Cheese in the Trap Season 1

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After re reading this manhwa at different stages of my life , it hits harder each time. I have never seen any manhwa capture the nuances of an ordinary life so well and portray it so interestingly. The manhwa is really about a college going student Seoul and her journey from her university life to graduation and navigating life.

Story 8/10: Nothing too complex but there's a lot of flashbacks which can be too much but these are essential to the story. The author has really thought out the entirety of the story from day one; seeds are planted in the first season itself which ... come to fruition in the last season. The story is not that dramatized which I appreciate , and I feel like everyone comes across characters like Seoul. The romance tag is justified but we are not bombarded with only scenes with the love interest. One thing i appreciate is that even though there are hints of another love interest its not shown as a 'love triangle' and (I think) the author makes sure that we do not get misled with that.

Art 8/10: The art is simplistic and you can see it improving over the years greatly, it goes really well with the story and theme. It captured the character's emotions perfectly in my opinion, which is impressive considering how minimal the art is. And the Manhwa is colored is so its a bonus.

Character 10/10: This is probably the best part of this Manhwa , the characters. each and every one of them are exceptional- the main characters, the side characters and even the 'antagonists' were all interesting and fleshed out. Instead of the characters feeling like tropes stitched together, they feel like actual people with well rounded personalities.
I liked the portrayals of relationships here, whether it be friendships, lovers , or family is realistic. The dynamics played between the main characters family or friends is exceptional.

Enjoyment 10/10: This series was a page turner for me , and even though I am not fan of manhwas/manga/comics having too many chapters , it was thoroughly enjoyable to read. Every time i read it, I cannot put it down.

Overall 9/10: This series is peak slice of life, it literally feels like we are in the journey of Seoul's hard and tough life. The characters are personable and relatable. The target audience who will really relate to this are college students and it hits hard. Instead of Seoul being a genius who knows everything without us being shown how she knows everything, it really is amusing to see how her studies and academics consumes her life and can suffocate her without this being shown as something over the top.

Deep psychological dive into relationships.
Uncovering the consequences of one´s actions.
Finding the way to understand each other.

This will be a review of the whole series. No spoilers, don´t worry.

When I finished reading this series I felt a void in my heart. A gap, that won´t be filled with any other manga. I´m confident to say that this one of the best manga/comics about relationships, ever. The suspense makes it even more enjoyable. If you´ve already seen the K-drama... to be honest, prepare yourself to discover a whole new series. The TV drama didn´t do comics any good. It didn´t touch on the one of the most ... important themes of the comic.

STORY 10/10

The story is original, fresh and thrilling. It has many twists and turns, and it shows one of the best usages of flashbacks I´ve ever seen. It´s filled with action, but the main focus is on the character development and the relationship of the main characters.

ART 8/10

To be frank, the art didn´t impress me at first, but when I got used to the design - I couldn´t love it more. The feelings were expressed perfectly, and the main characters are drawn beautifully. I love the design of the main heroine - it makes her stand out.

CHARACTERS 10/10

The thing that gets me so hyped up about this series is its characters. The ML isn´t s as much original (classic bad boy/outsider type) as he´s so well executed. Really - such a deep dive into his psychology, as well as the mind of the main heroine! Speaking about the heroine... FINALLY! Finally we don´t get a stupid heroine that is all polished and almost never makes a mistake, always has pure intentions. Yes, even Seol is the "good girl", but her personality isn´t some manga chliché, but is used to showcase the problems of being too benevolent, it´s essential to the story.

ENJOYMENT 10/10

It´s fun to watch the actions of the characters and watch as small things develop into the large problems. The relationship of Seol and Jung is tense and to watch them get closer is one of the best parts of the comics.

OVERALL 10/10

This series convinced me that even comics can be ones of the high-literature, not only books. Cheese in the Trap has one of the best developed characters, riveting plot and it touches on many different subjects, such as: defamation, the importance of appreciation, judging other and overall the morals of other people. I highly recommend it to everyone, I hope this review was at least a little helpful.

Back in July 2016 during my summer vaca, I remember discovering this hidden gem amidst a monotonous and seemingly endless pool of lackluster, repetitive shoujo manga. Really, I don't know why I bother with the shoujo genre as I have unrealistically high standards (a fault of mine that makes it too hard to find something I enjoy :/), but my efforts always dig up gold in the end. Of course, when I found CITT, it just happened to be midnight but I really needed to end the day with something good so I delved into it, having long since stopped caring. Long story short: it ... was awesome, blew my expectations out of the water, and I ended up falling asleep at 6 am, satisfaction satisfied and sleep schedule ruined.

-STORY- Cheese in the Trap is actually a Korean manhwa and it's set accordingly in a Korean university. Unlike a traditional manga, Hong Seol is a college student, not a high school student, although the plot of the manhwa is still pretty much slice-of-life, revolving around her life in school and work, as well as her relationship with her family and friends. The manhwa focuses especially on her relationship with Yoo Jung, the mysteriously pretty and perfect resident Definition-of-Success who just has to complicate Seol’s life with those darn befuddling emotions. Argh, emotions, always ruining everything! However, I don’t think the plot of CITT is especially special; what is, is the way it’s played out. Instead of high school drama (which let’s face it, is frequently too annoying and shallow), we have something even better: college drama, the more sophisticated and interesting version of high school drama. Characters that are more independent and mature, I find, are more engaging. CITT is also more realistic which I find to be a fresh breath of air from mangakas that are writing out the wet dreams of their ideal high school experience. (That was a low blow, sorry). The events and actions in the story are not completely unbelievable and there are no (not many) weird coincidences. One thing that soonkki, the author, does in the manhwa is switch back and forth from the past and the present multiple times, something that I’ve grown to like. It might throw some readers off but it adds insight to character development, gives background, and also is a method that makes it easier for the author to integrate new information, particularly in an on-going series.

-ART- From the first page, the art in CITT is noticeably different. Its darker hues and bold, sharp lines diverge from the traditional soft colors and watercolor-esque style of shoujo manga. It may take a little getting used to, but it matches the more mature tone of the manhwa. In fact, even though the art is relatively simple, the emotions of the characters are conveyed very well. (There’s some scenes where one of the characters does a scary-face and it’s really quite intense). Once you get into the story, the art grows on you and even though it’s nothing exceptional, it becomes weird to imagine Cheese in the Trap with a different style.

-CHARACTER- Hong Seol is the protagonist and the story is largely told from her perspective. An ambitious and savvy young woman living the broke college student life, I found Seol to be extremely relatable and likable. Her no-nonsense attitude and ability to actually get shit done really warmed my heart. Like all good heroes, she has her flaws but instead of asking her “why, why??” and staring numbly at my computer screen because of yet another incomprehensibly dumb protagonist (something that I find myself doing disturbingly often), I found myself rooting for her. Her reactions to the ups and downs of the plot are again, realistically portrayed, andI gotta say one of my favorite things about her is her common sense. The other characters of CITT, namely the two male leads, are well-developed in their own right as well. Jung may seem to conform to the handsome-rich-boy stereotype initially, but let me tell you, our hombre here has some problemas. The other lead who shall not be named brings a solid different third personality to balance out the trio. Without going into more details, the two leads as well as the rest of the characters are all distinctive and have their own strengths and flaws; you can even sympathize with the dislikable characters (though I find it takes great effort).

In Conclusion: I'm honestly surprised at how the most recent review for CITT was written two years ago. Two years ago? People are missing out. The realistic approach to a slice-of-life plot, engaging and (mostly) likable cast of characters, as well as the story’s humor and drama makes Cheese in the Trap one of my favorite mangas of all time. Highly recommended! Go read it! (Disclaimer: rating does not apply to the K-drama of the same name... you have been warned.)

EDIT: I found CITT under the shoujo tag on the site I was using so I referred to it as such even though it's actually josei.