Lolipop

I promise, this anecdote is relevant so bare with me…. a year ago, a boy i barely knew recommended me “goodnight punpun”. The only thing he knew about me was that I liked manga. He told me how it changed his life and was the best thing he ever read. So I gave it a try. It wasn't bad, it just didn't touch me. Goodnight punpun is seen as so good because it talks in a raw way about the experience of growing as a guy. But i didnt grow as a guy, i couldnt relate. I saw the events of that manga as fiction, while a male reader might see it as a reality.
My point is, goodnight punpun was for that guy what Welcome to room 405 is to me. It's so real, it hits so close to me, that I can't help but have such an adoration for it. I'm not kidding, until the arc about Rose’s secret fujoshi hobbies, i would have tears in my eyes at the end of every single chapter. The way characters treat Hom or homosexuality for the majority of the manhwa is just so horrific, but even more for me. This is how my family thinks, this is how some friends around me think. This is a reality that I cannot escape by simply closing the page.
I will not make the same mistake as that boy, to recommend this manhwa to someone who's whos cishet, someone that can see this story as fiction and nothing more. The scariest arc might've been about hom’s and the mc’s mutual friend, who can forgive someone who ruined his life, but not a homosexual. It's something that I've seen happening, but that I couldn't understand before reading this arc. I'm in a country who’s much more accepting of the lgbtq, so when i heard that my brother would dump any of his friends if they came out as gay, i thought to myself, “surely, he's exaggerating”. The situation with hom’s “friend” made me realize my brother was 100% serious. Welcome to room 305 is forcing me to exit my echo chamber, me who's surrounded by so many supportive people, and actually look at reality. Some people do care that much.
I'd also like to mention Yoona. I made the mistake of reading her first arc in my living room. I ended up going to the bathroom to cry. I can see myself in her se much. She can barely accept herself, and she's terribly lonely. If i didnt have the support system i have now, I would've ended up just like her. In fact, it took me years to call myself “queer” or “gay”. When someone asked, I'd just be “someone who likes girls”, because deep down, I was so ashamed. I feel like Yoona, even after accepting she doesn't like guys, being mad for a while when her twin refers to her as “lesbian”, even tho she is. Saying it out loud is so much scarier.
“Im so scared I’ll accidentally come out by mistake that I never drink with any of my friends”. The author mentioned that to write this manhwa, she asked queer people to share personal experiences. And I can't help but wonder, is that something someone submitted ? I felt like this for a very long time. When someone offered me a drink, I’d decline. I wasn't religious anymore, it wasn't out of fear for a god. I was scared I'd talk too much, and that I'd tell the wrong people that I liked girls. This is so painfully real, and even if it makes me tear up, it's somehow in a good way. I’m not alone. People lived that too. It's such a trivial line, but it touches me so much, that's why I love Welcome to room 305. Yoona as a whole is for me the best character. Her development to slowly accepting her identity, but still refusing to date any girls, and then finally having the courage to go out with one, is something I resonate with a lot. When I realized I liked girls, I just decided I'd never date. I’ll stay alone, marry a man to please my mom, and live that way. I thought that’d satisfy me. Until I fell for my current gf. It's funny, if you look at one of my older reviews (the one about “I want to be a wall”), I mention that I want nothing more than a lavender marriage. I felt a lot like Yoona at the end of her first arc. I knew I wouldn't work well with a man, so I thought I'd be glad to never pursue anyone. I'd have crushes but I wouldn't really wish for us to end together. I told myself I already made a plan in my head, and I'll follow it. And then I found a girl I really liked, and I just couldn't let her go. Not without trying, at least. A little like Yoona and Seol. Anyways, Yoona is a very good embodiment of a lesbian with internalized homophobia, and the author wrote her development in such a resonating way for me that I can't help but feel immense attachment for her. She makes me think, just like the whole manhwa forces me to think about myself, the people around me and how lucky I am that I haven't experienced that much discrimination for my sexuality. Idk it's so properly written while trying to constantly be silly that I can only praise the author for this wonderful writing, and for having taken the time to research about queer experience to give something like this.
Something I wish the author did was to expand more on Hom. He’s a central character in the series, yet we know little of his home situation, how he met his boyfriend, his close friends etc… I know it's supposed to be left unsaid because the MC would've hated to hear about it, but it's not like he knows the whole story with Yoona and Seol, or with the trans guy. I rlly wish we got to see him more characterized outside of his relationship w mc, like how and why he has this weird relationship w Mina, the ring, etc… The author mentioned she had to cut some parts of the story because it was getting long, but argh i wish it was longer!!
Overall I recommend it with all my heart, it's funny and hurts so much at the same time. Another masterpiece from Wanan, and ty oomf for always giving me good recommendations like those ⸜(｡˃ ᵕ ˂ )⸝♡ extra long topic today i had a lot to say and I fear Welcome to room 305 is just that good.

no home oh no home.... where do i even begin....
it has been years since i have read such a well written manga. i had doubts about starting it due to the artstyle, and thats why it has been hanging out in my "want to read" for more than a year. but oh my heavens. i was missing out on some true peak. this gave me back all the love i had for manhwas, love that through the year slowly began to fade, lost between 2 shitty isekai and another boring bl. The pacing of No Home is SOOO good, i cant think of a boring arc, and the introduction to backstory was soso well placed into the story, insane feat for a manhwa...... id get hooked for HOURS to no end, and even failed to complete some hw and studies i had to do.... oh well
the writing is immaculate, little to no flaw. each character is so well thought and written, ESPECIALLY for a manhwa, where characters tend to be quite shallow and can easily act ooc. Especially Hanjoon and Eunyung, oh boy what do i have to say about those two.
The constant anger Eunyung feels/repress during the whole serie is so well shown. He doesnt really yell unless provoked, his bitterness and jealousy are expressed in such a clever way, he feels real. I could go on and on about how clever his writing is, about how well the author handeled his backstory, teasing it through the serie just to reveal it at the right time. I could talk for hours about how well thought his expressions and vocabulary are (and im sure im missing out bits due to translation), about how each of his actions are so closely linked to his character. And Hanjoon too, the parallel yet disconnection between the two was such a pleasing topic to explore, the fact that Hanjoon just recently lost everything while Eunyung has never lived with something. The fact that its through this mutual pain that they got to get closer (as friends just like as enemies), and that they slowly changed the other for a better version of themselves. theyre not friends, theyre not lovers, they're a secret third thing i couldnt explain.
Even the side characters are so entretaining, and well thought of. I thought the addiction of Jiwon in the duo was quite a great idea, someone who is very disconnected from traumatic experiences and that went to the dorm for a much more trivial reason. The way he reacts to events may have been annoying at first, but its very interesting to see someone whos more "ordinary" next to those two weirdos. He even ends by being quite the likeable character, simply a little innocent.
If i have a few critics, its maybe toward Marie, Hara and Minju. They got introduced with their own full backstory, for it to not have been developped much more. If the author wanted to focus that much on eunyung and hanjoon, then i dont think it was the best decision so put so much enphasis on those characters for them to only have 1 arc. Also that scene with Juwan and Minju when they were kids ? it was a lot brushed off and not much explanation was given to their relationship, but oh well. given how bad i sobbed when i finished the story, i guess i can let that slide.
anyways i cried a lot when it ended, love them sm all of them.........cant believe it ended........ cant believe that 5 days ago i didnt know shit about eunyung..........woah. sorry for the long topic lmaoo i love writting reviews (￣∇￣")