The other day, I decided to move my Twitter threads here to archive them because the Moments are gone. We can never have good things now, can we…
Hi friends! I'm here to talk about a chapter that I haven't been able to get out of my mind, and what better way to gush about a webtoon than putting together a thread?
I have recommended Jeong Seolhwa's The Competition on Manta Comics before on Twitter and I'll include the summary and certain points that charmed me upon reading it immediately after the release.
The story focuses on Hokyung, who met violin at a young age thanks to his close friend Eujoo, who’s competing on a national level now and was given Eujoo’s old, 3/4 violin. Being from a big family with average financial means = Hokyung can’t pursue music, when his hand-me-down violin is finally broken, he’s off to a luthier Eujoo recommends. He can’t get it repaired due to the cost, but that meeting opens up a different door to the dreams he’s been putting a lock on.
First of all, hello gorgeous! It’s so pretty and it’s more similar to the manga form than webtoon format w/ infinite scrolling. And it has the most beautiful chapter covers, just look at them:
There are two things I especially appreciated in this work: first is Eujoo’s conflicting feelings were portrayed really well. He’s constantly torn between cheering on his friend and wanting to compete against him bc he knows how fond Hokyung is of violin. But he fears his talent and HY surpassing him might mean all these years he practiced like crazy was all in vain. There was also a past regret that weighs on EJ and that affects his performance & health.
The second would be the emphasis on money. Not only it costs a fortune to buy a good instrument and take classes from a renowned teacher, the idea of pursuing music as your carreer isn’t generally even an option when you’re a child in a middle or lower class family. Even if they mean well & are supportive of their kids, music can be a hobby at best. My first impression of this series was that it was emotional, sweet, and looked super pretty!
Circling back to why I'm once again talking about The Competition. Currently, Hokyung is in the middle of a violin competition, and the chapter that left me in awe and got me all teary-eyed by how beautiful and expressive it is, is his most recent performance. It's his first time officially playing with an orchestra, and first time his family is hearing him perform. All the contestants in this round play their interpretation of Max Bruch's Violin Concerto No.1 in G Minor:
Chapter 69 opens with HY stepping onto the stage, and save from one comment before his performance, the rest of the chapter is "silent". Except, it isn't. The flow and depth of the music, the communication between HY and the conductor, HY's emotions, the audience's response, all are shown through body language (hand gestures specifically), gaze, and the color and the density of lines.
Those "blobs" first emerge from the orchestra, then you see the release in the hand gesture of the conductor, he and HY make eye contact, and in the next page, you see the energy being condensed into HY's violin, and then is released back into the auditorium. The whole time, we witness how the sound permeates and changes throughout the performance, it's also important to note that the "blobs" vary depending on the nature of the performance.
The ending's again beautifully visualised when HY finishes, then it's followed by the conductor and then, the audience.
I haven't read tons of manga that focuses on music, but it was the very first time that I've felt THIS immersed in a musical performance on paper. It was honestly phenomenal and I'm still trying to wrap my head around how some artists are capable of conveying things that /should be/ beyond lines that are "just pen on paper". I have to say, if you aren't reading this masterpiece, you're missing out!This webtoon is seriously guilty of making me feel things every Sunday!! I can't have that!!!
Note: Due to its format, The Competition is only available on Manta's app.
