Type: Manhwa (Something like a manga but in Korean). Chapters: 29. Status: Completed.
*Finished the whole Manhwa.
3.5 stars. Holy crap! That is so creepy and mysterious. This Manhwa is basically about a strange, mysterious and so pretty woman that literally everyone in this city falls in love with her. She controls them somehow and they want to kill each other to have her for himself, I believe. And then the mystery of this woman will be reveled.. who she is and what happened in her past. So pretty, isn't she?! :D
The story is told from the prospective of one of her lovers. Both of them are college students. She had no place to live so they ended up living together and he immediately falls in love with her. Strange things start to happen to the guy and someone tries hard to save him from this woman because he knew she was evil. What happens next was unexpected at all. It kept me engaged till the very end.
The art is brilliant and creepy. And there is some mature content in it, and there is blood literally everywhere! I don't recommend it for the younger readers. So creepy.. it gave me shivers. (I am a chicken, though.)
The end was strange and left me with so many questions.
This is a rating and review of the entire manhwa. To support the artist, purchase the original here.
Story: ☆☆☆☆ Art: ☆☆☆☆☆
"Seo Jeonggou returns to his hometown to attend university after a three-year absence. On his first night back home, he encounters a beautiful young girl named Seola and quickly begins a sexual relationship with her. What Seo doesn't know is that Seola is a girl of unusual power who harbors dark secrets. And Seola would rather keep Seo oblivious, as she is putting Seo under the same mesmerizing spell she has put on every other man in town..."
Beyond the description I quoted above, things will get spoilery from here on out.
This was a quick, self-contained little story, and one of the better "horror" (I'm being generous) manga/manhwa I've read in a long while. It isn't horror in the traditional sense of the genre; you won't find explicit gore, any spine-tingling supernatural scenes, or even creepy characters to give you nightmares for days. However, the ambiance is what sets the tone. The art style itself combined with the consistently gloomy atmosphere worked extraordinarily well, even though it isn't what I'm used to.
The story follows our male protagonist, Seo, who--like every other man--is literally enchanted by Seola. As a result, she has become supreme overlord over an entire town filled with these entranced "dolls" of hers, ready to fulfill her heart's every desire.
There are a lot of gratuitous sex scenes, a lot of unnecessary nudity, just to--I guess--further drive home the message regarding how depraved Seola is, and how far her men have devolved into little playthings.
This setting; the inescapable perversion and dehumanisation that afflicts the men of this village, is the horror I'm talking about, and there is a touch of the Stephen King horror to it: that surreal effect created by applying normal human reactions in otherwise inhumane conditions.
The twist, though, that we learn quite early on, is that Seola is not as wonderful and perfect as every male seem to believe she is.
And this is where my criticism begins.
Seola's entire depravity and cruelty is a result of her actually being a monster. And by monster I mean she's just really, really, really physically disgusting. Imagine boils all over your body, hideously bulbous nose and bloated face. Just the whole works. And since she lives in a society where beauty makes the world go round, her parents literally lock her in her room all day every day, telling her she is oh so beautiful and basically protecting her from potential bullying.
I don't understand if they ever tried improving her condition with surgery or something, or why that wasn't a viable solution. But anyway, Seola's powers manifested when, at the brink of despair, her parents decide the only way out is a triple homicide.
Seola finds her powers and is able to save herself, and from that moment on lives by maintaining this illusion of beauty and manipulating every man to her will.
To be honest, I am quite done with the whole ugly characters = evil characters nonsense. And nowhere in this manhwa did they try to subvert this stereotype.
So, I don't know what reaction or emotion the artist wanted us to feel at the conclusion of this manhwa, but mine was . . . well, good for her!
I mean, am I a bad person for thinking the literal reincarnation of Satan has a great point when he says:
Satan, literally Satan is the only one who can look past physical beauty and that . . . I guess, is a . . . bad? thing?
I mean, I dunno. If conflicted was the effect the author was going for, then you got me there. It's not like the main characters were bad people, it's not like how Seola used her powers was at all commendable . . . at the end of the day, nobody was fully at fault and nobody deserved to either live or die.
I only wish there had been more to Seola's evil arc than "I was born ugly". That really does not sit well with me and only reinforces the already massive fixation our society has on what is deemed attractive.
Also: Where are all the women in this story?? Aside from Seonae, who actively takes action against Seola, where are the other, non-enchanted inhabitants of this village? Seola's power of mind-control only takes effect on men. Are you telling me no other women have noticed that their sons, husbands, fathers, boyfriends, are all acting rather f*cked up? None of them, not one jealous b*tch, ever tries to investigate into Seola and muster up a group of angry femmes to smack her into oblivion?
This manwha has been on my mind for years. I can never stop remembering the ending of the series that caught me off guard not in a disappointing way, but I was shocked how it ended like "wow I did not expect that to happen."
This supernatural horror is something else. However, if you don't want to read a comic that is half a smut, then I guess you could skip a few pages to read on because the scenes aren't necessary (to be honest) or if you don't care about those type of scenes and you just ended up like story regardless on what it...shows...hey, you like what you like.
I'll try not to say any spoilers, but I felt like I already did.
Anyways, besides the interesting story and the surprising and unexpected conclusion, the artwork is pretty dang decent but enough to give you a vibe which fits for a story like this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.