About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series @puppy_love.
Trigger Warning: There may be references to BDSM play, puppy play, sexual assault, and PTSD, as it appears in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Seoyun is an online influencer. After a picture of him cross-dressing went viral and was passed around his school, Seoyun had to quit school, leave his family, and go into hiding on his own. Thankfully, with the image going viral, he was able to rebound into an online career under the moniker Mr. Puppy. With his whole world revolving around the internet, Mr. Puppy doesn't have to leave his home for much, which he is fine with. Yet, as the days go on, Mr. Puppy's loneliness also grows.
Mr. Puppy isn't lonely for long, though. One day, he receives an inappropriate DM from a medical student named Yeonwoo. Yeonwoo likes cute things, and Mr. Puppy fits the bill. Yeonwoo also fits Mr. Puppy's preferences, and they start an online relationship with Yeonwoo as a master and Mr. Puppy as his pet. While this satisfies for a time, it isn't long before they crave more. Can their relationship survive the transition from an online fling to a physical one? And can love grow from a master-pet relationship?
Review:
This is super cute. The art is absolutely adorable, and Seoyun, in particular, is one of the cutest bottom designs I've seen. Yeonwoo's design also gives off major daddy energy, which is perfect for the BDSM dynamic of this particular series. I am not sure that I would have ever paired them together, and sometimes it feels like they are from two different series, but when they come together, it's not a bad sight by any means. Seoyun is a precious bean who must be protected, and he does the eyes some good.
I need to take a minute to talk about the BDSM in this. It's questionable whether or not this is really a healthy BDSM relationship. A lot of people will probably say what does it matter? They are fictional characters, so who cares? But I find the whole establishing safewords and aftercare to be some of the sexiest parts of BDSM, and unfortunately, I can't say there is a lot of that. The creator does mention them having a safeword in the Q&A section, but since it isn't in the context of the narrative, I can't really say that counts. If you are interested in healthy BDSM, Alien in My Wardrobe is a pretty good representation, though it is an entirely different vibe from @puppy_love.
Now, I get to the saddest part of all this. This is only a single season, which is fairly short. However, this was initially slated to have a second season, but it ended after the first season due to extenuating circumstances with the creator. Thankfully, the story actually has a decent ending for it not being the intended one, so I can't say it isn't cohesive or doesn't make sense. Yeonwoo and Seoyun end up together in a relationship beyond the master-pet relationship they began with, which is really precious to see. However, it does leave a lot to be desired. We don't get much background about Yeonwoo, who remains a mystery from beginning to end.
While we do get some surface-level background on Seoyun, I would have really liked to have seen more, especially about how his trauma might affect his relationship with Yeonwoo. We also didn't get any actual resolution on Seoyun's fear of crowds, nor did we get any more information on Haram, Seoyun's only friend, which I would have liked to have seen. Seoyun doesn't grow very much. He seems to be more confident in expressing his desires, which is excellent, but I would have liked to have seen more evolution in facing his fears. An arc with the family that he ran away from would have been amazing, too, but lo. Unfortunately, it seems we will never see the intended ending for this particular series.
Results:
It's regrettable that this ended the way it did. While it ultimately did have a cohesive storyline, knowing that there was meant to be more makes it hard to say this is a complete story. It certainly leaves you wanting more. I hope that one day we might get more, but if not, I'd still say this is a nice little read. It's not a fully fleshed-out, deep story, but it's a fun time.
Have you read @puppy_love? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!