Manhwa Review | No Reason by Salty

About:

Warning:

There will be spoilers for the manhwa series No Reason.

Content Warning: There may be references to blood, torture, gang activity (mentions of drugs, gambling, war, and weapon trading), homomisia, violence, gun violence, bullying, sex work (sex in exchange for favors), rape (including gang rape), forced BDSM, strangulation, drugging, disassociation, mental illness, PTSD, manipulation, confinement, betrayal, coercion, corruption, Stockholm syndrome, suicidal ideation, self-harm, death, murder, age gap, child abandonment, child abuse, child neglect, bullying, gossiping, disability, excessive drinking, watersports, addiction, and slut-shaming, as it appears in the manhwa.

Synopsis:

Jung-hoon is the right-hand man to the boss of the notorious Sung Jin gang. He's beloved by his underlings, whom he often spends time with and jokes with, though not without strict expectations for them. Though Jung-hoon's primary focus is always the gang and his men, he does enjoy spending his free time bedding beautiful men, and he's particularly weak to a pretty face. Things get a bit more complicated when one of the newest recruits happens to be stunning. Unable to control himself, Jung-hoon talks the young man, Hyunjae, into going back to his place with him, where he begins to try to top him. However, when Hyunjae accepts Jung-hoon's advances, he turns the tables on him and tops Jung-hoon instead.

Though Jung-hoon prefers to top, after doing it with Hyunjae, he is more than willing to bottom, and so begins a casual situationship between the two. After a year of working together, it's clear to everyone under Jung-hoon that he has a soft spot for Hyunjae, but even without the preferential treatment, everyone generally despises Hyunjae, maybe none more than Jung-hoon's right-hand man. It's still unclear where Hyunjae came from and how he became so proficient at killing at such a young age. Jung-hoon's judgment is clouded by the affection he feels for the young man, and he assumes he was made for the business, so he ignores his men's warnings.

Unfortunately for Jung-hoon, by the time he realizes he has put his trust in the wrong place, the entire gang is wiped out, leaving him as the sole survivor. For what reason, he doesn't know until Hyunjae confines him and throws him to his underlings. It's clear Hyunjae wants nothing more than to ruin Jung-hoon, but why? What does he have to gain from it? Jung-hoon can't ponder over it for long as he spirals into neverending darkness.

Review:

The art in this can sometimes be very, very pretty and other times very, very rough. I think it leans more toward the nice-looking side, but the main problem is the shading. It can be very difficult to see what's happening, but not during the non-smut sections. It's in the smut that things get chaotic and rough-looking, which, unfortunately, equates to a majority of this title. I wouldn't say it's ugly, necessarily. It is inconsistent, and it can be hard to discern what is happening, but it is well-drawn from what can be seen. The heavy-handed shading just makes everything blend together, which is really unfortunate since the art is so clean and reasonably shaded any other time.

Now, for the story. Just to be clear, before I get started, I'm not saying hating this is wrong, and I'm also not saying liking this is wrong. I'm not here to police fiction for morality, and every person has the right to like or dislike what fiction they choose, regardless of the reasons for doing so. With that being said, this is heavy, heavy noncon. Heavy. Of the smut in this, I'd estimate about 95% is noncon, so if noncon is not your thing, get away now. I, personally, don't have an issue with noncon, but the amount of it does get to be tiring after a while. It drones on and on with torture and cruelty unlike anything I've seen in manhwa to date, and most of it isn't even between Jung-hoon and Hyunjae. If you're looking for forced pornhwa with very little plot, look no further.

While I don't personally mind noncon, I do need some amount of substance; otherwise, it can be so tiring and mind-numbing. I think this tries to have some substance to it, giving Hyunjae a horrible past to explain why he is so cruel and unable to love properly, but then we get no resolution to those feelings. There is a very short, haphazard scene in which Jung-hoon shoots Hyunjae's father, and then they just run away together. And that's it. There are also implications that the father might have killed Hyunjae's mother, and there is the surprise reveal that Hyunjae is actually working for the feds, but that is all briefly mentioned, overrun with more rape and torture of Jung-hoon, which by this point was so overdone. It's very, very disappointing. If you need more plot with your pornhwa along the same noncon lines, I highly recommend The Warehouse.

Then there are the side stories. I was hoping for some level of redemption here. With Hyunjae and Jung-hoon finally together in their toxic Stockholm syndrome-based relationship, I thought we'd get more exploration of Hyunjae's mindset, his past, and how he is living without the pressure of his father and gang over him anymore, and maybe for Jung-hoon to be able to explore his own feelings since the focus is no longer on him being raped by anyone and everyone, but it just doesn't go anywhere. Don't get me wrong, I wasn't looking for a Hyunjae redemption arc. If anything, I kind of appreciate that the author didn't try to excuse his actions, instead leaning into the monster forever being a monster. Still, I would've appreciated at least some sense of depth from the side story. Instead, we see Jung-hoon trying to exist with intense PTSD, and the cause of his PTSD trying to further confine him and keep him drugged up, only for them to just accept their horrible relationship within a few episodes. These elements don't bother me on their own, but I was hoping for something more when the entire series has been a torture smut-fest. I got a brief reprieve seeing Jung-hoon's past and how his right-hand man once had a crush on him that remains forever unrequited, but by the time that happens, we're at the end with nowhere else to go with it. If anything, it's worse for having shown some sense of depth only to end right then.

Results:

This was very disappointing. I don't mind smut-heavy titles, but when dealing with such intense kink and noncon elements, I appreciate the reprieve and depth narrative can add. While this does try to intertwine narrative with smut, the overwhelming noncon completely overshadows it, leaving the ending to feel rushed and empty overall. I just want more from it, and not in a good way. Unless you just really want a neverending slew of violent noncon and mindbreak content, I'd say this is a miss. Now, the very last side story episode is marked as completed on Lezhin, but the comic itself says to be continued. Everywhere I've looked up says it's completed, and I'm inclined to believe them, which is why I'm reviewing this. If it does come back in some form or fashion, I suppose there is a chance for story redemption somewhere, but I'm doubtful. Still, I'll try to keep you all updated.

Have you read No Reason? 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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