Spoilers until: For the purpose of this essay, I am avoiding spoilers as much as possible in the main parts of the essay. Instead, examples will be given in the Appendix sections, which on the other hand will contain spoilers up till ch. 2-90-ish.
Note: Kubera has 10 main characters (the ones you find in the prologue, though Rana the blue-haired human isn't one), of which Kubera Leez is the 'main-main' character. If I talk about the main protagonist, I'm talking about Kubera Leez. If I'm talking about the main characters in plural, I mean all 10 of them.
Introduction
Kubera is pretty misleading, because it appears at first glance to be a fairly typical Shounen fantasy action-adventure comedy. However, if readers judge it by those standards, they will soon be confused while simultaneously frustrated by the apparent lack of progression.
That is because Kubera is, in fact, not structured at all as a Shounen action-adventure. It is structured like a mystery, where everything is presented in bits and in a delayed manner to give you time to figure things out on your own. However, this won't be apparent at first, because the mystery aspects are seemlessly integrated into the story progression and the thoughts and musings of the characters. Yet once you realize how Kubera is structured, the real meat of the story opens up to you. In Kubera, most of the story is read between the lines.
Part 0 - How Kubera is Not structured like a shounen action-adventure
Most Shounen action-adventure series typically progress through a series of milestones:
- Defeating villains
- Obtaining something: items, new abilities, comrades, harem members etc.
- Saving: anything from someone's pet to the whole world
- Overcoming some personal issue, or 'converting' another character (friend or villain)
- Resolving some local issue
- Clearing an area
- Usually a combination of the above (usually including the first)
Well Kubera has none of the above.
- It has no intermediate villains, nor corresponding intermediate victories. For about 200 chapters, the protagonists literally don't defeat a single major antagonist (and by major, I mean anything above fodder level / anything with a proper name and face). If you're looking for action, you can give up now, because there is literally just one major war sequence for every 100 chapters, plus a smattering of smaller confrontations, all with mixed outcomes. Rather than triumphant victories, most characters are actually at their greatest when they're getting their ass kicked (I'm not being sarcastic).
- It has no character resolutions, not even intermediary ones. Shounen series tend to introduce new characters at a low point, then have them overcome a major past issue. The characters in Kubera don't resolve anything (or they do, but something worse comes up). If anything, things tend to progressively degenerate. Rather than the story of a hero's ascension, the characters seem to be heading for hell.
- Power-ups? Most of the cast is already fully-formed from the start of the series (though they don't show their full abilities). The main character progresses at a surprisingly snail pace (so far anyway), and by that I mean she doesn't get anything done after 200 chapters.
- There are a few items to be gained, but out of 4 items introduced so far, 3 just kind of show up. There isn't a grand journey to get them, nor the corresponding satisfaction that comes with clearing a hurdle. The last one is gained through questionable circumstances as well.
- The characters travel from one location to the next, but those are rarely presented as challenges of any sort. If anything, a lot of the time is spent in or around cities. Talking. Of course, there are confrontations too, but well... see the first point.
By now, you must think I just described the most boring story in the world. It doesn't end there, because on top of that:
- You have no idea what the story is about. You will Think you do after a few chapters, until it becomes apparent that it's a red herring. After that, you either can't figure out the ultimate aim of the characters, or can't figure out how the current events are supposed to help them achieve those aims.
- You have no idea who the villains are. Of course, in most stories, you don't know who the 'final villain' is beforehand, but there aren't identifiable intermediate ones to defeat either. There are opposing groups, but they're obviously not responsible for whatever mess is going on. Then in the prologue of Season 2, the author drops you a 'this is a story with no villains, only victims.' Swell.
- The story keeps throwing More unexplained events at you, and offers precious few answers. While most series are structured in a way to give you a sense of satisfaction and completion at the end of each arc, Kubera feeds you a steady stream of cliffhangers and a never-mounting pile of questions.
Part I - Kubera's mystery elements
I.1. Introduction of cast, relationship and worldbuilding
Traditional mystery/detective stories tend to reveal the important cast early on (secondary characters can still show up later), so readers can focus on figuring each character's role instead of being distracted by the possibility that the crime was committed by complete outsiders or aliens from outer space. Most long Shounen action/adventure series, by contrast, tend to be open-ended in their structure: the cast moves from one set of challenges and opponents to completely new sets of challenges and opponents, most of whom are only revealed when it's 'their turn', or nearly so.
To be honest, I'm not really sure whether the author of Kubera really cares about the rules of detective novels, but the 'slow start' that they'll notice at first is actually a really long and dense introduction phase that lasts at least for the first 9 'arcs', corresponding to the first 63 chapters. 63 chapters may seem long to you, but if you've caught up, you'll understand that the story is only just getting started after 200 chapters. By my estimates, that intro phase probably represents less than 15% of the total story. The author herself has once said in her blog that after Season 1, the story is just "getting started."
This phase is dedicated to the introduction of the 10 main characters, as well as their major motivations, the major relationships, and the major plot events. This is done in a pretty seemless way, so you may actually miss the fact that it's an introduction, but take a step back, look at the titles and you'll understand (keep in mind that the characters in the prologue are all main-characters, except for Rana). The introduction normally shouldn't take that long in a traditional detective novel, but Kubera is in fact set in a quite large fantasy setting, so the author simultaneously uses it to set the foundations of the entire worldbuilding. By the end of the 63 chapters:
- We know all major races (Human, Gods, Sura) as well as the major dynamics between them (who hates who), and their major subdivisions (3 subdivisions of humans, 8 clans of Sura + 4 generational hierarchies, Primeval Gods vs other types of Gods)
- All 12+2 top Gods are identified somehow (though usually indirectly)
- All 8 Sura races are more or less introduced.
- Of the humans (small-fries in the grand scheme of things but still), the 6 top-ranking magicians on this planet are introduced by this point, as well as at least 8 of 10 priests, and what's probably the 2 top-ranked fighters + top unranked fighter.
- Several major plot points, historical events, as well as realms and planets are introduced as well. All 12 attributes are accounted for.
- Instead of waiting for new characters or monsters, you learn more about existing characters as well as their relationship with other characters, and use these to try to figure out who is responsible for what.
- Instead of waiting for shiny new abilities, you gradually learn the details of the worldbuilding rules to get a sense of what's possible and what's not, and from there refine your theories. You trade ability fashion shows for worldbuilding that is actually crucial to the plot later-on.
- It has a recurring-ish cast of 70 characters, including 10 official main characters and a dozen also-important side characters. Very few characters can be neatly combined into simpler groups: the main and 'also important side characters' all have their own initiatives and agenda, so even allies, friends and family find themselves on separate paths.
- The above-mentioned characters are often connected to each other and to the plot in surprising and complex ways, plus they have surprising interactions with other characters (from different factions no less). Because of this, the story complexity goes up really fast (hard to keep track of if you don't even remember the characters).
- The story events span several major dates across several hundred years (both Sura and Gods are immortal, though Sura can be killed). By that, I mean you'll gradually realize that each of those major dates is a succession of events more complex and at a much bigger scale than has occurred in the current storyline so far, involving multiple parties and requiring multiple points of views, spanning several races of vastly different scale, as well as different generations, planets and realms. Except, you must try to figure them out from in-between the lines. And yet they're connected to the current events.
Those who've read a bit of Kubera may be surprised by what I listed, because Kubera appears to have a very slow start where 'nothing is happening.' In fact, the start of Kubera sets up a Lot more than is apparent at first glance, it's just not obvious because most of the introductions are done indirectly (the Sura clans are named after their first King, the Gods' names are used in spells and the calendar) or partially (you get just a name, a silhouette or a title), while many plot elements are only mentioned in passing and don't appear important at first.
If you need more, refer to Appendix A on a breakdown on character introductions and initiated plot trails. Post here if you want specific chapters or examples.
I.2. The crimes and mysteries
What about the 'mysteries'? Well, mystery series tend to center on answering 3 questions: who did it, how was it done, and why was it done. If you want suspicious events, look no further than Kubera.
Deaths or disappearances:
- The disappearance of a village: Means unknown. Person responsible unknown. Motives unknown. Plus other villages and cities are also being targeted.
- The disappearance of the daughter of one of the main characters: circumstances only revealed recently, but the chronology matches several other events, opening up a lot of questions on how the events may be connected.
- The disappearance of the father of one of the main characters: everything unknown except the date.
- The disappearance of two Nastika Kings in completely separate events. Another in a coma. (these are among the strongest beings in the Universe)
- The death of the strongest being of the Universe. Culprit apparently known, but the means are unknown as it should not be possible, and there appears to be others involved.
- The disappearance of three of the four creators of the Universe in two separate incidents.
- The destruction of an entire planet, and this one at least is plot-significant.
- A cataclysmic event 15 years ago, which involved the destruction of multiple planets. Culprits, means, and purpose of this event are all unknown.
- How one of the characters is stuck in the human realm in the first place (when he obviously doesn't want to be there)
- The existence of one of the main characters in the first place, an aberration whose purpose is unknown perhaps even to himself.
- Unexplained cases of blackouts or amnesia.
- Unexplained cases of speech prevention.
- Unexplained breaking of some key rules.
- Abnormal power readings.
- The whole Power of the Name business.
- What's with Asha's arm?
- The glimpses of the future themselves are strange.
- The village.
- Why three siblings had to be separated, and why some of them are now in conflict with people connected to the other siblings.
- Why one main character is protecting another while simultaneously siding with the antagonists to get her killed.
- Why a character is working with the one she should be getting revenge again.
- Why some characters, who took some specific actions in the past, seem to be back-tracking now.
- Why some characters seem to be popping up in opposing camps.
The quantity of questions is still not what stands out for Kubera though. Any sadist can randomly throw in questions. What about the clues?
I.3. Kubera's clues
It is easy to miss the fact that Kubera's a mystery at first, because there are no visible detectives. At first, the one who has to do the detective work is solely the reader. However, you get direct access to the thoughts of the characters. It must be easy to get information out of them, right? Think again.
The characters know what their past is, and about the people they're talking about, so conversely, they don't bother to provide the readers with any form of context at all. More generally, you should have several ways of obtaining clues:
- From the characters' past (as revealed by their flashbacks)
- From their stated goals and their current conversations, actions and behaviors
- From other clues revealed in the series, mostly in regards to worldbuilding
I.3.a. Flashbacks
Kubera's clues usually don't appear to be clues at all, mainly because many are seamlessly integrated into the thoughts and recollections of the characters. Since unlike the detective, you get direct access to the character's thoughts, it must seem easier to figure out what's going on, right? Think again:
- The characters are incredibly picky about what they're thinking. They're not trying to explain the circumstances to you, they're thinking whatever they want to think about. All the thoughts are so natural relative to the flow of events that they don't appear to be clues at all, except they are.
- The flashbacks themselves are often presented in stream-of-consciousness mode: fleeting and highly fragmented, sometimes no more than a silhouette or a broken sentence, leaving out the date, the context, the identity of those involved, and what was actually going on. And of course they're out of order. And possibly revealed over a hundred chapters apart. And each revealing a different aspect of the scene, forcing you to piece them together to get an idea of what's going on.
- The cast of plot-significant characters is pretty big. Apart from the 10 main characters, several of the supporting characters also have their own vague, fleeting flashbacks for you to piece together.
- Just about all the characters have an incomplete vision of the ongoing events. Past conspiracies lurk in the background, and you can only guess at the intentions of each party through the observations of the ones you are looking through.
- The scale of the events that have occurred is pretty big. At this point, the story seems to extend across several major dates across several hundred years, and these aren't single-point events. Each of them involve a sequence of events more complex than has occurred so far in the current timeline, at much larger scales and involving multiple parties. The order of the events is important, but you're often not given the means to place them chronologically.
- On top of that, the author often reveals the flashbacks in a way that is often purposely misleading. The scene will appear to imply one thing, but once you get a better look in a subsequent flashback, you realize that it actually meant something entirely different. You can just give up on trying to interpret them, but then you'll have to wait a long time to figure out everything that's going on.
- Some revelations aren't explicitly mentioned in any one flashback, or even from piecing together multiple flashbacks. However, when you do line them up, you start to get a hint of something else going on, like a major, untold conspiracy, or something terribly wrong occurring at some other date.
Eventually, you'll realize that on top of that, the flashbacks of the characters extend to important characters other than themselves, many no longer present in the current storyline, yet crucial to the plot.
- In the case of human characters, the true history of the important characters may extend a generation or two back. And I'm not talking about "all the parents got together and passed on their legacy to their children." Some parents may know each other, but they are also stand-alone components of the plot.
- In the case of immortal characters, their past is our only clue to other superpowers of the world, many no longer around, but who have obviously played major roles in the plot. Through these flashbacks, you have to reconstruct the intentions and roles of these other major players.
- There is some overlapping of the above. Humans, Gods and Sura have surprising ties between them.
In most Shounen series, flashbacks only serve as dramatic effect before a death or power-up, so when someone picks up Kubera for the first time, his first instinct would be to glance over the flashbacks and forget about them. But in fact, the thoughts and flashbacks in Kubera may serve several layers of purposes:
- Revelations of the character's inner feelings and background, of course.
- Direct revelations of the world's history and events, as seen through the memories of the current cast.
- Revelations of the circumstances of other important characters.
- Revelations of the biggest picture, once you chain up multiple flashbacks, sometimes from different characters.
Well, you say, it's just a few flashbacks and thoughts. Just remember them all and that's it, right? Right, I counted. We're nearing 200 chapters, and there are about 100 flashback and past thoughts instances. Instances, not total number of panels. Have fun.
I.3.b. The current conversations, actions and behaviors
Even if the past is confusing, you should in theory be able to piece together what's going on currently. You can read the conversations of the characters, you can see the decisions they take, and you can observe how they behave towards different events. You know what some of them are after, in a very, very approximate way. Right.
The conversations in Kubera are much like its flashbacks: the characters know what they're talking about, and don't bother providing a context to the reader at all. Sometimes, offhand sentences thrown into a random conversation reveals an entire section of the plot. Blink and you miss it (from the comments of other readers, I've seen plenty of people missing plenty of things...). A casual one-liner can completely change your understanding of the behavior of a character until now, and seemingly unimportant scenes in the past suddenly gain a very different interpretation. And despite the amount of interactions in this series, some are actually left off-screen, so you only learn about them later through an off-hand comment.
As for the behaviors, they're outright contradictory:
- You have a person who's come to kill another, then let her live and said he'll protect her, yet he's still directing several groups to kill her.
- You can't tell if those in the protagonist group are supposed to help one another or... not.
- The "antagonist" group Clearly shouldn't be getting along, so why are they?
- Flashbacks reveal past decisions, leaving you wondering why the characters are now apparently going against those past decisions.
- Characters get into conflicts against the close friends of those they were close to (by that I mean, A and B parted on extremely good terms, B and C are friends, A and C are trying to kill each other).
- Characters sometimes change behavior when you're not expecting it. Of course, that is a clue that what happened in-between is something major to them, but that doesn't make it easy to identify the cause (especially if you don't know the reason for their initial behavior in the first place).
You can try to access the current thoughts of the characters (not just the fragmentary past thoughts). It will seem pretty straightforward for the most part, until you realize that the thoughts of the characters are layered, and you're only being revealed the most superficial layer. You will sometimes Think that you know what they've deduced, but in fact the author has cut out the most important part of the reasoning. The same goes for their stated goals. You may know a goal like 'revenge', but the specifics of this goal would be left out to you. Or are the stated goals even the real goals of the character?
Wait, does that mean the behavior is random? No, because there is an underlying logic underneath:
- All the characters have an incomplete vision of the events. Some characters know more than they're letting on, but there is also crucial information that they don't know about.
- At the same time, the characters also have an incomplete vision of what other know of the events, and yet this information is crucial to their own decisions.
- Their behavior is not static. The characters are constantly adapting their behaviors and actions based on their understanding of the (ever-changing) circumstances, which is a clue to the readers, but also confusing, especially since you can't access their thoughts as they're changing their behavior.
- Most of them are hiding their true thoughts and feelings, either by choice or necessity, to achieve their goals (which may involve the current plotline, but may be something as benign as being considerate. Of course they won't tell you their goals, you have to pay attention or guess by yourself).
- Oh yeah, and some characters are outright lying or being lied to. Which affects their behavior. Which affects your interpretation of their behavior, thus your understanding of the story.
Don't worry, this isn't the case for all of the characters, just true for the ones most central to directing the flow of the story (...).
I.3.c. The worldbuilding
The rules and mechanisms concerning the races, abilities and items are progressively revealed as events unfold. Like everything else, revelations tend to be integrated seamlessly into the flow of the story, so they will seem to be interesting factoids at most. This is sometimes the case. However, unlike most Shounen manga, where abilities usually serve a one-time-ish purpose, most of the rules and mechanisms of the Kubera world have more widespread significance.
These rules will often appear simple, but understanding them fully is a much less obvious task.
- The rules are surprisingly specific, for one. There are overlapping mechanisms for communication, healing, death, ability negation etc. A specific rule or ability may apply to one of those mechanisms but not another.
- The series also has some really interesting, 'unique' rules, such as emotional resonation, insight, and certain biological mechanisms that get exploited in all sorts of ways.
- The races are subdivided, and there are subtle differences between these subdivisions, including how certain mechanisms affect them.
- The explanation of the mechanism is often very far away from an actual event. By the time the mechanism shows up again in a more significant context, its description may be dozens, or 100 chapters back.
Now, it would have been near-impossible for the author to make Every ability in the series plot-significant. How do you distinguish between plot-significant abilities and just random noise?
In fact, I believe this is why the author made the following choice: she purposely left out all explanations that are supposedly 'not necessary to understand the story', stuffing most of the explanations for spells, abilities, city descriptions and even character bios into her blog instead. Instead, she doesn't name or explain the vast majority of abilities and just lets the effects speak for themselves, explaining only when the effect is not completely obvious.
This is a decision some fans have found quite controversial, because her worldbuilding is, in fact, very interesting, and the blog reveals interesting tidbits about the backgrounds of the characters. Conversely, however, it means that anything she does reveal is usually important to the plot. I think the author has realized that her story is complicated as it is, so tried to avoid drowning the readers in useless trivia...
Alongside this, we obtain more information about the world and its history. Events that don't seem suspicious at first later take on a different meaning as you better understand the world and its mechanisms, and realize something was off...
I.3.d. The future
Kubera has both plenty of clues and plenty of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing is not the same thing as a clue: instead of allowing you to understand a past event, it will signal a future event, but doesn't always allow you to deduce what it will be (example: a shadowy figure plotting in the background, saying vague things like 'it is time'). I won't address foreshadowing in Kubera in this section.
In the case of Kubera, however, you also get information about the future in the following ways:
- Brief scenes into the future. These are presented in a similar way to stream-of-consciousness flashbacks, except they are from the future.
- 'Insight' scenes into the future.
- Information that past Insight users have passed onto characters in the current timeline.
- There are specific rules and limitations to this ability. Not everybody can use Insight on everybody, information can be locked away, and the process can't really be controlled for most.
- The most powerful Insight users have disappeared. However, they may have passed information to other characters. The others are not free in their movements.
- The future is a probability, not a certainty. It can change.
In practice, several Insight users are involved and don't quite seem to be on the same side. There are limitations, as I've said, to Insight, which make it a mere tactical element, not the haxx plot device it'd be in other series. And the future can change. And the Insights are as vague as the flashbacks. And the future is not a single-point event either.
Part I - Conclusion
Kubera has a very big story-base to start on, many questions, and many clues as well. It must seem by now that Kubera has extremely convoluted story-telling, is a pain to read, and exposes itself to all sorts of plotholes. However, this is not the case.
As I've noted, information and flashbacks are provided only when it is natural in the context of the story-telling, so you'll likely gloss over their true significance at first and just view them as something to add to the atmosphere. In fact, by breaking up the flashbacks, the author actually establishes more of a sense of continuity to the story, displaying the past as something that is constantly on the characters' minds and not just something thrown in at the last moment for cheap effects before a character power-ups or dies.
Also, ensuing revelations are extensions to facts that the series has already hinted at. The characters' current situation is also a direct consequence of these past events, so it was obvious there was something there in the first place. In other words, the author isn't making stuff up on the go: the full history of the characters has already been planned, and the author reveals them as the story progresses. Kubera is really an impressive example of what you can achieve with thorough planning.
As for the interactions, and the hiding of the true thoughts, well.... the unfortunate side-effect is that it makes the characters look dumber than they are. Everything gets revealed eventually though, and it becomes very impressive when it happens (and if you got part of it right, it feels awesome).
Part II - Kubera's mystery structure
Kubera must still seem complicated and confusing (if you actually try to piece together what is going on). And yet there is order to the chaos.
II.1. Definition of a mystery structure
Most Shounen series have a bunch of unrevealed items in them, and 'mystery' can mean a number of different things. To avoid confusion, here is how I define a mystery structure (this is just how I define it):
When I'm talking about a mystery structure in Kubera, I'm referring to the last of the above-described scenarios. The difference between a mystery and non-mystery doesn't necessarily lie in the events, but in the presentation and how readers arrive at what really happened (by contrast, present a crime as it is happening and it becomes a drama, not a mystery).
On top of that, what people refer to 'mystery' often can mean any of the following:
- Mystery in the proper sense, where you figure out the solution to a crime or puzzle.
- Thrillers, where the culprit is already known, and the story focuses on the chase sequence and on each party trying to outsmart the other (among other things). Death Note is more of a thriller than a mystery (not a bad thing, of course, just different genres).
- Suspense, where readers can anticipate events before the character can (for example, a bomb is about to set off)
- In manga, the 'mystery' tag also often seems to be used on anything that's simply 'mysterious' and has someone trying to figure things out. This is the case of a number of horror series. You're not actually able to arrive at a solution, because the solution is something supernatural that can't actually be guessed (I'm talking about horror series such as Uzumaki and Soil. This is not the case for Shingeki no Kyojin, which is a mystery that can be solved, probably)
Kubera doesn't appear to be a mystery story at first because it doesn't have a visible detective, nor are the characters shown trying to actively figure things out - at first anyway. But Kubera is actually a mystery that you can solve.
II.2. Information layering
Despite the number of plot information, reading through Kubera is actually a very natural experience. Kubera achieves this through the layering of information. When you read the story the first time, you will likely not notice the significance of the information presented. As I've said, these information are only brought up in a context that is natural. Lacking a broader context, you will gloss over the information without thinking more about it, and only realize what it means when you read again with more information.
In fact, this is what Kubera looks like at first:
But this is what is really happening:
This seems confusing, but here's a prominent example of what I mean by "observation and interaction", which is revealed in Season 2:
- Character A realizes something about Character B, and also realizes that others are hiding this fact from her.
- Character A, however, misinterprets the reason why the others are keeping her in the dark (and there are various reasons for her to think this way).
- As a result, Character A pretends to not know anything.
If the readers go back over those scenes though, they'll realize the author had deliberately left remarks and changes in expressions that signaled that something more was going on. Now, in this case, we know what the other side is thinking. There are cases where you don't know what either side is thinking.
Side note: to many readers, it will appear at first that many of the characters are purposely not communicating as some cheap plot device. I hate that too in series, but look more closely, and you'll realize that the characters often have very good reasons to hide the truth. In some cases, revealing the truth risks making things worse than they already are (Agni and Brilith's case for example), or plot circumstances make the characters less willing to risk a revelation (these aren't just some friends hanging out, there are things at stake). In other cases, the characters simply aren't on the same side, and have no reason to share information. And there is at least one case of speech prevention going on. Fear not, when it is a genuine case of miscommunication (usually with a reason but still), the author won't let it go easily and Will explore the consequences.
Moving on: In the case of "Past information", the flashbacks often have fragmented, stream-of-thought presentations, so you need to line a bunch up to get a clearer picture. Of particular interest: they sometimes reveal more information about other characters that were major players in the past but are no longer around. Also, the events seen in the flashbacks may take on a different meaning once you get more worldbuilding information. You basically realize that the scene shouldn't have happened unless something else was going on.
I've made rough graphs of how each character reveals information about other characters, you can see that in Appendix C. It should give you a better idea of what the author is doing.
Because of this layering, Kubera is a series where you discover major elements you've missed (and not just interesting details), each time you re-read it, as additional knowledge gained later on allows you to better interpret the 'layers' hidden underneath the existing scenes. I've read through it half a dozen times, even making an extensive reference document, and I Still discover things I've missed.
There is actually a simpler way to arrive at the truth though. For this, you need to keep in mind that the above process is happening, thus read into clues accordingly. After that, all you need to do is 'follow the trails.'
II.3. The revelation 'trails'
You must think that the author is dropping in random information and forgetting about them, like all bad authors do with plotholes. However, Kubera isn't dropping isolated information. Instead, it gradually forms trails of information. Once you realize this, some trails will become very obvious to you, and most importantly, following the trails leads exactly where ot should.
And once a 'trail' has gathered a certain amount of information, the author will reveal the bigger picture. Remember this?
Mystery series don't allow you to figure out the truth immediately, that'd just be silly. It only becomes possible to arrive at the correct conclusion after a certain amount of clues have been gathered. This is also what's going on with Kubera. Once you become aware of this, you will notice that the trails are quite deliberate. They allow you to group a huge amount of information into several dozen trails (yes, several dozen) that you can organize by date, topic and/or character, making the task much easier. In addition, the weekly nature of Kubera means that you have plenty of time to slowly piece the trails together.
Some trails are just good old-fashioned clue-gathering. You gather information on a specific topic, and try to piece them together. Kubera also uses some more unusual trails: past revelation trails, observation/interaction trails, and foreshadowing/anticipation trails.
II.3.a. Past revelation trails
These reveal past events. Once a certain amount of scenes and information are gathered, the author provides a longer flashback that covers the past scenes.
Although they are formed mostly through a character's flashbacks, the past revelation trails aren't necessarily straightforward:
- There may be multiple points of view to a single event. The lack of context and dates also makes forming the trail more difficult.
- Additional information about the worldbuilding and about certain characters may be necessary to interpret the scene.
- Conversely, these trails are your only clues to characters that are no longer present, namely the original or past round of characters affected. As you learn the involvement of other characters, it may be necessary to go back and revise your trail.
II.3.b. Observation and interaction trails
This is basically how the characters observe and interact with one another. When the timing is right though, the characters will either reveal their entire trail of reasoning, just reveal their conclusion (if the trail of reasoning is obvious enough), or come to a decision that on hindsight, is quite obvious.
Again, these trails aren't completely straightforward to form:
- The reasoning process of the characters is often hidden from viewers.
- The characters may be acting in deliberately misleading ways (not necessarily out of malice).
- The characters' reasoning process is hindered by lack of information and bias (but these are biases that make sense, see what I mean?).
So, does it work? How can you be sure that the behavior of the characters isn't random? Again, you can get examples in Appendix B.
I have mentioned before that Kubera has no visible detectives. In fact, all of the characters are doing detective works on one another and trying to guess what's up with them. I suspect that the story will ultimately build up to a point where main characters have a pretty good idea of what's going on with the other main characters, and act accordingly.
"Wait, what's so interesting about figuring out what characters know about one another?" Well, think Death Note, minus the lengthy monologues, so you're the one who has to do L or Light's job? It's a bit like a thriller minus the thrill plus the detective work (it's quite thrilling when you get it right though).
II.3.c. Foreshadowing and anticipation trails
Kubera has both a lot of clues and a lot of foreshadowing. Foreshadowing trails don't necessarily lead you to outcomes you can guess, but they allow you to anticipate the appearance of certain characters, or guess how the scene will play out. I didn't talk about Kubera's foreshadowing elsewhere, so I'm doing so here.
Basically, Kubera will often hint at characters and scenes by mentioning or showing them several times (through silhouettes or the likes). In the case of silhouettes, the character can take over 100 chapters to actually appear (200 chapters even, some Still haven't appeared...). This does give the series a nice sense of coherence though, as it further shows that the author already has the events planned out. In the case of upcoming events, the author may mention it several times. When that happens, you can guess that it will lead to somewhere interesting, and it usually does, so just follow along.
And sometimes, foreshadowing trails may turn out to be trails of clues instead.
Part II - Conclusion
Kubera's storytelling starts to make sense once you become fully aware of the layering of information, and becomes easier to keep track of using the trail approach. Not all revelations in Kubera can be deduced by forming and analyzing 'trails': forming the trails itself is not a linear process, and in some instances, there isn't a lead-up trail, so to make sense of a scene, you have to go back and gather the clues from scratch (but these can be 'solved' too). Trails are neither that easy to form nor that easy to resolve, but they are powerful tools that will allow you to organize clues before it is clear how they'll be used. But does it work? How can you be sure that you're not just over-reading into information?
As I said, trails lead exactly where they should. Among the fans I know, we've been 'over-analyzing' for a while, believing that we were over-thinking things, only to realize that we were on track and that we didn't go far enough. For this reason, I've gathered a number of Appendix items. I recommend reading up on Kubera at least once before looking through them, as they have many spoilers:
- Appendix A - Introduction phase: I've also included a number of 'trails' being initiated, and you can go verify the presence of those trails by yourself. I've left out observation trails however, since I'm not quite sure where they start beyond 'when the characters meet'...
- Appendix B - Analysis of a few trails and a few other deductions: This will describe several trails that already have either full or partial revelations, so you can see for yourself. I'm also including what the fans around me were theorizing at the time (including our failures), so you can see what the process looks like.
- Appendix C - Character past revelation trails: as I've said, the flashbacks of the characters actually reveal information about other important characters. These rough graphs should give you a better overview of the situation. Keep in mind that they expand as the series reveals more connections.
Part III. The "surface" story
To be honest, I see more people complaining about how confusing the mystery aspect is rather than enjoying the challenge that the author has set in front of them. (...) Even in traditional mystery stories though, the resolution of the murder is often just a part of the story, with a larger part exploring the characters, their relationships with one another, and their possible motivations. Simply put, the 'surface' story needs to be interesting as well. Yet often, in manga that are heavy on plot, characters tend to act in forced or unnatural manners to conform to the plot direction. Is that the case with Kubera?
So, for the next two sections (III. and IV.), forget everything I've said about Kubera's mystery structure, and focus only on the human, surface point of view.
III.1. A fairly standard start
At first glance, Kubera seems set to be a fairly standard fantasy story:
- You have the fairly standard humans/demons (Sura)/Gods breakdown (good vs evil right?)
- You have a fairly standard party, i.e. the loud, idealistic fighter and the genius magician, and a self-sacrificing priestess on the side.
- You have fairly standard interactions at first, too, namely comedic beat'em ups and later on, some bickering and a fairly cute crush.
- You have a fairly standard plot: the evil Sura destroys the protagonist's village, so obviously the group is off to gather some weapons and triumph over evil.
- You have a fairly standard plot device: the evil being attacked to kill the person with the Name of a God. There shouldn't be more to it, because it's the name of a God, that's got to be a big deal, right?
- And you have a bunch of minor characters showing up and leaving.
- The worldbuilding and its history don't seem like much either. You have a bunch of cities, and apparently something happened 15 years ago, but that's about it.
- The POV often shifts to the antagonists and exposes their backstory in the form of fragmented flashbacks. They're a little confusing, but you expect them to eventually unveil their full sob story and be killed off after that.
- There is a whole lot of talking. Again, it can be interesting, but in the meantime little is being done.
- Speaking of talking and sentimental flashbacks, in the meantime the protagonist seems much more useless than most. Normally, after a certain amount of chapters, the protagonist should be displaying some awesome skills to show how awesome she is, right? Nope. (don't get me wrong, I liked her even then, she's hilarious)
- The side characters don't seem to be doing much either. Some are Quite interesting, but they kind of show up and leave, and you think that's that.
- Wait, whose side is that person on exactly?
III.2. The characters and their interactions
I said that Kubera had a lot of talking, but in fact, this isn't a case where a character acts the same way to everybody else. In fact, the characters are far from static:
- The initially standard interactions between the characters turn out to be the start of a slow but continuous build-up process. They are far from repetitive: they gradually cumulate and evolve as the characters observe one another, react to their behavior and react to events, until they become multi-faceted interactions that intensify over them.
- In parallel, the flashbacks of the characters gradually reveal their past circumstances and past relationships, which gradually flesh out the characters. Kubera has an incredible diversity of relationships that you rarely find in this genre: several major parent-child relationships, sibling relationships, mentor-protégé relationship, different forms of friendship, love and of course, antagonistic relationships as well. These aren't just trivia noted on the side, but explored throughout the series while defining a core part of the characters.
What's more, the above isn't limited to the main characters, but extends to the support cast as well. While most had underwhelming introductions, characters that seemed destined to be forgotten actually re-appear continuously throughout the series. They gradually reveal their own ties to either the current characters or characters that are no longer around, as well as their own circumstances. Whereas in most fantasy series, the interactions are centered around the main character, the characters of Kubera are completely free to do what they want. Any character, main or minor, can meet with other characters, sometimes from different factions, revealing surprising a surprising history between them and a surprising sense of initiative. Although the process is gradual, Kubera gradually reveals one of the most complex webs of relationships I've seen anywhere, transcending races and generations, and bypassing the main character entirely.
At the end of Season 1, someone asked the author why the main character doesn't play more of a role. Her answer was this:
"I don't tend to like stories that focus only on the main character. The side characters and villains are all protagonists of their own life; it's sad to treat them only as tools to make the main character stand out."
Initially, Kubera thus appears to be an underwhelming introduction of a needlessly large cast. However, the complex web of relationships is then used to flesh out all the characters all at once, uncovering new aspects of both the observer and the character being observed. This process takes a lot of time, but the revelations of the many aspects of the characters have a permanent effect. Depending on who they're with or who is viewing them, a character may be beloved family, love or a friend, a villain, manipulator or a victim, an idealist or a heinous hypocrite, or even all at the same time. In turn, within the personality of a single character, you can find traces of multiple, conflicting influences, as well as the scars left by past events.
Here, the author makes full use of the differences between the characters, pitting different ways of thinking and experiences against one another, offering alternate perspectives that will severely challenge your established views of the characters. All this is done in a very natural way, by the way. The characters don't have multiple-personality disorder. These are just parts of who they are, just as you don't act the same towards your boss, your friend, your food and a mosquito (and these are often relevant comparisons in this series).
Even before the plot gets anywhere (and it doesn't get anywhere for quite a long time), Kubera unfolds itself as a veritable drama between people.
III.3. The connection to the worldbuilding
The worldbuilding of Kubera will seem interesting, but not so much at first. Major historical events are only hinted at, and the full scale of the worldbuilding and the confrontations between races isn't shown immediately.
However, it gradually becomes apparent that the author is using a "show, don't tell" approach to reveal the history, conflicts and mechanisms of the world: by revealing them through the very lives of the characters, as well as their relationships with others. To the characters of Kubera, the historical events of the past are not long-off, forgotten legends, but the tales of their personal tragedy. The racial mechanisms are not some trivia, but affect the very way they were brought up and live.
The worldbuilding of Kubera turns out not to be a simple case of "good vs evil" nor "they look different, but deep down they're the same." The power dynamics, for example, is not your usual A vs B, where both sides are more or less balanced. Rather, the Kubera world is locked in chaotic imbalance:
- Group A > Group B > Group A's descendents >> Group C (and Group A and its descendents are grouped into 8 clans locked into various alliances and predator-prey relationships).
- Group B protects Group C.
- Group C can mate with all of the above.
- A guy who can order Group B around is also best buddies with several of the most powerful members of Group A, but let's not get into the details or into spoilers.
The author takes traditional concepts such as power (both destructive and authority), immortality and visions of the future, expand them to a racial level, drags them down to hum... people-level, and exposes them for how overrated they truly are. The consequences of several racial mechanisms are explored fully. Emotional resonation for example is examined from great historical events to their social fallouts, down to how it affects the personal lives of characters (both the initiators and victims), and how they are exploited within the plot. The biological aspects of one the main characters has all sorts of unexpected consequences (and not of the comedic variety). Some abilities revealed later on turn out to provide permanent revelations to the plot.
As you better understand the history and racial traits of the characters, their interactions, struggles and decisions take on a different dimension. Trivial-looking behaviors gain the weight of history and personal tragedy. Feelings taken for granted are put into conflict with the character's pasts or ongoing events. The racial mechanisms give... interesting twists to the interactions. I want to avoid using words like 'unique', but the relationships between the characters really do unfold in quite peculiar ways. To the characters, the past isn't something that's tagged on. Everything about the characters: their personality, way of thinking, knowledge, ability, even ability (or not) to consider the perspectives of others, is a logical continuity of their life history and race. This sounds like something obvious, but is in fact rarely pulled off in such detail in fantasy series.
And as you better understand both the characters and the worldbuilding, that's when the true plot unfolds itself.
III.4. The connection to the plot
As you learn more about the characters, things don't seem so clear anymore.
The "good guys" often turn out to not be so nice.
The "bad guys" aren't so evil either, though it isn't a case where the good guys turn out to be the bad guys, and vice-versa, either.
As you get the nagging feeling that you no longer know who the villains are, the Season 2 prologue tells you not to bother: "This is a story with no villains, only victims." Sure, some characters seem villainous enough, but they are not the perpetrators of this whole mess.
As the side characters reappear, their role within the story grows as well:
- They start to reveal increasingly important elements of the past, of either the current characters or characters that are no longer around.
- Or they start to take more active roles as the events unfold, reacting to the events by trying to make sense of them themselves and acting accordingly.
- In some case, you realize that they actually have their own surprising agenda, which they start implementing gradually.
Finally, as you discover more about the characters and the connections between them, you gradually realize that things are going horribly wrong. You realize that these characters, or characters connected to them, had or will have large roles in shaping the current events, and that they are caught in the motions of events set off long ago.
What all this results in, is the gradual emergence of what I can only describe as "relationship timebombs." These aren't just simple misunderstandings that can be resolved with communication, or can be overcome by reforming oneself. They are deeply embedded into the worldbuilding and the racial mechanisms, the personal history of the characters and the now increasingly conflicting bonds between them. Ties formed in less dramatic times are put into conflict with other goals and relationships.
The characters may initially seem fairly standard, but the way the characters are pit against the realities of this world turns out far from that. This is not the tale of a hero's ascent, nor a place where making the 'righteous' decision will get you rewarded (on the contrary). Rather than confrontations of power, the characters find themselves struggling to choose: family, friendship, love, the power to accomplish one's goals and even one's ideals and convictions, they must pick just one and lose the rest. Yet by now the series has established how each is important to them. In the meantime, the visions of the future give hints as to what happens. The timebombs tick.
Finally, you realize that the very lives of the characters, their interactions and the decisions they'll make Are the plot of the story.
III.5. The main character exception
Strangely enough, the main protagonist Kubera Leez sticks out as a sore thumb in this sea of well-developed, well-connected and elite characters.
- She has the least complex history in the series. Seriously, she basically had a happy and uneventful village life, which is quite a rarity in the current worldbuilding.
- She is also among the most poorly 'connected' characters in the series. Her sole initial connection to the complex web of historical ties between characters is to a father whom she hasn't even met. This initially makes her much less interesting than other characters, who come with complex and nuanced backgrounds.
- On top of that, her abilities and knowledge start from zero. Apart from being stronger than average, she literally has never been to school in her life. This often isn't even a story-telling crutch for the readers to learn about the worldbuilding: the readers often learn the facts well before the protagonist does.
- This stands out even more because in most Shounen, the main character is either mostly formed, or starting from scratch among equal-ish peers (school setting). In Kubera though, the main protagonist is starting from scratch, while being surrounded by mostly fully-formed elites. In other words, she looks like a total noob. Even though she does progress, her progression so far has been snail-paced, and she doesn't get any of the intermediary accomplishments that mark the build-up -> climax -> resolution pattern of usual Shounen. In other words, apart from appearing to be a total idiot, she also appears to be totally useless.
- Finally, she is idealistic and naive, which contrasts sharply with the much more nuanced characters around her.
So what is going on? Unlike the other characters, the author has chosen to show the main character developing from scratch.
- She was raised in ideal conditions, but is gradually discovering the ugly side of the real world (which, unfortunately for her, includes two of her travel companions).
- She is also building her abilities from scratch. This process seems longer than for other characters, for whom the process is summarized in flashbacks, but look closely, and you'll notice that she while she is ignorant, she is not as dumb as she looks.
- And more importantly, the author has chosen to form her interactions with others from zero. The current events Are her 'complex history'. By now, she has already formed a history or had at least brief encounters with all the other main characters, as well as some key side characters. Soon, She will be the one who is 'connected to all the other characters.'
- And if you paid attention, you may realize that although she appears to be the most transparent of characters, in fact, her true thought process and feelings are among the most opaque.
Part III - Conclusion
For those who skim over the mystery aspects of Kubera, the story unfolds at a much slower pace, though everything will become more apparent with time (lots of time). The series starts off fairly typical at first, and at first the characters weren't made to impress. However, the characters are progressively fleshed out through their history and their many interactions. Depending on who they're with or who is viewing them, a character may be beloved family, love or a friend, a villain, manipulator or a victim, an idealist or a heinous hypocrite, or even all at the same time. With its dense connections and interactions between characters, and the sheer diversity of relationships explored, Kubera could have been a formidable K-drama even without the vast fantasy worldbuilding and the ongoing plot. Yet the worldbuilding, history and weight of ongoing events add yet another dimension to it.
Kubera advances the plot not by forcing the characters down unnatural routes, but on the contrary, by delving deep into their history, their ways of thinking and their relationships with each other. Everything is connected. The worldbuilding gave rise to historical conflicts and events. These form the personal history and past relationships between the characters, which in turn shape their personality and ways of thinking, which in turn determines the current interactions and choices, which finally determine the direction of the plot. And over time, this whole web of relationships turn out to be a veritable minefield.
I mentioned before that the characters don't fight much, and instead spend their time talking, yet somehow it turns out to be a series of cliffhangers. This is because Kubera has some of the most interesting, highly-charged 'talking' I've seen anywhere, where even banal interactions eventually snowball with unexpected revelations or consequences. Even fights are just another form of encounter, often with surprising revelations to the plot, and where even apparently inconclusive outcomes have actually left permanent marks on the characters, moreso than the defeat of some unimportant villain would. In this, reading Kubera is a lot like a suspense story, where the bombs are in the relationships of the characters. Even when two characters are just interacting, you're waiting for something to blow.
You won't see much of this if you just picked up the series. This build-up process, as I said, takes a Long time, especially if you skimmed over parts and failed to pick up the clues along the way. However, unlike most Shounen action-adventure series, where the build-up is undone once the issue of the arc is resolved, Kubera's build-up is continuous and permanent (and still ongoing), increasing the complexity and intensifying connections and conflicts all the time. While most Shounen action-adventure series proceeds in waves, Kubera is like a gradual but continuous rise in the water level. As we near 200 chapters, where the build-up has already reached an impressive point, this process actually seems just to be starting.
Part IV. The impression on readers
After everything I've described, I'll just add a final part on the impression Kubera leaves on readers. (or at least on some, not just me by the way)
IV.1. The layering of emotions
After everything I've said, it must seem obvious that Kubera is an angst-filled drama. But in fact, Kubera is quite funny, in fact most people will think it to be a comedy at first. In fact, Kubera is closer to a tragi-comedy.
In truth, the author could have very easily made Kubera into a horror story. With a mere change in perspective, with just the elements already included in the story, you can have all the gore, the despair and the creepiness that you want, right within the content of the story. Yet the author goes out of her way to bury the truth of the darkness of her world:
- The gore and violence is often off-paneled, with few visual hints except for some disturbing comments. There are actually many dead within the current timeline, and many more within the past, but the author doesn't even try to use them for drama effect, preferring to focus on the active cast and actually sweeping the rest under the carpet.
- Kubera's characters also act... mostly normal. On the surface at least, they aren't the dark clouds of doom and gloom you'd expect from a usual drama. In fact, most of them are just trying to move on with their lives, instead of trying to get others to feel sorry for themselves (which is one of the things I like about them, personally).
- Further lightening up the mood is the fact that the interactions between the characters are often hilarious. The worldbuilding and interactions open up possibilities to all sorts of absurd scenarios, and the author readily exploits them. Even tense battles have moments of humor.
- As you better understand the circumstances of the characters, the comedic scenes are still funny, but also gain a tragic undertone.
- A scene can be romantic, yet horrifyingly alarming at the same time.
- A touching moment is burdened with the feelings of nostalgia from knowing that it won't last.
- Interesting interactions may gain a dimension of absurd as you can't believe the scene that's occurring.
- Instances of sympathy leaves you confused when that same character is portrayed as a horrifying monster or hypocrite later on.
IV.2. The perception of characters
Kubera's characters are not easy to understand. Their intentions and past are shrouded in mystery, and most are suppressing their true thoughts, thus presenting a more shallow face at first. The author ties their way of thinking and abilities closely to their history, which actually makes them less... impressive? (because they don't suddenly 'break free' from their limits or stuff like that) But as you better understand the characters, you may eventually find that their apparently unreasonable behavior is pretty tame. Grumpy behavior hides historical events' worth of suffering. Mere contempt could have justifiably been deep loathing, once you understand the history between the characters. Innocent liking hides more sinister motives.
One of the things I'm most impressed about in this series, in fact, is its use of deep perspective. Kubera isn't exactly realistic psychology (most characters aren't human, for one), but when you stop and try to consider things from a character's perspective, you'll realize that it always makes sense for them. For example, Leez the country bumpkin with no education, can't help but be ignorant. But Asha, who swore her life to revenge (literally), who grew up gathering power and who completely neglected to socialize, is also cold by nature, even when she means well. And once you understand the dynamics of the world, you may still find Sagara heinous, but the world she grew up in totally justifies that point of view.
As the author fleshes out her characters through their many interactions and views from others, she also plays with our perceptions of the characters. One moment you may view a character in sympathy, but a few chapters later you will see that same character as a homicidal monster through the eyes of another. The kind and beloved wife of a character may suddenly be seen as a hypocritical wench. There will be characters you really like at first, but when viewed through the eyes of their victims, it will be really hard to not to feel disgust. And in turn, you may often find yourself changing your opinion of the characters. Yet nothing about the character has changed. The only thing that changed is the perspective.
Kubera isn't a series for those who are looking for flawless, easy-to-like characters. The author delves deep into the way they're thinking, but is also brutal in calling them out on their behavior. While most Shounen series write characters in a way to portray a concentrated impression (for example: badass, smart, mysterious), Kubera trades that for characters that are extremely nuanced and flawed. For many, this is a frustrating experience. But for others, this makes Kubera one of the best series that they have had the pleasure of reading (not my words by the way).
tl;dr Kubera messes with your brain.
IV.3. The art
Finally, I'd like to note a word about the art. At first glance Kubera's art isn't that good at all, and the background art could be much better. But I do want to note how -effective- it is.
For one, Kubera's characters have very clear designs, so that even with different clothes, different hairstyles, at different ages and at different genders (?!), or even when they're just shown as silhouettes, the characters are just about always immediately recognizable. They also have different body builds, and you can immediately tell their personality from their facial expressions.
This is worth noting, because remembering its large recurring cast is hard enough as it is. (this is a problem I've had with the Shingeki no Kyojin manga, in fact. My first impression was that all the characters looked similarly generic. As a result, when two characters were actually supposed to look the same, I glossed over it completely. : \ This is still my fault, but it makes the reading experience much less pleasant)
Also, Kubera's facial expressions are surprisingly effective at conveying the mood. The faces in Kubera are far from realistic masterpieces that you'd want to stare at all day, in fact the lines are pretty simple, but you can always tell the mood from them. If the series wants to make you laugh, you Will laugh at the hilarious faces the characters are making. But beyond the comedic, the art does a surprisingly good job at conveying the more subtle emotions, which is more significant because the story often cuts out the thought process, leaving you to guess the true feelings of the characters from their expressions alone.
You can tell when a character is feeling guilty, even without the words. You can tell when the characters are deep in thought, even when you are unable to guess the contents of the thought. The expressions of sadness or horror speak volumes, and you can even tell when a smile is fake or off. In fact, Kubera has some of the most alarming, 'normal'-looking smiles I've seen anywhere (I'm-about-to-break smiles, you'd-better-run-now smiles, death flag smiles...)
Kubera's art is far from high-art, and you will rarely find yourself staring at the panels, thinking how beautiful they are, but they do an incredible job of immersing you into the story.
Part IV – Conclusion
Lacking action and prominently-displayed deaths, Kubera doesn't seem at first like the sort of series to generate strong emotions, but the result of all the accumulation of interactions I've noted in the previous section results in a veritable roller-coaster of emotions, where the mood can shift abruptly from the comedic to the deeply tragic. The art of Kubera, while rarely impressive, does a very effective job of immersing you into the mood.
As the many opposing interactions cumulate, what also gradually emerges is an increasingly dense Layering of emotions, where a single scene leaves you feeling several contradictory feelings at the same time. This is a very strange feeling for which I can't even give comparisons of. In turn, when you re-read Kubera, the past, present and future start to layer.
The scenes gain in intensity, as you better understand the context of what the characters have experienced. And as you become aware of what the characters will experience in the future, even happy moments take on a feeling of... well, it's like watching a video tape of happy people in a party, knowing that they'll end up in a car accident later on, and seeing all the ominous signs now. That sort of feeling? In parallel, you start to notice the clues that you weren't able to interpret at first. For this reason, strangely enough, Kubera is a series where the older chapters 'become better' with time. (seriously, Kubera is best the first few times you re-read it)
The Conclusion
Kubera starts like a fairly typical fantasy Shounen action-adventure, yet the lack of visible milestones will soon leave those seeking action scratching their heads, then swearing at the mounting pile of questions. In my case, I didn't even know why I was so interested in such a simple-looking story at first (back when I thought it was simple). And I was weirded out by the fact that, after re-reading it an increasing number of times, I would still discover so many things I missed, and I'm not even talking about unimportant factoids (I'm not That muddle-headed when it comes to reading).
The series eventually offered the answer itself, thanks to some of the key revelation moments throughout the series. That's when I realized what a truly dense and unlinear reading experience Kubera really is:
- The thoughts of the characters hide layers of reasoning, thus masking their true conclusions. Yet you will be able to perceive these when you read again knowing what's ahead. The conclusions are important to understanding their behavior and the choices they'll make, which in turn affect the direction of the story.
- The flashbacks appeared to be for sentimental purposes, but were in fact revealing important plot elements. They reveal world events but also important information of characters no longer around, who in fact shaped the current events (I had several moments of raised eyebrows when characters I thought were fillers started popping up in the flashbacks of opposing factions).
- The worldbuilding 'trivia' actually has plot significance, revealing more about the past and history of the world, but also giving clues to what's ahead.
- This is used to flesh out the many aspects of the characters all at once: from beloved family or friend to heinous monsters, from victim to manipulator, from idealist to hypocrite, from a character whose suffering you deeply sympathize with to a total jerk you want to slap for making the other characters you care about miserable. This is a very slow process, but the results are characters I can't find equivalents to anywhere else.
- At the same time, this web of connections is what's used to unveil important information about the characters, past or present, from multiple points of view.
- As all the characters start making their moves, it turns out that even minor characters had much more important roles than initially apparent.
This is an extremely ingenuous structure that I don't think I've ever seen anywhere else (I'm open to recs ). I had trouble believing it myself first (maybe if the author were an old veteran writer, but a new-ish webtoon author?), but using the trail method, the series indeed always offered a logical conclusion (I have 12 examples in Appendix B if you need to confirm).
Despite the complexity of the structure, by burying information underneath a smooth surface of interactions, the story offers a smooth and extremely human (to the point of frustrating) reading experience, so much so that many readers seem to miss the layers underneath completely. In some ways, this is a total waste of marketing. Kubera initially attracts the action-adventure reading crowd, while the mystery-seeking crowds gloss over it, and the result, well... it's like marketing a mystery novel as a superhero comic (...).
Once you become aware of how Kubera is structured, however, maybe you'll be able to enjoy the challenges it offers. Kubera is not an easy story to understand, but it rewards readers proportionally to the effort you put into it (I speak from experience when I say that I usually experience the opposite...). Using the trail method though, the challenge becomes considerably easier. So don't just gawk at it looking confused, try to solve it! In return, what you'll get is a unique and satisfying experience*.
--
* (I'm not claiming that Kubera is the only series that is unique, of course. Long mystery series like the Higurashi and Umineko series, Pandora Hearts, series by Urasawa Naoki etc. all have their own unique structures as well. I found Pandora Hearts to be the series with the closest structure to Kubera's, but each as their own unique aspects that the other doesn't reproduce. To this date, even after asking around, I'm still not sure what could have influenced Kubera's structure)
Edited by Mizura, 21 June 2014 - 07:07 AM.