Hi Per my usual disclaimer at the beginning of my reviews Im not very good at articulating my thoughts so Im sorry if my writing style seems like word vomit but I hope you enjoy reading this This is also my first review for a manhwa but the categories Ill be discussing are relatively the same as my other ones on anime. You can also check out my other reviews herehttps://anilist.co/user/sawakazes/reviews
SYNOPSIS / TRIGGER WARNINGS
Seasons of Blossom follows the stories of four protagonists with each of their character arcs occurring throughout one of the seasons hence the title of the manhwa. Without giving too much information each of these arcs deal with some heavy topics. In case some people need a trigger warning Im gonna list them here.
Bomis Flower Spring: Minor instances of bullying. This is the most lighthearted arc of the four.
Hamins Flower Summer: Suicide depression.
Gaeuls Flower Autumn: Bullying self harm depression mentions of suicide.
Dongchaes Flower Winter: Bullying depression mentions of suicide.
STORY
Man this story is insane because I believe a majority of people who read this were mislead by that cover myself included. As I mentioned above there are four arcs with four different protagonists: Bomis Flower Hamins Flower Gaeuls Flower and Dongchaes Flower.
Bomis Flower has the plot that I was initially going into this for: its a cute romcom with Bomi as the main character. Its easily the most lighthearted of the four stories and slowly weeds you into these characters lives. I really enjoyed reading this as Im a fan of romance stories and I wasnt disappointed. There were some laughs some fluffy moments and some dramatic moments everything you could possibly need in a standard cute romcom.
The other three stories though? Oh boy.
Hamin Gaeul and Dongchaes stories are just so completely different from Bomis its actually kind of ridiculous. If I had to relate it to another piece of media its very much like comparing the first season of Fruits Basket with the second and final seasons if youve seen that anime. All three of these stories have major tone shifts and dont shy away from heavy topics as mentioned above. Watching these characters truly brought out some pain but also gets down to the nittygritty of how it feels to be bullied or depressed complete with inner thoughts and outward actions.
The best thing about each of these stories though is that they all have fulfilling endings whether they are happy or bittersweet they are realistic. Every arc feels complete by the end and it just felt so rewarding to finish a story with such a great cast of characters.
CHARACTERS
Im partial to stories with ensemble casts especially when the stories interconnect. This manhwa does a good job of interlinking characters to one another through various dynamics and in turn helps characterize each individual whether good or bad but connects them to other characters regardless. The nicest thing about interlinked characters within different stories is that youre able to witness how they have changed from their respective events.
A good example of this idea is the character of Jaemin. Again Im not gonna go in too deep with about story or characters because of spoilers but like most characters in Season of Blossom hes present in all four arcs but is central to each of themdirectly or indirectly because of his links to other characters.
My favorite character would have to be Gaeul the protagonist of the third arc because I found her story and development the most rewarding and I just liked her strong personality.
ARTWORK
The artwork of Seasons of Blossom is refreshing. One may even call it simple with not a lot of shading and detail but the truth is that there is actually a lot of thought in the usage of color in this manhwa. Each season is represented by a set of hues and colors and they are used throughout the arcs including the webtoons logo within the chapter. For example in Gaeuls Flower representing the season of autumn youll find a bunch of orange and yellow hues within the chapters: the leaves on the trees the outfits of the characters the settings of the story. These little details highlight the difference in tones of each arc and I wish more manhwa could work with expressing tone this way.
Besides that the manhwas art is simple and clean is the way that youre making me feel tonight enough that its easy on the eyes while keeping the reader immersed in the story. The characters expressions during important plot points are always showcased by brightlycolored eyes especially. Pretty normal for a manhwas art style but nonetheless very pleasing to look at.
OVERALL
Seasons of Blossoms themes of change moving on and developing yourself will continue to stick with me for a long time. This is one series that has personally impacted me and affected my outlook on how I view life from now on. On top of having an entertaining cast this story educates readers on mental struggles and the idea that healing from trauma is not something that just happens but is a long and gradual process. Please remember that. But I digress this is a great story. You may come for the cute romance initially but you will leave having gained so much more.
100
/100