Creator: WHAT, Chelliace
Publisher: Tappytoon, IZEPress/Yen Press
Genre: Boys Love, Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Drama
Tropes: Forced proximity, love triangle, Age-gap, Fated lovers
*I received an advanced review copy from Yen Press*
***
So many publishers are now looking towards the Webtoon and mobile comic publishing world for ideas on what to license. We’ve had many comics from Webtoon, Tapas, and now Tappytoon get licensed by larger publishers for their own print editions. I’m actually really happy about this because many of these apps can be a little expensive and sometimes frustrating to use. So when I saw that Yen Press/IZE Press had picked up Tied to You, which is originally from Tappytoon, I had to give it a try. TappyToon is one of those apps where you have to pay a certain amount of credits per chapter, so it can get expensive to read on there if you’re not careful. Having this comic in a collected volume is way more convenient.
Wooseo Shin was never someone to believe in fate, but what else could be behind the hot mess his life has become?! For years, Wooseo has pined after his close friend and crush, Jiseok Kang, wanting someone he knows he can never have. So when a ring of red thread appears around his finger, it feels like the universe is rubbing salt in his wound. This ring connects a person to their soulmate, and with it, neither can fall asleep when the other isn’t present. The man with the other half of Wooseo’s set? Jigeon Kang–Jiseok’s older brother! Determined not to let Jiseok find out, Wooseo avoids Jigeon like the plague at the expense of his own health. Just when the insomnia is getting to be too much, Jigeon swoops in with an offer: They share a bed–nothing more, nothing less. Wooseo reluctantly accepts, but…what has he gotten himself into?!
The concept of the “red string of fate” has been used in a lot of Korean and Japanese stories for a long time and can be found in many manga and anime. It comes from Chinese mythology where a red thread will tie two people together, usually from finger to finger. The person cannot escape their destined partner, and this comic adds the layer of insomnia to the myth to really stress how much the fated couple are connected. The loss of sleep forces the couple to come together out of necessity, thus letting their relationship grow. I wasn’t quite sure if you’d classify it as sci-fi or fantasy, since the red thread seems to be considered some kind of medical condition that starts after you turn 20yrs old. I think more accurately, you can describe this comic’s genre as “magical realism.”
If you like the basic concept of the story, I think you’ll be even happier with the art. The creators did a great job with their character designs and expressions. The comic has a bit of a soft feeling throughout with the muted color palette of grays and softer tones. It has a few bursts of color here and there that serve to emphasize strong emotions like attraction or happiness, and overall I think it works well for the feel of the comic. I think fans of Boys Love are going to love Jigeon and his character design. He definitely has the look of the older, well-off love interest with a well-toned body as a plus! Next to Wooseo who’s your softer, smaller more introverted character, I think they make a great pair.
I also don’t think the transition from vertical scroll comic to printed page did this volume any disservice. It seems like IZE and the creators did a great job in translating the pages over from the mobile format. That’s one of the things I worry about with these licensed volumes, since reading comics on a vertical scroll is a much different experience than flipping pages horizontally. Each format requires different ways of spacing panels and usage of white space, but I didn’t feel like the panels or pages were off in any way here.
Fans of Boys Love will find a lot to love with this series. It has drama, love triangles, an age-gap romance with a charming older and successful love interest, and a fated soulmate plot that disrupts everyone’s lives. Jigeon is a pretty interesting character. He’s your typical player who hasn’t been able to make a real connection with anyone he has dated, not because he doesn’t have the capacity to love, just because he has feelings for his brother’s best friend Wooseo. He refuses to act on them until he is forced to by the appearance of the Red Ring. But, there’s a complication in that Wooseo loves his brother Jiseok, so he slowly tries to insert himself into Wooseo’s life little by little. First, we sleep in the same bed, no funny stuff. Then, I comfort you when you cry over my brother. Then, I make an offer to pretend to be my brother so we can get closer physically. It becomes a slippery slope that I’m sure will end in more trouble, not just for Wooseo and Jigeon, but for Jiseok as well.
The story slowly becomes a “who will he pick?” Will Wooseo stay true to Jiseok, his first love? Or will he develop feelings for his fated partner, no matter how much he tries to find some way out of it? Is Jiseok developing feelings for Wooseo even though he has said previously that he’s straight? More drama is sure to unfold here, and I’m interested in seeing where the story will go from here.
I’m also interested in hearing what you all think. Have you read the webcomic? Does Tied to You sound like something you’d pick up? It’s out today, May 21st!
~~Thanks for reading!~~
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