…the power of manifesting.

(But imagine being rewarded for being petty, I’d be petty more often.)

(Kidding.)

Overall, SSS-Class Revival Hunter is a very fun read! Flaws and all, I’m sticking this on my list of recommendations for webcomic readers looking for something just a bit different from the typical power fantasy. 

Since this is my first review, I would love to hear your thoughts–both about the title and about my review. Please chat away in the comments, I’ll stop by to read some of them! I’m also very curious to see if any of you have strong disagreements with any of the opinions I expressed above. If so, all the more reason to share!