h-eh-e

[h-eh-e]

Kowloon Generic Romance by Mayuzuki Jun

Manga

Ongoing

(Read uptil 78)

✨✨✨✨⭐/5 (it almost a 5 star but can only rate it so after it ends)

It is certainly not the second piece of media I have read this year but one that stuck with me enough to write a review about.

I will, of course, review more media as I have promised myself, irrespective of whether it sticks to me or not.

But here we are.

Kowloon Generic Romance takes place in Kowloon walled city and follows our main character Reiko Kujirai who works at a real estate company. We follow her daily life and start realising her feeling for her co worker Hajime Kudou.

Her life turns upside down when she find engagement photo of Kudou and a mysterious woman who looks exactly like her.

Why exactly like her and not her? Because she has no memory of it. This starts the mystery aspect our manga mixed in with soft sci fi elements.

I love the concept and how the story is executed. The slow burn mystery as we reader start realising that she is clone and who exactly Kujirai-B, as Yaomei calls her, is.

When we first see flashback with Kujirai-B, I had a hard time differenciating if it Kujirai or Kujirai-B but as the story progresses we start to see how Kujirai changing and growing into herself. Her being a anomaly of a clone by being the only one being one with mole, is a good set up that I wish to be explored more. I like how she deals with her self and self image while knowing the truth.

Knowing Kujirai-B commited suicide is a fascinating plot line I wish is explored more.

Yaomei, is character I loved alot, she is Kujirai friend. She is good friend through and through, who geniunely sticks up for Kujirai. Her going outside of kowloon solely to prove the existence of Kujirai speaks volume on how much she cares about Kujirai. Her past, is also a story line, I loved encompassing her identity and her wish to restart her whole life.

Miyuki Hebinuma, initially I did not like him but my impression of him changed as his point of view was explored more. His struggle with his identity as a intersex, his relationship with his adopted father who he is trying to bring down, and his relationship with Gwen, his lover the only one who truly cares about him and didn't ask his gener. I love his plot line and I genuinely wish he has a good conclusion before the story ends with Gwen.

Kudou is one the character I liked but as the story progressed I started disliking, he is someone stuck in the past, clinging to the image of Kujirai B. I was at first sympathetic to his story line about his lost love. But the more story progressed his attitude as an asshole didn't change. He might be sad but he really doesn't have a reason to me such an ass to everyone around him.

Finally Gwen, I loved his character how he single mindedly loves Miyuki and how he will only leaves Kowloon only if Miyuki and Kudou leaves. His story is just starting but I love how he is, as a character, a ever present and support person to the cast.

Finally Kowloon, or The Second Walled City of Kowloon, a city alive by people hopes. A city that feels like a character on it own

Yet, in reality a placed demolished three years before story is set in. A ruined city which now houses hallucinations and clones of people who existed in it three years ago.

I love love love the concept of it. It a beautiful concept and the slow reveal of it was so good to read.

Plus details and advertising of Generic Terra and Hebinuma Industries are so well ingrained.And the nostalgic artstyle makes it ever so immersive.

I really looking forward to how to story progresses, it in my opinion well written and a must read.

Bye-bye

Sapodila ＼⁠(⁠^⁠o⁠^⁠)⁠／

[h-eh-e]

Sweet Home by Kim Carnby, Hwang Youngchan

Webtoon

Prologue + 141 chapters (Completed)

✨✨✨⭐/5

The first media I finished in 2025, and this was one of my old time want-to-read, Sweet Home by Kim Carnby, Hwang Youngchan. It is an apocalyptic survival manhwa (my favourite genre).

It follows Hyun Cha who at first was a very reclusive person, thrown in the world-ending circumstances and his journey to grow out of his shell in the want to become better like he wanted. His character is well written, showing his character growth and his new will to live after seeing a fly run away from a spider's web. I would like to call that his rebirth. I initially didn't like his character but my liking for Hyun Cha started growing when he himself found faith in himself and met Dusik Hahn. I would like to think that’s his rebirth.

The story is about survival and I love how it portrays people being utterly confused, sacred and just dumbfounded by the sudden catastrophic event of monsterization. I love the idea that we, humans, have suppressed our desires to such an extent that it fucked up our body to the point of causing a group of cancerous cells to gain consciousness with our soul to form and start turning us into monsters. And we, as humans, let it take control as it just made us dream about our deepest desires coming true. It was just that straightforward, yet almost everyone fell for it. I would like to think our main character, Hyun Cha, didn't have a desire because he was depressed and his desire to watch the finale of his favourite show Maria is what made him stay human. A need to consume media that makes us human.

I like how the story handles it characters in present yet is doesn't give time for them to fleshes out with a proper backstory, aside from the main character Hyun Cha, we are only shown bits and pieces of their past through there conversation with others and during monsterization as if we are a character living in Green Home apartment complex.

I like how people are actually scared of the monsters and no one has superpowers or intelligence to survive the apocalypse.

The leader of the group the main character is a part of, Hyuk Lee is a good leader, rational, yet seen cruel by others in this team, knows how to motivate the members but it shows at the core of it, he is also just a child trying to survive.

It shows how as humans we can show our worst in the newly established world’s end like Hyein Son, her character here sucked for the group she was impulsive tensed and frightened and justified her actions for her need to survive yet she was a human because she was just trying to live. What surprised me the most was her not becoming a monster. I'd like to believe so because she didn't get infected because she already is one, in her own aspect.

Myeong-Ja Lim, the mother who carried an empty stroller, her subplot is especially beautiful how her insanity caused her to fight her desire and her monsterization. How even when she became a monster she didn't cause any harm as she became an embryo.

One of my favourite character was the Wook Pyeon, the mobster who was later revealed to be a detective who was forced to quit. He is a chill guy, ok with people mistaking him as a mobster, correcting people gently, protecting them. His arc starts when our main group tries to leave the apartment complex and meets the members of the prison bus. His story arc quite literally starts with his name drop and that is when you see a bit of his backstory. But in a very sweet home fashion of not using proper flashbacks, we only get to know his story by conversation him and Joon Shin, the leader of the prison bus group have. Yet he has no proper fleshing out of backstory.

What we do understand is his character is a sympathetic, protective guy who has occasionally looses his mind due to the lack of food and prison bus group and has a bit of a crush on Yuri, the works as a caretaker.

The plot twist of humans birthing from monsters after they have surpassed all desires felt a bit weak for me and I wished the authors, explored more of that aspect. The second last chapter felt like a proper ending with us seeing Hyuk Lee ending the video recording with "we were here".

Though I did appreciate the ending being still open and not things miraculously going back to normalcy. Hyun Cha and Hyuk Lee turning into cocoon to rebirth their human form felt unneeded to me, especially considering they never explored more of it.

Overall, It's a fun thrilling read. Is it memorable, something I would remember for a long time? No, but would I recommend it as a fun read? Yes.

See ya,

Sapodila (⁠つ⁠≧⁠▽⁠≦⁠)⁠つ

[h-eh-e]

First Post

Hello ⊂⁠(⁠(⁠・⁠▽⁠・⁠)⁠)⁠⊃ I am Sapodila. I am trying to write reviews of almost every media I consume as a way of journaling my life. It has always been a dream of mine to start a review blog, so here I am. ✨ Our opinions might defer from topic to topic and I may miss out some parts but this is just me ranting/reviewing them. I would love every comment plus am open to any discussion, constructive criticism and any recommendation on what to read next (though I already have a huge want-to-read list) would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy reading my reviews. It might not be the best but it my first time writing. So, have fun reading. <3 See ya, Sapodila Ps : All my reviews are filled with spoilers so proceed with caution. <3