July's manga / #Tragedy(31)

I think this is one of Watase-sensei's best works. It captures all the complexity of a twisted family dynamic with a tragic star-crossed love that isn't meant to be. There's a lot of dark and disturbing things that happen here, so it might not be right for everyone. The art is beautiful, as expected from Watase-sensei.

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.

The first chapter had some strong elements, but overall the plot is a little ridiculous. The agreement between the gnomes and the humans makes zero sense. Obviously, they should have just have humans and gnomes work together in translating all the texts. And I don't buy that gnomes can read every single one of the human languages. Then what language do the gnomes use? Also what language do the humans here use? The world building is so off. I can't believe that two kids can translate 20,000 books basically by themselves, because the old gnomes didn't accomplish that despite how many of them there are previously. Don't explain it away by saying the kids are geniuses, because it takes a crap load of time to translate stuff. And pshhh, Oda Nobunaga is the most inspiring hero in all of past and future humankind that the author could think of? Seriously? And why was the castle so poorly guarded that two kids could escape so easily? But I will say that I'm curious where this would even lead, although this hasn't been updated in ages. Perhaps I'll never know.

Hero gets a second chance at life, decides to wreak havoc. Art style is very gritty, and doesn't go easy on the gore and blood. Feels a bit hard to get attached to the protagonist though, since he's consumed with rage and vengeance.

One of my favorite series of all time. Each chapter is standalone and makes you think about whether the pet owners deserved their fate. Art is amazing. Count D and Leon have the best interactions, and Chris is adorable and precious.

Not as good as the original series. The art is also less beautiful in the later chapters. Characters are dull, even Count D himself, compared to the original work, which is sad. Less focus on the pets, and more about how the setting is so fantastical, it being Shinjuku. Still pretty good, but the first series is my favorite.

Short one shot manhua about what lengths people will go to be able to see a dead loved one again. Art was pretty, but the panels flowed poorly and it was hard to understand what was happening at times. Very rushed and uneven pacing. Nothing is explained and you just have to go with the flow.

A bit like "The Ring," where people die one after another after receiving a supernatural omen, in this case, the victim's own last words via a voicemail on their phone a few days before their actual day of death. The voice messages come from the future and announce down to the minute when someone will die. Then it turns out the cause of these tragic events originate from a girl with unnatural gifts who had been wrongfully killed for being "different", and now she's wreaking havoc on the people who caused her death and extending her vengeance on even the unsuspecting people around them. Except in this story, it's much more confusing as there's too many characters and they all look the same, and it just makes no sense as the plot jumps back and forth between them erratically and unpredictably. I could barely follow the plot, and I was left scratching my head at the end wondering what I just read. Art is below average for a manga.

It started off promising, but the plot became more and more confusing with each chapter. I feel like there was a good story hidden under all of this, but it was too abstract and incoherent to grasp, unfortunately. The art was good, and the dark color palette conveyed the depressing atmosphere very well. In short, the characterization was weak, which made it hard to understand the motives of everyone involved. It went from something simple to understand, which is a brother trying to find out why his sister committed suicide, to something far more bigger, but it was not done well. By the end, I had no idea what the app achieved, other than mysteriously wrecking people's lives in a vague manner, and that the brother felt guilty for everything. Simply put, good ideas, bad execution.