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Guardians of the Lamb #1
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
June 1, 2023
SPOILERS FOR DARK HEAVEN AND GUARDIANS OF THE LAMB
Hari is an incredible protagonist, even though she is a bit of an airhead at first, Junsseu does a great job at showing her layers and it is revealed so much of her silly goofy behavior is a trauma response. I think this is a nice vehicle to show how so much of her is impacted by her past or lack thereof even if she can't remember it. Additionally, the lovely visual imagery of the safes that haunt Hari at the beginning of her story along with this detail makes for such nice foreshadowing.
She is an ENFP (like me lol) and although I find that the happy-go-lucky protagonist often falls short in dark stories that brood slowly like this one, Junsseu found a way to make Hari balanced. She works because the world in which this story is set in is a dark and horrendous place. Her lovely personality and almost naive worldview pair well with the art style and colouring palette of the book itself. (also love that she is the only one w an unnatural vibrant hair colour)
Junsseu tried a similar thing with Simon in Dark Heaven, which worked but not in a similar way. Where Simon's cute positive personality served to both highlight the message of love will prevail and create a contrast between a man who just wants to love and be loved and the hateful bigots who surround him. Hari's (at least in the beginning) highlights the theme of escapism and status as the lamb mentioned in the title.
next is gale/ lee moogil. he is incredible as a character and incredible as a love interest. in dark heaven, he served as simons antichrist, who tried to pull him to the dark side, a wild card who seemed to do more good than harm. In this story, Simon is absent and his foil remains alone. I wasn't sure his story was gonna be worth the read if I'm being honest, because although Gale was an engaging character in Dark Heaven, his main purpose was to be evil, and due to his characterization in the first title I could not even see him as a person, which is the reason I doubted him as a love interest as well.
However, Gale surpassed every expectation, he was such a strong incredible character on his own, I did not expect it. He is crazy, still, but there is so much more to him in this story. Junsseu actually incorporated one of my favorite themes with him: "he wasn't born this way, but forced to be". And this theme was foreshadowed in Dark Heaven, but it is expanded so wonderfully in GotL and shown in many creative ways.
A killer for hire, who truly and at the very essence of his being loves to kill; a man like that isn't born but made, and honestly how could he not, being born into the horrible world he was, while Hari had amnesia and Simon had privilege, Gale he had nothing. By the 70ish chapter I started to think "In his circumstances, who wouldn't?", like Hari, his actions can be explained by his life before the present.
Both his actions and his new relationship with Hari serve to humanize him, it really struck a chord with me when he realized he now had to protect his lamb and couldn't continue to live that recklessly because is that not essentially what this story is about? Hari and her protectors.
Honestly, Gale really highlights Junsseu's ability to write lovely tragic compelling stories. Gale's story is about a man who already lived the moment he was staying alive for but found another, more noble reason to keep living. From destroyer to protector, Junsseu seamlessly weaved his character arc and I loved it!!
finally, Mr. Ahn. Ahn was a bit of a flat character, he's already been through his character arc, and he wants to protect Hari because he loves her since they were in the cult, nothing special about that. He already got "over" his trauma and wants to protect the one good thing in his world, Hari, not much going on there either.
At first, it seemed like the second half of the Lamb Protectors was just filling a role as the secondary love interest and good boy™ (he reminded me of Conor's ex in that way, just taking up space or just there to fulfill a troupe). It wasn't until his conversation with his bodyguard that I really saw anything in him. Although he presents himself as a warm kind man, he is a cold calculated bastard, already chosen the path with the least resistance in which he takes revenge and protects his interests. It is an interesting take on the "trauma shapes us" motif as it sets him very far apart from the other instances where this theme is present which usually has characters be overly emotional. Also, he has the most to lose, Hari, his job, and the life he's established, and he is confident he will walk away victorious, that confidence and his (latent) cold personality make me want to root for him.
Junsseu created such a deep world. The underlying social issues darken it, like pollution, slowly poisoning the individual and society. Using heavy inspiration from the K*K, the catholic church, and a real cult in Korea really made these organizations seem true to life, I can imagine with a Korean audience some of the imagery hot close to home as it did to me.
You can also tell how much Junsseu grew as a writer, artist, and storyteller from one book to another and the fact they had me rooting for a heterosexual couple says a lot lol.
Finally, a criticism, it does not escape my notice that the first title in this series is a bl and has copious amounts of graphic rape (only against and between men) and sex, whereas the second heterosexual title has a first kiss so far into the story I haven't reached it yet (goes to show who the target audience is). This kind of fan service is so distasteful and taints the integrity of a story in my opinion.
Additionally, the girlfriend from Dark Heaven was a lazy, slightly misogynistic villain. "She falls in love with a gay man and loses it when he leaves her that she ruins his life" and then everything bad that happens to the main couple can be linked back to her? lazy writing. And the love rival that falls in love with someone else in the end? Boring, overused. Also, when Gale deadass forgot someone he was torturing when he was no longer relevant to the story and it was revealed in the final author's note? Okay, that was pretty funny but it was clear Juns had no idea what to do with him. I don't have any criticisms of the same nature of GotL which goes to show Jun's growth.
All in all, this was a lovely book that I will be finishing after I get over the heartbreak the first part/arc caused me.
Hari is an incredible protagonist, even though she is a bit of an airhead at first, Junsseu does a great job at showing her layers and it is revealed so much of her silly goofy behavior is a trauma response. I think this is a nice vehicle to show how so much of her is impacted by her past or lack thereof even if she can't remember it. Additionally, the lovely visual imagery of the safes that haunt Hari at the beginning of her story along with this detail makes for such nice foreshadowing.
She is an ENFP (like me lol) and although I find that the happy-go-lucky protagonist often falls short in dark stories that brood slowly like this one, Junsseu found a way to make Hari balanced. She works because the world in which this story is set in is a dark and horrendous place. Her lovely personality and almost naive worldview pair well with the art style and colouring palette of the book itself. (also love that she is the only one w an unnatural vibrant hair colour)
Junsseu tried a similar thing with Simon in Dark Heaven, which worked but not in a similar way. Where Simon's cute positive personality served to both highlight the message of love will prevail and create a contrast between a man who just wants to love and be loved and the hateful bigots who surround him. Hari's (at least in the beginning) highlights the theme of escapism and status as the lamb mentioned in the title.
next is gale/ lee moogil. he is incredible as a character and incredible as a love interest. in dark heaven, he served as simons antichrist, who tried to pull him to the dark side, a wild card who seemed to do more good than harm. In this story, Simon is absent and his foil remains alone. I wasn't sure his story was gonna be worth the read if I'm being honest, because although Gale was an engaging character in Dark Heaven, his main purpose was to be evil, and due to his characterization in the first title I could not even see him as a person, which is the reason I doubted him as a love interest as well.
However, Gale surpassed every expectation, he was such a strong incredible character on his own, I did not expect it. He is crazy, still, but there is so much more to him in this story. Junsseu actually incorporated one of my favorite themes with him: "he wasn't born this way, but forced to be". And this theme was foreshadowed in Dark Heaven, but it is expanded so wonderfully in GotL and shown in many creative ways.
A killer for hire, who truly and at the very essence of his being loves to kill; a man like that isn't born but made, and honestly how could he not, being born into the horrible world he was, while Hari had amnesia and Simon had privilege, Gale he had nothing. By the 70ish chapter I started to think "In his circumstances, who wouldn't?", like Hari, his actions can be explained by his life before the present.
Both his actions and his new relationship with Hari serve to humanize him, it really struck a chord with me when he realized he now had to protect his lamb and couldn't continue to live that recklessly because is that not essentially what this story is about? Hari and her protectors.
Honestly, Gale really highlights Junsseu's ability to write lovely tragic compelling stories. Gale's story is about a man who already lived the moment he was staying alive for but found another, more noble reason to keep living. From destroyer to protector, Junsseu seamlessly weaved his character arc and I loved it!!
finally, Mr. Ahn. Ahn was a bit of a flat character, he's already been through his character arc, and he wants to protect Hari because he loves her since they were in the cult, nothing special about that. He already got "over" his trauma and wants to protect the one good thing in his world, Hari, not much going on there either.
At first, it seemed like the second half of the Lamb Protectors was just filling a role as the secondary love interest and good boy™ (he reminded me of Conor's ex in that way, just taking up space or just there to fulfill a troupe). It wasn't until his conversation with his bodyguard that I really saw anything in him. Although he presents himself as a warm kind man, he is a cold calculated bastard, already chosen the path with the least resistance in which he takes revenge and protects his interests. It is an interesting take on the "trauma shapes us" motif as it sets him very far apart from the other instances where this theme is present which usually has characters be overly emotional. Also, he has the most to lose, Hari, his job, and the life he's established, and he is confident he will walk away victorious, that confidence and his (latent) cold personality make me want to root for him.
Junsseu created such a deep world. The underlying social issues darken it, like pollution, slowly poisoning the individual and society. Using heavy inspiration from the K*K, the catholic church, and a real cult in Korea really made these organizations seem true to life, I can imagine with a Korean audience some of the imagery hot close to home as it did to me.
You can also tell how much Junsseu grew as a writer, artist, and storyteller from one book to another and the fact they had me rooting for a heterosexual couple says a lot lol.
Finally, a criticism, it does not escape my notice that the first title in this series is a bl and has copious amounts of graphic rape (only against and between men) and sex, whereas the second heterosexual title has a first kiss so far into the story I haven't reached it yet (goes to show who the target audience is). This kind of fan service is so distasteful and taints the integrity of a story in my opinion.
Additionally, the girlfriend from Dark Heaven was a lazy, slightly misogynistic villain. "She falls in love with a gay man and loses it when he leaves her that she ruins his life" and then everything bad that happens to the main couple can be linked back to her? lazy writing. And the love rival that falls in love with someone else in the end? Boring, overused. Also, when Gale deadass forgot someone he was torturing when he was no longer relevant to the story and it was revealed in the final author's note? Okay, that was pretty funny but it was clear Juns had no idea what to do with him. I don't have any criticisms of the same nature of GotL which goes to show Jun's growth.
All in all, this was a lovely book that I will be finishing after I get over the heartbreak the first part/arc caused me.
January 12, 2025
Well, this was an insane read !
From cults, mental illness, and child abuse, this manhwa had it all....
I absolutely loveddddd Moogil and Hari dynamic. They were so silly and added comedic relief to this otherwise very dark story. I always love the theme of two broken souls who are very different on the surface but find comfort,understanding, and redemption in each other never gets old to me.
I wish the ending wasn't rushed because I wanted to see more pg how everything turned out for everyone.
The cast of characters were all so unique and distinctive. Shout out to Mr Ahn because how he managed to remain good despite his horrific trauma is something else for me and his unconditional love for Hari...
I wonder who had happened to Nasrin(can't remember how to spell her name) and Marco..
From cults, mental illness, and child abuse, this manhwa had it all....
I absolutely loveddddd Moogil and Hari dynamic. They were so silly and added comedic relief to this otherwise very dark story. I always love the theme of two broken souls who are very different on the surface but find comfort,understanding, and redemption in each other never gets old to me.
I wish the ending wasn't rushed because I wanted to see more pg how everything turned out for everyone.
The cast of characters were all so unique and distinctive. Shout out to Mr Ahn because how he managed to remain good despite his horrific trauma is something else for me and his unconditional love for Hari...
I wonder who had happened to Nasrin(can't remember how to spell her name) and Marco..
August 5, 2025
I'll round it to 4 star ‼️
I didn't expect the characters to be so DOWN BAD for each other 💀 but regardless, I think this was pretty good and I really enjoyed the comedy aspect of it. The character interactions were very fun and I liked most of the main characters' developments, plus the art was great. I will say that sometimes it felt a bit repetitive since the protagonist constantly needed rescuing, the epilogue felt way too rushed, and the love triangle was iffy, but altogether I personally had a good time reading this and I think it mostly made sense why it was the way it was. Don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it but yeah! Love me a found family story told in fragmented memories about a messed up cult and childhood trauma ig
I didn't expect the characters to be so DOWN BAD for each other 💀 but regardless, I think this was pretty good and I really enjoyed the comedy aspect of it. The character interactions were very fun and I liked most of the main characters' developments, plus the art was great. I will say that sometimes it felt a bit repetitive since the protagonist constantly needed rescuing, the epilogue felt way too rushed, and the love triangle was iffy, but altogether I personally had a good time reading this and I think it mostly made sense why it was the way it was. Don't know if I'd necessarily recommend it but yeah! Love me a found family story told in fragmented memories about a messed up cult and childhood trauma ig
January 31, 2026
абсолютный пик литературного искусства
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October 1, 2023If I hadn’t read Dark Heaven before this I’d be less conflicted. But still, I haven’t stopped thinking about the characters or the style since I caught up.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews