My Thoughts/ Rant: The Ending of “Invitation of Mystic Messenger”

Invitation of the Mystic Messenger (written by Gi Man and illustrated by meriG) was first released in April 2020. It’s based on the popular Korean otome “Mystic Messenger.” The main character is called Hana—an orphan who struggled to get by with work and had recently lost her home after getting evicted by the landlord. The overall story is more or less the same of the game itself, however, it’s mostly focused on how Hana builds her relationship with the characters as she prepares for the upcoming RFA Fundraising Party. WARNING: THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS. NOTE: THIS IS ALSO JUST MY OPINION

Now, the overall manga was absolutely beautiful. I enjoyed each chapter for the most part. The build-up between Hana and the other characters (Jumin, Jaehee, 707, Zen, and Yoosung) is pretty much stable and you come to love each of them again. In my case, I wanted to hug Hana since she had to go through so many hardships. The writers were able to portray the story in a unique way while also being true to the essence of the otome. What I didn’t like was the ending of the manga itself.

I’m a bit divided on what the writers’ intention was when they wrote this manga. Throughout the entire thing, it seems the writers were doing everything they could so that the relationship between Hana and Zen could grow and be noticeable. In the beginning, Zen started to have a crush on her, blushing at the thought and sight of her, and at one point he even tried to ask her out. Hana starts getting a crush on Zen and starts to have doubts that he would feel the same for her, so she starts to ask 707 for advice, basically ranting to him about her crush on Zen. She and Zen even have a moment with each other 3-4 chapters before the actual ending.

The problem is… 2 chapters before the ending, 707 confesses to her, and she suddenly decides she has feelings for him and randomly kisses him during the Fundraising Party (NOTE: The moment with Zen and the kiss between 707 and Hana are 2-3 CHAPTERS APART). The writers never gave a chance for the romance between these two to blossom AT ALL. The entire ending was like a huge slap to the face. In my opinion, this was poor writing on the writers’ part. It really rubs me the wrong way how the writers just suddenly decided to pull the rug on us at the ending with the relationship between 707 and Hana. Don’t get me wrong, you get the idea that 707 has feelings for Hana, but the same can’t be said about Hana. In fact, you think the entire time that it’s a one-sided love on 707’s part—especially with how Hana would treat 707 during their friendship. She kept on talking about her feelings for Zen and NOT ONCE about her feelings for 707. It just doesn’t make sense and it bothers me so much how the writers decided to suddenly pin the romance onto 707 and Hana instead of Hana and Zen.

But that’s all for today. Thank you so much if you read up until this point. I’m sorry if my first post after SO LONG was a rant. I just needed to get it out of my chest somehow…especially since I finished reading it today (at the time that I am writing this). Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed it. If you read the manga, please let me know what you think. Do you agree or disagree? I hope you all have a lovely day. Until next time, keep your paws and bowls of ramen up, everyone! Nya! 🐾