What's the Platinum Sword Made Of?
In the fourth chapter, Seiya and his companions learned that an army of the undead was about to attack the town. As is typical in many isekai stories, the kingdom's soldiers were pretty much useless and could only cheer the hero on from behind. So, Seiya decided to take on the army alone.
However, when the goddess realized she had been left behind, the goofy goddess wasn't having it. She quickly used her powers, spread her wings, and chased after him. But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't catch up. Just as she was feeling down, Seiya returned, took her hand, and prepared to move together.
"I'm going to speed up now," Seiya said, apparently thinking they were moving too slowly.
Then...
"Whoosh!"
The goofy goddess's face contorted in another one of her classic over-the-top expressions.
"My...my chest is going to fall off!!"
The words she left behind hung in the air.
Daniel stared at the screen, dumbfounded by the absurdity of what he was watching.
"What the heck is this? Hahaha, oh man!"
He was laughing so hard his stomach hurt. The joke was that, despite her exclamation, the goddess's "chest" had already fallen off—just one of the many over-the-top gags.
"Why'd they censor it, though..."
Daniel felt a tinge of disappointment. He'd come to realize that the Porter definitely had a knack for more mature jokes in their comics.
It didn't stop there. The goddess's wings also lost a bunch of feathers due to the speed, leaving her looking like a plucked chicken.
As expected of a near-invincible hero, Seiya wiped out the entire army with a single Gaia Energy Cannon. But the story didn't end there.
A boy named Matthew had gone missing, and while the goddess was discussing this with Seiya, he excitedly showed off his newly synthesized weapon—the Platinum Sword.
Of course, Ren tweaked the scene a bit to add a touch of adult humor, appealing to the series' target audience of young male readers.
"That's amazing! What did you use to make it?" the goddess asked as she admired the sword.
"Goddess hair."
As Seiya answered, the goddess dropped the sword, her face flushing red as she quickly covered her abdomen.
"What???"
Daniel was taken aback, surprised by how blatantly the Porter was pushing the envelope with this joke. But he loved it!
However, Seiya soon clarified that he meant the goddess's hair, not what Daniel had initially thought.
This left Daniel shaking his head in disbelief.
"Couldn't he have just said it was her hair? Why say it like that? Makes people think all sorts of things."
As the goddess checked herself in a mirror, a servant brought in some news. Matthew had been captured by one of the Four Heavenly Kings.
But this didn't faze Seiya. After seeking help from the gods, he managed to reach where Matthew was being held and successfully rescued him. Of course, it helped that his weapon was made with the goddess's hair.
After reading the third and fourth chapters, Daniel felt his face stiffen from laughing so much. His cheeks hurt from holding a smile the entire time, and he nearly cramped up.
Even though the plot was straightforward, the ridiculous scenes—like the one where Seiya drove the sword god to quit being a sword god, or when he used the goddess's hair to make weapons—were completely unexpected and hilarious.
Daniel massaged his face, trying to ease the pain from laughing too much, and then pulled out his phone to check the trending topics on social media.
Sure enough, the new chapter of Cautious Hero had quickly climbed into the top ten trending topics.
The comments were full of people sharing how much they laughed.
"OMG, what a ridiculous manga! This is going to keep me laughing all year."
"I can't take it anymore, my stomach hurts. This manga is just too funny."
"I have to say, every time I read a Porter comic, there's always something that surprises me. This is easily one of the best comedy mangas I've ever read!"
"I've never seen a hero story like this before. It's amazing! Even though the year just started, I think we've already got the manga of the year right here."
A good story keeps the audience hooked by building anticipation and then delivering on that promise. In isekai hero stories, this usually means the hero goes through trials, meets companions, and eventually defeats the Demon King.
But a great story goes beyond just meeting expectations—it surprises the audience and exceeds those expectations. Daniel felt that Cautious Hero was a perfect example of this.
With its dramatic twists, the manga broke all the rules of what readers expected from an isekai adventure. It caught them off guard but still made perfect sense within its own logic.
Satisfied with his thoughts on the series, Daniel started a new document on his computer, typing away his review. Once he finished, he posted it online.
But there was still one thing on his mind.
"What's going on with that other manga?"
Daniel turned his attention to A Certain Scientific Railgun.
Even though it was a yuri-leaning series, it was still a Porter manga, so he had been following the reviews. But...
Compared to the intense buzz around Cautious Hero, the reception for Railgun seemed lukewarm.
The art was good, and fans of slice-of-life stories recommended it. The female characters were well-drawn and appealing. But the excitement didn't match the hype from its earlier promotions.
When Cautious Hero and Railgun were being promoted together, it seemed like Railgun had even more marketing behind it. Daniel recalled seeing more posters for Railgun at the subway stations than for Cautious Hero.
But now, it didn't seem like it was paying off.
He flipped through a couple of pages.
In the end, Daniel just shook his head.
This kind of light yuri just wasn't his thing, so he set the manga aside.
Oh well.
At least for now, it wasn't flopping, even if it wasn't a huge hit.
After all, Ren is only human, not a god. It's impossible for every manga to be a masterpiece, so it's only natural to have a miss now and then.
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