Fraiser's Manga

This is Depression, the webcomic.
So much misery, but I was intrigued to the point of staying up til 2am!!!

This is about a highschool boy who must deal with a classmate who blackmails him over the collection of photos he takes of his crush.
This mc is also dealing with trauma from past bullying over the fact he was gay.
I believe this story is about bullying.

The blackmailer shows us the value of empathy & why we need it to socialize.
He hurts people by only thinking of how consequences affect himself, but not how others may feel in a situation. He does not know how to empathize & connect with others' emotions, & because of that, he can be really twisted, sometimes without even trying to be, from ignorance.
For example, the mc will react violently, & desperately, when cornered & repeatedly hurt. We see an interesting range of reactions from groveling, to crying, to hitting, to just shutting down & ignoring all together.
There is a scene where blackmailer randomly kisses MC in public, without his consent, in a scheme to humiliate his evil step mother. Because of his past trauma, the MC burts into tears & vomits. At this, the blackmailer is offended. He thinks, "you must really think I'm disgusting" & tells the MC to go home & cry there.
Even in the face of someone experiencing sheer pain, the blackmailer cannot understand the MC's emotions & instead, focuses on how HE was offended.

This is a sad webcomic to say the least & I had no idea what the hell I was getting into when I clicked to read the first two chapters. This is slowburn & given the exploration of his pain & past the proper pacing it needs to peel back & uncover those wounds.

I like this! This is interesting! I care for these characters. I want them to be alright.
I kinda wish MC would end up with his crush, Chan-il. He genuinely seemed like a nice, caring person. Though with this webcomic, it can be somewhat nihilistic in people. MC is surrounded in a cruel society where people hide their true faces behind fake smiles. It's scary to wonder if Chan-il is the same too. If he is sincere, I personally think he could be the one to help heal MC. Rooting for him! Or else imma hafta write fanfic..
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Art is super beautiful as well. The blackmailer, Cirrus, has these alluring, foxy eyes, with cute nose & mouth. It suits him as a charmer.

Good story!


4-16-22: End of season 1
Seriously?! You mean not end of the story, but season 1???
It's a bit of a slog lately, kinda uneventful. & I really don't like Cirrus, can Skylar just be with Chan-Il?

4-04-23
Wow, an entire year later & I'm back to reading season 2. So Chan-il is a no-go, he's way too straight. So that's no gonna happen :/
Cirrus has caught feelings & is trying to navigate that realization in his own socially inept, dumb way.
Don't know how I feel about Cirrus being endgame. I'll need more convincing for him to redeem his past shitty behavior towards MC. Because not exactly a healthy start with him.
On another note, I hate to say this, but I feel the quality of the art downgraded a bit? The author relies on 3D models for drawing reference & it shows too much. There are some panels or scenes which look lifeless because you can see the model. On certain drawings, the characters will still retain the stiffness from drawing over the pose of the model as well. Kinda killing the art for me.
I'm still interested in this though. There's a lot of profound feeling invested in this story. I love these characters