Mansion Amidst Ruins: Unraveling the Intrigues of “I Have a Mansion in the Post-Apocalyptic World” Manga
Let us make one thing clear first. There are two different worlds in the “I Have a Mansion in the Post-Apocalyptic World” manga: the present-day modern world and the post-apocalyptic remnants of a nuclear disaster in the future. Jiang Chen is the main character, who finds himself blessed with the power to travel through space and time between the two worlds.
He is initially depicted as an ordinary person working as a sales associate at a high-end clothing store soon after graduating from college. And then one day before long, the store manager Xia Shiyu dislikes his dirty joke and fires him immediately. Jiang Chen doesn’t know any better but to mourn his joblessness by drinking. Having too much alcohol in his system, he passes out in an alley on the way home. During this uneventful incident, an inter-dimensional bracelet finds its way to his wrist. It has a strange pattern and looks more like a tattoo than jewelry.
It takes Jiang Chen several months until he realizes that the bracelet has the power to take him to the far-flung future where the world has been decimated by nuclear war. It takes him several months to figure out how the bracelet works, but he gets the hang of it at last. He knows the bracelet uses energy from the electric grid to teleport him between worlds.
Much of the post-apocalyptic world has been reduced to ruins. It is almost entirely a wasteland devoid of life, except for small pockets of human survivors and hordes of mutated creatures due to exposure to radioactive contamination. If there is one good thing about the post-apocalyptic world, it has to be the massive amount of abandoned wealth in the forms of gold, technology, and labor. Skyscrapers, luxury cars, and all sorts of valuables are useless here, but not in Jiang Chen’s actual time period. The stark contrast between those two worlds and the teleportation ability, thanks to the bracelet, give him a workable idea.
Jiang Chen will take advantage of an abandoned mansion and convert it into a base of operations of some sort to save the remaining human survivors in the post-apocalyptic world. At the same time, he will take the abandoned resources – only because they are of no use here – and bring them back to his own period in an effort to build a financial empire.
Over the years and after frequent travels between two worlds, Jiang Chen is able to accumulate enough wealth. He gathers knowledge and technologies from the future to establish himself as a prolific genius, credited with the inventions of extraordinarily thin phones, fighter jets, spacecraft, and weapons. He basically becomes a billionaire, a dominant player in various industries, and accordingly an influential political figure.
“I Have a Mansion in the Post-Apocalyptic World” manga also has some other interesting major characters including Sun Jiao, Yao Jiayu, Liu Yao, Ayesha, Lin Lin, and Huang Li; they are all his spouses and lovers. Sun Jiao is the first person Jiang Chen meets in the post-apocalyptic world and part of the main reason why he decides to build a safe refuge for survivors. She also is the person who leads Jiang Chen to Yao Jiayu, a computer programmer whom he saves from slave traders.
Jiang Chen also reconnects with his former boss at the clothing store, Xia Shiyu, after he saves her from a loan shark syndicate. As a matter of fact, Jiang Chen meets most of the women, who later become his wives, in precarious damsel-in-distress situations where he emerges as the hero to save the day. The only exception is Liu Yao, an actress whom he meets at a birthday party.
Xia Shiyu deserves a lot of credit for Jiang Chen’s success. Their unlikely encounter in the real world turns into the foundation of a business enterprise in which Xia Shiyu helps him build a company to manage his assets. As the company grows over time, he makes her a co-owner and a billionaire in the process.
A good portion of the manga is about the harem issues, but there is still enough space to deliver comedic elements and some serious business matters. Action sequences take place every now and then, whether it is Jiang Chen killing mutated creatures or rival factions fighting for control. Some readers may argue that the manga also touches on such major themes as leadership, rebuilding society, and the moral dilemma in the struggle for survival; even if “I Have a Mansion in the Post-Apocalyptic World” does talk about these issues, it delivers them in the shallowest fashion.
We think the time-traveler narrative is the strongest point of the manga as simultaneous plot developments in two different worlds give plenty of room for Jiang Chen to embark on his adventures without being too repetitive. Also, “I Have a Mansion in the Post-Apocalyptic World” turns out to be easy to follow despite shifting back and forth between the present era and the future. For a premise that involves a time-traveler and a post-apocalyptic world, the content doesn’t boast much sci-fi at all.
Other things you might want to know:
Is “I Have a Mansion in the Post-Apocalyptic World” a suitable read for children?
The manga has some depictions of erotic scenes and quite intense romance, so it is probably best for an adult or young-adult audience.
Is the post-apocalyptic world depicted in the manga an entirely different planet or Earth in the future?
It is Earth in an alternate universe in which the international geopolitics following the end of WW II are divided into three factions: NATO, the Soviet Union, and the Pan Asian Cooperation Alliance. Conflicts between the opposing blocs led to a devastating nuclear war in the year 2171, triggering a nuclear winter that gradually led to the collapse of human civilization.
What are some popular post-apocalyptic anime shows?
According to Japan Wireless Web Magazine, the five best post-apocalyptic anime ever made are:
1. Attack on Titan
2. Fist of the North Star
3. Akira
4. Dr. Stone
5. Cowboy Bebop
For more information, please visit Japan Wireless.
