Problems With The Magic System Of Ragnarok Manhwa?

What reasons would make you give up on the magic system of Ragnarok: Into The Abyss? Even though the manhwa has really cool magic spells, weapons and the like, just what can be so ridiculously wrong and crazy about all this?

In this post, I wrote about my initial thoughts on the magic system of this comic. I mentioned that I found the magics in the graphic novel to be really cool, but it would be even more interesting and fantastic if we could get a thorough and clear explanation as to how these things really worked as well as the constraints and limits to all these stuff.

I hadn't finished reading the manhwa then, so I hoped to get the answers to all my questions as I continued reading. Well, I've finished Ragnarok now and I'm sad to say that its magic system, though still cool and interesting, still remained unexplained, so much so that, as the graphic novel progressed, things just started getting crazy to the point of being ridiculous.

Seriously, it was like the characters can do anything and everything with no problem at all. And we keep getting introduced to new abilities and the like that it seemed as if these were pulled out of thin air whenever there was a need for new magical things.

We were neither told nor shown anything in the way of the constraints and limits of all of these magic stuff. The characters just go on doing the things that they do, seemingly without caring that these things already appear to be unbelievable. To better explain all this, let's take a look at some of the times when we see the magic system in the manhwa.

In Volume 4, Chapter 27, Loki is shown having a vision that the Assassins' Guild is being attacked and his comrades were all dying.

The question now is how does he have the power or the ability to be able to see these visions? Is he a seer now? How does this vision thing even work anyway? It seemed like he suddenly saw this vision, like it just came from out of nowhere.

You know what one of the more annoying things about that scene is? It's the fact that this is the only time we ever see the assassin having these visions.

Throughout the comic, we never see him have these visions ever again. It's like he only had the vision the one time because it was necessary.

In the same chapter and volume, we are also introduced to this magical item called the Crystal of Recall. Apparently, this thing can summon Loki from wherever he is. That's all well and good, but how does it work? How can that item just summon someone from so far away (since said assassin was obviously nowhere near his guild's headquarters)?

Of course, we don't get any explanations at all (unfortunately) as we move to Chapter 30 of Volume 4 wherein we see Taulin doing some sort of divination thing in order to find the place where Loki should go, so he can find the one responsible for the death of their comrades.

How does this divination thing work though? How did she suddenly know where her friend ought to go?

Again, our questions are left unanswered as this scene is quickly forgotten in favor of the 31st chapter of the same volume.

This is where we see Fenris Fenrir chanting some sort of spell (when she sensed that they were in danger), so that she can defend herself and her friends from Loki's attack.

Sigh. No, we don't get any explanations about this magic spell thing at all. Oh well. At least, Fenris is able to show how cool she is by doing this.

Chapter 32 reinforces the apparent fact that the magic system is and will always be crazy in this comic as we see Iris Irine and Fenrir chanting and casting some spell or other. Really, doesn't anyone wonder how those two know all of these magic things?

Did they make up the stuff that they're chanting or did they learn these from a book or is it something else entirely? It doesn't matter what the explanation is just as long as we actually get something believable instead of just having to accept all this as fact.

The manhwa doesn't seem to care what we think though as it continues to show us even more crazy and unbelievable things.

In Chapter 34 of Volume 4, we see that Loki can apparently heal his wounds. Seriously, how does he know how to do that? How can he just do that?

And what's the point of having him be able to do that? Is he immortal now or what? I also had to wonder if Chaos and the others can do the same or not.

Volume 5, Chapter 38 shows us that it's not just the assassin who can heal himself because Skurai can also apparently do the same thing. That's all we get though, so none of this seems believable in the least as we don't even know how and why they can easily heal themselves.

Let's just move on from this healing scene before it frustrates us further. Of course, the next incident in question doesn't really make things any better since the graphic novel brings us to Chapter 44. In this chapter, we see Sara Irine spying on the resident main characters of the comic by using some talisman thing. How this works, I suppose we'll never know. Sigh.

Speaking of Sara, since when can she hear other people's thoughts? In Volume 6, Chapter 57, she can apparently hear Bijou's thoughts. But why?

Why is this even necessary anyway? She was never shown to be able to do this before, so why start now?

After all, she fought with Fenris in the very first volume and we saw the latter thinking and yet the Valkyrie didn't show any indication that she can hear the other's thoughts. Sigh. How frustrating, wouldn't you say?

Honestly, some of the magic stuff is really cool though like in Chapter 58 of Volume 6 wherein we see Fenrir recreating Bijou's spell that was thrown at her. In this, we can really see how awesome the former is, but that's only if we ignore questions of how she can possibly do this and what all this entails. So, what do you think of the magic system of Ragnarok: Into The Abyss?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Said image is meant to represent the magic system of Ragnarok: Into The Abyss
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

What's So Special About Chaos In Ragnarok: Into The Abyss Manhwa?

Chaos is the main character of Ragnarok: Into The Abyss. He is the reincarnation of the god Balder. What do you think about the manhwa's resident protagonist? And what exactly is so special about him?

An alternate title for this post is, "Why is Chaos the only one capable of saving the world?" because, apparently, he is the only one capable of saving the world.

This supposed fact is told to us a lot of the time, particularly in the character handbook thing that appears in every volume of the manhwa (though, admittedly, it only starts in the third volume). Here, we are told that Chaos is the key to saving the world.

This is again reiterated to us in Chapter 22 of Volume 3. This is where Frigg herself (the former queen of the Norse gods and the mother of Balder) tells her son that he is apparently needed to protect this world and that this is his destiny from the very beginning. To this, the one word I can say is 'why'?

No, really, seriously, why does it have to be Chaos? Why does the fate of the world rest on his, on one person's, shoulders? Sure, he's the graphic novel's protagonist, he's the main character, the hero or whatever you want to call him. But is that enough reason to say that he's the only one who can save the world?

Can his status as the main character be enough of an explanation as to why he's so special that he's the only one who can save us all? Do you think this sounds believable? After all, there are other characters in this comic like Fenris Fenrir, for instance, or even Frigg.

To illustrate, Fenris was apparently present a thousand years ago when she and Balder fought against Freya (don't ask me for the details. Until now, the manhwa hasn't explained this properly in the least. Don't you wish we'd at least get a flashback of sorts?), so what's wrong with her also being the one capable of saving the world?

Besides, she was the one who set everything into motion by looking for Balder's reincarnation and telling him about what he must do.

You know, she might have made for a better hero (or heroine, in this case). She's certainly more interesting than Chaos.

No, but, really, it doesn't matter if it's Chaos or Fenris Fenrir or some other character who's the key to saving the world.

What matters is that we get a reasonable, logical and believable explanation as to why this particular character (whoever he or she may be) is so special and amazing that the fate of the entire world rests solely on his or her shoulders and that no one else can possibly be able to save the world from all the evil and danger threatening to destroy it.

Unfortunately, we don't get anything at all. There is no explanation whatsoever about all this. I guess we'll just have to go with the 'Chaos is the main character, so of course he's the only one who can save the world' explanation (if you could even call it that).

Anyway, I've also searched around, to be sure, but there doesn't seem to be any references in Norse Mythology as to why Balder should be the main hero. In fact, the most well-known myth about this god is his death.

Yeah, he does die (it's a long story and Loki actually had something to do with it) and it was said that his death is the sign that Ragnarok (the end of the world) will soon come.

There's nothing about him fighting during Ragnarok though. It's only said that he will be reborn after the end of all the fighting into a new world.

So, what do you think of all this? Do you think it's believable that Chaos is the only one who can save the earth and that the fate of the entire universe rests solely on his shoulders? Do you think the manhwa should have provided us with more reasons and explanations as to why the main character is the world's only capable savior?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Said image is meant to represent the main character of Ragnarok since the figure looks as if he could pass off as Chaos what with the color of his hair and how messy and spiky it is, just like Chaos'
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget

Reasons To Like Fenris Fenrir (Ragnarok Manhwa)

Fenris Fenrir is one of the main characters of the Ragnarok: Into The Abyss manhwa. What do you think about her?

Just what are some of the cool, awesome and great things about this woman that make her such a likable person? Actually, IMHO, Fenris Fenrir is one of the coolest and most likable characters in this graphic novel.

She was the very first person that we, the readers, are introduced to, when we first read the comic, so it wasn't hard to see her or think of her as the protagonist or the main character.

I wouldn't mind that being the case at all, really, but, honestly, in the beginning when she first showed up, I didn't care much for her. This was largely because I knew nothing about her then and the beginning of the graphic novel was confusing enough as it was since we had no idea who the woman that showed up first was.

We didn't even know what she was up to, what she was doing, why she was doing whatever she was doing or where she currently is. Basically, since we knew next to nothing about her, it was hard to care about her. But, as the manhwa progressed further and we got see and know more about Fenris Fenrir, I found that I really ended up liking her character and personality.

In short, she's really very cool and awesome. She's a serious character who isn't childish at all. She's level-headed. She's never rash or reckless. She's also smart and intelligent and isn't one to make crazy or weird decisions (let's not talk about the one time she wasn't cool since this post already discusses that issue).

She never comes across as annoying or irritating as a character (definitely nothing at all like the annoying, childish and immature Iris Irine). Let's now take a look at some of the instances which can show exactly how cool and awesome this woman is.

Chapter 31 of Volume 4 is an example of a scene, which really demonstrates how perceptive and observant Fenrir is. In this particular chapter, she noted that there was something strange about Loki and she also wondered why the guy kept asking what Chaos' name was.

This is, indeed, something to wonder about. Does Loki want to confirm if he found the right target?

That's pretty plausible except if that was the case and he wasn't sure that he'd really found his target, then why did he start attacking right away?

What if he actually got the wrong person and ended up killing said person because he didn't wait for an answer to his question, because he didn't stop to confirm if he had the right target?

In Chapter 32 of the same volume, Fenris shows how smart and intelligent she is by telling us, the readers, and the other characters (Chaos and Iris Irine) who don't know about this, that the symbol (which means rain) on the back of the main protagonist's shirt is also the sign of the ancient Dragon Knights.

Chapter 39 of Volume 5 allows us to see the woman as the voice of reason and as one who isn't wont to make rash and reckless decisions. She shows this by stopping Chaos from fighting against the guards and soldiers that had arrived to break up the fight between our resident main character, Loki and Skurai.

The 46th chapter of the fifth volume helpfully reiterates just how awesome and knowledgeable Fenris is by illustrating how she knows so much about Ymir's Heart even when the other characters were rather clueless about this topic.

She's also a very formidable and strong fighter as demonstrated by Volume 6 wherein she successfully recreated Bijou's spell that had been thrown at her (of course, this is if we ignore just how crazy the magic system is. I mean, how can she do that?).

Anyway, she was also the one who was able to figure out how to get rid of Bijou's troll in the same volume. Do you think that Fenris Fenrir is indeed awesome and cool? What can you say about her?

*Notes:
- Image with added text was modified by Freya Yuki based on the image by Rusembell (CC:BY) from deviantArt
- Said image is meant to represent Fenris Fenrir since the figure looks cool and awesome while the wolf can also symbolize Fenris who is actually the wolf god in Norse Mythology
- The rest of the pics are enlarged product images from Amazon.com; links shown above via Amazon's Native Shopping Ads widget