July's manga / #Psychological(30)

It was very dark and tense for most of the story, but then the plot twist about aliens playing this game for fun came out of nowhere, and it just lost all the depth and somberness of everything that came before it. It's also hard to feel for these characters, since they're so two-dimensional. I didn't care whether they survived or not.

It's a little better than the average BL webtoon, but not by much. I gave it an extra star since it does have a suspenseful atmosphere, and it's building slowly towards something, rather than jumping straight into pure smut. There's some semblance of an underlying plot, and the characters are not cringey, yet. The art is only average, but it does excel when it comes to the horror nightmare scenes. I don't like how this webtoon romanticizes smoking. Smoking is bad for you, don't make it appealing... I know it's a big part of Korean culture, but it doesn't help to keep promoting it like it's a good thing.

This webtoon is all style and no substance. It doesn't do a good job establishing who the characters are, or what is even going on. Pacing is too fast without coherent flow. The art style is black & white Gothic but too messy to make out what is happening in the panels. I think this webtoon had potential, but it just fails to live up to it. All I got out of this is that there's a serial killer and a pedophile priest, and they have some history together. Bleh. Don't get me wrong, I love super dark stories, but there's no actual story in this.

Very dark and delicious, it shows the mental breakdown of a strong-minded character in a convincing way. Mind break is great when done right, and this is one of those rare times. It's pretty disturbing, so it won't be everyone's cup of tea.

Read on Webtoons, which has the latest chapters. Although I liked this webtoon in the beginning, the female lead just kept annoying me with her stupidity and selfishness, whining about how the world is out to get her. She's weak and always dependent on others. It made me not care whether she lived or died midway through, because she has zero redeeming qualities. But it's worth a read for those heart-pounding chase sequences. The girl's intelligence is about the same as those in horror movies, ridiculously dumb and always tripping and heading straight towards danger instead of doing something logical. The art overall is below average, but it really is excellent at the intensity of how the panels are drawn when it gets tense. Update: This is rare for me, but I'm bumping it up a star. Although the second season's protagonist seems as shitty as the first protagonist, the premise of the second season is so much more interesting. It takes a supernatural and psychological turn, and it may even get better. At least I certainly hope so, since it opened with a bang in the first couple chapters.

I'm getting strong Liar Game vibes from this manhua. Too bad it's been dropped, I wish I could read the rest. So far, there have been some interesting characters that have been introduced, but none of them are likeable as of yet. The games aren't as psychologically mind-bending as in Liar Game, but it does involve a lot of backstabbing and pushing others down to get ahead. The set up feels not as thrilling though, since all these people are already dead, while in Liar Game, if they lose, it means that they'll probably end up dead. Basically, the worst case scenario here doesn't seem to have as high as of a stake, so maybe that's why this feels less compelling to read.

I really liked "Bastard" which was a previous work by the same author, but when this webtoon is compared to it, it definitely falls short. I really enjoyed the first half of the webtoon, where it focuses on survival and climbing up or down the floors as two major expedition parties. It gets the adventurous blood in me pumping! But obviously, it can't end with them clearing the tower, because there would be no real resolution. It's not a video game stage, after all. It is technically supposed to emulate real life, albeit with very extreme apocalyptic circumstances. The people in the building need to eventually leave, because it's impossible to stay in one building for the rest of their lives. That's where the webtoon goes downhill, when it introduces a new gang of characters who swarm in to take over the building. This leads to complete chaos, and that's when the suspense and thriller elements are lost, because now it's not human vs. monster, it's human vs. human, and it's not as exciting to see. Not to mention, all the monsters get nerfed hard. They're basically not a real threat, because there's too much in-fighting going on, and none of the other monsters are difficult to beat, since they have another half-monster with them. I can still remember the terror of the monster with no eyes and the spider-like one when it evolved, because that's when the webtoon was at its best. It captured the futility of fighting these almost immortal beings that just come back again and again, no matter how many times you knocked them down. In the end, they had to rely on other people becoming monsters themselves to fend off the hordes of monsters that came to swarm the building. That was predictable and not as refreshing to see. It's when a fictional work explores how truly helpless and weak we are, that it hits close to home. Turning into a monster just negates all of that, because you're no longer human. I didn't like how it never finished exploring the concept of the monsterization it brought up either, leaving lots of questions about why this was happening, why some people turn and some don't, why the cocoons were so important that all the monsters came when just one was destroyed. If they did address it, I'm afraid it was too subtle, since the running out of desire to become emotionless vessels after cocoon formation explanation totally went over my head. Sometimes, the simplest concepts are the best. Also, the romance did not work well here. It was understandable in "Bastard", but completely unnecessary in this webtoon. I did not care for the main couple at all, and I don't get why they get to have a happy ending just because Hyun is the main character. Why is it that no one else is attacked after their escape, and how come the people in the military zone they wind up in don't turn into monsters too? It leaves too many gaping plot holes and inconsistencies for me to declare this one of the best webtoons I've read. However, it is indeed quite good, and it's definitely worth a read.

Looks promising, it reminds me of Danganronpa a little bit. People say Saw here, but I haven't watched that, so I can't say so. The art style is very Western-inspired, with bold dark colors and lines. I want to see what happens next.

Very interesting concept of trying to solve his brother's suicide by going through his app history and chat messages. I want to read more! Art fits this webtoon's tone very well.

Oh, this is so cool. The set up was great, with the chat room boxes, which remind me of all those mystery horror text chat games you can download on mobile these days, since it ends the same way. I hope someone picks this up in the future, I'd love to read more. The art is probably below average, but it doesn't need to be stunning for this genre of story, in my opinion. Update: While the suspense of the story was well done, the ending seemed rushed and there was a bit of a disconnect linking the past and the present. There were convenient plot fixes for large plot holes in the form of a singular person, and I didn't like that idea. However, it's a decent read.