So I know I should probably do something more productive than writing about a webtoon, but then again, I have spent the weekend + half the week lying on my back and watching Harry Potter from start to finish, reading webtoons, mangas, and some Clash of Kings, playing Arkham City... and well... I feel like I have successfully inebriated my brain with so much non-sense that I need something... anything that would make me feel I have independent thought.

Oh, if you are wondering, I kind of been skipping work... which is bad... I know. But currently my mental state is going to with life, and I am just happy I haven't done anything too brash except detonating my batmobile... You don't understand.

So anywho, I have been quite engaged in mind numbing activities, and have gotten quite into reading webtoons. If you are a webtoon , I can tell you I was as well, until Park Hae Jin was announced as lead in the upcoming drama adaption of webtoon Cheese in the Trap. I will not talk about Cheese or Hae Jin which is a terrible personal offence to myself because Hae Jin and Cheese in the Trap are currently way up there in my obsession list, but focus, sevvy, focus. Webtoons are digitally produced, if that wasn't obvious (which I really think it is), which I think makes the art a little less crisp and clean than it's ink-mediated paper japanese cousin the manga. I am not going to go on a long rant about the differences in digital art and physical art because you know... that would be... pretentious.

I am just saying this because if you are an avid manga reader, you are most probably used to manga-style art, and it's not even artist style's like say Obata's, Arakawa's, Furudate's or Umino's... which are different on their own "style", but webtoons give a different vibe because of the medium itself. Webtoons are cheaper on the production side since they can forgo paper, ink and binding, and they have the luxury of digital colour. So with the natural attributes of the medium like backlight and colour, webtoons are definitely on a different ball game than mangas. I rather like my mangas with its recycled newsprint medium and the monochromatic tones, but of course, let's just say... that I have been consuming manga since Dragonball and well, people get used to things. Manga is like sevvy's entertainment rice. I just need it everyday...

I didn't like webtoons, especially because webtoons have an amateurish feel and even when I was physically trying to force myself to get involved (because you know my life is , and I have nothing better to do), I just couldn't really commit to it. On my earlier trek to the digital art of webtoons, nothing could hold my interest to the end. I have tried the popular ones like Noblesse, Tower of God, The Gamer and though it would carry my attention in varying lengths, I never finished (or at least come near catching up to the latest update) any of these three. Perhaps, because the length of each capter is too short and the storyline was never as complex as I would hope. Characters development also suffers due to the short length of updates, like for Noblesse... I mean at some point before chapter 100, I feel like I should somewhat give a about any of the characters, but oddly I don't... I mean, I don't particularly hate any of the characters. I just... I don't care. The Gamer has a good premise, but it tries so hard rule and world building that it actually slacks on the story plot (I much prefer Dice which would possibly be another blog post because I like hearing myself think). The Tower of God didn't even get me to page 2, which is I guess my fault. LOL. I somehow got distracted. Imagine that.

So my unsuccessful tourism of webtoons were mostly fails, and as I have said, it wasn't until Cheese in the Trap that I actually cared (because it's slice of life with a psychological twist, and sevvy adores those). Right now, I am keeping track of a few webtoons-- Cheese, obviously, Dice, Yumi's Cell... and some inappropriate ecchi's lol, to name (or not name, whatever) a few. But here is what I have come across yesterday, and because webtoons are actually nice and sweet and short, I finished it in a day... probably took more hours of my life than is mentally healthy, but hey, my mental health is already bad... why worry about that now?

http://mangafox.me/manga/pinocchio/

If you are into K-Dramas, you may have associated this with the another Pinocchio (with Joon Suk Boy Wonder) but this is definitely different. Like most webtoons, I am not a big fan of the art. Oh and btw, this is a shoujo with shoujo-aesthetics, so lead dude is your typical bishie... I am not a fan of that either. I mean, if there was a shoujo guy I am a fangirl of... it would be... Ren Ichinose (Strobe Edge and Nana), and recently, Son Hak (Akatsuki no Yona). I think I like my fictional graphic boys on the brunette side. :3 what am I even saying. But yeah, this might be something you trip over, the art is nothing cosmically ic, it's girly (which isn't bad, but definitely a taste preference to sort out). The girl isn't drop dead gorgeous, which is kind of a thing in shoujo anyway... you know to appeal to the larger demographic of mediocrially attractive girls. I should really stop this paragraph at some point.

What you might not like about this? Aside from my lengthy, round about saying the art isn't like... Van Gogh, or Furudate Haruichi, but whatever, right? I'd say it's not something you read for... err... enlightenment. I mean it's nothing new, I thought the ending was cliche. A lot of comments for this was it was unpredictable which led me to the belief that people must not be reading a lot of fiction... hahaha. I mean, I really enjoyed this, but to say it has an amazing plot twist is, terribly untrue. I am not saying the ending was bad, but definitely not fabulously earth-shaking revelation. I think this is something you read if you are looking to go into some calm zen-ish place. The conflicts are luke warm, but luke warm isn't bad... It's actually good when your mind is toast from you know, your y, ty life/existence. Like mine. Cliche is also a tripping point, but hey, most slice of life webtoons recycle conflicts like Korea is full of bullying, stalking, and general ism... it's okay, that's like, you know, the norm... or whatevs.

What you might like about this? There is one point of the story that I actually laughed out loud. Literally, LOL. And I don't do that, so I think there is a humour in this that some of you might appreciate. If you appreciate the bishie's there are a few. What I really like about this webtoon, though, is how much care the author developed the characters. I mean, I wasn't in love with the main dude, but I thought he was a good kid who deserve happiness. The villain, henceforth known as, purple-hyung was surprisingly moving and though there wasn't solid closure for him, I can say he's my second fave in this. My first being the second lead, because dude, he's a goth mathlete who has a compulsive disorder to say yes to anything and he's kind of a wimp and lolol he's adorbs. Of course, he got a lot of comments from readership of him being some kind of , which is a side I liked about him, because it gave him depth in a way that manly men in other shoujo-sphere's can never have. He's emotionally crippled, and though Maru-nim never really explained why he was such a doormat, I liked that about him. He was different. It was nice. The characters are actually compelling and even with the cliche runmill, I think readers find themselve compelled to read on, because, you know, you care. I don't really hate any of the characters (even crazy Su Jin) which is I think one of the success of this. I wish I could pinpoint where exactly I find myself compelled to finish this, but I don't know. LOL It was good... Time well wasted, I'd say.

Story: 6/10 (because I like it even though I pretty much guessed what will happen most of the time.)

Characters: 8/10 (because I like the characters, MC though was a bit forgettable, but she was nice. I like good female MCs. :3)

What else do I rank?

Hahaha. Would I recommend this? Yes! If you like shoujo, and you have some time to spare... please do give it a read, and you know, maybe tell me what you think...