Seasons of Blossom: Overcoming Struggles

Hi! Per my usual disclaimer at the beginning of my reviews, I'm not very good at articulating my thoughts, so I'm sorry if my writing style seems like word vomit, but I hope you enjoy reading this! This is also my first review for a manhwa, but the categories I'll be discussing are relatively the same as my other ones on anime. You can also check out my other reviews here!

~SYNOPSIS / TRIGGER WARNINGS~
Seasons of Blossom follows the stories of four protagonists, with each of their character arcs occurring throughout one of the seasons, hence the title of the manhwa. Without giving too much information, each of these arcs deal with some heavy topics. In case some people need a trigger warning, I'm gonna list them here.

• Bomi's Flower (Spring): Minor instances of bullying. This is the most lighthearted arc of the four.
• Hamin's Flower (Summer): Suicide, depression.
• Gaeul's Flower (Autumn): Bullying, self harm, depression, mentions of suicide.
• Dongchae's Flower (Winter): Bullying, depression, mentions of suicide.

~STORY~

Man this story is insane because I believe a majority of people who read this were mislead by that cover, myself included. As I mentioned above, there are four arcs with four different protagonists: Bomi's Flower, Hamin's Flower, Gaeul's Flower and Dongchae's Flower.

Bomi's Flower has the plot that I was initially going into this for: it's a cute rom-com with Bomi as the main character. It's easily the most lighthearted of the four stories and slowly weeds you into these characters' lives. I really enjoyed reading this, as I'm a fan of romance stories and I wasn't disappointed. There were some laughs, some fluffy moments, and some dramatic moments, everything you could possibly need in a standard cute romcom.

The other three stories though? Oh boy.

Hamin, Gaeul, and Dongchae's stories are just so completely different from Bomi's, it's actually kind of ridiculous. If I had to relate it to another piece of media, it's very much like comparing the first season of Fruits Basket with the second and final seasons, if you've seen that anime. All three of these stories have major tone shifts and don't shy away from heavy topics as mentioned above. Watching these characters truly brought out some pain, but also gets down to the nitty-gritty of how it feels to be bullied or depressed, complete with inner thoughts and outward actions.

The best thing about each of these stories though is that they all have fulfilling endings, whether they are happy or bittersweet, they are realistic. Every arc feels complete by the end and it just felt so rewarding to finish a story with such a great cast of characters.

~CHARACTERS~

I'm partial to stories with ensemble casts, especially when the stories interconnect. This manhwa does a good job of interlinking characters to one another through various dynamics and in turn helps characterize each individual, whether good or bad, but connects them to other characters regardless. The nicest thing about interlinked characters within different stories is that you're able to witness how they have changed from their respective events.

A good example of this idea is the character of Jaemin. Again, I'm not gonna go in too deep with about story or characters because of spoilers, but like most characters in Season of Blossom, he's present in all four arcs, but is central to each of them–directly or indirectly because of his links to other characters.

My favorite character would have to be Gaeul, the protagonist of the third arc because I found her story and development the most rewarding, and I just liked her strong personality.

~ARTWORK~

The artwork of Seasons of Blossom is refreshing. One may even call it simple, with not a lot of shading and detail, but the truth is that there is actually a lot of thought in the usage of color in this manhwa. Each season is represented by a set of hues and colors and they are used throughout the arcs, including the webtoon's logo within the chapter. For example, in Gaeul's Flower, representing the season of autumn, you'll find a bunch of orange and yellow hues within the chapters: the leaves on the trees, the outfits of the characters, the settings of the story. These little details highlight the difference in tones of each arc, and I wish more manhwa could work with expressing tone this way.

Besides that, the manhwa's art is simple and clean (is the way that you're making me feel tonight) enough that it's easy on the eyes while keeping the reader immersed in the story. The characters' expressions during important plot points are always showcased by brightly-colored eyes especially. Pretty normal for a manhwa's art style, but nonetheless very pleasing to look at.

~OVERALL~

Seasons of Blossom's themes of change, moving on, and developing yourself will continue to stick with me for a long time. This is one series that has personally impacted me and affected my outlook on how I view life from now on. On top of having an entertaining cast, this story educates readers on mental struggles, and the idea that healing from trauma is not something that just happens, but is a long and gradual process. Please remember that. But I digress, this is a great story. You may come for the cute romance initially, but you will leave having gained so much more.