worldstraveller6

Steel Ball Run is my undisputed favorite manga of all time and is considered near unanimously among the JoJo community to be the best Part ever written. Should an anime adaptation come out and mess everything up, the reaction will be the same as when Berserk's 2016 adaptation was released, it's THAT hyped among our community. As a huge fan of JoJo, I enjoyed every part, no matter their flaws, but I never really considered any of them to be masterpieces. Until I read SBR. Araki must have had some kind of enlightenment or something because I don't understand how he could make something that completely transcends his previous works like this one did. It is so ridiculously ahead in every other part in everything- the art, the characters, the story, the tension, the emotion, the Stands, everything is light years ahead of even the best parts of when JoJo was Shonen, and it kind of makes me wish JoJo was released as Seinen from the beginning.

The story takes place in an alternate universe after Part 6, and it's almost like a re-telling of Phantom Blood, except it takes place in America in the 1800s, and is focused on a country-wide horse race. The main character once again has a tragic past and is helped by a Zeppelli in his own personal quest since they share the same goal, but gradually forge deep bonds of friendship and trust as the story progresses, and let me tell you, the story gets crazy as shit. Basically? The entire horse race is a sham orchestrated by the President of the United States in order to find the parts of a corpse who may or may not be Jesus Christ himself. The horse race itself is pretty intense to read already, and this plot makes the story even more intense and interesting.

The art is gorgeous to look at. Araki is one of my favorite manga artists ever and his art has been consistently beautiful throughout his entire career, but he's really outdone himself in this Part. It's probably because he has more time now that he's switched to Seinen, and every detail, character, and shading is so much better than anything he's ever done before. It serves to make the character and Stand designs pleasant to look at, and the environments and weather effects look amazing as well.

The characters are easily the best part about SBR though. We have Johnny Joestar, perhaps the most sympathetic JoJo to ever be created, and he is written with severe depression and manages to not feel ham-fisted in, which to me, is remarkable. His character development is amazing, and is tracked not only by his thoughts and actions, but also by his Stand, and let me tell you, Johnny's Stand is absolutely amazing, and it's one of my favorite Stands in the entire series. The "Jo-Bro", Gyro Zeppelli, is one of my favorite manga characters, period. He's intelligent, funny, badass, and he's super entertaining to read because of his colorful personality. The villain is also my favorite JoJo villain ever. Similarly to Handsome Jack from the Borderlands series, the villain of this part could also be viewed as a hero depending on your perspective. Blessed with one of the most confusing Stand powers ever created, a nigh-unmatched charismatic personality and his undying patriotism, I came to admire him, perhaps even more so than the protagonists themselves. Also, one of my favorite things about SBR is that they ACTUALLY MADE DIO INTERESTING! He is no longer the bland one-dimensional character with no redeeming qualities. He holds many of the flaws the original had, but he has positive traits to match. He's still the determined and ambitious young man we all know, but now he won't go on a killing spree for fun or scream how he's the strongest for 30 pages straight. If only Part 3's DIO was as good as this one.

I won't lie to you and say that it doesn't have a slow start, but I personally didn't have a problem at all. It seems most of my favorite manga/anime series all have an extremely slow start but once it gets into action, it's a non-stop thrill ride. It's one of the few times where I was genuinely moved by something I read. The anime adaptation is still years away, but I still look forward to the day where we can get this masterpiece animated. I highly recommend reading it (especially digitally colored, it looks gorgeous with the coloring). 10/10

Warning: the following review cointains some spoilers and is meant to be read by those who have either some previous knowledge of the manga or have already finished it. If you don`t want to get spoiled, don`t read it.

Ok, before i begin, let me get this out of the way: this manga is great. It`s an extraordinary shounen/slice of life story and one of the best i`ve read. If you haven`t yet, go read it now!

I`ll start with what i think it`s the main point of this series (besides the bullying and the deaf people wake up call) - communication. How people communicate. How people share their ideas. Their feelings. How they establish relationships. Love. Hate. Jealousy. Kindness. (Self) Awareness. Friendship. How they are able to connect to the world. How the world connects back to them. In other words, what shape has their voice.

Such is Koe no Katachi.

You see, communication exists because people interact with each other. They need to.

“Man is by nature a social animal; an individual who is unsocial naturally and not accidentally is either beneath our notice or more than human. Society is something that precedes the individual. Anyone who either cannot lead the common life or is so self-sufficient as not to need to, and therefore does not partake of society, is either a beast or a god. ” - Aristotle

And people have their own circunstances. Different cultures, different upbringings, different life experiences. They are shaped by the good and bad things life gives to them. And then there`s society. There`s nothing worse than society. Society bleaches your mind with the things everyone think it`s good or bad. It limits your freedom and autonomy. Your way of thinking starts blending with the masses, you start losing your identity.
And yet you still need it and can`t live without it. You need to associate with others because you`re a social animal with basic social needs, it`s something that`s inherent to being human. That`s why society is there. And there`s nothing better than society.

Koe no Katachi works with that notion and explores the idea of communication. Precisely because people are different and have their own circunstances, some communicate better than others. Some need help in order to communicate because they can`t do it normally, like Shouko. Others just can`t bring themselves to communicate through normal means, so they got to work extra hard to do it while still following their own convictions, like Shouya.

I`ve got to say that i like how much Ishida grows throughout the story. From being a childish bully to an independent, completely mature young man. How he tries to make up for all the shit he did against Shouko, how he tries to deal with his "old" friends, who betrayed him and let him get all the blame. How he battles against own his self-loathing attitude and his self-imposed moral impossibility to be happy after having done what he did to Shouko. How he fights his own flaws and insecurities and, especially, how hard he works to do that. Hell, even his denseness towards both Ueno`s and Nishi`s feelings for him were kinda endearing and funny to watch. From the 1st chapter to the last one his development was brilliantly done and there`s was only two minor things i didn`t like in there. On one hand, it was his career choice. I hoped he would become a person who would work with deaf/disabled people, i always thought that would be the most logical choice, event though i completely understand why he chose to be a hairdresser); on the other hand, it was his behaviour towards Nishimiya. Sometimes (not always, only in one or other chapter) it felt like he was trying too hard to be her friend and to be friends with everyone else to the point of being almost obsessed with it and i didn`t like that.
Actually, that edginess in the characters behaviour at certain points in the story is the main criticism i have for this manga. Sometimes, you could feel a certain edginess not only in Ishida, but also in Nagatsuka, Kawai and Ueno. And that holded back my overall enjoyment and their own characterization quite a bit, to be honest.
Aside from that and back to Ishida, his development was flawless.

And speaking of flawless character development, we have to mention Shouko`s little imouto, Yuzuru. What a great character she turned out to be! The kid suffered as much as her sister, yet she matured so much over the course of the manga, it was one of the most pleasant things in the entire story, to see her grow up for the sake of her sister and for her own sake. Yuzuru is probably my second favorite character in Koe no Katachi, only second to Ishida.

In fact, both siblings were great. Shouko was one of the best female leads i remembre seeing in shounen manga. Extremely likable, a superbly mature and kind kid who deserves all the happiness in the world because she suffered way too much when she was a kid, to the point of wanting to die. Those chapters when her depression hit the highest point and she attempted suicide (as well as her suffering after Ishida went to the hospital right after saving her) were heart wrenchingly beautiful, so realistic and sad it almost moved me to tears. With Ishida or without him in her future, she build up something special with him, something that goes way beyond regular friendship or even romance. Something that won`t change forever, no matter what.

You see, Koe no Katachi is great because it delves deeper than most shounen manga in delicate themes, which are poorly/irrealistically portrayed more often than not. Fortunately, KnK isn`t one of those cases and naturally challenges upfront complex themes like love and hatred, bullying and depression, and most proeminently, friendship.

In the complicated human relationships that are established here between the characters lies the driving force of Koe no Katachi. For me, characters are always the ones who should drive the plot forward (and not the opposite) and that`s what happens here.

Personally, i really liked Ueno`s character. She was indeed a “hurricane”, like Ishida rightly says in chapter 61. Even though i didn`t like certain things in her character development, she was one of the main reasons why i love this manga. She`s strong yet emotionally fragile, determined yet insecure. She hates the world as much she hates herself and, most importantly, she knows Ishida better than anyone else and is quite similar to him in many aspects, which is something she bluntly tells him and something he rapidly acknowledges. In a way, she is what Ishida would have been had he not been punished by what he did to Shouko. Luckily for her, she was still able to meet Shouko again and most importantly Sahara. She grew up while realizing that what she did was wrong and even if felt like a slow change, it`s still there and we`re able to see that change in the ending chapters, pretty much ever since Ishida got out of the hospital.

As for the rest of the characters i still haven`t mentioned, i must say that while they were interesting, they fell kinda flat in comparison to Ishida, Yuzuru, Ueno and Shouko. They were still pretty good characters. Nagatsuka was annoying sometimes but it was still entertaining for the most part, Mashiba was plain weird and Kawai was one of the biggest bitches i`ve seen in manga. Sahara is a really kind girl. Shouko`s mother and Ishida`s mother were totally awesome. Maria was the cutest thing ever and i`m still pissed we never saw Ishida`s sister face.

Lastly, a short mention to the Ishida/Nishimiya relationship in this story (once again, heavy spoilers!).

Before you guys jump on me and burn me in a stick while throwing me stones at the same time, i must admit that a part of me didn`t want them to end up together. A part of me would rather have them keep being friends, in a "more than friends, less than lovers" kind of relationship, you know? Just like Kasuga and Nakamura. Or Kurosawa and Kitahara. Chapter 54 made me realize that when Ishida said to Nishi "I want you to help me live." I feel that those words feel 100% more powerful and meaningful than a simple - and i daresay clichéd - "I love you".
You see, i`m one of those people who doesn`t think that a story needs to have the two main characters absolutely ending up together. KnK is one of those cases.
Even though i still think that in this case those two ending up together is obviously a 100% legit outcome, i still think that their relationship is so much more than that...we`re talking about something more essential here, something deeper than love to the point it disappoints me to stop there, at the "love" part. That`s why i think Aku no Hana or Onani Master Kurosawa are perfect examples of this, both authors in those two works understood that perfectly and, to me, they`re the quintessential examples of what a coming of age story truly means - which is to grow up, to become an adult and, most importantly, a better human being. And I can`t be more happy because Koe no Katachi understood that just fine.

This one-shot is the debut work of Miura, author most well known for his renowned work Berserk (1989).

I mostly recommend this manga for fans of the author Miura (especially Berserk readers).

The art style is very detailed, but it simply doesn't look good to me personally. His art has improved a lot over the years and the art in this one-shot was a very good start, especially for his age at the time.

It was fun to see how the strength of Miura's character writing was visible at such a young age already. The characters are more complicated than it seems at first. The characters are also what makes it an enjoyable read as the setting is just a vague post-apocalyptical war. The fun of the one-shot is the characters within them. The way they think, handle and react on situation at hand.

I'm torn if it is good or bad.

The plot itself is very twisted. The atmosphere is so dark. The story revolves around obsessive love. The love of a boy for a girl to the point of killing, a brother complex, a girl in love with her girl best friend, mother's love to the point of committing suicide just so her child won't separate from her.
And yeah, the characters are just as crazy as well.

But if it's anything, even though it's like this, you can't just stop yourself from reading to know what's more. What will happen? What's the extent of their obsessiveness?

And another of its redeeming point is its good art.

Story = 6
Art = 9
Character = 3
Enjoyment = 6
Overall = 5

Short lived but really entertaining Manga.

Love Rush showed a lot of promise to myself as i was reading the weekly chapters, i was immediately sold on the artstyle which is so beautiful and the interesting take the author took on the harem/romance genre.

It had me hooked in from day one and just could not wait for the next chapter to come our each week and was looking forward to how the story would develop and the new types of characters we would meet.

Set in a fantasy setting also provided great opportunity to explore different races and potentially even realms.

In terms of what we got, it ended up being average due to it's decline in popularity and low number of chapters however i believe it showed great potential. Would of been a interesting manga if it had continued and not had a rushed ending.

The hot chicks look like a harem. They are not a harem. The MC looks like a loser-kun. He is an educational ninja. The mean girls look evil. The ... well, yeah, they are pretty bad, but they have their own issues, so there's that. What I'm trying to get at is that this manga is a trope-buster. Just about everything is flipped from what you'd expect. And that is a very good thing.

The MC is a plain-looking self-proclaimed virgin and that set's the table for the biggest expectation subversion. As you read on, you find he is actually a smart, crafty professional. He is also stoic and distant to the point that it's almost impossible to root for him. Instead, you just want to see he's going to handle the next hurdle. So far, he has yet to fail.

The genre appears to be a mystery-thriller, with a little bit of high-school character-building thrown in for sauce. I read the first 18 chapters in one sitting and I'll be monitoring for the next. This is interesting.

Each chapter is a self-contained yuri story. The first is about two girls who have known each other since elementary school, one of whom wants the other to understand that her feelings go deeper than friendship. They prepare to play their instruments at a school festival.

The second story is about a pro archer who's embarrassed about her masculine body, and her classmate unexpectedly finds out about her embarrassment...

A perverted spice teacher takes the stage in the third story. She likes her students, but not the male ones, who are too unrefined for her.

The fourth story is about a female painter and her subject. She quit painting in front of other people for a while, to protect herself.

Both stories are ecchi, and the one chapter format doesn't give the author much of a chance to show the characters interacting. The second and fourth stories are more artistic than the others, because they focus on more realistic problems. The art is simple and a little rough, but this gives each story a feeling of spontaneity and genuineness. The series seems to be titled Concerto after the first story, seeing as the rest of them don't have anything to do with music.

This manga is focused on martial arts, but is just as solid in other aspects as well. The martial arts aspect is reasonably well done, wherein the fights look pretty good and everything seems to flow well, though it doesn't go into that much depth with a couple exceptions. The characters were also super interesting and amusing as well.  Onodera straddles the line between arrogant and confident well, having faith in his own abilities and even showing off sometimes, but he isn't someone that gets overtly angry or pathetic when he actually loses. Rather he accepts it quickly, and goes from there, pushing forward to improve, even if he has to bow his head to do it. Hence, I really liked him. Asato is also quite cool, in that she's a teacher, but as is rare for mangas such as these she isn't a haughty one at all, rather she seems to get along tremendously well with Onodera. Akane on the other hand, was a good amount arrogant I would say, which resulted in a personality clash with the other two, which resulted in things never really going her way, which was amusing and ultimately resulted in some growth towards the end, which was interesting to see, even if it was super rushed. And that's where we get to the biggest issue in the manga, the ending being ridiculously rushed. In terms of character growth and development, it did show some for Onodera in a way that was cool, but still felt far too rushed. On the other hand, in terms of his relationship with Asato, it's even worse, in that it doesn't seem to reach any sort of conclusion at all, which was incredibly unsatisfying. And in terms of plot, the ending is so abrupt, that upon reaching the final page, it gives a very strong feeling of "That's it?", which is rather unfortunate because I really did like where it was going. The art was really great. 

tl;dr: A martial arts focused manga with interesting characters and great art, but a ridiculously rushed ending. 

Some Spoilers Ensue:

Hmmm...I dunno how I feel about this series. It's like a mixture of fan fiction, and Gossip Girl. Both of which I enjoy so from that point of view, it was good. I was entertained and strangely addicted even though all of the characters were terrible people (minus maybe Shinogu but I was weirded out by the sister/brother thing). It worked in Clueless, but in this series, the whole dynamic between the brother and sister bordered on creepy. The author also left a lot to the imagination. I was slightly annoyed we didn't get any Asuza aftermath...did he go after Ryoki and get his revenge? Seems we have to come up with our own ending a bit. I enjoyed the little extra about Akane and Subaru, but the 10 Days extra was terrible. I may be in the minority here, but I was happy she ended up with Ryoki. He was by far the most interesting character though he was so self centered and abusive, it's amazing anyone would choose him to be with. Hatsumi on the other hand was an absolutely terrible character on par with Bella from Twilight. I almost didn't want to read about her because she was so helpless. Also this series is the most rape-y weird thing (manga wise) I've read. I don't know if that made it more unbelievable or more terrifying. All in all, it was addictive and I actually liked the read most of the time, though I wouldn't put it on any pedestal. 6/10.

It’s been a year or two since I started reading True Beauty on WEBTOON and quite a bit has happened since, both irl and in the manhua. Between school and being busy with my personal avocations I didn’t have much time to sit down and write a review here like how I planned to but finally I had enough of a break to gather my thoughts and pen them. I would like to leave a few disclaimers however, before I get started, and sort of give a quick rundown (and another even quicker one) of what this review will cover (the TL;DR for all you lazy shmucks).

I would like to address that all of the commentary written here is my own opinion. I am perfectly fine with people disagreeing with my sentiments, and fully expect it to some degree. However, I will not tolerate slander or any sort of degradation of myself on this site. This is meant to be a fun review/discussion not an attack on one’s preferences, beliefs, or viewpoints. If there is a problem, please message me directly and I will be more than happy to discuss and, if necessary, remedy the issue. Should the problem escalate beyond my capacity, I will make sure to take appropriate action as needed. Thank you for understanding.

Lastly, before I actually get into writing the review, because I know a lot of people don’t fancy reading long-ass essays like this, I have opted to provide a nice TL;DR below. But, fair warning, it’s not that short either tbh. If you REALLY don’t want to read a lot, then check the RTFL;DETAR (Really Too F*cking Long; Didn’t Even Think About Reading) further below.

TL;DR

Main Characters - Jugyeong (Female MC) is more than a bit too naive for this world and honestly pretty dumb. At times it’s annoying, other times really endearing. When she surprises you with her moments of empathy, they seem to really hit home and make her feel much more genuine and down-to-earth as a character. Suho (Male MC) starts off as the cold, “I’m better than everyone” character and he’s not that likable. Yes, he has a few moments with Jugyeong early on, but after looking back I realized overall, he was kind of an ass to her to start. As their relationship progresses up to midpoint, it, and he get much much better though. A lot more nuance to his character is shown and it helps build him as that typical tsundere character. Seojun (Second Male MC) is someone who tries to act cool and be a “bad boy” but he’s actually soft as shit and it makes for both great comedic and emotional parts of the manhua.

Overall, the story that drives this manhua isn’t anything special. Super stereotypical. I don’t need to read the rest of the manhua to know how it pans out. Even without reading the manhua you know exactly where this is going. Every high school cliche you can think of. It’s all there. Despite these overdone cliches and boring plotline, the writing itself is fair. I'm not really into romance kind of stuff, I admit it did take a bit to get used to the tone, but after I did, I found myself liking it. It’s worth the read imo. Definitely not going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but I really like the characters. If anything, the best takeaway is that both male ones are likable.

RTFL;DETAR

Still better than My Deepest Secret (read if you haven't), which the genre is what I usually prefer to read/watch. You'll sure love True Beauty if you're into romance/drama type of stuff.

Character: 7

Character-wise I’ll be looking at primarily the three main characters, with short breakdowns of some ancillary ones in an “Other Characters” section. For each of the main leads, I’ll discuss what I liked and didn’t like about each, things I think could be improved, and any other commentary I might have. I will do my best to keep it as succinct as possible, but knowing how I write, my definition of succinct isn’t necessarily that short. Apologies in advance.

Jugyeong Lim (임주경) - Starting out, jugyeong has been ridiculed, bullied, reprimanded. Not even her own family defended or really in any way helped her, her brother just adds as one of her bullies. I get why they needed to pin her character as the unfortunate “loser-in-every-way”, but I think they could’ve gotten that point across much better than simply shoving it down our throats. Luckily it didn’t last long and I was able to move on from it quickly. Although I wish her make-up transformation would’ve taken a bit longer to complete, I understand that the artist probably wanted her to have as much of a 0-100 makeover as possible. Something I think they should do, if they aren’t already (we’ll see by the end of the manhua), is to show her skin gradually getting healthier or better over time naturally, it could serve as sort of a visual representation of her own growth and development as a person/character. Perhaps at the low point in the manhua. Personality-wise, I think her character is well-defined, albeit pretty cliche. Between her naive, child-like nature and generally awkward shyness, she ends up being about as much of a stereotypical female MC as you can get. She’s the girl-next-door who needs protection from the big bad world and only the most handsome guy (or guys in this case) can save her. I’m not saying this is a bad thing, but it’s not a really good thing either. Sure it works, but it’s nothing special.

Suho Lee (이수호) and Seojun Han (한서준) - These two might get a bit dicey because I’m going to do a good amount of comparing between Suho and Nam Do San from Start-Up (a K-Drama Series), as well as Seojun and Han Ji Pyeong. Bear with me as I go over as much as I can before I shoot myself for talking about the disappointment that was Start-Up again.
Right off the bat, I want to clarify why True Beauty does the double male lead approach better than Start-Up. Unlike the latter, True Beauty introduces the main lead first, and gives him a genuine connection with the female lead. True Beauty introduces the main lead first, and gives him a genuine connection with the female lead. While it’s debatable on who the better guy in terms of personality is for Jugyeong between Suho and Seojun, Suho at least was there when it all began. This is extremely important plot-wise for Suho because it makes it his game to lose. Meaning it was less of his job to win her over, and more so to keep her by his side. Seojun’s role is to pull and tug as much as possible in order to try and wrench her free. For the sake of the argument, I’m going to ignore the slightly misogynistic concept that Jugyeong has to belong to one of these two dudes (which in and of itself is a whole essay worth writing about), and focus just on how it plays out. With Suho, Jugyeong’s heart was his from the get go. On the contrary, Do San should have been in Seojun’s situation at the beginning, where he needed to win Dal Mi over, but by taking advantage of feelings that weren’t meant for him he essentially cheated his way to winning. Ji Pyeong’s inaction is to blame for part of this, yes, but remember that when he wanted to reveal the truth, Do San wouldn’t let him. In doing so, Do San gives us the first look at sort of an ugly selfish possessiveness trait of his that comes around more than once. To clarify, this is NOT because of his choice to pursue Dal Mi, but to do so by lying to her to “win her over” (in the beginning stages of their relationship) instead of fighting the battle openly like Seo Jun does (which makes his character MORE likeable). In this way, True Beauty is sort of a reverse Start-Up. So if we imagine Su Ho as Ji Pyeong, since both were the leads who “had the girl” (again, for the sake of argument, ignore the misogyny of this whole situation) and Seo Jun as Do San (the leads fighting for the girl), I guarantee people would not be nearly as supportive of Seojun had he faked his way to Jugyeong’s heart, then told her the truth. It just doesn’t work like that. Obviously in real life it’s completely possible, but then again things like incest are possible too but we don’t see that portrayed in manhuas all the time now do we? At least for me, when I read a manhua like True Beauty or watch a K-Drama like Start-Up, I have certain expectations for how characters behave and how the story unfolds. Plot choices have to be justified and I made it extremely clear in my first essay that the decisions in Start-Up were not justified at all. And perhaps because I was so jaded with that show that True Beauty seems like a masterpiece all of a sudden, but I am extremely appreciative of the fact that both Suho and Seojun are likable characters. Yes, each of them have their flaws, but thank God neither has an inferiority complex like Do San. Although Suho’s stalkerish habits are a bit concerning, I get that it’s because he’s trying to protect Jugyeong. Seojun too is a great second lead, with the right blend of “bad boy” and “soft boi”. He’s arguably my (and probably a lot of people’s) favorite character and so many of the other details about him serve to make him that much better (his sister, his mother, Se Yeon, his motley gang, and even Jugyeong). Every interaction brings out a new dimension to his character and he keeps getting better. His newfound love motivates him to break out of his shell and discover things he didn’t even know about himself. Sound like someone else? So do I think Seojun is better than Suho? Yes. Absolutely. But, unlike Start-Up, I am okay with him losing. Because I still like Suho too. He didn’t cheat or do anything wrong, he’s not selfish or self-centered, he doesn’t harbor any resentments to Seojun (except when they’re fighting over Jugyeong, but that’s to be expected), and he genuinely cares about Jugyeong (whether or not she has make-up on). They also had a past together (comic store) and he’s the first person she shared her secret and all of that with. So as much as I would have liked for Seojun to win, I am okay in knowing he’s probably going to lose because, unlike Do San, Suho’s actions show that he actually means well.

Other Characters - The rest of these will be pretty quick, the meat of this section was definitely those two. I’ll do my best to just pump these ones out.

Sujin Kang (강수진) - Great character, like the tension she adds to the Jugyeong - Suho relationship. Her own issues and backstory are interesting as well and I want to see where that goes.

Heegyeong Lim (임희경) - Ju Gyeong’s older sis is wild. She is on a completely different level. 10/10. I aspire to have her levels of confidence.

Story: 6

I doubt this section will be as lengthy as the previous, but it will follow a similar format where I discuss likes, dislikes, what I think could improve, and any other commentary I might have.

Unfortunately, I find the overarching plot of the manhua to be a bit lackluster if I’m being perfectly honest. It’s really just another high school love story. The plot is definitely not a reason people should read this unless they’re die hard fans of romance or any of the gazillion other stuff that is similar to this manhua. Now I’m not saying there are big plot holes or issues I have with it. No useless 3 year time-gaps this time. BUT, it’s just not that interesting. I already know who Jugyeong will end up with and that everything will be more or less resolved and happy by the end. True Beauty’s plot is rather transparent and while there is charm to the B and C stories that go on throughout the first eight episodes, no big twists or changes lead me to believe this manhua will pan out exactly as expected. With this being said, I think that, at least in this case, having an okay plot is still better than having okay characters or okay writing. Because the rest of True Beauty is actually very well done, it somewhat covers up for the plot. I come back to read the manhua each week not because I want to see what happens, but because I want to see how the characters develop.

If I were to change anything in the plot, I think I would have actually given Seojun more of an opportunity. Similar to my critique of Start-Up, if Jugyeong got together with Seojun first, it would give Suho more motivation to fight for her. Only here it’s to win her back rather than prove himself like in Start-Up. Which I think works even better for this manhua because it not only provides Suho insight into his own fallibility, but also pushes him to grow and fix those problems to succeed in winning Jugyeong back, making it a more earned victory. How the dynamic might change because of this, especially between Seojun and Suho, but if I could find a way to make it work I would 100% go for it. Something along the lines of Seojun having one-sided affection and Jugyeong accidentally being swept up in the moment but never REALLY REALLY falling for him. Which is somewhat what the artist did. I would’ve just taken it one step further. Besides that change, it’s pretty hard to see any other edits that wouldn’t completely throw off the manhua as a whole from what it is/intents to be. I’m curious to see if others have more ideas or thoughts about what they would change plot-wise if they could, but that’s the only one big thing I could think of. A lot of them are still cliches in their own right, but at least the artist had a bit more freedom with how these were done and wrote them in a way that at least I hadn’t really read before.

Overall, I’ll just reiterate that while the plot has thus far been mediocre, I think the strength of the characters and their individual growth arcs are much more compelling, making the plot better as a result and worth the read.

Art: 8

Lastly on this lengthy (not really) review, I'll be stating how I visually perceive the artist's work. This one’s a bit complicated since I’m not sure if I really like the artstyle or not. For the sake of simplicity, I will treat this manhua as a whole as if I am not an artist myself. Most of this review is going to be praising it anyway so it shouldn’t matter too much.

Within the constraints of the somewhat limiting plot, I am rather impressed by the overall quality of the art and writing of the manhua. In terms of dialogue, timing and spacing, and consistency, it’s pretty well done. I never felt like the transitions were dragging on too long, which is something that often happens when I read mangas that are overwritten. There’s very little unnecessary “fluff”, which is good, as this means most of the dialogue serves one of two purposes: driving the story or adding depth to character. These are the two main indicators (among others) of good art. Every line of dialogue (or lack thereof) should be written for a reason.

Fr I love how the artist make the characters really attractive like wtf LOL they're literally supa hawt XD

Overall: 7

In short, after having finished the first not less than a hundred chapters of True Beauty, I (as much as it surprises me) can say that I am looking forward to remainder of the manhua, if not for the arguably stereotypical premise, but at least to see how the characters in the drama continue to grow and learn about themselves. For what it is, the writing is good, the side characters are diverse enough, and most importantly, it does justice to the two-male leads. I know I’ve probably bagged on it enough already, and the potential for it to have polarized my viewpoint of this manhua is entirely possible, but I’ve said it multiple times now and will say it again. In my own, genuine, honest, PERSONAL opinion, True Beauty is a great manhua to read if you're into Romance/Drama.

That is all.

PS This is the first review that I have ever written on MAL, I hope I followed the guidelines specially with how I use punctuations because I'm lowkey bad at it.

Best of luck!