King Grey had everything. Strength, wealth, prestige—the works. He sat on a throne in a world governed by martial ability, yet he was utterly miserable. Then he died. Most stories would just end there, or maybe skip to a boring montage of a guy hitting slimes in a field. But The Beginning After The End (TBATE) takes a different path. It doesn't just hand Arthur Leywin a "win" button. It makes him earn every single scrap of mana he manipulates.
Honestly, the "isekai" or reincarnation genre is crowded. You've seen one, you've seen a hundred. However, TurtleMe (the pen name of Brandon Lee) managed to tap into something specific that keeps millions of readers on Tapas and Webtoon obsessed. It’s the friction. The friction between a man who was once a king and the tiny, vulnerable body of a baby.
What actually sets Arthur Leywin apart?
Most protagonists in these stories are self-inserts. They are blank slates. Arthur isn't a blank slate; he’s a scarred veteran in a toddler’s onesie. When he starts "meditating" as an infant to jumpstart his mana core, it’s not because he’s a genius—though he is—it’s because he’s terrified of being weak again.
The magic system is where things get crunchy. You have your basic four elements: fire, water, earth, and air. Standard stuff. But then it branches. If you’re lucky, you’re a Deviant. You might manipulate gravity, or ice, or lightning. The progression feels like a video game but with real-world physics consequences. If Arthur pushes his mana core too hard, he doesn't just get a "low MP" warning. His veins literally start to rupture.
I think the biggest draw is the world-building of Dicathen. It’s not a static map. You have the humans in Sapin, the elves in Elenoir, and the dwarves in Darv. They don't all get along. In fact, they kind of hate each other. This isn't a "power of friendship" story where everyone unites because the protagonist is cool. It’s a messy, political slog that feels grounded.
The Shift From Power Fantasy to War Epic
Early on, The Beginning After The End feels like a standard progression fantasy. Arthur goes to school, he meets a princess, he fights some bullies. Typical. But then the tone shifts. It doesn't just shift; it falls off a cliff into a dark, gritty war drama.
The introduction of the continent of Alacrya changed everything.
Suddenly, the "gods" of this world—the Asuras—aren't just myths. They are active players using Dicathen as a literal chessboard. This is where the story stops being about a kid being good at magic and starts being about survival against insurmountable odds. The power scaling goes through the roof, but so do the stakes. Characters you’ve spent hundreds of chapters loving start dying. Not "fake out" deaths. Real, permanent, "they’re never coming back" deaths.
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Why the Alacrya Arc changed the game
- Perspective Shift: We start seeing the "villains" as actual people with their own culture and struggles.
- Aether vs. Mana: Arthur loses his ability to use mana. It’s a bold move for an author to strip the hero of his main power 300 chapters in. He has to learn Aether, which is basically the fabric of reality.
- Regis: We have to talk about the sarcasm. Regis, the sentient weapon/companion, provides the much-needed levity when the plot gets depressing.
It's rare to see a web novel transition so successfully from a school setting to a multi-continental war. Usually, the quality dips. Here? It peaked. The writing becomes significantly more sophisticated as the series progresses. You can actually see Brandon Lee growing as a writer in real-time if you binge the early chapters versus the latest ones.
The Controversy of "Copying" Mushoku Tensei
Let’s address the elephant in the room. If you hang out in any manga or light novel forum, someone is going to scream that TBATE is a rip-off of Mushoku Tensei.
It’s a tired argument.
Yes, both start with a guy dying and being reborn as a baby who learns magic early. Yes, both have a "tutorial" period with their parents. But the DNA of the stories is fundamentally different. Mushoku Tensei is a story about redemption and a loser trying to do better. The Beginning After The End is about a winner realizing he lost everything that actually mattered and trying to protect it the second time around.
The magic systems aren't even similar once you get past the surface level. TBATE leans much harder into the "cultivation" tropes found in Chinese Xianxia novels, focusing on core stages (Red, Orange, Yellow, etc.). The late-game focus on Aether makes it more of a cosmic fantasy than a traditional European high fantasy.
Why You Should Care About the Comic vs. The Novel
The Webtoon, illustrated by Fuyuki23 for a long time, is beautiful. The colors pop, the action is fluid, and it’s the easiest way to get into the series. However, the novel is where the meat is.
The novel is deep. It’s dark. It goes into the internal monologue of a man who is technically eighty years old trapped in a teenager's body. That psychological disconnect is hard to draw, but it's easy to write. If you've only read the comic, you're missing about 40% of the emotional weight. The comic has also faced some production hurdles recently, including a change in the art team that sparked a lot of debate in the community. Changes like that are always jarring, but the core story—the script—is still the driving force.
Essential Reading/Watching Order
- Start with the Webtoon: Get the visuals in your head. Read up through the end of the school arc.
- Switch to the Light Novel: Pick up around Volume 5 or 6 if you want the gritty details of the war.
- The Audiobook: Travis Baldree narrates the audiobooks, and honestly, he’s a legend. He gives Arthur a gravitas that makes the "former king" aspect feel much more believable.
Understanding the "End" in the Title
The title isn't just a catchy phrase. It refers to the cycle of reincarnation, sure, but it also hints at the cyclical nature of the world’s history. As the story explores the ancient mages (the Djinn), we realize that Arthur isn't the first person to try and buck the system.
The "Beginning" is Arthur's new life. The "End" is the destruction of his old world and, potentially, the end of the current age. It's a heavy title for a series that starts with a baby falling out of a carriage.
Real-world impact and the Tapas explosion
This isn't just a niche hobby anymore. TBATE is one of the flagship titles for Tapas. It proved that Western-authored "light novels" could compete with Japanese and Korean giants. It paved the way for a whole wave of "Progression Fantasy" on platforms like Royal Road and Kindle Unlimited.
If you look at the numbers, it’s staggering. Millions of views. A massive Discord community. Merch. It’s a franchise. And it happened because the story respects the reader's intelligence. It doesn't hand-wave away the trauma of war or the difficulty of leadership.
Actionable Next Steps for New Readers
If you're ready to dive into the world of Dicathen and Alacrya, don't just jump in blindly.
- Check Tapas First: This is the official platform. Supporting the creator directly ensures the story actually gets finished.
- Focus on the Core Stages: Pay attention to the mana core colors early on. If you don't understand the difference between a "Solid Orange" and a "Light Yellow" core, the power levels in the mid-series won't make sense.
- Don't skip the "Side Stories": There are chapters from the perspectives of Tessia, Curtis, and even the parents. These seem like filler, but they provide the emotional payoff for the major deaths later on.
- Join the Community with Caution: The TBATE subreddit and Discord are full of spoilers. Because the novel is so far ahead of the comic, "spoiler culture" is a minefield.
The journey of Arthur Leywin is long—we’re talking hundreds of chapters. It’s a commitment. But for anyone who likes seeing a character grow not just in power, but in moral complexity, it's the gold standard of modern portal fantasy. Keep an eye on the Aether mechanics as you go; that’s where the real "expert level" world-building hides.