With the increasingly frequent use of mobile phones for reading, comics have also adapted for some time, taking hold in particular on the platform WebToon, a means of spreading the now famous manhwa, or Korean comics. Over time, the site has expanded to accommodate non-Korean works as well, thus making it webtoon a term that defines more generically all the comics born and spread on the web, where they often remain there without having physical versions; this is also given to their particularity, namely that of have a format that features vertically scrolling vignettes. Some of the most popular comics of the now well-known platform eventually managed to have a paper versionamong which Sweet Homemanhwa horror written by Carnby Kim and designed by Youngchan Hwangpublished on WebToon starting in 2018.
After the huge success on the site, an adaptation was also created live-action from Netflix, although it differs from the cartoon; we will talk to you today about the first volume of the work, brought to Italy thanks to Star Comics, who has published other famous Korean webtoons here in Italy, such as Leveling only And Tower of God.
- Original title: Sweet Home
- English title: Sweet Home
- Digital output: January 15, 2018
- Italian release: July 20, 2022
- Number of volumes: 2 (in progress)
- Publishing house: Star Comics
- Genre: Horror
- Drawings: Youngchan Hwang
- History: Carnby Kim
- Format: 15 x 3.1 x 21 cm
- Number of pages: 320
We reviewed Sweet Home via press volume provided to us by Star Comics.
Green Home
Cha Hyeonsu is a boy who now lives isolated in his room, following heavy bullying at school; one day, however, a car accident will cause the death of his family, leading him to move to an apartment complex with the remaining money. Without any hope for the future and no ambition, the boy decides to survive as much as the savings can allow him, finally planning a day in which he will take his own life.
Hyeonsu continues his last days eating cheap food and spending time on some online video game, his only source of socialization, through which he will notice a growing absence of other players, and whose few remaining complain. nosebleeds and aggression. What seemed like just weird attitudes become far more troubling when her young apartment neighbor starts behaving similarly at her front door, only to suddenly run away and leave him totally confused and scared. Although he tries to follow the girl and asks for her help, Hyeonsu will pass out on the ground, and then wake up in her bed and think that he had simply had a bad dream.
After hours spent sleeping, however, he discovers that what he saw was not only real, but more serious than he could have expected: something is turning people all over the country into monsters, even outside the Hyeonsu building. so in the midst of a veritable apocalypse during what must have been the last days of his life.
In addition to Hyeonsu, the story will also give us a perspective of the other inhabitants of the complexin turn alerted by the arrival of these mysterious creatures: he lives above Hyeonsu’s apartment Yun-Jisu, a bassist who by playing will attract her now transformed neighbor, then losing sight of her in turn. Alarmed by the noise and the traces of blood, Sangwukan ex-policeman, will try to help the other frightened neighbors, arriving then on the ground floor where the young man Eunhyeok, his sister and other tenants are investigating the lack of electricity in the entire complex, but they find a monster waiting for them beyond the front door. The villagers cannot help but watch in terror as the area around them is surrounded by a horde of monsters whose end is in sight.
The plot therefore starts from a very classic premise, in which a group of people try to survive an apocalyptic context, trying to cope with the creatures of the moment; however, in addition to the pure curiosity in following the events of the survivors and the mystery linked to the monsters, this first volume already offers some clues to Hyeonsu’s pasthinting at the work’s interest in giving the characters more depth than one would expect from a simple horror story. There is also a direct social criticism in which issues such as bullying and depression that we see mainly with the protagonist are dealt with, while others are mentioned with the different characters, of which we will probably see an in-depth analysis in the next volumes.
From digital to physical
The excellent edition of Star Comics is definitely worth the price: we have a more than good paper quality, robust and light at the same time, without making the 300-page volume excessively heavy; the size of the pages also allows the reader to observe the drawings in more detail, no longer limited by the narrow and small size of the screen. The drawing style is very cartoonish, with particular attention to the expressiveness of the characters and the details of the monsters; the whole is surrounded by various effects and textures that help to fill even the most empty scenes, together with dull colors that give an anxious atmosphere.
Making a comparison with the digital version and the paper versionit turns out that unfortunately the surprise effect that comes from seeing one cartoon at a time on the screen is lost in the latter, thus causing a weaker rhythm of the narrative; this aspect was however predictable, as the work was created for purely vertical use. The more centered positioning of the cartoons (often particularly wide) allows you to see the drawings better, but at the same time create empty spaces which could sometimes be filled in by slightly reducing the overall size of the illustrations.
A perhaps questionable change (but one that goes more to purely personal taste) was the rendering of the pages with a white background, while in the digital version there was a very dark red with a fixed texture that occurs here only during certain sequences, such as for example in flashbacks.
Hyun Cha is a young eighteen-year-old student who, due to an unfortunate accident, is forced to leave his home and move to a small apartment. After abandoning his studies and losing all dreams and expectations for the future, he plans to take his own life, choosing as the date of the preview screening at the cinema of the last episode of his favorite series. However, a few days before the set date, a mysterious disease begins to spread among the population and people begin to turn into… monsters! Could this be just the beginning of Hyun’s true hell?
Buy Sweet Home following this link at the special price of € 12.25 (instead of € 12.90). Release scheduled for July 20, 2022. Support Akiba Gamers by purchasing on Amazon through this link!
Who do we recommend Sweet Home to?
If you are a lover of the horror genre, Sweet Home is definitely a recommended reading, especially if you are looking for monsters and claustrophobic settings. It could also be a great introduction for those who haven’t read about the Manhwa yetwhich have quickly conquered readers all over the world in recent years, thanks to a type of storytelling and themes very different from other types of comics.
- Well built horror atmosphere
- Characters and themes with good potential
- The print version may offer less reading immersion
Sweet Home
One of the most acclaimed manhwas finally in print
Since its landing in 2018 in digital format, Sweet Home has quickly gained a large following of fans, bringing notoriety to Korean manga, which has now become a well-known and appreciated phenomenon. Although the digital version remains the most faithful to the authors’ vision, the physical edition is absolutely not to be avoided, especially if you prefer to read in Italian or always have it at hand. Any way to use it you prefer, Sweet Home remains a decidedly intriguing horror story for lovers of the genre, managing to satisfy not only those who want a simple story with disturbing monsters, but also those who want to a deeper readingpromising an interesting development involving characters and social themes.
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