What’s with the rice? The whole plot revolves around rice as currency and survival. Jiang Ming is promised 50 catties, then 70 catties, then gets cheated with 70 catties of coarse rice. Chen Damei is talking about mixing bran and wild vegetables. This is a world where a bag of rice is a legitimate wedding dowry and cause for celebration. That’s a gritty, amazing detail that grounds the story in reality. It makes Jiang Ming’s struggle so much more relatable than if he was rewarded with gold coins. The focus on food scarcity is a really strong element that I hope continues.
The way the old ladies in the community immediately spill everything to the ‘police officers’ is so accurate. Those neighbors know everything. And they counted every single bag of rice and flour. Bless their hearts.
The pacing of the oath announcements from the different demon gods was impressive in its scope but also a bit repetitive. We get Time, Space, then a list of others. It starts to feel like a roll call after a while. I think it could have been trimmed or staggered more organically. However, the payoff when Pangu declares himself as the Law of Strength and shakes all of Chaos more than made up for it. That entrance was pure hype.