It's difficult writing an objective review for a genre that you're not too familiar with. You can call upon universal elements of storytelling such as plot, theme, character, etc. But there are certain storytelling and narrative nuances that work in certain genres that don't work in others. Life Lessons From A UFO Catcher might be a stand-out work in the area of slice of life/dramatic autobiographical webtoons inspired by manga. But that's a field I have practically no history. So the only real thing to do is try to approach the work on the merits of its individual storytelling elements while also leaving room for genre specificity.
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From a plot standpoint, the story is fairly thin. It's about a man trying to pursue a love life with help from people around him. A central focus of the plot revolves around trying to win stuffed animals in a claw machine. As with most web comics, the story is broken up into short chapters that were later compiled into a longer graphic novel. These chapters definitely make the book easier to digest as it feels less like a continuous narrative and more like snapshots of a larger story.
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The story's strongest element is definitely its tone. I don't know how stories like this typically operate, but this feels perfectly in line with what I would imagine. It's witty, quick, and doesn't take itself too seriously, breaking the fourth wall when necessary and playing fast and loose with its goofy characters. The characters themselves are also fairly rounded out, probably because they are inspired by real people. But the plot they operate in isn't strong enough to carry the story on its own. But that's probably the point. As a slice of life story, the quirky characters are the highlight and not necessarily the external forces that drive any action. So it's hard to say one way or another whether or not that was the intention for this particular genre, but it definitely feels like it. So if that's the type of thing you're looking for then have at it.Â
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