My Heart Is Beating
Be Still My Heart

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

It's always very interesting to read manhwa, in which we have only 3 volumes and 30 chapters, as well as a huge number of genres.

So "My Heart Is Beating" published by Ha il Kwon in 2009, which is now known for such works as the Annarasumanara and although Annarasumanara published later than MHIB, it is most popular. "My Heart Is Beating" see into teenagers problems, which in turn consist in understanding between father and son and a strange fascination of swimsuits.

The story begins from the face of high school student Bai Sugu, it is a excellent student in the past has always listened to his ... father. He has a strange fascination (or fetish) with on swimwear that inadequately perceived by other people, confirmation of this was in the school.
Later he learns what assemble a women's water polo team, where he can watch the swimsuits and even photograph them, and the story begins from this.

---------

From the above it can be concluded that this manhwa is intended primarily to the teen group of people (14-15 years), after this retreat, Let's look more closely at the idea.

Each of teenagers trying to find their place in life, based on the interests and priorities. But what happens if no one not understands his interests? That's the problem faced the main character. Such admiration of swimsuits, causing resentment of others.
The protagonist will experience abrupt exit from the comfort zone of the unexpected changing into a girl, new friends, a new favorite hobby, first love. All this exposes the self-awareness is not only a main character, but also the reader. In Manhwa raises questions over the actual problem for teenagers, self-challenge themselves in a society that can not understand you.

In general, I remained satisfied throughout the reading manhwa, but since here we have a huge number of genres, there are drawbacks. A lot crammed into a small story in 30 chapters, and of course the characters, involved here, smart beyond his years. Children say clever phrase, in 17 years they have more problems than adults. Lost hope, death of loved ones, complexes and much more. I do not trying to say that it's all bad show, I am only to the fact that in my opinion, not enough length of manhwa, for so many genres.

This manhwa shows itself as a story that will suit everyone. The manhwa was introduced a lot of different characters, so everyone can find their favorite. It have a nonstandard story, some interesting characters, romance, sports and a bit of humor.

"My Heart is Beating" leaves a pleasant precipitate, which promote teenagers to move forward and to open itself to the world, despite the difficulties that they will face.

So, while i was browsing through stuff i have yet to read, i ended up stumbling upon this extremely underrated jewel.

Illustrated by the same guy (Il-Kwon Ha) who did Annarasumanara (go read it!), it's a very heartwarming story of a guy with a swimsuit fetish living with a strict asian parent and, due to certain circumstances, forced by his teacher to crossdress as a girl and play in a girls water polo team. Kinda generic and uninsteresting, right?

Well, while the premise may not sound that exciting or unique (it isn't), the way the story was handled in such a short albeit suitable run is ... truly remarkable and worth praising. The comedy, the relationship between the two protagonists, the extremely likable side characters (and a special shout-out to the teacher, whose backstory was surprisingly touching) and even the more serious parts, everything was handled with the dignity and quality of a good writer, which is what Il-Kwon certainly is.

And even though the story as a whole is fairly simple and straighforward, it's also quite meaningful and the deeper themes the artist manages to explore here (things like loneliness, child trauma, the pressure of having to meet expectations imposed by those around you, etc.) are elegantly incorporated in it thanks to Il-Kwon's charmingly artistic artwork, which makes it for a rather satisfying experience, because you can clearly feel the kids you've grown to like becoming more mature and overcoming their issues. And that's what makes a coming of age narrative compelling. You end up feeling happy when they feel happy and you get sad when they get sad. It's that sense of progress that makes the whole thing enjoyable, imo.

All in all, it's only 30 chapters long (kinda wish it was a bit longer) and it's a really sweet and satisfying read, so i highly recommend it. Oh, and don't let the gender bender tag turn you off - even though the main guy crossdresses, the people who should know his true identity know it from very early in the story, so it's never annoying. So yeah, don´t waste more time and go read it, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

My Heart is beating is the story about this boy who has a strained relationship with his father. They barely talk anymore and all the father says is that he wants him to be better. As such the MC suffocating in his house finds solace in swimsuits.... Yes the man loves swimsuits. So when he was peeking at the female water polo team and gets caught the teacher decides to blackmail him to make him the final member of the female water polo team.

Now the good part about the series is the dynamic between the father and his son. You can feel the son ... suffocating because of the pressure, however because of the short length of the series a lot of characters don't get proper development. and although majority of them are mediocre some suffer from being very 2 dimensional. The ex boyfriend for example is like the example of every ex boyfriend ever. Its very poor character writing. Considering the toughness of the situation i didn't like the art style change for comedic purposes. I actually didn't like some of the comedy in its entirety, and some were just plain gross.

The romance was fine but i do wish it was more detailed. It just kinda implied in the end and i didn't like that. Nonetheless the author gave us some great panels that used the webtoon format to its advantage. Especially in regards to swimming, romance and the family pressure.

TLDR: Some great scenes. and nice characters, but medicore almost everywhere else. 6/10