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Jan 4, 2025
"Lonely Castle in the Mirror" was originally published as a novel in 2017, with a manga adaption serializing from 2019 to 2022, and an anime movie adaption also releasing in 2022. Both the novel and the anime movie received a good amount of positive recognition, so why are there so many people unhappy with the anime adaption compared to the novel, you ask?
Actually.. I didn't read the novel. I only completed the manga adaption recently. Despite hearing that the manga didn't entirely live up to it's source, I really enjoyed it, so I had very high expectations when I decided to watch the movie. I
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didn't even expect the movie to be perfect, but I wasn't anticipating to be let down as much as I was, either, so my expectations were eventually crushed.
The story stays the same: 7 kids who avoid going to school are taken into a mirror leading to a magical castle and are given the opportunity to make a wish as long as they find a key. But, keeping the overall story the same isn't the only job of an anime adaption, and the movie really only did just that, giving watchers the bare minimum. To avoid spoilers, I'll be keeping my list of reasons for being disappointed as short as I can. The pacing felt kind of rushed (or maybe I was just bored?), there were a LOT of important details left out, character designs were a little different*, and I just felt so bored during the whole movie. Compared to the manga, I genuinely didn't feel any emotion and wasn't left on the edge of my seat, waiting for what could happen next. To come back to what I said about important details being left out, there was so much context missing like character backgrounds, in-the-moment details, and even little things in the ending.
I can't really say anything that I liked about this movie. The artwork was fine but it never really showed off, so there isn't anything too notable to say about it. Kudos for keeping some of the general details, I guess? A lot of my reasons for disliking this movie are because I had previously read the manga adaption. If you haven't read the manga or novel, you might enjoy this a lot more than me. However, I can't really say I enjoyed this, so I rate this movie a 5/10.
*I was only comparing the character designs in the movie to the manga, I don't know how accurate they are compared to the novel
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 25, 2024
PROS:
- the break down of younghui's purpose and reason to keep living was pretty interesting!
- the artwork was consistently pleasing to the eye
- occasionally enjoyable and funny
- slightly interesting plot?
CONS:
- underwhelming story, I never really felt intrigued
- inconsistent character
- characters were genuinely annoying sometimes
- several instances where I felt bored or confused
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- the ending was anti-climatic and boring
OVERALL: 5/10
if you're easily pleased then you should be fine reading this. I'm usually slightly picky, so I'm being pretty critical when reviewing this. if you're like me, then I recommend that you don't waste your time.
* also, this is more of a personal problem, but I took a year long hiatus in the middle of this series. however, I still remember that I felt just as bored when I started this as when I finished this, so I have a feeling that my review is mostly credible
Reviewer’s Rating: 5
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Dec 20, 2024
pros:
- the art style is pretty simple in a way that it reminds me of something I would doodle in a sketchbook, but it's too charming to reduce it down to just that. all of the art was beautiful and the artist did a really good job at capturing emotions
- the development of that characters was great! from maturity, to moving on, to discovering true feelings, the author did an amazing job showing each character blossom
- the emotions were all very realistic (even when they weren't positive) and portrayed well. sometimes they were confusing or frustrating, but it would become more clear why someone acted
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or felt a certain way. their reason for doing so would make sense and even feel relatable, too. I often found myself reading someone's explanation for why they reacted how they did and would think "yeah, I'd probably react like that in the moment, too"
cons:
- some characters were only relevant when needed and then tossed to the side without any sort of development
- the beginning of the story was a little boring and slightly confusing, and felt underwhelming here and there
- I know that the title and cover art might look deceiving but you won't find any GL here
overall:
the pros definitely outweigh the cons in this case! I enjoyed reading and I definitely recommend Lavender in June.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Dec 15, 2024
pros:
- the story was pretty interesting
- I've never read anything that focused on law (besides some book assignments) or special needs, so I learned a lot considering this story concentrated on both. this would be a good read if you're looking to learn a little bit
- clean, consistent art! the artwork never looked sloppy at any point
- I really liked how the feelings of everyone was described, especially the feelings of Woo's father and Junho
cons:
- I took more than a year off from finishing this so my memory of many events are definitely not clear
- the story definitely felt underwhelming at some times. it wasn't
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enough to make me feel extremely bored, but enough to where I was never really on the edge of my seat (probably explains why it took me forever to finish reading)
- this manhwa is an adapted from a kdrama, and it is a little disappointing compared it's source. the manhwa doesn't include some scenes that were in the drama, and adds some scenes of its own. so, it isn't really a completely accurate adaption (however, I don't think it's uncommon for adaptions to be lacking compared to their source so this probably wouldn't be surprising to you anyway)
overall:
- good read! the story isn't terrible and the combination of topics might not be something you'd usually see
- a little underwhelming and lacking, it isn't a consistent adaption compared to it's source
- if you're easily pleased, give this manhwa a shot. if you're not... you might not want to waste your time
- I'm far from being a critic, so my ratings are generally laid back. 6/10, not following any certain criteria, just following my heart ;)
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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Nov 16, 2024
Story: 6/10
The story wasn't really anything special, as you can find many other manhwa with the same theme of a fantasy romance, a fake relationship contract, the lead coming from another world, all of the above, etc. Throughout the story, the pacing was mostly good until I got to the last 20-ish chapters. It felt as if it was just a little bit rushed because the events were just being thrown around. A lot of the occurrences that were in favor of the leads were obviously plot armor, and some of them also just genuinely didn't make sense. I also would really like to know
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how the FL's original world was handling her absence, but I don't recall ever reading anything about that... However, despite the previous things that I disliked, I really enjoyed the slow burn-ish romance and how they grew to realize their feelings for each other.
Characters: 5/10
Same with the story, the characters weren't really anything special, either, and the same kinds of characters can be found in many other manhwas. There wasn't anything intriguing about how they were written. However, I like how the author incorporated the FL's identity in Korea into her identity in Iklein. Seeing the character she became with the help of her other self was interesting.
Art: 8/10
I have nothing critical to say about the artwork. Majority of the chapters consisted of beautiful drawings, and I enjoyed the cartoonish drawings here and there, too. You can really tell how much work the artist put into their artwork.
Enjoyment: 8/10
While there were multiple moments of confusion or questioning the actuality/logic of some events, I never felt bored reading this manhwa. I enjoyed the romance and suspense. The author also did a good job of incorporating comedy into the story pretty often, even in the middle of a moment that you think would be serious. Others might not like this, but I enjoyed this, too.
Overall: 7/10
In summary, Charming the Duke of the North was nothing entirely special. The plot and theme was very common, nothing stood out about the writing, and the plot armor was way too obvious for me. However, despite all of this, I still genuinely enjoyed this manhwa. The art was beautiful, the slow burn was good, the drama and suspense kept me on my seat, and I laughed multiple times while reading. Mathematically speaking, this manhwa would be rated a 6.75/10, so I'm going to round it up and rate it 7/10.
* I'm very easily pleased. If you're a more critical reader, you'll probably enjoy this less than I did and rate it lower.
Reviewer’s Rating: 7
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Nov 16, 2024
"I hope you will have the courage to reach out for help one more time."
Seasons of Blossom is a brilliantly written and emotional manhwa that shows the multiple struggles that one faces and how the characters work together to overcome those struggles. It brings an essential lesson to light that many might have gotten bored of hearing, yet it is so crucial and important to hear: You are not alone.
Story: 10/10
Seasons of Blossom includes four arcs named after the seasons, each with different characters and lessons to be focused on. All four of the arcs are, as said at the beginning, beautifully written and convey
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the emotions and lives of every character amazingly and realistically. The lessons that were portrayed in every arc are easy to learn from and relate to and, like said at the end, will truly change lives. The relationships are also written beautifully, whether they be relationships that are forming, ending, or continuing to blossom.
Characters: 9/10
The personality and story behind every character are very diverse and portray the reasoning behind why a character acts a certain way. The authors made almost every character easy to relate to and wrote all of them very well. This was pointed out by another reviewer, but I'd like to include that many of the characters are very reoccurring in the story and don't just appear in one arc and then never show up again, so you can end a season without worrying about when you'll see your favorite characters again.
Art: 7/10
The art style is a bit simple yet very easy to recognize and it is easy to find beauty in this simplicity anyway. The artwork perfectly depicted the emotions of every character, and I enjoyed how each detail was illustrated. The only reason it isn't perfectly scored is because the style genuinely simple and there wasn't anything really special about it. However, now that this manhwa is especially memorable to me, I do think that I will be able to recognize the art style in other places if I ever happen to stumble upon it.
Enjoyment: 10/10
After 1 year of reading this manhwa, I have to say that it was extremely enjoyable and there wasn't a single chapter where I was feeling bored of what was occurring. In fact, I was usually always on the edge of my seat, waiting to see what happens in the next chapter.
To wrap it up, I would like to say that I genuinely believe this manhwa will save lives (I mean this quite literally) with the tear-jerking, relatable lessons that it has to give to its readers. Seasons of Blossom has the ability to make readers get emotional, whether it be happiness or sadness, and educates readers of mental struggles. During the author's note in the epilogue, Hongduck and Nenome said "We wanted to create a work comforting and encouraging to our readers but we were the ones who were consoled and supported instead," and I believe that they have achieved exactly what they wanted and will continue to do such.
Overall: 10/10
Mathematically speaking, my score would be a 9, but I genuinely enjoyed reading it so much that I think it deserves a 10. I highly recommend that you read this.
* I wrote this when I originally finished reading this back in June of 2023 and published on Anilist.
** Forgive me, this is my first review and I'm not very good with communicating my feelings in writing.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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