My previous review for The Summit was from 2010 and that was the second time I read it. That goes to show how difficult it is to to find all the scanlations and that you have to be a polyglot to be able to finish it. I happen to be one, so even though my native language is Portuguese, I managed to read it in Spanish and in English (which is my preferred language to read manga).
Having said that, I will have to warn you that if you want to follow this long journey, this manhwa WILL decrease as the chapters go by.
What first made me love it is that it's really similar to Totally Captivated. TC is my favorite yaoi of all time. The Summit also resembles You're My Loveprize in Viewfinder.
These previous two have the perfect formula (at least for my tastes): a really aggressive, pushy, sexy seme, who actually falls in love with the uke first and is really tender when it comes to him; an uke who can stand for himself, is strong, didn't think he was gay at first and has a short temper. They fight and the uke has trouble accepting his feelings, but he eventually can't escape how much the seme loves him.
Both titles also follow the same development of the characters' feelings: seme falls in love with uke, seme is going crazy trying to deal with his feelings, something REALLY bad happens to the uke
(in all cases, almost rape)
and the seme decides to confess. The uke doesn't accept him right away, but slowly falls in love with him, after struggling a lot with his own feelings.
The Summit follows ALL of those. The best part is how the characters' feelings are incredibly clear for the readers. For example, Han Sae's jealously towards EVERYTHING about Moto and how he can't control his desire or love. There are a few exceptions to how similar it is to the other two,
! like the rape that actually does follow through, which in my opinion is a major mistake from the author, seeing as Moto was apparently a virgin, so everyone was expecting his first time to be with Sazz
, but it follows this pattern. Of course the two main characters are amazing. Moto has the kind of personality in an uke that just make me go insane: he is kind of timid, but not the type that can't get what he wants, and he also has internal conflicts and is not just a hole for the seme to use whenever he wants. Han Sae, on the other hand is so gentle towards Moto in his kind of violent way, that it's just adorable. He pushy but can be so sweet that gives us diabetes, which I, for one, love.
This was supposed to be amazing for me, but, as the story progresses, the author tries to shove some things down our throats that I just can't deal with. Itan is just...no. I didn't want him to appear, trust him or like him from the first page he appeared. I just knew he would be trouble. And as he becomes more and more a part of it all, I just hate Moto for being so dense and eventually hurting himself and Sazz so much. Hating a character isn't a problem.Not even his actions are a problem. If anything, it shows that the author is really good and can get a reaction out of us. The problem for me is how she tries to MAKE us like him. She keeps portraying him as fragile, depressive, sensitive. Someone that needs help. Well, I'm sorry, but what he needs it to be killed by Sazz. The author keeps showing us Moto's and Itan's past like we are supposed to care, but it doesn't work.
I don't even need to say that the art is astonishing. Han Sae is one of the sexiest characters ever invented, while Moto is just the cuttest uke ever.
Even with all the negative things I said, for me not only is it an absolute 10, it's one of the best mangas/manhwas I've ever read. I do read A LOT of yaoi, so when I find a gem like this, I definitely recognize it as such. The plot is too deep and angsty for me not to get chills, and I can't ignore that. Definitely, a MUST.
PS: I have to point out I still have three chapters to go, because they are in Korean and I can't find them in any other language anywhere.
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