#baljak

Back in 2024, I uploaded a post where I made a chart of my favorite characters. Since then, I have had favorite characters come and go. Also, I just really wanted to remake this in general lol

what i read, watched and listened too in january

only a handful of these series are really worth checking out, case closed, immortal regis, ghost hunt in particular really stand out to me.

i remember watching the ghost hunt anime as a kid and loving it to bits, so i decided to give the manga a go and i'm glad i did. it's an almost comforting read much like detective conan, there's just a certain magic to these two series that i find myself easily getting lost in. it's very a delicate balance between cozy slice of life and mystery solving that makes me feel not only warm and happy, but intrigued and curious about where the author is taking the mystery of the week.

i really liked boss return, i thought it would be more manhwa slop. it's still your typical power fantasy but i do like the underlying message of breaking the chains of fate and making a better life for yourself against all odds, it's refreshing to see a cast i brushed off as more typical villain fodder being fleshed out and made easy to relate too and root for.

while it does stray back into wan punch power fantasy often, there's enough side character interactions to make the action more palatable and less of a major focus.

it feels like lookism used too before they became super saiyans essentially, i very much miss that vibe in older manhwa. not everything needs to be a world breaking, country wide web of scandals and destruction. sometimes it can just be local shenanigans and gang shit. though the gang stuff is somewhat pushing it even for me, though i have grown tired and jaded to the genre due to exposure.

reverse villain was nice, typical power fantasy, not much to say about it really but it's slightly above average to me. it reminds me of older manhwa which brings me joy. and when i say older manhwa, i do mean older. pre long strip takeover, traditional black and white paneling read from left to right like a regular western comic. murim series will always make me gush, my introduction to the manhwa medium was veritas, zen martial arts academy, rebirth knight and the breaker. so yeah, i am biased to murim series ha.

ok i was trying 2 actually pick up which and how many piercings does han ryu have but. brother. its a freaking M3SS.. its all over the place and never ceases to be that way lol

in part i think its bc of the artstyle (which i rly like btw) that shows more detail in closer shots and less details when the characters r far away. piercings r p small already, so the smaller u need 2 draw them, the harder they become 2draw and blabla

BUT STILL. the inconsistency is another issue entirely!!!!!!!!

OK, so in his first ever appearance hes got:

iconic eyebrow piercing

AN EYEBROW DERMAL (!!)

nostril ring

a side labret (only in the COVER of ch3... why is it pierced like that ↓..... dude thats gonna reject lol T-T)

2 lobe piercings in each ear

upper lobe in his left ear apparently???

helix with a large cuff, also in left ear

also he in general wears chunky rings it seems, but cud b the art style idk !!

btw in his 1st appearance hes dressed like this ↓:

like. ok.

bonus: in joe pae’s fantasy(?) hes got a septum lol..thats how joe pae sees his nose piercing ↓

anyways. after some chapters(?) he immediatly loses the dermal for some reason?? why????????? it was so cool

and instead of the nostril ring hes wearing a dot ↓

after that for an entire chapter his piercings are on the wrong side. it can happen tbh. the important thing is that the dermal is back :)) ↓

in the next ch he loses what i think was his upper lobe ↓ (ouch!!!!!!!!)

i dont think he ever gets it back

but its ok!! bc suddenly he has like 4 helixes on his right ear!!! and no 2nd lobe (this is on the same day as the previous 2 pages i showed btw so: ?) ↓

ALSO AFTER THAT HES GOT A CENTER LABRET NOW!!!! i stan!!!! ↓

btw the helixes’ placement is super off lol ↓ </3 ......still... i adore the artstyle <3

he looks cool here idk ↓:

a few chs(?) later, he still has the labret but with a ring this time

also he doesnt have all the higher helixes in his right ear anymore?? nor the 2 lobes. he has one lobe and 2 upper lobes (i think)

also a nostril piercing on the OTHER side now as well. it even almost looks like he has a double nostril?????? ↓

ok now the nostril is back on the usual side and AGAIN he has the helixes and only one lobe piercing in his right ear ↓

BTW LOL this ↓ is how other ppl imagine him.. hes so gothy kfjsjkdks. cool labret juul !!

meanwhile he literally dresses like dis ↓:

for some reason in one of the covers he has whats CLEARLY a double nostril. and 2 helixes instead of one (at least i think he had only one idk) ↓

ALSO. HE HAS TRIBAL TATTOOS IN THE COVERS?? HUH????? ↓

btw!! hes like. the ONLY character in the whole manga who has piercings. ANY piercings, not just a good amount!!!!

also, hes the only one of the main 3 who keeps changing his hair color (joe pae always has it dark brown, while ho ra alternates between blond and white-lilac/light blue hair)

tbh whn i first read this manhwa i thought he just wore piercings bc its a story abt delinquents and (usually) according 2 manga delinquents wear piercings, but DUDE han ryu is literally the only one. i now understand he was actually meant to be a rly alternative guy (thats so cool)

he even went thru an actual goth face after they stabbed joe pae nvsknvcksjk ↓

......but like 2 seconds later he decided to avenge him and he went punk ↓

actually i think this is his best era!! this look is everything!!!!!!! ↓↓↓

(idk where the nostril or the.... 3? other helixes went)

oh and before going to avenge him he left all his fresh cut hair in joe paes bed. bc hes intense like that

again 4 helixes in his right ear ↓

suddenly he has 2 eyebrow piercings ↓

btw in this scene he was wearing a cast bc joe pae fricking broke his arm. han ryu didnt even get mad

again, here he only has one eyebrow piercing. and still no nostril....↓

:(

but srsly his looks are everything in this era T-T !!!!! ↓↓↓↓ !!!

again idk why he has tattoos in the covers but not in the manga. maybe bc its a pain 2 draw them over and over lol T-T ↓

non related but this↓ scene↓ specifically↓↓↓↓ convinced me the artist is bisexual idk why

anyways. he kind of maintained that punk look until his last apparition, which takes place in The Future, in which he looks like this ↓:

im so glad he has double eyebrow piercings <3 he also kept the labret <3 and tbh i gave up trying to count the ear piercings but hes wearing chunky rings as usual good for him