Manhwa Review | Master’s Pet by Shroomi

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Warning:

There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Master's Pet.

Content Warning: There may be references to child abandonment, implied cheating, power imbalance, social gap, enslavement, disordered eating, BDSM, dubcon/noncon, age gap, experience gap, mentions of gambling, sex work, violence, blood, gossiping, classism, obsession, child abuse, self-deprecation, excessive drinking, death, mentions of arranged marriage, mentions of homelessness, forced monasticism, PTSD, mental illness, victim blaming, drugs, spying, manipulation, kidnapping, poisoning, religion, confinement, mentions of chronic illness, orphans, mentions of war, and snake bites, as it appears in the manhwa.

Synopsis:

Marquess Joseph Howard has been trying to grow out of his gambling and cheating father's shadow. Unfortunately, that becomes immensely more difficult when his younger half-brother, his father's love child, is brought to his home. The mother of the child requests compensation for raising the child, named Collin, as was promised by Joseph's father before his death. Still compelled to escape his father's past promises and debts, Joseph agrees to pay off the woman, who then leaves young Collin behind for Joseph to raise. Joseph isn't interested in his half-brother, but unlike Joseph, who looks nothing like the long history of Howard Marquess before him, Collin is a spitting image of his deceased father. Joseph is immensely jealous and feels Collin is just a physical representation of his inadequacy as the new marquess.

But Joseph is determined to better the Howard name, so he reluctantly takes in his half-brother. Joseph prepares the young man for his noble education but finds that he is traumatized and wild. In order to make things a bit easier, Joseph brings in another servant, an enslaved man named Ein. He intends for Ein to get close to Collin and help him integrate into his new life within the Howard household. But Ein has a painful past, one that still haunts him and that he openly fears. Joseph is willing to help Ein escape his past forever, but at a cost. During the day, Ein serves and teaches Collin, but Ein acts as Joseph's bedmate at night.

Ein wants to serve in hopes of one day finally breaking free from his past, but when young Collin falls for him, an intense love triangle threatens to tear everything apart. Ein is willing to give his body to his masters. But will he end up giving over his heart, too?

Review:

The art style, early on, sort of reminds me of early MORAK with the very long side profile noses that connect to the upper lip, but way worse. It does get leaps and bounds better as it goes along, even going so far as to give more distinctive features between characters, like the marquess's flatter, rounded nose profile against Collin's more upturned and pointed one. The later art is also reminiscent of older Brothers Without a Tomorrow (which I hate, but more on that when I review one of their older titles), but it's not as stiff and harsh – a huge plus. There's one particular panel that highlights what this artist is capable of where Ein is having sex with Collin outside, and while they're holding each other, his expression becomes so much lighter and friendly with minute changes from panel to panel. It's still inconsistent throughout, but the art really grows as the story goes along, which I appreciate.

Unfortunately, while the art does get better, the story desperately needs fleshing out. The most developed character is Joseph, while Ein and Collin are given vague flashbacks at most. Ein does get a bit more development when his former master enters the picture, but when compared to all the time spent on Joseph, his scars, the flashbacks of his life growing up with his mother who hated him for not being a reflection of Howard bloodline, and even minor reactions to things, every other character feels hollow. This makes the love triangle feel very one-sided, which isn't all that uncommon with love triangles. I've read plenty where it's pretty clear who is end game. However, surprise, the end game is actually Ein and Collin.

While I did like how bright and cheery Collin was, especially when Joseph was often much crueler and cold to Ein, Collin feels so hollow as a character. There are instances where his past is vaguely hinted at, such as his mother saying she wasn't a loving mother and the like, but that's the extent of his development. He was a nice addition to the love triangle and acted more as a bar to achieve for Joseph when sex was involved. Joseph steadily softens up, exposing his vulnerable sides to Ein, and the sex, in turn, seems to become more pleasurable for Ein because Joseph now has a rival for Ein's affection. While Ein and Collin do sleep together, Collin just never seemed like the end game to me, so I was somewhat surprised when it turned out he was. I thought Joseph would finally let go of the pressures of nobility to be with Ein, letting Collin take over instead, especially when Joseph devised a plan to rescue and free Ein, but nope. Collin is stripped of his lower title and disappears before Ein decides to leave the mansion as a free man. It felt rushed, unbelievable, and very unsatisfying.

On the topic of unsatisfying things, there is a second side story where Ein travels to another country with a stunning hunk of a man named Rick. Rick dotes on Joseph, steadily prying open the walls he's put up around him. There's clearly some attraction between the two, and I was so for it. But then the side story ends. We never see the mission Joseph is there for fulfilled. They don't grow closer beyond the affectionate, vulnerable moments we see when Joseph is ill, which is probably more disappointing than the main story's ending. At least the main story had a clear beginning, middle, and end. This side story starts something and just never goes anywhere with it. I would've preferred it had never even started, as it would have been much less disappointing as a result.

Results:

This is a hard miss. The art is rough. The story is severely lacking. And, the end game of the love triangle makes little sense, at least for me. This has potential, but it spent far too much time on the smut (I know, who am I?) and not enough time developing the main cast, so we felt something for them and that the triangle was viable. Add a painfully lacking side story hinting at a possible relationship for Joseph that goes nowhere, and I'm out.

Have you read Master's Pet? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!

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