I finished this series awhile ago when I bought the final volume by Yen Press. The ending was perfect, realistic, and showcased the character development well. Kum Ji was loud and angry in the first volume, a blind fangirl, then a confused teenager who loved her bad. By the end, she sits between Jin and her man of choice and practically forgot about her idol. Go back a few volumes ago, when she is licking up spilled beverage off her idol. Big change. Her idol changes as well. He gives advice to his junior, E Wan, from Yo-i, saying he'd wish for death on the stage, we get glimps of his dallying with women, and frivolousness. But in the last volume, he scolds the same junior, E Wan, for bringing a woman, Kum Ji, into his home. Toeatds the end, he is more sentimental and thinks more about his career and what he wants to do with it. His group, DDL, is somewhat behind him just as Kum Ji and pals are disillioned from teenage, blind and worshipping, fandom. Reconcilling that idols have lives, desires, and use the bathroom like everyone else; and minus the frenzy of hormones and angst, finally puts her love of DDL on the backburner. Her guy is much funnier to be with, as both E Wan and E Soh change into mature men as well. Putting away her posters, useless stickers, and other memories, she thinks of her time with Yo-i as almost like a crazy dream. A bad car accident jolts her back awake and the members return to her side.....one.member.at.a.time. Unlike most manhwas, there is no exaggerated boy fight. Though, there are fights, and they are done well in the sense of acting their age. E Soh's childish, romantic, and playful additude is still there. So is E Wan's ill tempered, thoughtful, and man of little words demeaner. Most of these are lightened and overpowered by new and more attractive behaviors. Barbie, one of the main atagonists of the series, is dealt with, though I have mixed feeling about it. The other Yo-i members remained sadly unexplored and sometimes were comic relief. Yea, it wasn't a perfect series. But this is probably as perfect as you are going to find in any manhwa shoujo series. Most who read the series through and through have told me they felt the same thing I did: I cared less about who she chose as her man toward the end and justed wanted Kum Ji to be happy. Chocolat is more or less character diven with believable idols, the obsessed girl, entitled fans, teen angst, teenage love, and the realism of aging. For this type of story, there is no better praise than treating the MC with the regard of a real person. Afterall, you would just want them to be healthy and happy. ---
Higly recommend. 10/10.
PS. I am saving up to buy the entire series by next year. It's one of the rare few I do not mind investing in. 8 volumes in the USA.