"Press Play, Sami" is a manhwa and the genre is school life, shoujo, romance, shounen ai. There are currently 62 chapters and it's still on-going. I have recently started to read this manhwa and it is quite interesting. It is a typical love story with an additional of love triangle and also with a twist. Oh Sami is a high school student, she lives alone because her parents died. She does odd jobs to make her livelihood. In the middle of her financial problems she unintentionally gets involved with two of the most popular boys in her high school.
Sami often gets bullied by her classmate Kim Moa because Sami does the part time job of folding envelopes and they find it very cheap of Sami. She also got her revenge at Kim but still offers her favors in the rain. Sami has a good family background but she doesn't accept any money from what actually belongs to her, she even avoids her old friends from previous school. She also refuses to stay in debt to someone. She's a kind heart person who is going through a lot of pain in silence because she does not want to depend on someone else.
Dark haired boy Pyu Jun tall and handsome often helped Sami out of many situations. As time passed their bond starts to develop. They are not friends but they have something going on between them. Pyu Jun always stays silent and does not bother to talk unless it's something important. He also does not seem to have any good relationship with his mom. Pyu Jun says nothing but his silence says everything. Sami often hurts him physically by mistake and he ends up getting bruises or nosebleeding but he doesn't seem to get mad at Sami at all. There's a friendship between them without even talking about it.
On the other hand there's Chan Yu, he has orange hair looks really attractive. He often gets confessed by the girls and one day he turned a girl down by saying he's into boys and Sami happens to eves dropping the situation. Later Chan revealed that he is into Pyu Jun but he doesn't know it as it's one sided likings. Chan also seems kind always trying to stick around Sami and also made her his bestfriend. It feels like Chan is wanting to get close to Sami to keep Pyu Jun away from her.
The love triangle is very different this time, I have watched or read many stories where there's a love triangle going on but it is often between two guy falling for one girl or it's two girls falling for one guy. This time there's one girl and one boy after another boy. There is boys love and I am not completely sure if that's true because I have not finished reading yet. But it was unexpected story I didn't expect to see BL stories in a straight storyline. I was hoping to see romance between straight people. I don't know where the story is heading to unless I read it completely and also there's a twist so I am excited for it. I just don't want to see Sami heartbroken she do not have parents and always seems sad to me so I want to see her smiling all of the time.
I love do love three of them and I am so anxious about what will happen later. It is an immediate masterpiece. Female lead Sami resonates deeply with me, because she is just so inspiring. She is always giving her best in everything, like it doesn't matter what the circumstances are she stays optimistic and taking a stand for herself. I don't mind if it's a coping mechanism or pure escapism, I will be always cheering for her. Each character serves a clear purpose in the story which adds a meaningful layer to the main lead’s growth. It's emotional, romantic, funny, witty and a blend of everything.
Female Lead Sami is my favourite character and absolutely lovable, I love that she's hardworking, and always tries to adapt situation very well. Also, she knows how to handle her emotions too. Both male character are also so wonderful. I don't know who is the main male lead yet because I am still waiting for the twist. So, I can't guess and say something about this matter. The plot is truly inspiring and very motivating. It's a perfect story about people who truly suffers in life. This gives me the energy to keep continuing on life no matter what.
The artstyle is different you can see how the lips are shaped it's beautiful and also the big eyes gives me chills. But I don't know why they made the head of Sami so big, it kind looks odd. But still I think Sami is beautiful in her own way. The male characters are fine, they look handsome from every angle. I have already started shipping Sami with Chan but let's see what happens next in the story.
Ratings: 9/10
The images are screenshots from chapter 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 on Webtoon. Images are edited with Canva.
