The Beginning After the End Graphic Novel Volume 1 Review (By You!)

-Written by: Right Stuf Anime | October 2022

Every quarter we are running a Manga Review Contest where you can submit a review from a selected list of manga. If you want to participate or learn more, click the link. Continue on to see what a fellow customer thought about the latest hit webtoon in print, The Beginning After the End.

This review is written by Hailey

The Beginning After the End is quite an interesting story to read physically. I've seen it on tapas many times but never had the chance to get around to it. Now that it's licensed physically, I finally have that chance. For something that was originally written to be a webtoon, where you're meant to scroll through the "pages," I feel it translates very nicely into a bound book. I'm especially ecstatic that it was kept in its original full-color form. The story follows King Grey, who, upon his death, is immediately reincarnated into a new world, starting from the moment he's born. Retaining his self from his past life, he's incredibly aware of his surroundings and determined to start learning as much about this new world as possible. Even if he is a baby that only just learned how to crawl. Going by the name of Arthur now (sometimes shortened to Art), he spends every moment he can studying his mage mother's books and watching his adventurer father train. For now, the only things holding him back are his tiny child limbs, his still underdeveloped coordination, and need for a daily nap. But he's determined to hone his skills and restore himself to his former glory!

It's interesting to see this type of story essentially starting from day one of a newly reincarnated person's life. Normally, they just suddenly wake up at a later stage of their life or the story just skips right to it. Even more so, it's interesting to see that despite having the awareness of a full-grown adult, Art still exhibits child-like behavior, even using it to his own advantage when he wants to continue studying despite his mother saying it's nap time. My one quarrel with this first volume is that it does come off as a bit of an info dump for probably about the first three-quarters of the book. Though it at least makes sense, seeing as Art is learning this new world just as the reader is. It's at least humorous as it does so. But I am very curious about the pacing of the story. It's clear the story doesn't have much of an intention of skipping any years. Or at least a lot at once. It's a wonder how long it'll take before we get to the version of him on the cover. It seems like a risky move, but it has me all the more intrigued to continue following to see how the story will be executed.

If you're a fan of the original webtoon, I probably don't need to tell you to pick this up. But if you're someone who enjoys a slow-burn story, then I have a feeling this is for you. Since volume 1 seemed to get the hard part out of the way, I've got high hopes that volume 2 will bring way more story and fewer explanations.

Check back every month for our manga review contest page as we will be adding new manga to the list! Don't forget to submit your reviews for a chance to win a $75 gift card like Hailey did!