lol idk about the bottom comments, but this was so good. very underrated in Webtoon tho.

I like the pacing, the featured stories from each characters' depths and the MCs' slowburn relationship. The chapters before the season end was bittersweet. Hoping for better things in the next season---praying for no death flags on fave characters.

I bulk-read like 20 or more chaps, stopping at every arc. So good

Binged 146 chapters. Appreciate the author building character depth. Lots of multi-chapter flashbacks. FL comes out of nowhere with some emotional intelligence I wouldn’t expect from someone going through the things they had (and given their age).

I looooove The spark in your eyes! The story follows our mc Erkin who deserted his country to find a better life, and also his parents' killer after they passed away in the war of his country (The Northen Nations) against Mormeratta. After some years of struggles, he finally settles down in the enemy country, but one day he's summoned to treat the illness of a mysterious master in a mysterious castle. But he doesn't know that that assassin may be closer than he thinks.

The positive:
This story looks like a slice of life at the beginning, but it's actually deep, complex and more tangled than it seems at first. The characters are super well written and multilayered. They all have traumas, flaws and struggles, but they also have dreams, aspirations, and they are all capable of great compassion and love. The world building is excellent.

This story doesn't glorify imperialism, conquer and war. Each character was impacted by the war negatively (winners and losers).

The Spark in Your Eyes has a lot of the things I look for in stories: well written characters with a good development; a slowburn enemies to lovers (inversely) as a sub plot; a spellbinding and complex story; a lot of drama and angst; a good worldbuilding; ambiguos characters; and last but not least, an amazing artwork.

The negative:
The biggest flaw of this webtoon is the pacing due to the great amount of flashbacks, it's probably better to binge-read it instead of reading an episode per week.

But I have read a lot of manhwas and I can say that this one is better than most of the popular ones. I highly recommend it, I think it's worth it. It may not be perfect but it is really good, a 9/10 to me.

This is not shoujo, btw.

... Last updated on August 4th, 2023, 10:21am

There's a sense of compassion in this story that I haven't felt while reading something in a long time. The way the characters are humanized with empathy right down to their flaws makes me feel like there's a hole in my chest. In the end no matter what distance separates people or what culture they practice, humans will always have more in common with each other than they will with those in positions of power who force them into a system. Something the author understands very well.

... Last updated on December 22nd, 2022, 6:29pm

I love this series so much, the art is stunning and consistently high quality (the lighting and composition in so many scenes is breathtaking), and the characters are 3 dimensional and multi-layered.

IDK why it's tagged as shoujo when it's key themes and topics involve war, death, revenge, forgiveness and bigotry. This definitely feels closer to Seinen or Josei to me.

It's slow paced and psychological and won't be for everyone. The main tension comes from the FL trying to hide her identity from the ML and each character untangling their experiences and traumas from the war, with some politics and action thrown in on occasion. The FL is ruthless, capable and cold (on the surface at least) while the ML is wholesome and a massive green flag. All of the characters (including the side characters) have their own interesting depths and roles.

This is a series about deconstructing complicated people. The FL is responsible for killing a lot of people, but the why of it isn't immediately apparent and most people view her as more of a monster than a human. The truth of course is a lot more complicated. Erkin is a kind and compassionate person, but contrary to his very nature also wants to kill the person he blames for his parents deaths. Other characters in the series struggle with the horrific aftereffects of war; trauma, grief, resentment and hatred of the other.

This series is interested in humanizing each character and giving them tough moral questions to confront. Does the FL deserve forgiveness? Why is it that people hate one another? And is revenge truly the answer?

I'm disappointed that some reviewers weren't willing to give the FL any benefit of the doubt ( considering how romanticized ML war criminals can be this is a double standard), especially since this series actually tries to actively engage with the morality of character's choices.

If this sounds intriguing give it a read!

... Last updated on December 14th, 2022, 11:40am

I would say the story is less in shoujo/shounen and more into seinen/josei. It is certainly not for people that just wants to read about dumb action flick, teenage angsty shenanigan... which results in those wanting for those trash content disappointed.

The story focused onto two characters Erkin and Kaya and the theme is setup on the premises of consequences of war. Kaya being a child soldier blesses with the power of the sun (Kariya) that is among the opressing faction and Erkin, being an orphan herbalist that used to belong to the northern faction that had his family and hometown thorn apart by the opressors.

Erkin is established as a good natured herbalist that went to the south to search for good life whilst hiding his hidden plan towards the sun witch (that allegedly kills his parents).

He was asked to treat the sun witch that disguise herself as an unknown lord. Erkin also had an attraction towards Kaya, someone whom he sees as a free spirited person
-------------

Kaya - a child soldier that has grown up, getting sick and tired with war while staying far away from her retainer, battling with some unknown disease. She felt a sudden sense of familiarity upon meeting Erkin and this prompt her to disguise herself as Kaya the Maid to confirm as to what this sense of familiarity are.

Initially the story machination is driven forward by the slice of life on the castle for 2 points

1. Kaya to make sense of her familiarity towards Erkin
2. Erkin, his secrets and will he uncover the secret of Kaya

Eventually, the story progreass into them cementing their attraction towards each other (though they never confirm it by words, it is implied) and the story gradually had more gears to march its story forward and tbose gears are

1. Kaya and her struggles with the conflict of keeping Erkin by her side
2. Griselda (spoilers)
3. The oppressong nation and their obsession towards their sun witch, and the conspiracy of politics
4. The northern nation, their animosity towards their oppressors and what is their role towards the end of the final battle
5. Erkin - who kill his parents, when and how will he finds out and make amends to the true identitt of Kaya. Wi he take revenge on his parents killer and what is his role in the politics as a whole
6. Kaya - how will she uncover the past, how will she chose to took off her mask towards Erkin, how will she deal with this consequences. What is het role in the conspiracies of politics that has been gradually brewing

Conclusion
The story does not have those instant and simple gratification moment that is an usual traits of shounen/shoujo

It does not have instant gratification such as
1. Action flick borned by revenge or competitiveness
2. Simple good vs bad guy cliched machination (lose, train, gets strong, won and repeat)
3. Simple aww or jeousty or triangle moment that is a common trait of shoujo

What it have instead is
1. Non-simple characters that have a certain struggles
2. How those characters deal with those strugglwa
3. How one action that can be considered simple/naive could affect one's outcome in an unpredictable consequences

Last but not least, if people come into this manhwa expecting common cliched that is common to shoujo/shounen, consider yourself disappointed... but if you seek some of the good thing i listed above, you might enjoy some good reading

... Last updated on July 30th, 2022, 7:08am

Well how to describe this comic...
1st art somewhat good.
2nd story -9999 well to put it simply it's super shi*ty.
3rd characters, the plot determines the characters but here the main male and female characters are so badly written i wanna rip them off and throw them in trash.
So I will not waste my time on rambling on trash.

This is great. A little rough in some places but is otherwise polished and well executed. Read especially if you like strong, powerful female leads.

Drop

With such a disgusting FL I can't get interested in this story that has all the indications of taking the Basara route in regards to romance. No thanks.

... Last updated on November 19th, 2020, 6:46am