Unblossomed

Unblossomed gripped me right from the start.

First of all, the art is absolutely gorgeous. The characters are so incredible to look at and I adore the strong sense of style the artist has. The colouring is soft and the art in each panel is somehow reminiscent of delicate petals — very apt given the name of the work.

Unblossomed itself is about a Joseon teenager being framed for the murder of a Japanese boy during the Japanese Occupation.

Every episode presents a new twist to the tale, yet there isn’t a single time a hole has been torn in the continuity of the story. With each new episode you are able to look at past events in a new light.

The story centres around Kim Mugyeong, a running prodigy sponsored by Yukio’s family. The lives of Yukio’s brother Jun, his ‘Joseon dog’ Jeong Inwoo, his current partner(?) Baekhwa, and the richest man in Gyeongseong Lee Doseong all intertwine and intersect in various ways throughout the narrative.

The story is currently ongoing but I am loving how the fight to regain Joseon’s freedom and the fight to get to the bottom of the inciting death unravel.

Unblossomed by Danchoo on Lezhin