as much as I like this story I wish the author would’ve done some things differently so I could’ve absolutely loved this story just a bit more. I really hate that during the entire story, despite Bongchun saving Soongap from slavery, taking care of him, treating him so well, being so loving and protective of him, and never actually considering or treating Soongap as a slave or servant, he allows Soongap to think he is a slave and refer to himself as one. He doesn’t tell Soongap he isn’t a slave and that he shouldn’t refer to himself one. Idk why he never tells Soongap to call him “Bongchun” or that he is free now. And it was frustrating that they barely touched on the issue in the side stories. I guess Bongchun was more so confused on why Soongap proceeded to call him that/ and then told him he was his bride but this is something that needs a conversation and should be made very clear. And knowing that Soongap feels like he owes his life to Bongchun, it’s uncomfortable seeing that in a way, Soongap still sees himself as servile rather than an ordinary free man. And that’s there’s still a slave-master label that I can’t get past.
I have both positive and negative thoughts about this story so I’m gonna post them all individually. I love so many characters from this story!!! It was so exciting and interesting!! Idk how I didn’t find this story sooner. The lore behind the backstories, and connections between the characters were all so fascinating to discover and unravel. I love Soongap and Bongchun both as individual characters and together as couple. I enjoyed how adorable and wholesome they were and I also loved Mokwon and her girl as well (I love when we get a little yuri side couple)
I also loved the village full of bandits!!! That’s was super fun to read when they started befriending the whole village!! Dugi Woo is definitely my favorite character in this story
Seung-Hyun should’ve been with Jae-il plain and simple. The author pulling out that Dooshik had a random secret estranged sister just so she could find a reason to get Jae-il out of the picture was a cheap ass move. Bullshit
Here’s my little review! )I’ll start off the good then reply with the bad. It’s honestly rare to see characters with such convincing qualities, emotions, and development. The kind of dimension the characters posses is honestly so rare to see in this genre! The author is great at story telling AND artistry and I do love Jooha and Dooshik and I admire the writing of all the characters even the ones I dislike. I love how we get to see the characters grow together, dream together, regret, and experience pain and loss. We get to see a full range of colorful emotions from all of them and that’s my favorite thing about this series.
HOWEVER this will probably be my last time re-reading this series. Although I enjoy all those things about it the series, the obstacles and challenges we face in the series are super repetitive to the point where it gets really frustrating to read. The sexual abuse and exploitation of Jooha in this series is so over the top to the point where you begin to wonder if the author enjoys writing about their characters getting assaulted?? (There is more than one way to write about a character going through adversity than just writing about graphic sexual assault) then the back and forth of Jooha lashing out at Dooshik while not being honest about the real reasons behind why he lashes out. It gets annoying to read this kinds of scenes. I want to feel emotional at those moments but I can’t because the arguments are so ridiculous, I just get mad instead of sad. Also don’t even get me started on the handling of Pilwon vs how the twins were handled. Pilwon died way too quick and easy
I like Ah-Seong and Jeonsu. I like their wholesome relationship and that they both have dimension and a little bit of complexity HOWEVER the dialogue feels a bit childish?? Im not sure how to explain it but I feel as though I’d enjoy the story better if the dialogue was a little more mature/sophisticated. Maybe it’s just the translations but it feels like I’m reading a with kid-friendly dialogue . And I don’t mean the wholesome nature of the story I just mean the word choice always feels kinda frivolous and not in a good way.
Another critique I have is I kinda feel like the Mc is somewhat being infantilized a bit?? I don’t mind if a character is more youthful and silly but this is different. I see a little bit of a pattern that I’m not really liking. First of all he’s smaller than all of the other characters and younger looking, okay that’s not so bad until we notice that his mannerisms are somewhat childish ( he’s immature, is messy to the point where his face and clothes are a mess (like a toddler) is ignorant of things that most adults should be aware of, they refer to him as a baby chick, his way of speaking can come out as less mature than Ah-seong’s and Haechan. Ah-Seong and Haechan refer to him as a kid even though he’s the same age as them. I don’t mean to be dramatic yall but it just comes off as unsettling I LIKE the story but those two things are what’s stopping me from LOVING the story
I noticed this too
I want to preface that I’m not saying you’re wrong for finding these aspects of the writing to be off putting, but I also see it as the author trying to show how different they both are as adults because of how they were raised. Jeonsu is messy and childish because he can be. He was raised with love and never had someone judge his every movement. He’s also meant to be the positive dumbass and those types of characters are always written as childish no matter the age of the character. In BL this comes off even stranger because of the romantic elements, but his actual character trope is nothing new. I’ve also noticed the whole “baby” thing is very common regardless of how the character looks as long as they are younger lol. So I don’t personally see him as being infantilized because he’s like every other boy failure
I see your point and I kinda agree with you somewhat. I’m aware that the author is trying to portray that character type, and I like certain things about his character because I feel like it sets him apart from most mcs. It’s just that the way the author sets up the more some of his childlike personality traits that makes him seem less like a. Childish man and more like an actual child
I don’t like how it lowkey speedruns through the story as far as the relationship progression, the emotional trauma Haneul experiences with his family and previous relationships, the coming o it to the family and the trip and even little moments between the characters I wanted to enjoy. it just fast forwards through a lot of things and that aspect of the story I don’t really like
And Jaeyoung was it?? Bro disappeared like halfway through the story?! This just felt half baked. It just ended so abruptly
Jaeyoung disappeared because he went to serve military. But its weird that they didn’t even show that TvT.
WHAT THE HELL ?! Yeah very interesting story choices?? They just banished bro
It’s so interesting I’m ready for more it’s crazy how bwat has come so far from their first series
Beautiful art and super entertaining story!! I’m so glad we got to see them fall in love in this part!
I didn’t expect the story to be so good!! And I absolutely loved the artwork
I also hate how it’s kinda clear the author likes that molester/rapist Pilgyeom.
I really hate when authors write irredeemable pieces of shit (mainly rapists and abusers) and then try to give them a “sob story” and attempt to persuade us into feeling empathy for them or try to minimize their horrible actions. Pilgyeom was a literal abusive psycho and deserved to suffer and die. I Hated that not only did we get an imagined rape scene of Soongap and then an actual graphic rape scene and somehow Pilgyeom gets to live after all of his abuse of Soongap?? Seeing so much Soongap x Pilgyeom content in this story was really disappointing and uncomfortable as well. I hate when authors write in a way that makes it very clear that they not only enjoy writing about sexual abuse of their characters but it’s also very clear that the author likes Pilgyeom and tries to make it seem like Pilgyeom really loves Soongap (by saving his life, sacrificing himself for him) when in reality, he was just obsessed with possessing Soongap