tas's manga / #Beautiful Art(12)

4.5/5 amazing premise w sae-ah's ability to see smells and then using it to help the police (and then later the brazilian gang) in various little mysteries that lead up to the main one about her parents' death. her character felt very real and all of the actions (many times morally gray) she took also felt very natural and not forced--i could completely understand and sympathize. what also made this series more interesting was depicting very real legal consequences for our main characters--def improved worldbuilding. also, every chapter's lil ending with a fact about a type of smell was super interesting and each note about the chemistry behind perfumery was so so good. the artstyle is pretty unique but you get used to it and overall, the story was great and kept me interested till the very end. [SPOILERS] my only qualm is the whole pyeongan/sae-ah relationship . that's why it's not a 5/5 for me. she was 17 and he was in his 20s, already in a stable career, when he confessed to her, and ik they got together when she became an adult but that just does not sit right w me.

3.5/5 the visuals were always stunning and i loved s1 w yeonhee and her college life w friends and the progression of her relationship w yikyung!! but then s2 went kinda haywire w the [SPOILERS] cult infilitration arc (but that still makes sense ig and i was into it even tho it veered into a diff kind of drama) and then the whole last arc w yeonhee just?? running away?? and breaking up w yikyung thru a letter??? and completely ghosting him?? and running off to a village??? idk the whole thing was just so unnecessary and soooo many plotholes that just made the ending feel abrupt. honestly yikyung's soft puppy boy character saved the webtoon i was rooting for him the most. and i hope yeonhee can go to therapy to heal bc that girl went thru way too much

oh em gee…. the biggest fattest grin on my face rn after finishing this series i usually don’t like pregnancy tropes but this series DID IT SO WELL and heewon and doojoon had sooooo much chemistry and the way they fell for each other was just too too good and the way their relationship was always so healthy even when they had troubles and how miscommunication was never overly used but that al the couples in this story actually COMMJNICATED w each other oh it’s just too good and little byeo-ri and joon-seo the cutest ever my only complaint is that i wish we saw their story (same for secretary lee and ms. kim it would’ve been so fun to see their love story). and the last arc w taewoo and se-hyun was a miscommunication one but it was done beautifully and ugh i just love them all sm so much squealing was done throughout this entire journey. and heewon and her relationship w her mom was also done so well like [SPOILERS] obv they won’t be best friends suddenly bc you can’t just erase the emotional neglect she put heewon thru but the fact that they’re both trying to be there for each other still gave them a wholesome ending. 10/10

11/10 wow where to begin. this might be my fav manhwa ever. first, the art is so cute and unique and i adore all of the character designs and backgrounds vv much. second, every single spirit finger holds such a dear place in my heart. idk how the author managed to give every single character such amazing development in subtle ways. obv, amy's development was so so good, w her self-confidence naturally growing as she spent more time w the rest of the spirit fingers. then kevin and amy's relationship w kevin being the Best Boyfriend Ever. and each character's r/s's w their friends too developing over time (amy n sarah n may; kevin n tristan n david n steve). i honestly cant think of the right words to describe this except it is an experience and journey into self love, not just for the characters, but for the readers, as well. def a must read.

feb 24 2022 - sept 11 2022 9.99999999/10 stars oh my goodness where do i even begin. this is the most beautiful, most heartbreaking, most well-written, most everything story I have ever read ever. "lady sua" will forever make me blink back a few tears I'm ngl. a beautifully tragic (loose) retelling of the little mermaid. IF YOU ARE ON THE FENCE, READ IT. IT IS SO INCREDIBLY WORTH IT. [SPOILERS] first of all, the art was a 20/10 so freaking gorgeous and melodic I feel like that's the word for it. the character designs were great (seeing uihyeon's eyes go from bright and empathic and constantly kind to empty and dull and lifeless was honestly so clear it was spooky), the backgrounds were fantastic, the art at the end of each arc that went with a scene from the little mermaid was SOOO GOOD the only reason I'm sad that this manhwa was on daily pass on webtoon is bc i couldn't screenshot all of the beautiful scenes second, the characters oh my god. literal perfect character development you would not even believe. the young lady that sua worked for in the beginning (i forget her name) using the hand gestures with sua and the scissors she used to kill herself and then the parallels with uihyeon teaching sua how to read and write and communicate after she lost her voice was so stunning. her story was so sad but also the way that she was about to be forced into a marriage with a jpn man and same with uihyeon there were so many parallels there. the way that so many comments initially thought that the little mermaid retelling part would be the lady and uihyeon falling in love while sua fell for uihyeon sigh i wish that were the case. but then SUA's development ofc as the main character it was so interesting to see how she was such a talkative, lighthearted girl and then after she lost her voice we rarely heard her thoughts that was such a cool writing choice. i cried sm for sua when haesu made her lose her voice like even tho no one died (yet) sua grieving for her loss (both her voice and the lady) were just so ahhhh heartbreaking truly. and her last letter to uihyeon I'm gonna sob. AND her relationship with haesu but speaking of haesu oh my goodness did he have the most INSANE character development I have literally ever witnessed in all the media I have consumed. bc I hated this man's guts with my ENTIRE being when we first met him and i vowed that that would never change no matter what sad little backstory i would never forget nor forgive his awful actions towards sua. and then we learned his backstory and the whole temple arc happened. his whole family being killed and nokju (poor nokju :((( she was in the wrong place at the wrong time and she was only a child) always looking up to haesu and feeling cornered and sua was also at the wrong place at the wrong time but when he saw her as the snow maiden in the Russian fairy tale and fell in love w her, too and his brotherly bond w (and foil to) uihyeon and how that was broken after the incident w sua and his painful death protecting everyone and haesu deserved better. everyone did. ugh and then uihyeon, too, his resolve and dedication to joseon was so admirable but that was also what the little mermaid retelling was for--his love for joseon outweighing his love for sua and it was so so heartbreaking to see him change so much bc of all of the pain and of being one of the last survivors in their little group arrghhhh. then, the STORYTELLING AND WRITING was on a whole nother level bc ofc i cried like a baby during almost every arc but the writing was so so stunning like all the metaphors and symbolism and the rebels' unconditional love and hope for their idea of joseon and how most of the characters were never able to see the end of japan's imperial rule so freaking sad w all that said. this would've been a 10/10 wholeheartedly if it weren't for the epilogue. i just don't think the open ending was done well, tbh. like i was crying sm during the last ep and you can already guess where things go from after sua leaves to do uihyeon's job for him and kill his father and the other jpn officials and that would've been fine. but i immediately stopped crying when the epilogue came bc they talked about the aftermath in such an unemotional way and that just took some of the life out of it for me. i rly personally did not appreciate that. i did like seeing geon and yeongyeon's son grown up but it didn't feel super necessary to me?? i do understand the intention and i do think AN epilogue was necessary bc this is a story about sua but it is mostly a story about Korean resistance under Japanese rule and sua and uihyeon were only a small part of that but i just feel like it could've been done sm better idk. however, i did like the very last scene where uihyeon and sua reunite (most likely in the afterlife) on the very beach that they first met. (omg I just noticed how if uihyeon really did commit suicide, that would've been another parallel to lady yunhwa's end, too omgomgomg) overall, i do not regret reading this and it is def one of my top favs. and I already basically wrote an essay but I could write a whole paper on this I swear

8.5/10 this was honestly a great cute story it has some cliches but it still manages to make them work. in the beginning, i looooooved how calming each episode was with hyeondu pampering clients it felt very slice-of-lifey in a good way. and the art is so cute and nostalgic like 2010s shojo manga. and then it started getting more dramatic and i still loved it! the whole thing w hyeondu's mom's death and the grace-rainbow rivalry was super interesting. hate grace's CEO. i think the ending was just slightly rushed (i still enjoyed it) but i would have found it slightly more satisfying if the author lengthened it out just a bit. i also rmbr hyeondu's confession felt kinda abrupt too but i dont regret reading moonlight beauty parlor! still a cute story and im glad everything was tied up in the end (ina being the meerkat and hyeondu sleeping only w the meerkat plushie as a child was such a full circle moment)

10/10 first of all, the art is definitely a masterpiece i need a musum of each panel of this webtoon bc oh my goodness i have never seen more captivating art like i was literally stuck in place frozen for certain panels bc of how magical the art is. myst, true to her name, is depicted with a (mystical) ethereal beauty and i rmbr a comment that said it's not just her being conventionally attractive bc there are many attractive characters in webtoons, but the artist captured such a transcendent, literally otherworldly beauty with her like her eyes too they feel like they transcend the screen and reality idk what else to say to convince anyone to appreciate how gorgeous the art is. the story was also so so funny and i truly adored myst and garam and the friends and all of the grandma neighbors and even lala. i loved the progression of their relationship but the mysterious bit about myst's origins was also so intriguing. [SPOILERS] myst's __ scene stabbed me in the chest. i was SO heartbroken i felt garam's pain. we all felt the dark foreshadowing from the prologue and him narrating the story in past tense with a sense of regret and longing for the happy moments but THAT DID NOT MAKE IT HURT ANY LESS. seeing the light leave garam's eyes and him grieving without any support bc myst's identity was a secret just argh it hurt so bad. so when she finally came back and they started over i went all misty-eyed and breathed a deep sigh of relief i didnt even care that she didnt rmbr i was like it's totally fine. but then when she gets her memories back OBV i am even more elated and overjoyed. tbvh i wouldn't have completely minded if the story ended with her death bc from a storytelling perspective, it may have been satisfying as a tragedy? esp bc throughout we all know smth bad is going to happen and garam is living a future w/o myst. but i loved myst sm i chose happiness idfc this is fiction and if the author wanted to bring her back i was not gonna question their choices.

7/10 Gorgeous art and action scenes, emotional scenes and fun characters and good worldbuilding. Great but personally not my type of webtoon so I got bored a lot. Lovely ending though!

10/20/23 - 7/11/23 9.5/10 such gorgeous gorgeous art and i love both characters soo much im glad that yura was able to prioritize her career while also prioritizing Seunghyeon and their relationship dynamic was soooo good (and so mature like they addressed potential power dynamic issues esp w her trauma w her horrible ex) and so heartwarming. seunghyeon is also SO fine so many butterflies throughout this series. <333