Fated, But Not Really, Mates in a Dystopian World
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Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Radio Storm.
Content Warning: There may be references to gore, violence, war, military, bullying, theft, blood, suicidal ideation, human experimentation, child soldiers, epidemics/pandemic, zombies, death (including child death), murder, gun violence, child labor, prejudice, gossiping, human trafficking, exploitation, experience gap, self-harm, child abuse, child neglect, child enslavement, manipulation, self-deprecation, dubcon/noncon, somnophilia, self-sacrifice, imprisonment, extortion, brainwashing, mentions of religion, mentions of kidnapping, mentions of gambling, mentions of pedophilia, drugging, and mentions of suicide, as they do appear in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Sak is constantly bullied and assaulted, but that is the least of his worries. The world around the Academy, where he has been given a coveted and safe place to live, is in ruins. Disease and poverty run rampant around the world, and war is never-ending. The only reason Sak is allowed to stay here is that he is a core user. A core user is a rare person, born with powers that those at the Academy and the government see as capable of either fighting in wars or curing the various diseases overtaking various communities.
But Sak’s power is useless.
Still, he is valuable, if for nothing more than for experimentation by the Academy. His power is twofold. He can smell better than most, and he can emit a pleasant, earthy smell. Unfortunately, this also means he can’t use his powers to defend himself, making him an open target for abuse from some of his colleagues. He puts up with it, mostly because he doesn’t feel much to begin with. That is, until his main abuser suddenly turns into a cannibalistic monster, and he is put down.
As it turns out, Sak has a use for his power after all. There is a disease turning people into zombie-like monsters, and Sak can smell when someone is going to turn. But his power isn’t as strong as it could be. Sak is told that core users have counterparts out in the world called callers, and somewhere out there is his. It will be an instant connection the moment they meet, though it will be entirely one-sided for Sak. Sak has never cared about anyone or anything until he heard about his caller, and beyond the power it will give him, Sak just wants to truly connect with someone meant just for him.
But maybe his caller isn’t really his at all.
Review:
I have read another Team S&S title, and in all honesty, based on the cover art, I had no clue this was another one of their titles. I would even go so far as to say the cover art is a bit deceptive when compared to the art in the series itself. Sak, in particular, is unrecognizable between the cover art and how he appears in the series to me. Taking the cover art out of consideration, though, I am a fan of Team S&S‘s style. It is very sketchy, especially at the beginning, but it has a very classic manga-like style that is really pleasing to the eye. I also like that it is in black and white, with only key colors being highlighted throughout. For my degenerates out there, though, at least in the Tapas version, this is very inconsistent. It is almost entirely softcore, then there is a random uncensored penis in the middle, and then any hardcore scenes are lightsabered. It is frustrating, so be warned.
Unfortunately, the writing isn’t the best, especially at the beginning. The dialogue feels very unnatural and stilted, and there was a change of translators through the course of the story, which might account for the better quality later on, but since the beginning is where we get a lot of the worldbuilding, and this has a lot of worldbuilding since it is a fantastical dystopian setting, it can be hard to follow what is happening. That’s not to say there aren’t good parts. Learning about Lima’s past, how he got his name, and various elements like that were very powerful. But surrounding these good elements, there is a lot of stuff that is mostly just hard to understand.
For example, there is a ton of deception in this series, which makes sense given the characters and the world, but it makes it very hard for the reader to discern what is accurate about the world’s rules. When we are first introduced to the concept of “callers,” it is presented as a fated mate situation. There is only one caller to one core user. Okay, great. But as we proceed, we find that the Academy’s core users are given amplifiers to help identify anyone with the ability to be a caller. The connection between a caller and a core user is supposed to be, at least from the core user’s side, an unconditional and toxic connection that they cannot break on their own, but then it is suggested that breaking the amplifier could then break that connection. So, it is not clear whether Lima is Sak’s one and only caller, or if he could be a caller for any core user. There are also mentions of core users losing their memories if the distance between them and their caller is too great, and many other small details that never seem to matter, and it all feels overcomplicated and confusing for no reason.
These inconsistencies, again, make total sense narratively. Callers are used to control core users, so keeping information on their relationship or connection vague is key, but it is never clarified what the lie is and what the truth is. For some, that won’t matter, but it bothers me to no end having read the entire series. There are also some mysterious side characters who appear and don’t seem to play much of a role beyond representing the big-bad Academy/government. Add in some inconsistencies, like Sak grabbing and running away with a child from an infected facility (when Lima wasn’t even there), and then claiming that he only treated the child well because he felt Lima’s feelings toward the child, and this whole thing left me wanting in almost all areas.
Results:
This was all over the place. The smut was inconsistent in its choice of censorship, and then there is a random, uncensored penis right in the middle of the story. The worldbuilding is shaky and inconsistent, intentionally or not, and though it ends on a bright, hopeful note, the lead-up is so confusing and unclear that it’s hard to enjoy. I like Team S&S’s other title, but this was a poor showing for them. If you are really desperate for some dystopian, zombie-sorta BL stories, then maybe this will be worth it, but I would not recommend it.
Have you read Radio Storm? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!
