Loop by So-Sol

     Loop written and drawn by So-Sol is a Korean graphic novel spawned from the concept of Pinocchio within a futuristic setting. Derlene is introduced at the very beginning when he opens his eyes to a new world and meets his creator and lover, Ritz. They're romance, irritatingly, begins immediately and, as a reader, makes me believe that Derlene was originally created specifically for sex. As an avid Yaoi reader I find this aggravating since the joy in reading boys love comes from witnessing the growing relationship between lovers and I feel like So-Sol completely skipped the relationship and focused more on the origins of Derlene, which was not a very interesting aspect of the story in the first place. Sure Ritz calls out Ria's name during sex rather than Derlene, yet the lack of character growth made it hard for me to empathize for Derlene. Not to mention the dialogue was boring and unrealistic. At the very beginning Ritz asks if Derlene likes his name... what kind of question is that right after "birth"?
     As before mentioned the story focuses on Derlene's curiosity about his origins and he finds out that he is a "doll" version of this Ria character that is randomly mentioned within the plot. Who cares? There is no backstory given about Ria and Ritz in order to simulate any kind of emotion out of the reader. Not to mention Ritz starts dying and for something that was supposed to be emotional, was left lacking and unsurprising. The ending can be left for those of you who actually want to read this story. Its only saving point is the art, however the author is only good at drawing people and the panels are left quite bare of background and make it rather uninteresting to even view. Definitely not a re-read and honestly not even worth the time. I give it a 3/10.