The Fall 2024 K-Comics Guide

Cherry Blossoms After Winter

What's It About? 

Seo Haebom was seven years old when his parents died in an accident. With nowhere else to go, he moves in with the family of his childhood friend Jo Taesung, who suddenly grows cold and distant, destroying their friendship.

Now it's their senior year of high school and, after years of barely speaking to each other, Haebom and Taesung are in the same class for the first time. Haebom struggles to make friends and is plagued by bullying, but after the handsome and popular Taesung fends off his most persistent bully, everything changes—they sit together at lunch and begin to act like friends again. Haebom is unsure what to make of the shift, but this could be his last chance to mend their relationship.

Volume 1 includes episodes 1–15 of the webcomic Cherry Blossoms After Winter.

Cherry Blossoms After Winter has a story and art by Bamwoo. Published by Inklore (November 26, 2024).

Is It Worth Reading?

Sometimes it feels more obvious than others when a book is being compiled from a serialized format. Cherry Blossoms After Winter is one of them, although not because the narrative flow is choppy, which is usually my indication. No, this one feels serialized because it's taking its time to establish the characters' dynamic when it doesn't have to. It's more than just a slow burn; it's deliberately dragging things out while the creator gets their feet under them. The signs of this (at least, in my interpretation) are the fits and starts with trying to get Taesung and Haebom's relationship hammered out.

It's an interesting one, albeit not unfamiliar. When they were little, Haebom was orphaned, and his mother's friend, Taesung's mother, took him in. (Oddly, it doesn't sound like an official adoption.) He overhears Taesung yelling that he doesn't want Haebom to be his brother, and little, hurt Haebom immediately decides that he must hate him. Ever since then, Haebom has tried to avoid Taesung, feeling like it's the kindest thing he can do for him. Even though they go to the same school, they've never been in the same class…until now, their final year of high school. And suddenly everything Haebom was trying to hide from Taesung is thrown into stark relief.

Again, this isn't anything groundbreaking: Haebom is being bullied by a couple of jerks who have apparently been in his class all along. Haebom's feeling that this is his burden to bear is horribly familiar; if you've ever experienced persistent bullying, you know that oftentimes the hardest piece of it is the feeling of being entirely alone and somehow deserving what you're getting. Haebom feels that it's his just desserts after being forced on Taesung, and he doesn't want his de facto brother to know about it. It's not clear if he thinks that Taesung will join in or simply think Haebom deserves it, but he definitely wants it kept a secret. Of course, it can't be, and that's when the story starts to move because as we all guess it would, it turns out that Taesung has never hated Haebom.

As of this volume, my operating assumption is that Taesung didn't want Haebom to become his brother because then they couldn't get married. (Yes, the requisite adorable flashback on the topic is included.) Far from hating him, he's probably been in love with him forever, but the two of them got stuck in a wretched feedback loop at some point and ended up missing each other's truths. I know I'm making it all sound very pat, but there's really something appealing about the whole setup anyway. Yes, we can guess what's coming and when, but Haebom and Taesung have been dancing around happiness for years, and when we join the story it's evident that they've reached a breaking point. They need to work it out, to become closer again, because at least Haebom risks going down a dark path if they don't. With its soft pastel art and almost gentle writing (despite the bullying, which is far less awful than in many other manhwa), this is a strangely captivating story. It may not break any molds, but sometimes a comfortable adherence to the tropes is enough, even if the story is taking its time to start moving.

Bullying must be an enormous problem in South Korea, because so many manhwa focus on the specific cruelties, big and small, that bullied high school kids face every day. Cherry Blossoms After Winter is one such manhwa, featuring an especially sympathetic main character—he's a bullying victim, and an orphan besides. But like the title implies, a long overdue spring is finally on the horizon for Haebom. Like a melting glacier, this first love story moves so slowly that it is a BL in name only. As these two step brothers finally begin interacting after living together in silence for a decade, readers will be less likely to detect any chemistry between them than to wonder what took them so long.

Ever since his parents died tragically, Haebom has been living with his mom's best friend and her son Taesung. But in all of that time, he hasn't opened up to his new family; his adoptive mom doesn't even know what kind of food he likes to eat on his birthday. With nobody to watch over him, Haebom has been mercilessly bullied at school. For some nebulous plot reason, however, this is the year that Haebom's adoptive mom asks Taesung to keep an eye on Haebom and make sure he's doing OK… apparently they weren't curious about this before. Haebom lies and says the bullies are his friends. Taesung clearly isn't observant because he believes that for a while. Oh and by the way, Taesung is the most smart, handsome, popular boy in school, because this is a BL manhwa.

I like romance tropes, but a story cannot subside on tropes alone. Both Haebom and Taesung feel like straw men being held together with tropes and duct tape. When it comes to both leads' motivations, nothing makes sense. Why does discovering that his foster brother, who he has never paid any mind to before, is being bullied make Taesung suddenly attracted to him? Why is Haebom, who has been ignored by Taesung for years, suddenly interested in cultivating a relationship with him? Why isn't there a single teacher who objects to the egregious bullying going on during class? This is more of a story of two people going from strangers to acquaintances than anything resembling a love story. The lack of any sort of romantic tension would make that even less believable than the plot.