Regarding Death: Manwha Review

It’s a webtoon about the process of passage to the afterlife serialized with each episode can be enjoyed as a stand-alone. The story was written by Sini and illustrated by Hyeono. Originally planned to have only 7-9 chapters but due to the success it garnered, it got extended to 24 chapters.

Regarding Death was a thought provoking manhwa about the spiritual life and the stories it contained were relatable. It’s a fun read to pass the time and contemplate about heavy themes.

The screen shots are taken from the manhwa.

Plot:

People from all walks of like enter a place and meet an old man who claims himself to be God. The encounter becomes an examination about their lives and how people come into terms with it to move onto what lies beyond the light.

Thoughts:

It’s your standard story for introducing people to the afterlife. Regarding Death doesn’t really reinvent the wheel but introduces the concept well in the form of manhwa as a medium. The drama is relatable because it draws upon real life experiences. Perhaps the only thing you can dislike about the story is how the author’s subjective depiction of Death or a God personified not in tune with your values, which can just be anyone’s guess how they would conduct themselves in the lens of one’s religion or value system.

Regarding Death drives the lesson in a simple and on point manner. Even if it takes you to scroll a few more times just to get to the punchline, it knows how to build the tension visually and will less dialogue. There are no classroom lectures to be expected here. You take a short sentence spoken from the deity and reflect on it.

My bias upon revisiting the manhwa again is being already familiar with the lessons. It’s one of those stories where I wish I can come back again feeling like I was reading it the first time all over again. It certainly was impactful on the first run which some lessons did shape my views about life and people in general.

I would have expounded further if this was a different genre where you can talk about how great the action scenes, music, and other mainstream subjects on a story that people get hooked into but no. This manhwa is plain wisdom sharing and none of the eye candy.

Think of the lessons as something you already know but retold twice and hits you at different angles. You know it's not nice to be a jerk, be grateful to people, have a different take on life like it's not the end of the world, and all the nice things. I know most people have already learned about these stuff but haven't drilled the lesson in. Some of the lessons just stick for a short moment and then goes away. Regarding Death has those lessons too, it stuck with me for a moment (most of them) and then I forgot. So it was a refreshing experience revisiting the manhwa that shaped a portion of my view about the world again.

The Art:

What I like about this webtoon is how it shows simplicity and when to expound those thoughts emphasized visually using plain negative space on the panel. Having a lot of negative space may seem like a waste but when paired with the dialogue and small details of character expression, the message of the scene becomes greater.

A manhwa usually gets published in color but you don’t need a lot of color for this story. I think the use of plain black and white most of the time suited the visual story telling. I know how the faces and scenes on the background look lack luster compared to the average manga or manhwa mainstream readers are used to but I consider this an added value to overall story telling.

You don’t want to get too engrossed with the details and rendering techniques used to illustrate. The focus is on the story and less of the visuals. Given that this was in a form of manhwa where you scroll down instead of flipping through the webpages like reading manga online, this made it easier to read on the phone and keeps the flow of the story fluid from the reader’s side.

I admit being underwhelmed about the art initially but sticking around for the story made me appreciate how good this was made enough to hook my attention long.

Conclusion:

I recommend reading it for anyone interested in self-help, meditating, and reflecting about life. It’s less about the art but more about the message that makes this manhwa on my top recommended list even for anyone not into comic/manga/manhwa in general. It's something you can binge read in a few hours.

If you made it this far reading, thank you for your time.