There's a saying in the writing world: "ideas are cheap, execution is everything". No matter how unique or original you think a concept is, it's worthless without good writing to back it up, and Time Paradox Ghostwriter is proof of that.

The series aims to be some sort of fusion of Bakuman and Steins;Gate. The problem is, what made those series work is absent from this one. Bakuman was made by the creators of Death Note, who had a full understanding of the manga industry and how it works. TPGW was made by a relative newcomer. Steins;Gate explored the full implications of time travel and the butterfly effect. TPGW just uses time travel as a plot device. Any potential this premise might have had was wasted from the beginning, due largely to the writer's inexperience. It's one thing to have a really cool idea for a story, it's quite another to actually tell that story, especially for someone just starting out. The more complex the idea is, the easier it will be to screw up.

Most of the series' problems come from its main character, Teppei Sasaki. In a nutshell, he's a selfish whiner with a martyr complex determined to avoid character development at any cost. He couldn't find success with his own work, so he stole someone else's. Sure, he felt guilty about it, but it didn't mean a thing because he always had an excuse to keep going. "I'm the only one who can draw it!" was his mantra in the first half of the series, and the more times he repeated it, the more unsympathetic he became. It isn't just his guilt, either – ANY time he has an opportunity to grow as a person, he's able to get out of it with ease. Any consequences for his actions end up evaporating, and any internal conflict he has never amounts to anything. Now, one might think that maybe this is all intentional, and Teppei isn't actually meant to be the hero of the story. Sorry to disappoint you, but Chapter 7 long put those theories to bed. From then on, Teppei's actions within the story were completely justified, and he was absolved of all wrongdoing. You see, this story isn't about Teppei becoming a better person, this story is about Teppei feeling better about himself.

As for the supporting cast... what supporting cast? Well, there's Itsuki Aino, the original author of White Knight. She's cute, easy to root for, and has an alright backstory. As for the other characters, well, there aren't any. Oh, there are other people who appear in the story besides Teppei and Aino, but they're not characters by any means. Teppei has three assistants who each have one character trait, and don't do anything except tell Teppei what a great mangaka he is. There's a couple members of Jump staff who... also mostly just tell Teppei what a great mangaka he is. There's an old man in Aino's backstory, who... also exists. If any of the "supporting characters" were replaced by cardboard cutouts, nothing about the story would change.

The success of White Knight within the story makes no sense. I know, "it's just a plot device", but there's such a thing as a bad plot device, and this is it. White Knight is successful in the way a little kid might imagine success is like, instant and unanimous. Everyone who glances at it just knows it's a modern classic in the making. Not a single person in the entire world has anything negative to say about it. It's a hit with the readers as early as its first chapter, nay, it's one-shot. In real life, time travel may not exist, but manga does, and no series ever becomes that popular that quickly. Not even the likes of Dragon Ball or One Piece were just massive hits right out of the gate, they needed to take the time to build momentum. Instead, White Knight is just immediately successful because "it's a masterpiece", and we're expected to accept it just because. Its exact role within the story makes it even worse – where most stories have the protagonist work to earn success, TPGW hands Teppei success for free, and then makes him work to keep it.

The exact moment when I knew I wasn't going to like this series was this line: “At one point in their life, everyone dreams of reaching for the sky… and actually seizing the star they’ve had their eye on.” This series was, from the looks of it, aiming to be some profound masterpiece that would inspire generations to come, with a very important message that would echo throughout history! Instead, it ended up being pretentious and amateurish, with a really simple and obvious message any idiot could guess. This made much of the story comes off as self-indulgent, reminding me a lot of the M. Night Shyamalan movie 'Lady in the Water' in various ways.

But, above all else, the biggest sin this story commits is that it is boring. It is so, so very BORING. Every other problem with it comes back to boredom. Teppei easily escapes conflict and never grows as a character, making him boring. The supporting cast is barely utilized or fleshed out, making them boring. White Knight is instantly successful, so Teppei doesn't have to work for it, making that boring. The theme that's supposed to be really meaningful is trite and predictable, so that's boring too. This series is so boring, I swear the writer got bored with his own story, and that's why there are four or five time skips peppered throughout the series. Boring is one of the worst things a story could be. If you can't become invested in a story, then what is it for?

The one thing I can't find any fault in is the art. The art is nice, very detailed, conveys tone pretty well. It was the one thing that got me to almost care about these characters. I genuinely hope Tsunehiro Date can eventually work on a series with staying power.

EDIT: After thinking about it, I'll have to retract what I said about the art. Yes, on a purely technical level, it is very well done. However, and bear with me, it's TOO good. It has this empty, soulless feel to it, like it was made by a machine.

Yes, this series had potential, but potential alone doesn't mean a thing unless it can be tapped. Chock it up to a lack of skill on the writer's part, but considering everything I covered in this review, it's entirely possible that the writer just wasn't interested in tapping this series' potential because that fell outside his artistic vision.

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EPILOGUE UPDATE (finally):

I actually have to give the epilogue credit for one thing: it's the ONLY TIME in the series when Teppei's actions have consequences. After ending White Knight, he tries three times to create another hit series, and all three of them end up axed. And of course they do. Teppei wasn't that great of a mangaka to begin with, and only got to be a success at all by plagiarizing someone else's work. He was basically playing with cheat codes the whole series, and never actually gained the skills needed to succeed on his own merit. Meanwhile Aino, the actual creator of White Knight, is doing better than ever with a new series topping the rankings.

That being said, this is still Time Paradox Ghostwriter. The supporting characters still only exist to boost Teppei's self-esteem, Teppei himself still doesn't need to grow as a person beyond those self-esteem boosts, and all major obstacles in Teppei's path still magically evaporate. But where there would normally be an aura of smug self-importance, there's only the thick stench of cope. There is no doubt in my mind that Teppei is a self-insert for the series' writer, and the epilogue is his way of dealing with his masterpiece being a flop.

As bad as it was, though, I'm adding just one point to my score. Kenji Ichima has shown some slight signs of improvement, and as long as he continues to learn from this, I hope to see his work again one day.