velocity's manga / #horror(1)

ch 30 Overall thoughts after season 1: This is actually really good, I didn’t expect this story to be so interesting. The premise is quite unique, kind of an isekai but with a horror game, though the horror aspect of it is pretty toned down here, rather relying on playing with the concept of overused horror cliches than building the unsettling atmosphere and creating tension (unfortunately). The story started strong and the first 10 or so chapters really made me want to know what happened next immediately. After that, the tension kind of died down, but everything still remained quite intriguing. The pacing is for the most part good and consistent, though I can’t say that these 30 chapters were filled with action; instead, it was much more focused on the characters, their thoughts and decisions, and strategies regarding next moves. The relationship developing between Bada and Doha was also paced rather well; it wasn’t necessarily a slow-burn, but they also didn’t fuck every two chapters. I really liked how they came to work together. Other than that, their dynamics isn’t anything new or groundbreaking, but it’s enjoyable, though I wish Doha was more pushy and just a little bit more unhinged, given how Bada was bringing up how broken his moral compass seemed to be. And Doha has some potential to be a really interesting character, I just wished he wasn’t so bland when it comes to Bada because I really wanted to see more chemistry between them like at the beginning in chapter 6 (Doha suggesting that he can torture Bada himself was actually so good, but later this brazenness of his was toned down which was pretty sad to see). As for Bada, I really like him. He isn’t a whiny, pushover type of uke. It’s obvious that the author absolutely loves drawing him in different hairstyles and outfits, and it’s a feast for the eyes because he’s genuinely pretty, and his design had clearly the most thought put into. I think he’s one of the best designed ukes I’ve ever seen in any webtoon, lol. It’s good to see, given how so many ukes in other webtoons look so similar to each other, even when they’re from completely different titles made by completely different people. As for the other characters, I can’t say much yet. Their personalities were introduced through cliches at first, and they were slowly fleshed out some more throughout these 30 chapters, but not enough to make me interested in them. The only exception is Bada’s cousin, especially after Doha’s remark that he’s lying and he doesn’t seem to care about Bada at all. The plot itself suffers from some inconsistencies like the green save book that was at the abandoned house magically teleporting to the house they’re staying at in chapter 23 (idk if that was done on purpose as for the convenience from the gameplay point of view and the characters never really acknowledged that, or the author just forgot lol), or the fact that in chapter 1 Bada says that the game starts as they’re going to that house for an “overnight getaway”, but then in chapter 25 jaeseob says that they came here to do volunteer work and that it’s their first day here (again, was it done on purpose for some later twist but the characters just didn’t acknowledge it, or the author just messed up?), or even the fact that Doha’s shirt magically appeared at the haunted house’s front yard when he was outside “washing” in the rain (lol) from blood. As for the art, I really like the artstyle—it’s quite detailed and consistent, the characters are drawn nicely but I sometimes have problems with distinguishing between the rest of the group, but that might be because they haven’t been that memorable yet. The panelling here is really simple, with most of the panels being literally just similarly sized boxes, but each of them drawn with attention to details. Unfortunately, there’s nothing really interesting going on here and it’s actually a bummer, because the panels could’ve been utilized much better to emphasize some scenes or just to bring some flavor to the narrative. Overall, it was a really pleasant surprise. I will definitely tune in for season 2 when it starts coming out. I have a lot of questions regarding different aspects of the plot and I hope they will be answered, if not in season 2, then later but hopefully before the story ends.