The story immediately starts out with the main character, Chu Nan, getting beaten up. It was a bit confusing at first to even understand what was going on but eventually, I understood. Chu Nan had commented on one of the newest policies of the Federation which the overlord of the academy, Luo Li took offense to, and he picked a fight with Chu Nan for it.
Right as we get into the story, we have no idea what is going on because poor writing and explanation skills are what I have observed in this novel very frequently.
Luo Li was a fifth-stage Overlord in the academy while Chu Nan was an initial-stage Overlord. The initial stage is the weakest while the fifth stage is the strongest one. I never really liked the ranking system, but we’ll get to more on that later. For some reason, this is a very technologically advanced world (I assume) and we do not get an introduction to it whatsoever.
We, as the reader, are thrown into this world to assume the things that go on within it. Using science, I guess, Chu Nan uses his voice to get access to a rehabilitation center and while lying down, uses voice commands to access the news.
In the news, it was stated that two-star grade martial artists, one of which was Mu Yutong from the Earth federation arrived at West Cloud Planet together to participate in a martial arts competition. The twist was that any young martial artist that did well in the competition would be taken under Mu Yutong’s wing. I was not especially impressed by this news since I was still trying to figure the world out.
Though, Chu Nan’s eyes lit up for a while followed by immediate disappointment since he knew peers in his academy would outshine him, like Luo Li.
Chu Nan goes to sleep disappointed and a voice in his head wakes him up in a wasteland that was supposedly in a virtual space within his head. He was asked what could make him happy to which Chu Nan replied that he wanted to beat Luo Li up.
Luo Li appeared in front of him (not the real one) and Chu Nan now had the voice’s powers of high analytical prowess, being able to calculate every action of Luo Li to a micrometer’s accuracy. He beats stronger and stronger opponents while getting more skilled in the process. These first few chapters were some of the most painful and slow ones I have ever read.
Similar Novel: The Greatest Martial Arts Cultivator
- Part 1: Main Themes of Master of Martial Arts Has an Advanced Optical Brain
- Part 2: Reflecting Chu Nan on His World On Master of Martial Arts Has an Advanced Optical Brain
- Part 3: Wrapping Up
Part 1: Main Themes of Master of Martial Arts Has an Advanced Optical Brain
Master of Martial Arts has an Advanced Optical Brain that tries to combine a technologically advanced world with sci-fi and space elements with martial arts. That is a combination I flat-out cannot agree with and while the concept of its main theme sounds confusing, the story itself is even more confusing and convoluted.
The setting of the story made no sense to me whatsoever, but some people may take a liking or understanding to it.
The ranking system for martial artists starts with Novice, Overlord Body, Internal Breath, Void Break and Heaven Control which all have five levels from the initial stage to the fifth stage. A fifth stage would be the strongest of its kind within the division. This power system is simple, and I suppose it works though I get this feeling that it could have been executed much better.
Chu Nan, after beating a fifth-stage Overlord Body, starts to fight an Internal Breath and I considered the difference in their power a little weird. The force of an overlord’s punch was 100 kilograms (about 220.46 lb) while the Internal Breath had 900 kilograms (about 1984.16 lb) to 10 tons of force. That is honestly ridiculous though it is more of a personal gripe.
The main character has a mind that is comparable to the most advanced optical brain. He has heightened data collection, analysis, and processing skills but I deem it somewhat unfitting to a Martial Arts series. What you would want to see is back-to-back action and while you do get that, having numbers flying around every time dilutes the experience for me.
However, I will say that there are moments where I felt truly exhilarated by the action and when the author feels like it, they can pull off an amazing action fight.
Part 2: Reflecting Chu Nan on His World On Master of Martial Arts Has an Advanced Optical Brain
Chu Nan is a character that has some aspects of realism within him. He was beaten up in the very introduction of the series and was emotionally brought down to the point where his brain had to be restored by forced happiness. To get that happiness, he chose to artificially beat up Luo Li. If I were in that same situation with my bully, I would do the same thing.
Chu Nan also has an element of righteousness within him and tries to eliminate any people that he feels are scum in an objectively negative right. Inevitably though, Chu Nan’s character starts to become EXTREMELY cliche and annoying, and paired with the aimless writing, the novel gets extremely repetitive.
The story eventually becomes directionless, with the only goal in sight being the main character wanting to go to a better academy. The story also flushes on a lot of arcs pertinent to tournaments and schools.
The side characters are also forgettable with only very few interesting ones. They too are inevitably cliche and sometimes even exact copies of other bad characters from different pieces of work. They also drag out the story way too long, with almost entire chapters being dedicated to them reacting to the main character’s actions. The superficial world paired with all of these factors really bring down the series in my eyes.
Part 3: Wrapping Up
Master of Martial Arts has an Advanced Optical Brain is really a letdown. There was potential within the series for it to be at least somewhat good, though the progressively shallow main character, repetitive story arcs, aimless sense of direction, and mediocre translation really bring the story to the bottom of the barrel.
The worst thing for me was the world-building. It is abysmal and no matter how deep you read, be it 60 chapters or 200, your understanding of the world will be exactly where it started.
The backgrounds for the characters are also pretty much hollow, for example, we do have not much of an idea about Chu Nan’s family except that they were farmers. Considering how the series is, his family should at least have had an introduction.
Though I will say that the fight scenes are occasionally good, and I appreciate some of the themes that the author has undertaken. Chu Nan’s character, at times, is very relatable, and the way he acts as a person feels somewhat realistic at the very least. A couple of arcs within the novel are interesting conceptually and their execution is acceptable.
Though, I cannot recommend this novel for the numerous reasons that I have stated above. It was torturously slow to read through this novel and I don’t see myself yearning for more as I do with other, more appreciable pieces of work.
