REVIEW: Operation: True Love (manhwa, vol. 1) by kkokkalee, illustrated by Dledumb

Operation: True Love is a contemporary-set manhwa with fantasy elements. I assume there will be romance in the future, based on the title.

Review:

Su-ae has been dating her boyfriend Minu for a while. Even though he's regularly dismissive or even outright mean to her, she's always ready and willing to forgive him. Literally everyone, even Su-ae to a certain extent, can see how toxic this is. For some reason, Su-ae is only really bothered by one person's judgment of her decision to keep putting up with Minu. Minu's best friend, Eunhyeok, always seems to be looking at her like he thinks she's pathetic.

Then one day Su-ae finds a mysterious Jellypop flip phone that keeps sending her snide texts about her relationship with Minu. She assumes the phone is Eunhyeok's and that he's the one who's texting her, but that doesn't seem to be the case. 

You know that "flames on the side of my face" gif? That was me while reading this. These characters were horrible. The volume starts with a glimpse of the near future, in which the phone has made it so that Su-ae can see "the amount of love each person will receive in their lifetime." Supposedly, her number is zero. Oh yeah, and somehow she'll end up cheating on Minu with Eunhyeok. 

So, I think I'm supposed to be rooting for Su-ae and Eunhyeok as a couple, but at this point in the series I kind of just hate everyone, including the phone. 

Minu's a horrible boyfriend. Su-ae knows this, but stays with him anyway because 1) he's hot and 2) I guess some version of "I'm not good enough to find anyone better." Ra-im, Su-ae's supposed "best friend" and kinda sorta foster sister is horrible but hides it a lot better than Minu. Eunhyeok judges Su-ae for continuing to date Minu even though he frequently treats her badly, and yet Eunhyeok is friends with both Minu and Ra-im, so I wouldn't say he's all that great himself.

The art is okay, except Minu, Eunhyeok, and a third guy name Baek Dohwa were occasionally hard for me to tell apart. Sure, their hair styles and colors were all different, but not quite different enough for instant recognition in all scenes.

I don't know that I'll be continuing this series.