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.
The plot got a bit confusing for me in this one. I really can't get a good idea of what kind of character Hana is. I don't know if she's good or bad, or how I'm supposed to feel about her in general. Sak and Lima are both approaching this situation in different ways because they both know different things, but we don't always know what it is that they know. It started to make a bit more sense towards the end of the volume and the cliffhanger definitely has me dangling right now, but I can't really tell where the story is going any more.
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.
Despite this not being the final installment in the series, it actually perfectly lays out its concluding argument. One may think the point of this series is the characters finding a cure to the virus and helping humanity overall. However, that's not what this story is about. The argument this story is setting forth is that humans, regardless of the circumstances, will create situations where other humans are harmed. There's no point to being a self-sacrificing hero because if you solve one issue another one will crop up.
This central argument of the story is perfectly exemplified by what happened to Lima as a child soldier. This volume reveals that Lima's suffering as a child was just for the amusement and enrichment of a certain group of people. Children were bought and stolen in order to fight each other just so that the owner could use them as unwilling participants in a gambling ring. When a zombie-like virus started spreading, it was just more fodder for this man's greed. Another way for him to make money with no regard to the lives of the human children in his care. This shows how, regardless of the virus, people find other ways to cause suffering.
Therefore, it doesn't matter that the academy claims they're trying to save humanity by eradicating the virus. Not only is this a false statement as they are willing to kill god knows how many people to accomplish this goal, but it doesn't even matter if they succeed. The world is plagued by so much hardship, that the ongoing state of conflict won't magically disappear because the virus is no longer present. On top of that, their inherent elitism and belief that only the "smart" should survive makes it impossible for me to root for their success. It's just repackaged eugenics.
I think what I found most fascinating about this volume was finally getting an understanding of why Lima feels so attached to Sak. I was reminded that Lima has spent most of his life afraid and alone. Apart from Echo, he hasn't had an emotional connection to another human being. This is an incredibly lonely existence. Although at first he didn't trust Sak's devotion to him, of course it would feel nice to finally feel the affection of another human being again. The whole dynamic is fraught and complicated, but it makes sense why now he wants to keep Sak close. In addition, it seems logical to me that he'd risk severing the "artificial" connection between him and Sak. Hana is convinced that he wouldn't risk not feeling that devotion from Sak, but of course Lima would want Sak not only to have the freedom to make his own choices but to prove he legitimately wants to be with Lima. I think when push comes to shove, most of us want to know the people who love us freely choose to do so and are not coerced to do so. After all, if their tie is severed and Sak still wants to be with him and protect him, then their bond goes beyond just that of a "core" and a "caller." Lima is scared of severing the tie because he thinks there's no way that Sak would truly ever love and care for someone like him, but he still takes that chance. This decision actually made me respect his character so much more.
Anyway. I'll end this review with my one complaint. My major qualm with this volume is how many pages are wasted with scenes of Sak and Lima having sex 🙄 It was truly baffling to me that the academy would give them so much free time that they're literally able to have sex more than once. Hello? Put your junk back in the trunk! There's so much deception going on in this story, so much being left unsaid, that the last thing I wanted was for these characters to get naked AGAIN when we could be getting more information about this world 🤦🏻♀️ I feel even more aggravated knowing we don't exactly get all the answers I wanted in volume 4, so truly we could've scrapped all this fucking and instead delved deeper into the world.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Estando nuevamente en la Escuela, Sak al fin descubre cuál es su verdadero cometido y el auténtico poder de su núcleo: el de eliminar a las personas infectadas por el virus. Su núcleo es el veneno que pondrá fin a una epidemia sin cura más allá de la muerte, pero para ello, Sak debe ir a la guerra y abandonar a Lima, algo que este último no está dispuesto a aceptar. Mucho menos después de la promesa que le hizo Sak de estar a su lado para siempre.
Detenido y condenado por sus actos criminales, en la Escuela juegan con esa baza manteniendo encerrado a Lima para hacer que Sak haga y actúe como ellos quieren, pues la realidad es que la Escuela es un Laboratorio de investigación de núcleos y de cómo conseguir a través de ellos la victoria sobre el virus y la guerra del agua que hace que todos los humanos estén enfrentados en una contienda sin final.
A través de varias conversaciones, sobre todo con Hana, Lima comienza a comprender la realidad que subyace entre los muros de ese centro, supuestamente un lugar seguro, y lo que han estado fraguando a las espaldas de los núcleos que allí habitan y a las de propio Sak, el cual ha sido manipulado para que haga lo que los altos dirigentes de ese laboratorio quieren que haga. En lo que quieren que se transforme.
Pero para Sak y para Lima todo es demasiado tarde. Hay algo demasiado fuerte entre ambos, algo que va más allá de los sentimientos que Sak ha desarrollado por Lima a causa de su habilidad como transmisor. Lo que se ha forjado entre ambos no es solamente por sus habilidades y poderes, es algo que los ha unido a través del entendimiento, de ser dos personas solitarias y perdidas que se han encontrado cuando la esperanza parecía una utopía inalcanzable.
En un mundo destrozado y asolado por una guerra que ninguno de ellos ha querido vivir, una guerra de la que ni siquiera tienen la culpa, otras personas los han metido en ella y, ahora, quieren que Sak sea el héroe trágico y que con su habilidad destruya el detonante de la guerra; como si con ello la paz fuese a establecerse en el planeta de golpe y porrazo.
Lima está harto de que jueguen con él, con ellos, y no va a permitir que Sak se sacrifique por aquellos que solamente quieren utilizarlo como una arma.
Traspasando el nudo de la historia, Radio Storm vol. 3 incluye los capítulos en los que nos vamos precipitando hacia su culminante final con muchísimas revelaciones que no solamente nos explican más cosas del mundo, sino que hacen que piezas del rompecabezas que teníamos desde el primer volumen encajen a la perfección. Y es que Radio Storm es una distopía oscura que nos muestra esa cara oculta de la humanidad tan real que siempre suelen esconderse cuando hay algo más grande y heroico que poder utilizar.
🫂 En primer lugar, quiero agradecer a @distritomangaed el envío del ejemplar.
📚 Seguimos la historia de Sak y Lima. En un mundo distópico, en guerra, con un virus letal que convierte a las personas en una suerte de zombis, y lleno de personas dispuestas a todo por sobrevivir, nuestros dos protagonistas se encuentran gracias a la conexión que comparten, y tendrán que buscar la manera de sobrevivir.
😎 Esta tercera entrega es la que más me ha gustado hasta ahora. Si bien sigo encontrando perturbadora la dinámica entre Sak y Lima, parece que su suerte de relación de codependencia está bastante más asentada y se siente un poquito menos Dark Romance que antes. Además, que la trama haya avanzado tanto y hayamos podido descubrir algún que otro secreto sobre los Núcleos y los Emisores, me ha parecido perfecto, pues odio que se alarguen las cosas sin sentido (y mira que aquí podían haber seguido metiendo picante, que tampoco habría tenido mucha queja).
🧪 Hana y la gente de la escuela me tienen muy intrigado. Hana, en particular, es un personaje del que no sé qué esperarme, y es que me da la sensación de que la va a liar en cualquier momento.
🧟 Las escenas en las que aparecen infectados siempre me ponen en tensión, y es que los zombis me dan bastante mal rollo y, evidentemente, aquí se juegan bastante cada vez que se enfrentan a ellos. Muy bien llevadas para mi gusto, y en su justa medida.
🌶️ Tenemos bastante spicy en este tomo y, como decía, se siente un poco menos perturbador, pues claramente la relación entre los personajes se ha desarrollado. Sigue siendo, para mi gusto, bastante estilo Dark Romance, y creo que no es para todo el mundo, pero si lees este tipo de historias sabes a lo que vienes, la verdad.
🎨 El estilo artístico, en general, me parece precioso. Los personajes tienen bastante carisma y lo transmiten muy bien, y la sensación de movimiento en las escenas de acción está muy lograda. Además, adoro la mezcla que hacen añadiendo algunos toques de color de vez en cuando (en los ojos, por ejemplo). Vamos, que tiene un sobresaliente claro.
⌛ En definitiva, si te gustan los mundos distópicos, crudos, el BL tirando a oscuro y los zombis, este manhwa es para ti.
Okay, yup, I'm into this! The relationship between Lima and Sak is sparking and there are a lot of secrets about the academy and the war that are revealed. I can't wait for the conclusion!