From the first chapter I knew I was going to love this story. It's starts off amazingly with introduction of its fascinating characters and then the conflict in such a well-paced and humorous way! I was sitting on the edge of my seat when Sion turned into a child and they had to infiltrate the school.
Sion is a great ML, he feels nothing like a cardboard box (my standards are kind of low after so many bad comics) and has such an interesting relationship with our lead. He's stern and smug, calculating and childish, kind and sincere, a bad cop but someone with good morals, loyal and trustworthy, and such a nag! His character evolves too the we get to know about him and the other good thing is that although some of the characters do have tragic backstories, in this comic it genuinely doesn't feel like something tacked on thoughtlessly to add "depth". Genuine consideration of how and why the characters behave and act this way was clear.
And the complexity of his father's abuse towards him as well. Being unable to reconcile easily with the fact that his father was a terrible father because technically he provided everything Sion needed. And this was so realistic. He had food, shelter, loads of cold hard cash, and everything else. But he was emotionally and psychologically abused and that is harder to identify than just getting hit. He was locked in that room for so long but still had access to necessities. It was confusing for Sion and Vanna's validation of that form of abuse (that is, accepting that it was also abuse) was another great point for his journey of healing and his relationship with her.
Relationships in this comic are generally well-written as well, not just the romance (more on that later!), from Sion and his brother, friend, to well uhh other people that are escaping me at the moment though he was kind of a loner. Vanna and that one purple haired girl surprised me because I didn't expect them to become friends but was very pleasantly surprised when they did. I'm not making a great case here, but I assure you other relationships are good too.
Vanna herself is amazing too. She's the star of the show! Witch Raven! A sweet, polite, and professional pharmacist by day and a daring vigilante by night. That premise alone is so cool. She's like Batman without the money and a huge penchant for vengeance. But she's sloppy with her identity for reasons that are revealed later. She's distrustful to a self-destructive point. She's cunning and fearless and kind. And she struggles with the reason she took up that duty and mantle and how it ties her down. But also how it grants her the opportunity to help people. Speaking of which, I was so excited finding out how Sion and Vanna had met before.
They are just wonderful together. They bicker and worry for each other. They help each other. I don't know I can't describe every little thing they're just great. Clearly meant to be.
Now in terms of plot the mystery isn't the most plot twisty of all, I did suspect the true culprit right when he was introduced. But there were aspects that were still intriguing and I couldn't predict everything so I think it was still good! And the core of the story wasn't necessarily the mystery anyway, it was character-driven so I really don't think it's a terrible thing. The characters did too well for it to matter. And not even just the main characters. Side characters too.
I truly loved this comic. Impactful themes and messages and everything else I described. 80 smth chapters went by too fast. I wish this comic had gone on for much longer.
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