Running on Empty

Edit

What would you like to edit?

SynopsisBackgroundAlternative TitlesPictureChapters/VolumesPublishing DatesRelationsTypeExternal Links  

I just happened to come across this manhwa and I was really surprised to see the whole thing was in color. I'm already comfortable with reading yaoi so the shounen ai genre didn't scare me away. But for people who are scared of becoming "gay" just by reading yaoi or start complaining that it's disgusting just because it's shounen ai, this manhwa has very light boy/boy interaction, nothing hardcore. You would think they were merely friends. For those who are homo phobic, I wouldn't advise you to read this then, if any slight insinuation or if you misunderstand easily then all I have to say ... is that you're missing out from a touching story.

I was pleasantly surprised by the beautiful art. There's a blend of real pictures and the hand drawn art but it was melded nicely that there wasn't a stark contrast. I really enjoyed this unique aspect about this manhwa, the colors were wonderful and it just made the story seem more real along with the pictures. The story has a themes that are commonly found in manhwas and I was surprised to even find a shounen ai manhwa, I don't see many of these but it was artfully done.

The story seems simple yet full of depth depending on how you react or try to connect with the characters in any way. But the art was definitely something new to most manhwa and manga artists that I have seen and it won't disappoint you. Though I've heard some complaints elsewhere about how the mix of pictures and art ruined the story for some people. It's something each person has to get used but undoubtedly I have to say the story is sweet and incredibly beautiful. I was left with a happy fuzzy feeling within me.

Yes, this is the first time I say 'there isn't really room for improvement'. Hence the 10's. The story is truly wonderful. Two young men dealing with hideous life events that 'happen' to cross paths. Afterwhich a journey both literal and esoteric begins for each. Two ppl finding themselves while learning slowly about each other.

The art for me was a first time experiance. It was the most interesting blend of actual photographs and hand drawn images, mixed with every degree of combining the two. The color of the hand drawn to me brought a vividness of events and the characters that made them stand ... out wonderfully, while the true photo's grounded me in solid reality making the out of the norm aspects of the story all the more real feeling. Not to mention the bonus aspect that it was ENTIRELY done in color!

The characters were just real for me. The truth is I have know ppl similar to the leads. They were not too overblown despite what some might think. The characters were kept as simple as possible otherwise the manga would have been endless, LOL.

I enjoyed this manga imensely. A huge note to anyone who shies away from shounen ai. In this case DON'T. Holding hands is the most 'boys love they show' ... not including a non sexual nude scene. This manga is about understanding people... not 'finding love' so to speak. Ever wondered about shounen Ai... this is a great safe way to start. It is also just a damn great manga to read - period. ^^

'Running on Empty' has been quite a mixed bag. On one hand, it's almost a decent manhwa, both in the story and in the characters. On the other hand, the dreadful art makes it impossible for me to give it any sort of positive score.

Both the story and the characters were nothing exceptional. Fortunately, they weren't utterly terrible either (most of them at least). So, I'm not gonna say anything about them beyond "they were bearable".

Let's talk about the terrible art:
In Korean manhwa, the artists often take real-life locations and re-draw simplified versions in their works. This author goes beyond that and uses real-life pictures ... as her background art. They are blurred so that they won't look completely out of place, but any normal human being with decent eyesight can tell that the background "art" are just blurred pictures. When she isn't using pictures as background art, she uses some ugly grey or orange color to smudge things up, and sometimes there's no background art at all.

There were also a couple of "action" scenes that were terribly drawn. The author again used blur to indicate the motion of the characters, and it was not pretty. A guy was throwing a punch, and his entire body was a fucking blur. It doesn't make sense.

I didn't like the main protagonist, Han. He cried about how his father ruined his life but didn't consider how he acted like an edgy 12-year-old when people started talking behind his back, and instead of trying to move on or fix things, he just stayed quiet. Even when someone finally approached him with good intentions, he lashed out like the true, depressed emo boy that he was.

I also didn't like how everything was resolved. They arrested Lee, but he was free in the last chapter because the real criminal suddenly "confessed after some time". Like, what the hell does that supposed to mean? How did that fucking happen? Some kind of explanation beyond a "confessed after some time" would've been nice.

In the end, it is not worth it. It was decent enough that I kept reading till the end, but there are better shounen ai manhwa and manga out there, with better art and better stories. Go read those.