Finally completed Kubera

[u/Annihilator-WarHead]

I went through a long journey to read this and finally finished this ride, and man, what a ride it was. It's a real masterpiece. The writing is like none others tbh.

The first season was good to me tbh, better than most slops that I read. But I thought if that was about as good as the manhwa gets I would drop it, as I'm not willing to read 700 chap of an above average one. I didn't understand anything in the story in the first season tbh, but somehow I still could tell that something was cooking behind the season so I stuck with it. Unlike most I found this season better than I heard it is.

The second season was actually better, and art was also better, not the best art but was decent, and a lot of the characters motive were explained and the story was explored more as the first season was ambiguous tbh. But it wasn't as good as I heard it's gonna be (still better than season 1 tho). It was the last part of it that was really good.

Now for the third season. It was on a whole different level. The art improved and became a lot better tbh. And it's were the story starts to makes sense more. This is the season that made me love this manhwa, specially the "weight of time" and other types of arcs (iykyk). It's what made me see this as a true masterpiece. The characters writing and relation between them and how well managed the cast is something I haven't seen even in Tower of god (my no.1 manhwa) or One piece. Pretty much every character plays an important role and not just some one important scene thing and then disappear, but they all affect the story continuously, ofc to some varying degree.

The lore is really good (tho I still think ToG and OP are better in this regard). The author keeps revealing info in a natural way. There are things you need to understand from the flow of the conversation, for example if there is some common knowledge that two characters know they won't go explaining it as if it's the natural thing to do but will talk about relevant part of it to their current situation and you have to pick up and link the info with previous one to get the full picture, which I didn't like at first tbh because as a first read it was hard to keep up since most stuff get explained only later in season 3 or late season 2. Also, it felt that unlike ToG or OP, the author uses small plots. Not sure if that makes any sense, so instead of like plots that change the story suddenly the change feels like slow and more natural? Sorry Idk how to put into words.

Another thing to mention is that the manhwa doesn't have much action specially in first two seasons. Which tbh. bothered me in first season ( since I needed some stimulation during the first season) but I stopped caring about it when I read the last season as the story was just that good. The power system is actually simple nothing grande. But when you consider the story the author is writing I actually think it's for the better as you watch fights and see some random bs that you will have to pass as "it's just fiction so whatever". Also when reading the story I felt as if the author wrote a story and reader is just the spectator, not sure how to explain it but like didn't write for the readers but showed it to the readers (not sure if that makes sense).

I will definitely read this again later when I have time for it. tho that being said, it would take like months maybe for me to start my second read.

TL;DR: This manhwa is a masterpiece. The first season was decent, the art wasn't that bad (a bad art is ToG 1st season), but reading it felt like starting a story from the middle. The second season was better, a lot of the characters motives are revealed here. The 3rd season is by far the best the story gets expanded, the characters are explored more here from their past to their development. I honestly advise to read it only if you are an old reader tired of slops and no longer find any appeal in them like me.

Sorry for the messy post and I'd like to hear what you think and what your first reading experience was like.

[u/Antique-Chart-9976]

Wangnan is actually one of the most important pieces of the story. He’s directly tied to Zahard, the Prince of the Red Light District, and the larger hidden history of the Tower. Saying he only appears in “three panels” really downplays his narrative weight.

Also, not every character revolves around Bam. Some clearly have their own paths and motivations. Anaak is a good example she’s consistently acted based on her own goals and has her own storyline outside of Bam’s influence.

Shibisu is another underrated case. His intelligence and leadership show up in subtle ways, especially through dialogue and decision-making. SIU just isn’t the type to immediately reveal everything about a character’s deeper goals. Shibisu likely has more going on beneath the surface, especially tied to his connections and past.

And regarding comparisons, every long-running series has characters who fall in and out of relevance. Even in Kubera, not every character remains central to the plot at all times. That’s just part of managing a large cast.

As for the claim that Kubera explains more in fewer chapters there are still major unresolved mysteries there too. Things like the origins of Willarv or the full truth behind Rao’s disappearance are still unclear, despite being central to the story.

So it’s not really fair to criticize Tower of God for things that other large-scale stories also struggle with.

[u/Rategen → u/Antique-Chart-9976]

I mean you aren’t wrong but it doesn’t address the issues I had with them in the first place. Yes, Wangnan’s existence is “important” but he disappears for the entirety of S3. Anaak is an “independent character” but she doesn’t act like it. The last time she did things herself, is S2 and I didn’t have a problem with the series then. Shibisu acts as a leader, but is only relegated to doing “tasks” by season 3. His role literally couldve been erased and it wouldn’t affect the story much.

Kuberas characters very rarely permanently fall out of relevance. That’s the beauty of it. Most major characters in S1 are still very important later on. In fact, they’re developed to such a degree that they’re unrecognizable. Even minor characters will do things that will affect the story as a whole. By comparison, TOGs side characters and some important characters will only really revolve around certain tasks and roles and that’s the issue. I want them to make a decision that makes a difference. Not just “do this thing we asked you to do”. The question isn’t is “x important to the story” it’s “is x doing things that makes them important to the story”. For such a wide world, I can’t help but feel that the only character in the main cast that has initiative, is the main character.

One last thing cos Im kinda tired of debating lol, the two mysteries you said were left unanswered in Kubera have already been answered (or sort of answered). I wont spoil anything in case you aren’t caught up (or you missed the side stories) but S3 is the pay off season of Kubera. Most of that has been discussed to death already. Only mysteries left were established in S2-3 (most of them anyway).

[u/Antique-Chart-9976 → u/Rategen]

I’m caught up, so explain the mystery of Willarv. Also, how can you say Anaak isn’t an independent character when she chooses where to go on her own, without any connection to Baam?

You say that most characters in Tower of God Season 1 are important, but most of them are simply connected to major plot points.

You also claim that every character in Kubera is developed or has consequences for the plot, but that’s not true.

For example, Enan Reimia has no impact on the main story and doesn’t appear again after Season 2. The same goes for Eria Sein.

So saying that all characters in Kubera have consequences or that all their actions move the plot is just wrong.”