Kill the Dragon

8/10. This is a story about child soldiers, which is some heavy stuff. Kill the Dragon is more thematically dense than your average manhwa fare. Themes include child abuse, drug abuse, PTSD in every form, duty, sacrifice, camaraderie, etc. etc. - it's a war story, it has war story themes.

The hero is underpowered and remains underpowered. He closes the gap between himself and his more talented peers with a strategic mind and excellent leadership skills.

There's character development aplenty, in both positive and negative directions in response to the grim environment of the story's setting which asks that the military cultivate children into emotionless weapons of war to fight a losing battle against an inexorable alien enemy.

The setting is not the most creative or inventive but it's perfectly functional and doesn't want or try to be the centerpiece of the story.

The supporting cast is expansive and material - all the characters have some degree of emotional depth and internal conflict. There are no good and emotionally healthy characters in this story. Everyone is dealing with demons.

The art is not for everyone but I enjoy the slight variation from standard manhwa style.

Lastly I want to mention a really heartbreaking moment for me late in the story when

the hero helps a terminally ill young woman abandon her military post so she can spend the remaining few months of her life with her lover. He helps her escape from a military compound in exchange for information she has on the top brass, but when he later opens the drive she gave him, he discovers only an apology from her instead. Rather than recognize that someone close to him manipulated him out of emotional desperation, he starts searching for hidden clues in the apology because he has to believe that his exploitation is meaningful, that his suffering is meaningful, that there's rationality behind every decision by which others betray him. Or else how can he cope with the cruelty he's been victim to as a child soldier?

Really boring, even the action scenes are boring it's really remarkable that they were able to pull something like this off.

I was not expecting this to be as gut wrenching, emotional, realistic and beautifully sad as it is.

103 chapters in and I feel like I'm choking on tears. I'm so exhausted with fear, broken faith in humanity and the desperate hopeless of the situation these literal children are in. I feel like I'm in the story with them, at times.

I am so invested in a few characters I absolutely hated when they were first introduced; I LOATHED the stupid, oh-so "mysterious team member wearing a mask" so, so, SO much...until I didn't. I LOATHED a female character introduced because of her attitude...until I didn't. I LOATHED the rich, talented, physically, mentally and psychologically violent bully...until I didn't.

Kudos to the authors.

I saw the cover so assumed the artwork would improve, but everyone's a chibi and it's annoying.
To make matters unbearable: these are 10 year old little children getting bullied and having the crap kicked out of them by both adults and other kids alike! The Kuro kid, always getting picked on plain made me feel bad - there's no way this BLEAK sh*t can be entertaining for anyone!

I got up to the 8th chapter when it turns out the children will be injected with crap to make their bodies grow and it was too much.
I thought they'd train for 10 years - not still be 10 year olds on the frontlines!

Anyway, if you want to read Child Abuse: The Sci-fi, go for it.

So this is quite an interesting one.

Summary : does exactly what it says on the tin.

Added details : MC is an orphan who sacrifices himself for his siblings and joins and organisation that trains children into super soldiers. MC is not the most talented but will use his “life” experience to climb up the ranks. Follow him and his peers as they grow up in a very dark setting all for the sake of humanity.

It starts off with shonen elements, MC is the typical brave guy who wants to protect the people around him and has the enthousiasme or at least the ambition to boot.

However, very quickly we’re propelled into a very sombre setting, that gets deeper and very real by the chapter. All this while putting into question your whole perspective on humanity because of its darker side that is rather well portrayed.

You’ll like this is you like reading about the “bad side” of humanity and the “the greater good” elements which is one of the main drivers of the story.

The MC is on the smarter side (goof strategist) and not too OP, even if his progression takes him further due to his grit and his resourcefulness. And if feel he will become quite powerful due to his implication, motivation and tenacity.

The plot thickens in a good direction so I’m hoping it will conquer the 100 chapter curse.

Be warned, it’s relatively slow paced, even if the action scenes are well done.