About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Bye Bye.
Trigger Warning: There may be references to death, suicidal ideation, survivor's guilt, car accidents, male pregnancy, miscarriage, blood, sexual harassment, depression, sexism, mentions of cheating (not between the main characters), exploitation, slut-shaming, self-deprecation, obsession, nonconsenting porn (not between main characters), implied gang activity, implied murder, victim-blaming, blackmail/sextortion, violence, and excessive drinking, as it appears in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Seoyu is standing on the edge of a bridge. This bridge was where his happy life ended years before, when he survived a plunge in the river below, while his parents and brother did not. Ever since, he's lived with survivor's guilt, doing the bare minimum to get through day after day. Now that he's the same age his brother was when he died, Seoyu sees no point in continuing on in life. Just as he's about to climb over the guardrail, a car comes flying up, crashing into it.
Seoyu rushes over to help the driver, only to find a perfectly fine young man. As it turns out, he wasn't supposed to drive the car yet. Fearing his brother's reaction, he begs Seoyu to help him lie and get out of any trouble in exchange for a nice chunk of change. Though only a few moments before, Seoyu was ready to move on from life. But his determination has waned, and he's agreed to meet the young man's brother. Seoyu doesn't expect to meet a very dominant alpha, and a hot one at that.
There's no way this guy would ever be attracted to a recessive omega like him, but that doesn't stop Seoyu from imagining it. How surprising it is when those dreams come true, and he is actively pursued by the hot alpha Sunghoon Choi. But is he deserving of such love from someone like Sunghoon?
Review:
This art style is so much fun. It isn't the most consistent but has very clean, vibrant coloring, adorable chibis, and great character designs. Its expressions are striking, and the ability to shift between bright and lighthearted tones to lusty and seductive tones and even to deep, dark, psychological moments is beyond impressive. There's always something nice to look at in almost every range of emotion you can find. It's an art feast, and I really enjoyed it. It's a unique style that I think is worth looking at.
But even better than the art are the characters, particularly Seoyu. He is an intensely complex character, one who is equally humorous and fun as he is dark and depressive. He represents a lot of people who go through life silently suffering from depression and trauma, hiding it behind a smile. Seoyu is fragile, quick to be hurt, and even hurts himself with self-deprecating thoughts, but he's also exceedingly strong, powering through a life that has been unfair to him in more ways than one. When he ends up pregnant, he's excited to finally have a win in life, starting a family he's longed for. Then, when he loses his baby, he mourns but powers through it. He blames himself for the loss and believes it proves he is undeserving of happiness, setting us up for a bleak ending mirroring the bleak opening we had at the beginning of the series.
This takes me to another thing I love about this series. It's cyclical. I adore cyclical narratives where the beginning is mirrored in the end. The beginning shows Seoyu about to take his life in the same place where he lost his family. He's stopped by a car crashing into the guardrail. After losing his baby, we see him back on that bridge. He tosses his child's shoes off the side of the bridge, saying goodbye to the child and his family, calling back to the title “Bye Bye.” But unlike before, where the moment on the bridge symbolized him giving up on life, this moment symbolizes his resolve to continue on and enjoy his life for those who can't and in hopes that someday he'll get to see them on the other side. It's followed by Sunghoon crashing into the guardrail, afraid Seoyu is going to kill himself, only to find he was finding peace there instead. It's a beautiful shift in symbolism and one I think about often. Goodbyes are sad but can also be a moment of freedom, which we see Seoyu finally get for himself.
Thankfully, we get to see Seoyu pregnant once again and happy and in love with Sunghoon. However, as much as I love seeing Seoyu happy, healthy, and pregnant, I was so sad that we didn't get to see his baby. I am so greedy when it comes to my omegaverse, so when there is mpreg involved, I want a baby reveal. Unfortunately, we don't get it in this series. I'm not too terribly upset about it since I like the overall story and character growth, but if a baby reveal is vital for you to enjoy omegaverse, this might disappoint you. What did disappoint me was the quality of this localization. There are a lot of confusing lines and typos, which is really unfortunate, especially because the story is so good.
Results:
I adore this story. This is most certainly a favorite, and I can't recommend it enough. It is dark, funny, smutty, terribly sad, but also so uplifting. You will feel all the things, and it is so great. This does have mpreg with no payoff, but that is hardly a detractor to this amazing story. I highly, highly recommend this series if you love omegaverse. It's one of the best I've read in a while.
Have you read Bye Bye? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!