Review: In the Bleak Midwinter
Anya is born with a number on her wrist: her soul mark, counting down the days until she meets her soulmate. But it is a very large number, indicating that she has many years to wait. That is not the only unusual feature of her world; also androids are an integrated part of society. Some are smoothly mechanical with glowing blue lights; the more advanced ones look totally human.
When her sister dies tragically Anya cannot turn to her estranged brother for comfort. Unable to face what lies ahead, she opts to enter a year of suspended animation at the Dreamscape institute.
She steps into her tube and it fills up with fluid. Soon the darkness takes her ...
She wakes in darkness, with red lights flashing somewhere in the distance. Her pod opens, dumping her unceremoniously on the floor. Crawling for help, she sees the other pods.
They contain corpses. Something has gone wrong. Horribly wrong. And it is about to get worse.
A tall man is walking towards her. He has numbers on his wrist. Anya sees him and feels a tingle on her wrist: her soul mark is rapidly dropping towards zero. His numbers are falling to zero in synch with hers.
She says "You're my soul mate!"
He has a gun...
So begins the highly dramatic and violent In The Bleak Midwinter by writer Kat and artist Ali which currently has over one million readers on Webtoons. The series comes with a musical score backdrop, synthetic and atmospheric, creating an immersive experience for the reader.
Anya seeks escape from the pain of her life, but running away only throws her into a nightmare world she never could have imagined. She is now a refugee not only from security but also from any sense of meaningful reality, dazed and confused as events pull her down a frightening path.
It is a dark new world, the anime-style characters moving through dim shadows with only occasional brightly coloured panels when Anya relives memories of a happier time. The deep shadows of the interior shots are contrasted with the stark white landscapes of outside; the post-apocalyptic winter from which the series takes its name. It is permanently snowing in toxic air, creating veils of obscurity just as concealing as the darkness; a kind of eerie negative shadow.
The androids - robotic and humanoid alike - are sinister and unsettling, even when they are acting as friends and comforters. The pages are charged with high emotion, with many panels consisting of silent gestures, looks and glances. This sets an expectant tone, so that when the action comes crashing in, it does so with great impact. The shocks are plentiful, so the reader cannot guess what might come next.
The atmosphere of constant threat is palpable and the overriding theme here is betrayal - by those who are trusted. Anya's feelings of uncertainty and guilt feed into this: Does she deserve this, as payment for her sins?
And is there any hope of salvation?
In the Bleak Midwinter on Webtoons
Writer Kat on Twitter - @KMCryptidZak Webber
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