Jul 18, 2023
Minor Spoilers, nothing in depth.
Land of the Crimson Moon is a revenge story following main character Sihwan, a cop, as he pledges to avenge his murdered colleagues after a member of the Crimson Moon, Hyegyeong, kills them all. The Crimson Moon is a gang that controls the Korean underworld and are making strides towards economically controlling the entire country. It's leader Yeong-u does not tolerate defiance of the Crimson Moon, so once Sihwan got involved, there was no way out.
There are no surprises when it comes to the plot. This is a 54 chapter revenge story as Sihwan is manipulated into fighting the Crimson Moon
...
by one Dr. Min whose recruited the Four Sickos to help train Sihwan fulfill his potential and take down Yeong-u. The plot holds potential for depth if it were to explore the motivations of the characters in any more than a surface level. Dr. Min's family was killed. The Four Sickos almost beat Yeong-u 10 years ago but weren't strong enough. Sihwan just wants revenge on Hyegyeong and Hyegyeong just wants to kill Sihwan. A contributor to the lack of character development is the pacing. The story is constantly moving on to the next thing, almost as if there isn't enough time for the author to tell the story they want to tell. Characters will die, then the story will immediately move on. The character development present often isn't fully explained. People are suddenly willing to let themselves die when it really doesn't make much sense for their character. However, it's entertaining enough as a self contained story and doesn't require much brainpower to understand what's going on.
There are also some technical issues. The lighting on the panels is very dark. About 60% of the story takes place at night, so the lack of lighting plus black backgrounds left me needing to turn up my brightness on multiple occasions. The power system is simple enough to understand, but boils down to the winner being whoever has more raw power. Fights become predictable and its obvious when characters are just going to get another power up to win their fight. However, the art during the fights is when it's at its best. Sihwan is a brawler, so all of his punches have impact and you can feel them as the viewer. Unfortunately, he's the only character who feels this way. Most of the other fighters are rather generic or have a single gimmick (besides Yeong-u). I would have preferred if the art overall was more stylized, but it's by no means bad.
Land of the Crimson Moon is a flawed story, feeling like it was rushed to the end before it could truly hit its stride. I would recommend it to anybody who enjoys gang or revenge stories, but don't expect it to explore many of the themes with depth. If you enjoyed Manager Kim, you'll likely enjoy this.
Story: 7/10
Art: 7/10
Characters: 5/10
Fights: 6/10
Overall: 7/10
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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