I first read this webtoon in December 2021. I immediately regarded this as a rare, well written gem. I was so hooked with all of the chemistry and tension. I stopped at about the 'Leo on the ship' arc, as my passion slightly faded and I wanted to marinate so i don't have to wait for the end.
Sadly this story isn't really for me...
Today, Jan 9, 2026, i finished this in 3 days and i must say, this story isn't really for me. I found myself keeping reading because i want a conclusion for all of the time i invested in this story, and not because of the story itself. I wanna see how the author wraps this all up, and i don't really care about the events or dramas that were going on. Yes, I did cried at that episode when Chae-ah has a monologue with her grandmother at her deathbed (poor baby Chae-ah), and I cried when Father shed a tear for his only daughter; but the truth is, I somehow couldn't emotionally connect with the cast in this story, especially Yoonsoo.
I found no one endearing, i wanted to root for no one (the most likeable was Chae-ah, but it was not enough
A lot of innocents are being killed in this manhwa, some are for very random, stupid reasons, i couldn't fathom that. For instance, That random taxi driver, who gets killed by Yoonsoo just because he witnessed his customers (our protags) kiss in the back seat. What about his family back at home? His children would be orphans for the rest of their lives. And they would probably be as miserable as Chae-ah... And why would that make those people/human any different than Chae-ah, whom Yoonsoo loves??? Imagine if the taxi driver's family is Chae-ah's good friends, or that their future children are friends the taxi driver¹'s children, how would Chae-ah be able to look at Yoonsoo's face and NOT remember the sins he committed, don't even mention loving him. We didn't get any explanation on Chae-ah's thought process. Oh wait i forget, Char-ah so conveniently doesn't have any friend 🙄. ¹And when i say [taxi driver] i mean any poor innocents that he killed. I don't think Yoonsoo could sleep well if he had any conscience left...
On the other hand, i get that Yoonsoo HAVE TO hunt to survive. [I tried to put myself in his shoes, i imagine myself i wouldn't really care for a pig's story if i enjoyed my pork chops today, right....] But wait, he needs living blood to survive, that doesn't necessarily 100% equal to he has to kill others to survive: if he could live on Chae-ah's blood for the rest of his Happy Ending life – he could've hired a blood donator or somewhat similar from the start.
It's good that we get a glimpse on how Yoonsoo started walking down on the blood path, it's great that we see little Yoonsoo started out swearing to only drink animal blood. But that goodness was so fleeting, and the explanation was so unsatisfying. Compared Yoonsoo's situation to something slightly similar: Nezha — the villagers of this protagonist act very hostile, unfair and racist towards him, but only when he is cornered to the edge did he attack them back. All of that made me sympathize with Nezha, I side with little Nezha immediately and I wanted nothing but rooting for baby Nezha. I cried the entire movie. (It's different in regards that Nezha has his parents, while Yoonsoo has no one by his side, gotta take that knto account) But I felt none of that sympathy and wanting-to-root-for feelings with Yoonsoo here... It's just one click and we see Yoonsoo become so indifferent and killed people without a blink, like it's nothing... It's just lacking...
On a similar note: there are 2 similar titles i know that has the same dark, heavy and psychological vibe to this: Dreaming Freedom and Raise wa tanin ii. Trapped definitely top the other two in terms of invisible, sensual, silent tensions; but the other two did a better job in giving the MLs a motive and background on how they become who they are. For me, i absolutely adore Baek Si Yoon as a character: he started out bright and loveable. More importantly, after he harms the dude (in his dreams, with his special abilities) THERE IS AN APOLOGY. The moral compass 🧭 is there. For Kirishima, we understand why he is who he is. He was at the bottom of the Yazuka ladder, so he had no choice but to kill to survive. For Yoonsoo, The author makes he kill just to look cool. It's disturbing. He don't have to face any consequences. Okay i get that he has a sobbing backstory, but he's not the only one who has difficulty here....
It's a good thing we have Yoonsoo promise to only drink Chae-ah's blood, thanks God no more unrelated innocent is being killed...
With that said, I just wanted the author to write better in that regards, i probably would have been able to root for Yoonsoo and Chae-ah's journey wholeheartedly. But even with the flaws, i still definitely wanna see a happy ending for my babies Yoonsoo and Chae-ah... I wish there was more, i wish to see Chae-ah getting old (like in Hana to Akuma) and stuff. I'd also like to see more sides of Yoonsoo, like when he become a father, I'm sure he'd be a good one, as he did with Grimm. I gotta admit - the cast, they have to be somewhere in my heart.
Art: 9/10 hot characters, beautifully expressive art, sometimes the proportions are a little lengthened and the perspective skewed, but that doesn't matter, all i ever wanted is to be able to draw like this ( i don't like the use of realistic 3D stuff and some of Chae-ah's outfits though)
Cinematography: 10/10
Loveline: What this story does the best is All of that goosebump-inducing, suffocating silent tensions, those little scenes of yearnings, just the little interactions, the longing observation makes me feel the feels everytime, i just wish we could see Chae-ah's love more... I don't seem to grasp all of that toxicity, traumatic push and pulls between them everyone seems to love though, prolly because i read this in English 😂
Overall: 8/10. Thank you!!
