Week 14 - "Your Letters" is An Absolute Gem

Your Letter by Hyeon A Cho is about a transfer student who finds letters in her desk. The person who wrote the letter provided a series of clues of his whereabouts. So, Sori teams up with a friend, who seems to have had a connection with the owner of the letter, to find out who this person is.

This story is a quiet one, but there is never a dull moment. Nothing supernatural happens, although there’s a witch with a magical garden. It’s very Ghibli-esque. The character’s emotions are pure, and their emotions are in sync with the nature of their environment. My own feelings start to feel like a supernatural aspect of me.

Sori has such a strong moral code that she doesn’t change very much throughout the entire comic but inspires courage to those around her. Sori stands up for a girl getting bullied, only to become a victim herself. But that doesn’t stop her from protecting another friend, Eugene, who was also a victim of bullying.

Not only are the artistic choices visually appealing, but is considered in a graphic design fashion. The motif of “Your Letter” is stationary. It’s tight, structural appearance in the stationary is reflected in the environments as well.

Some panels are intentionally formatted sideways to lengthen the tension of the scene. There is a particular scene in the first chapter where Sori walks down the aisle of desks, where she can feel the stares of bullies weighing her down. Because the panel is turned sideways, it looks like she is walking at the same pace you are scrolling downwards. It is really sophisticated pacing. This is a technique that is quite common in Korean webcomics but rarely is it executed well to enhance the story.

This was the first webcomic I have ever read and has been my favorite one since. It is an absolute gem and is a relatively quick read. 

Link to "Your Letter".