Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by silkquake
Semantic Error, Vol. 1 by J. Soori
2.0
Thank you to NetGalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review.
I was really looking forward to reading this! I used to watch a lot of BL dramas and while I haven't watched the Semantic Error drama, I heard great things about it! However, having read the first volume of the manhwa, I don't think this story is for me.
I understand how some folks might like the dynamic between Sangwoo and Jaeyoung; they both clearly have room to grow and that's where good romance is born. However, both characters were personally too irritating to me to enjoy the story. Sangwoo is clearly written to be autistic (no social skills, likes routine, faceblind, etc.) and while his character may resonate with some readers, I'm pretty over portrayals of autistic characters that are just 'robotic' grown cis men who still haven't learned to consider other people's feelings; it's such a tired trope and annoying kind of person to encounter in real life (I am autistic). That being said, I don't find Jaeyoung's pigtail-pulling of Sangwoo to be cute at all and it just comes off as bullying because of Sangwoo's obvious distress over it. Because we're only a few chapters into the story, we haven't really seen how they could bounce off each other well and so I finished the book with a sour taste in my mouth.
In terms of the art, it was perfectly serviceable for a comic but not particularly outstanding to me. I was kind of expecting more from a manhwa adapted from a webnovel but since my framework is mostly manga adapted from Japanese light novels (which tend to go all out on the art relative to the average original manga), that might be on me.
Overall, I can see how it could appeal to someone who is more tolerant of Sangwoo & Jaeyoung's flaws but as it is, this was just not for me.
I was really looking forward to reading this! I used to watch a lot of BL dramas and while I haven't watched the Semantic Error drama, I heard great things about it! However, having read the first volume of the manhwa, I don't think this story is for me.
I understand how some folks might like the dynamic between Sangwoo and Jaeyoung; they both clearly have room to grow and that's where good romance is born. However, both characters were personally too irritating to me to enjoy the story. Sangwoo is clearly written to be autistic (no social skills, likes routine, faceblind, etc.) and while his character may resonate with some readers, I'm pretty over portrayals of autistic characters that are just 'robotic' grown cis men who still haven't learned to consider other people's feelings; it's such a tired trope and annoying kind of person to encounter in real life (I am autistic). That being said, I don't find Jaeyoung's pigtail-pulling of Sangwoo to be cute at all and it just comes off as bullying because of Sangwoo's obvious distress over it. Because we're only a few chapters into the story, we haven't really seen how they could bounce off each other well and so I finished the book with a sour taste in my mouth.
In terms of the art, it was perfectly serviceable for a comic but not particularly outstanding to me. I was kind of expecting more from a manhwa adapted from a webnovel but since my framework is mostly manga adapted from Japanese light novels (which tend to go all out on the art relative to the average original manga), that might be on me.
Overall, I can see how it could appeal to someone who is more tolerant of Sangwoo & Jaeyoung's flaws but as it is, this was just not for me.