Mar 9, 2025
I very rarely write reviews, but this manga is way underrated and I was surprised to see absolutely no reviews on MAL, so I guess I'll be the first. This manhwa is so good - a great blend of hurt/comfort and fun moments. I honestly didn't expect to love this as much as I ended up - I came into this manhwa with super low expectations, just picking it up as another way to procrastinate, but I ended up hooked. Admittedly, the beginning of this, while not bad, isn’t particularly good and was low-key kind of boring, and I guess most people drop it here,
...
but both the art and the story get so much better (there's almost definitely an art style change after season 2? I think). I actually wasn't a huge fan of the initial art style, and the story itself I also found a little cringe and typical at first but it gets a lot better. My initial rating was admittedly 6.5, then as I kept reading, 8, and after chapter 125 I bumped it up to 9, which is a score I’ve only given to 3 other manhwa to date.
I’ll say the main draw of this is the characters, and the fact that the author isn't afraid to explore hyunwoo's trauma and insecurities.
I’m terrible at names, so it took me a while to learn who’s who, but then that’s almost always the case. The fact that I recognize the side characters by name as well as by design (which is usually all I remember about side characters) is a testament to their relevance. The author does a pretty good job of fleshing out the side characters in addition to Hyunwoo, and I really love the character dynamics. The group is really wholesome and fun, and you can really feel that they care about each other - we get Joohan (the leader) being protective over the group, and Yoojoon (best friend) noticing when something’s wrong with Hyunwoo (re: the roller coaster) and stepping up to help him. The character dynamics are honestly so much fun, they really feel like a group of friends, constantly (lovingly) annoying and teasing each other. Annoyed hyunwoo is the best hyunwoo lol
Also Hyunwoo really is so pretty (this cover doesn’t do it justice at all!) if only I could attach pictures to reviews…
But what I really liked about this is that the author didn’t just brush aside Hyunwoo’s trauma from both the accident in the original life, and the plane ride. Too often MCs seem to be wholly unphased despite remembering their death in explicit detail, when normal people would be very much traumatized by such an experience. I love how we explore Hyunwoo’s insecurities and flaws - it was a nice touch that he’s actually shy when out of his comfort zone, which we don’t realize at first because he’s in his element as an idol, and that he’s uncomfortable in large crowds because of the way people reacted to his injury in the past.
The manhwa does a great job of showing us his flaws and insecurities subtly without making it over done (the panel compositions are sooo good) - we get little hints here and there even as early as chapter 15, and it only comes out in full once we’re already attached to hyunwoo. Bonus points for slipping in little details here and there about the original timeline (rather than dumping it all at once) - things like how Yoojoon and him drifted apart then, how Chronos hadn’t been as successful - which makes the current timeline all the sweeter.
It’s hard to get more specific without getting into spoilers, but if anyone Is still with me after that long, rambly review, I definitely recommend checking it out! especially if you like idol manhwa - I've read quite a few - debut & die, monochrome rumor, second life millionaire, comeback as the youngest member to name a few - and this is easily my favorite, though debut and die comes close. Ahh can't wait for the next chapter to come out >< 100/10 would recommend
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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