Title: A Hard Day Chapters 1-8
Publisher: Manta Comics
Language: English
Format: Webtoon
Genre: Action, Thriller
Publication Date: October 18, 2022
The Story
Gunsoo Ko is a detective that has a black belt taekwondo and judo. She has won numerous trophies from tournaments and seems to be well-respected in that regard. Unfortunately, that all ends today as she’s asked to come in and discuss a series of charges being brought up against her. She denies all of them in which she gives us her tale. This is the beginning of the series A Hard Day.
Gunsoo was at her mother’s funeral. She suddenly had to leave which, in Korea, is seen as a bit of a disgrace… especially since she was the next of kin and was in charge of everything. While she’s out, she nearly hits a dog and swerves to avoid it. In the process of doing so, she hits something else. She gets out and discovers that it was a man and, well, he’s dead. If that isn’t bad enough, a police car is headed in her direction so she has to act quickly and hide herself along with the body.
Once the coast is clear, she stuffs it in her trunk for now and will think about what to do with it later. As she’s driving, she begins to go through the list of disciplinary actions she could face for her acts. Things go from bad to worse when she arrives at a drunk driving checkpoint and she has no I.D. on her. She finds a way through that situation and makes it back to the funeral. She receives a text that Internal Affairs is doing some snooping and after finding something in her office, they are on the way there to question her. Realizing there’s still a dead body in her trunk she needs to find, yet another, way to get out of this mess.
Without going into spoiler territory, she manages to get through that and things seem to be in the clear with Internal Affairs after a situation comes up that causes them to back off. In lieu of punishment for what I.A. found, they are assigned a case. They are to track down a murderer. Let’s just say Gunsoo’s day just went from bad to worse!
Characters
While there are a couple of characters here, the main focus is on Gunsoo Ko. Despite all of the precarious predicaments she finds herself in and how they could influence her reactions and personality, you still get a general idea of what she’s about. She’s definitely brash and a bit rough around the edges but at the same time, you get a sense of her being a caring mother. She does care for her daughter Mina and it’s evident that she works very hard for her sake. Given that she was bandaged up in the prologue chapter, she’ll definitely get her hands dirty when needed.
Later on, she brings some of her co-workers some lunch and they are surprised that she did something nice for once. This also lends more evidence to her being a bit on the brash side. She’s definitely not the type that likes to stay on the up and up when it comes to her job, either as she seems to be involved with some extracurricular activities and despite the reasonings behind them it just further enhances the kind of character she is.
Her daughter Miwa just seems like a typical young girl. She’s a bit naïve about the funeral and is more concerned with her mom bringing her back some cake that the fact that her grandmother had just passed. I did find that to be a little odd given how uplifted she was while at a funeral but I can chalk that up to the innocence of a child that probably just doesn’t grasp the full gravity of what’s going on… even though she’s depicted to be old enough to do so.
There really isn’t anything to write home about when it comes to her co-workers just yet. They just seem like everyday detectives to me. Granted, I’ve only read the first eight chapters and there is plenty of time for development… especially as Gunsoo’s day gets worse and worse. Towards the end of the preview I was given, you do get to see them develop some personalities which is good. A lot of the time, when the focus is placed squarely on the main character, supporting characters become an afterthought and almost robotic. I don’t see that happening here which is a good thing!
Final Thoughts
A Hard Day serves up an entertaining string of events that just makes the main character, Gunsoo Ko’s, day worse and worse. You’re right there alongside her saying “what now!?” at every twist and turn. I like how it started off with a prologue where, seemingly, everything was over and then it jumps into the series of events that will eventually bring us full circle. What’s even better is that when most stories do this, they already show you the aftermath… this webcomic doesn’t do that. While we are getting an explanation of things, we don’t know what Gunsoo’s fate is going to be once everything has been laid out on the table.
This gives us room for a nice epilogue after we’re taken on a gripping trip down memory lane. This also allows the reader to take in Gunsoo’s story and fabricate her fate for her. Then, when you read what finally happens, you can compare it to what you thought was going to happen. Or… you can just enjoy the ride and let it all play out. I like having that option because I always love reading a chapter or a volume and then guessing what’s to come because the next one is released!
A Hard Day is labeled as an action thriller but I can say that there is more thriller than action. This is not a bad thing, though. The thriller portion of the series is very compelling and very entertaining. Just don’t expect to see a lot of “action” like hand-to-hand combat, gun fights, or anything of the sort. Right now, just seeing the series of events that happened to Gunsoo is enough to keep you scrolling through each chapter. That in and of itself is the hook for this series and it’s a good one because it’s handled so we.
Being a webcomic, obviously, the artwork is always scrutinized and here, I don’t have any issues with it. The art style is a bit more on the gritty side but that’s in order to enhance the mood and set the tone for the series. The characters are drawn pretty well with Gunsoo having a nice, distinctive look. She definitely gives off tomboy vibes and since the tomboy archetype is one of my favorites, I’m all for her design and demeanor.
A lot of independent artists usually can’t afford good art but since this is based on a hit movie in Korea, the webcomic adaptation definitely looks professional and high-quality as one would expect it to be! This was my first taste of a series from Manta Comics and I’ve been very impressed with it so far! The term “hidden gem” is thrown around a lot and I believe this webcomic could definitely be one of those! The webcomic is available as of today (October 18, 2022) so do yourself a favor and check it out!
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This item was provided for review by Manta Comics
