2019년 7월부터 2022년 2월까지 연재되어 완결 후에도 수많은 독자들의 사랑을 받으며 ‘모두의 인생작’이자 BL 웹툰 부문 부동의 스테디셀러로 자리 잡은 팀S&S의《라디오 스톰》이 종이책 단행본으로 출간되었다. 단행본은 웹툰 시즌별 각 1권으로 총 4권 구성이며, 출간에 맞추어 작업한 신규 일러스트로 종이책만의 새로운 표지를 제작하였다. 단행본 판형에 따라 편집된 컷 구성과 세밀한 수정으로 더욱 완성도가 높아진 작화를 통해 독자분들은 웹툰 연재와는 또다른 매력을 느끼실 수 있을 것이다.
Genuinely surprised by how much I'm liking this series. It's very dark but very thoughtfully written. I really have no idea how it's going to wrap up in one more volume.
Lima's right: even if Sak spends a year or so traveling around and eradicating the virus, it's not like that will fix humanity. They'll still find reasons to fight wars and do horrible things to each other. Look at Lima's life as a child soldier: the virus had nothing to do with that, or at least not with how and why it started. The virus changed the shape of the horrors but not the inhumanity of the people perpetuating them.
How can this end hopeful at all? I don't know. But for now, I weirdly feel like I can trust the storytelling to get me there. We'll see if I'm left disillusioned and angry by the end.
This whole volume is kind of an extended psychological experiment. Now that we know what Sak's powers are and how he can wield them, the academy is testing out his bond with Lima, his caller. I don't fully understand their goal. I guess it was meant to create a situation where Sak lost Lima in a way that left him still trusting the academy (particularly Ginger) and resolving to wipe out the rest of the virus to avenge him. Or something along those lines.
It seems like they should've just leaned harder into winning Lima over to keep him with Sak and to drive his motivation that way, but maybe they realized too quickly that Lima wasn't controllable? After all, when they were discussing his backstory - before finding him and marking him as a caller for Sak - it was very clear that Lima was a special case who made huge messes of anyone who tried to stop him.
The big, devastating thing Lima's struggling with is the realization that the whole "caller" thing is kind of fake. Hana and her sister are the Only True core/caller pair, or at least that's what Hana's been told. In any other case, it's more of an aptitude and affinity; anyone with the right amount of sensitivity, aided by an academy-developed transmitter, will form a bond with a core user. In fact, it appears Lima had actually formed one in the past, with his fellow child soldier friend, without realizing that's what it was or why his friend had been so devoted to him and ready to sacrifice himself to keep Lima safe.
So now Lima has to face the biggest choice of his life: whether to keep Sak tied to him or whether to find a way to release him from at least the worst of their connection. Hana doesn't believe he ever will, because he's so wrapped up in it, too. He's angry and hurt because Sak only loves him because he's his caller...but he's not even really uniquely special to him...and in the process of all this horrible stuff going on, Lima had truly fallen for Sak, so losing him and his devotion is unthinkable.
It's such a fascinating exploration of emotions and trauma-bonding. Lima is an incredibly written character who we get to know slowly, through a series of false impressions and facades that core user Sak was able to break through on their first meeting.
Even Sak trying to save an infected child - which Lima had seen as proof that the academy was wrong about his heartlessness - turned out to be Sak responding to Lima's unspoken desire to protect and save an innocent. It's something else that makes Lima dangerous, I suppose: he's the only one who can bring out the good in Sak, and the academy doesn't want or care about any of that. They just want to be able to control him.
There were a few bits that felt a little bit confusing - was Lima ever necessary for the academy's purposes? - but this was very strong storytelling and I love how unique and plot-focused it is, while still having a whole lot of heartrending, soul-destroying love in the mix.
I binged the series. Volume by volume it wouldn’t have been as good since the suspense and mystery would have been taken away when time makes you forget them.
Storyline 10/10 Characters 9/10 Artwork 10/10
As a series it was dark, but well written. You feel for the history and future of the two main characters while feeling disappointed in how the world around them has shaped and twisted their personalities.
The only reason I gave the characters 9/10 is simply because I feel many people won’t understand their perspective. Many people put their own values and morals onto characters not looking at how they might actually be the way they are due to the storyline.
The artwork, although mostly black and white, is gorgeous.