Another day, another lookback on some of my recent Webtoon reads. Bastard (excuse the language), is a Korean Webtoon that took me totally by surprise. I have seen a number of K-Dramas and read through various genres of work but this binge was of a darker tone.
• Format: Manhwa
• Language: Korean
• Status: Complete
• Author: Carnby Kim (Story) Youngchan Hwang (Art)
• Genre: Suspense, Psychological, Horror, Romance
I try to keep my posts spoiler free and give recommendations but I may have to give some detail off here to paint how dark this story is. I spent the better part of a few days commuting between a few places and filled this with binge sessions of Bastard. The story starts off with an eerie scenario in which the main character, his father and a young teacher are engaging each other. You might mistake the opening panels to be your daily drama fix but the scene quickly wings into a violent and bloody murder with added sound effects.
I was captivated by these mere first few panels, within a few hours I had unconsciously read well into late hours of the night. The art quality is nothing to rave about but I feel this was actually perfect for the story being told. The dark and dull colours and shift in facial expressions piece together the themes of psychological horror and suspense very well. There were moments of a philosophical nature as we dive into the manic mind of a depicted serial killer. The line between insanity, humanity and all that is all moral are thrown into this roller coaster of a journey.
The main character is weak. He is designed as a physical weakling with a number of misfortunate circumstances. His warped mind however opens a gateway that fuels his desire for strength to overcome the grip the maniac serial killer has clawed into him from infancy. This all triggers from an act of kindness and near death experience that invokes the little humanity our MC has left within him at the time. This is where the romance aspect of the story comes into play and a conflict of interest occurs between our trouble child and the serial killer.
The pacing of this story is very well laid out. No part of the story feels redundant and every action scene, conversation and turning point has a purpose that builds into the climax of the journey. This is by no means a complex plot but there are many fine intricate details that explore different aspect of life, creating a concoction of genres that weld into an alloy of story.
I am a fan of deeper story telling over art and this is very much the case of Bastard. I really urge my fellow Steemians to give this a shot as it is truly a gripping ride to be enjoyed. A word of warning however, if you are not a fan of mature themes then caution is advised.