Eternally Regressing Knight Review

Summary:

    Encrid (the official webtoon English translated as Enkrid) dreams of becoming a knight, but he lacks the power or talent to be a knight. One day in battle, he gets killed and wakes up the same morning on the day he died.

Other Titles: 

• A Knight Who Eternally Regresses

• The Knight Who Only Lives Today

Story Info:

Original Creator: Soulpung

Author: Lee Hyun Min, Ganara 

Illustrator: IAN 

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy

Status: Ongoing

Chapter Length: 45 (Chapter 0 / Prologue is the first chapter)  

Content Warning: Violence, Death, Blood, Murder, Swears

Personal Rating: 8/10 (might update in the future)

• Pros: I like how the characters are designed, especially with the main squad, as they are easy to identify and are memorable! For the protagonist, I liked how Encrid is not overpowered and talented, so he had to learn various skills from each of his squad mates to improve himself. The relationship between Encrid and the squad members is well-done and very entertaining to watch.

• Cons: Some important side characters should have been explained more with their backstory when they were the main focus of the arc. There is also a lack of explanation about worldbuilding and why the two kingdoms are going to war against each other. If there is some explanation about the world's situation, it might be easier to understand why it is in its current state and the root cause of the war.

Regression Mechanism:

    Eternally Regressing Knight has our protagonist, Encrid, undergo a looped regression. Every time he dies, he resets back to the morning of the day he was killed. He can only move on to the next day by surviving without dying at any point in the day.

    There isn't much confirmation on how Encrid regressed, but Encrid theorized that the charm he got from the old man for subjecting monsters at a village he was passing by earlier caused him to regress. There are more signs of the charm being the key cause of Encrid's regression; the charm has a blue-purple background with small white dots like stars as the central core, which can be seen as the setting in the sky after he dies where he meets a boatman who waits for Encrid to give up on regressing to die for real. It is also shown in one scene when Encrid dies again when the charm is focused on alone, which implies that the charm is the cause of the regression. 

Charm (ch 3)

    The moment he realized he had regressed was when he realized that the morning of the day he got killed repeated itself from the banging on the pan to wake one of Encrid's squad members, Rem, screaming up soldiers, and when he saw a bug in his boots.

Regressor Analysis:

    The regressor for this manhwa is Encrid, the fourth company, fourth platoon, and fourth squad commander (aka 444th squad). Encrid's overall goal, present before and after his regression, is to become a knight. He defines a knight as someone capable of protecting the weak, slaying thousands of people, changing war dynamics, and becoming a legend through minstrel songs. In the recent chapters, he kept his idea of the knight the same but emphasized protecting the weak and becoming a more skilled fighter as part of being a knight.

Encrid (ch 3)

    Throughout Encrid's time regressing, I noticed he tried to save as many people as possible. He lets people know when to use the shield to protect themselves from flying arrows, defend their comrades from upcoming attacks, and kill their attackers. While there are times that he feels guilty for not saving everyone, he knows that not everyone can be saved, and he is willing to acknowledge that he prevented more deaths than he did with his previous regressions. I also noticed how Encrid took the time to learn more about the skill and his squad as he learned the skill. For example, he is aware that not all of his squad mates are good at explaining the skill, like the swordsman genius Ragna, but he is mindful of his strength to listen and observe, so he utilizes his strengths and applies them to himself as a swordsman. Or how he would copy his enemy's skills and use them as his own skill to defeat the opponent and future opponents. He even learns skills outside what a typical knight would not know, like better listening skills and throwing whistle daggers.

Encrid practicing the whistle dagger (ch 29)

Encrid practicing the whistle dagger (ch 29)

    Encrid is a hard worker, persistent, and determined guy who does not waver from his lack of talent to become a knight throughout the story. Still, there are some changes in his character throughout the story. Many squad members pointed out to Encrid how he needs to improve his ability to adapt his skills, as using the same motion won't get him far, and that Encrid needs to know how he can modify his skills for specific scenarios. It was also shown that because Encrid did not change his sword style for more than 10 years before the story, he has not made any improvements to the start of his sword-wielding abilities. Additionally, during Encrid's backstory, he lost a duel to a 12-year-old who only started practicing for six months. Yet, at that time, Encrid did not reflect or even think of the possibility of changing his sword style, which reveals Encrid's flaw of not being reflective on himself. Ragna told Encrid that because of the Valen Mercenary Sword Technique, Encrid's first and only sword technique, he cannot master the fundamentals of basic sword technique or make adaptations depending on his situation. When Ragna tells him to choose to forget the Valen Mercenary changing the sword style, Encrid immediately decides to forget about it, which shows us and Ragna that Encrid is willing to set aside his sword technique or whine about his pride for the sake of learning to become a better fighter as a knight.

Encrid was beaten by a 12-year-old (ch 1)

    Regarding the change in Encrid's relationship with people, his relationship with the squad is the most
noticeable. At the beginning of the story, in his mind, he viewed the 444th squad as misfits, but as he realized that change must be made for his own skill set, he starts to interact more with his squad and is willing to see them as people who are skilled within their own specialty and admit to himself that he can learn from them. While observing the 444th squad, I noticed how most of the members are even stronger than Encrid in terms of fighting, but they all respect Encrid even before the start of the story. Despite all of the members fighting within the group, they become more well-behaved when Encrid is present, as they are willing to stop petty arguments, check on Encrid's health, and even take on missions for Encrid if he wants to. Their respect for Encrid still grows as they see him willing to learn from them and put aside his pride to learn new skills to become better as a knight.

444th Squad Protecting Encrid (ch 24)

444th Squad Protecting Encrid (ch 24)

Evaluation on Regression:

    The use of regression in the story is good because it fits with Encrid's hardworking and determined personality. He is willing to regress on the same day for a year to hone and perfect his skills and become a stronger knight.

    As this is an ongoing manhwa, I hope there is more explanation in the lore of how Encrid can regress. Like in this world, magic does exist, but to what extent is the magic system in Eternally Regressing Knights capable of manipulating time, and what knowledge was known to people about magic that can manipulate time. Also, there is more to learn about the origins of the charm that may cause the regression.

Final Thoughts:

      I recommend people reading this manhwa as it has a protagonist who starts off not good at using the sword but slowly gets and becomes more versatile with other skills that can impact his ability to be better at being a good fighter as a knight. There are good relationship dynamics Encrid has with his squad and more people around him.

    Hopefully, we will see more chapters exploring other squad members, like Audin, who has martial arts skills, and Krais (the official webtoon English translated the name as Kreise), who has information-gathering skills. I hope that in the future, we get a backstory on how Encrid first met his squad when he was demoted to the 444th squad commander and how they came to respect him before the official start of the story.

Note:

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