FAQs You Ask

• What is The Ravages of Time? Well, it's a 漫畫 retelling the saga of the Three Kingdoms, set in the last days of the Eastern Han Dynasty and the actual Three Kingdoms period. As Wikipedia puts it:

The series is known for exercising a large degree of creativity in several aspects and people of the Three Kingdoms. While the milestone events were left relatively untouched (e.g. outcomes of major battles, death of certain characters), many finer details were changed and largely dramatized. 

• What's so great about it? The convoluted schemes, the profound philosophizing, the incisive social commentary (whether explicit or implicit), and the extensive allusion to classics other than the source texts. As TV Tropes notes:

They probably include more Chess Masters than any other adaption, since the plot puts a good deal of focus on the politics and warfare of the Three Kingdoms period, and some of the main attractions of the series are the associated mind games, military strategies and battlefield tactics. Naturally this leads to chapter after chapter of ploys and deceptions, using almost every trope possible from the Gambit Index.

1. This isn't manga. Why should I bother? The use of 'manga' to denote comics made in Japan (with distinctive stylistic features) is a language-game peculiar to Western audiences and is not even how a lot of Japanese use the term. So go read it.
2. Is this seinen? Technically it is serialized in a Chinese magazine that also features translations of popular Japanese shounen manga, but its seriousness makes it feel more 'seinen-like', as it were. In any case, demographic categories are best seen as guidelines (mainly for marketing purposes), not fixed traits. I mean, females and adults can enjoy One Piece too even though it's shounen...
3. Will I enjoy the series, given the many complaints [such as *insert petty issue*] I have about it? All I ask is a fair reading, and the willingness to exert more effort and set aside superficial excuses and alibis. One doesn't have to like every aspect to be able to charitably appreciate, appraise, assess, and adjudicate the many aspects of Ravages.
4. How do I catch up and keep up? Remember to re-read important old chapters, and don't forget that new Ravages chapters come out once every 2-3 weeks. Oh, and a little research about the period would go a long way (even if it means 'spoilers' here and there).
5. Is the series friendly to newbies and casuals? Just try. I'd also like to note that my various online efforts (not to mention similar projects by other holdout fans) count as attempts to make Ravages a bit easier to read.
6. Any favorite characters? Well, I don't particularly hate on anyone in Ravages, and I certainly don't take sides in the usual faction wars among the 3K fandom (the closest side I'd take ideologically would be the Yellow Turbans, haha). More importantly, I'm more focused on the themes and schemes rather than the character drama. Nonetheless, I am particularly fond of how Ravages portrays Zhuge Liang, and I like to see the nameless goons and lackeys.
7. How popular is the series anyway? Well, it has a strong following in its home markets of HK and Taiwan. There's also a sizable fan community in the mainland PRC, as well as in Vietnam and Thailand. Moreover, there are quite a few fans coming from Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia (basically neighboring places). In the wider international Anglophone scene however, Ravages is terribly under-appreciate, a niche even among the niche (and elitist) animanga viewers.
8. What makes The Ravages of Time stand out among other 'similar' series (such as, say, Kingdom)? I'd rather have the readers see for themselves why I'd devote so much effort just to promote and discuss Ravages. But just to give a preview of sorts, I daresay that I have yet to find a (non-academic) series that matches or surpasses Ravages in the scheming+philosophizing+social commentary+classical citation combo. Sure, maybe there are a bunch of works that do better than Ravages in one or two aspects (and even then, I don't think scheming is one of them), but excelling in all four is a rather tall order.
9. But why Ravages though? If what's being asked is why I've come to admire Ravages so much that I would do all this, well that's a long story. Suffice it to say that when I saw chapter 177 (I didn't even read in order at first, haha), it dawned on me that I picked up a masterpiece in the making.
10. No, I mean, why is The Ravages of Time the English title? I don't know. Ask Chen Mou (or Chan Mou, for those who'd like to insist on Cantonese romanization).