I'm struggling with this review! I can't say I hate this drama, the concept is interesting and for the most part it is entertaining because of the unpredictable story. However, as a drama that is supposed to be set in a manga universe with manga characters it truly fails hardcore!

I never once felt like anyone was in a two dimensional comic world. The overly subtle stage to shadow transitions, the weird (poorly explained) sound effects, the very manga looking comic characters in the comic book, the very dramaesque situations make the manga world too real world to be emersive. It really just makes the story feel like its set in a high quality web drama! So instead of focusing on the mystery of why the characters were becoming self aware and actual character development I was more curious about who the author of the manga was, why the shadow area existed and the purpose of the books in the drama at all! None of these things are supposed to be important nor were they intended to be answered I suppose. Because in this story's native medium of webtoon we wouldn't really question those things. As readers we know they are comics, the situation is presented and unfolds with in those deminsional constructs. But in a live action adaptation none of that is obvious. So there is a lot of technical exposition about how things work which makes it even more obvious you are not seeing a manga world.

Without the manga related aspects the actual storyline is poorly developed, very cliched and drags mercilessly at times. I found myself wanting to skip most of the main romantic storylines and mystery of the characters relationships hoping to find out why they are characters and why the writer created them. Since that never happens I was really left feeling disappointed and a little angry!

Aside from the drama not living up to my expectations of what an emersive manga world would be like my biggest issue is with the pointlessness of it all. There were no real life inspirations to take from this! As a slice of life school drama all growth is actually unrealistic and supported mainly toxic cliches. As a fantasy drama nothing is explained as to why the fantasy elements even began or exist. As a fluffly romantic comedy it has very little actual romantic development aside from the predetermined ill fated love scenarios. Probably the worst part is that by the end none of what happens even mattered because that world disappears. Suddenly you are starting over in a new world surrounded by cliches and all the same issues to be faced as in the previous story. Except the recognized each other early on but so what? We know the author does what they will and changing a stage causes pain and suffering. They are faced with an eternity of being manipulated by a writer's whims. Which considering the "dried squid fairy" aspect of being a non character is heartbreaking. It makes you wonder if those who vanish completely are not the winners in this tale?! (Not a good life metaphor tbh)

So many disturbing revelation left as loose ends makes the drama conclusion feel pointless for the amount of toil and troubles! In the end they are litterally back at square one but knowing their purpose is supposed to be the reward?! Lmbo could of been my imagination, but the primary source of nearly all suicidal level emotions was being aware of their purpose! More than once by almost every character it's implied how much happier they would be as ignorantly unhappy puppets than self aware ones? I mean I understand what they are trying to represent overall but it's just so poorly done!

I honestly can't comment on the acting because it was such a mess of a story. The way the characters flipped from stage to shadow personalities in exaggeration was obnoxious for the most part. The internal dialogue during stage moment with those hazy real emotion moments were confusing and it was hard to really develop any emotional attachment to what was happening because the chaos made nothing feel real. As such I found very little material for most of the actors to give much emotional depth in performances. The same with music it was just so repetitively predictable or absurdly disjointed to what you would expect.

Overall there wasn't anything that would prompt me to rewatch even on fast forward. If I wasn't fueled by curiosity and the need for closure I would have most likely dropped this mid drama. If you are bored and are looking for a quick binge drama with some fantasy, romance and mystery it's ok. But if you dislike loose ends, canyon sized plot holes and lack luster character/plot development you might want to skip this one!