3 Level Combination

Vol: 3; Ch: 25
2008
3.553 out of 5 from 99 votes
Rank #26,677
3 Level Combination

In a dystopian future in which robots are becoming increasingly commonplace, a young boy named Hogu lives in near poverty with his grandmother and sister. Though he innately possesses a kind soul, he is ostracized by his classmates and frequently bullied. At the beginning of the story, we find Hogu, friendless and alone - until he meets a robot girl...and our story begins.

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Reviews

thor123
8

3 Level Combination is a manhwa by one of my current favourite manhwagas, Il-Kwon Ha. And sadly, it's not really popular and also quite underrated, so I thought I'd review it to advertise a little. Story and characters The manhwa's premise is how a boy who is bullied at school meets the newest type of robot and has to take care of her. At first this gave me some serious Chobits-vibes, which didn't bode well since I really dislike that manga. But soon enough, this manhwa proved me wrong and showed that it was vastly superior. The way "realistic / present day" elements and "science fiction" elements are woven together to create a new world was really great, and the side plots were incorporated seamlessly to further explore the characters. Speaking of characters... there are a lot of forgettable side characters here (I mean, Smarty is hilarious, but that's about all I remember now), but that doesn't really matter: what really matters is that the "stars" of the manhwa are great. Those "stars" are, of course Hogu and Chevrolet: the boy and the robot. Their interactions were the greatest part of this manhwa, and seeing the evolution in their behavior was really nice - AND it seemed natural. If I have to give one major complaint, it's that Hogu is really annoyingly pathetic throughout almost the entire manhwa. I mean, I get that it was done on purpose, but it started to get on my nerves after a while. Also a fair warning: the ending is not a straightforward one, and interpretations are possible. This is done on purpose and was fitting in my opinion, but might annoy others. Art This manhwa was made by the author of Annarasumanara, but don't expect the art to be on that level. It looks a lot more like God of Bath or My Heart is Beating, but since it's an older work the level is a bit lower. It still looks ok, but not all that great imo. Overall It's a good, relatively quick read for people who like romance, androids, drama and a bit of comedy in their comics. 8/10

nathandouglasdavis
9

As I've read more manga, I've realized that art isn't much of a deciding factor for me. Obviously, good art can improve a story and bad art can bring a story down and when a story is mediocre, the art can make the difference between liking and disliking it. But even the best artwork won't make a worthless story worth...ful. And likewise, when I genuinely and thoroughly enjoy a story, it can have horrible artwork and it won't detract from the experience. The latter is the case with this manga. I really don't like the artwork. I suppose it could be worse, but I still didn't find much beauty in it. The characters often feel either sloppy or generic. Also, they sometimes will type text in between panels, but it's inconsistent in whether that text represents internal thoughts or spoken words. As such, it can be a bit confusing. The story's like the classical type of tragedy, where death is prevalent and the body count rises as the climax approaches. It tells the story of Hogu, a cowardly boy either shunned or actively bullied by feir entire class, and feir new desk partner Chevrolet, a new type of robot on a trial run intended to be indistinguishable from humans. Hogu is assigned to watch over fem and note any malfunctions. But since this robot has no interest in bullying fem and no fear of being bullied femself, fe shows fem basic "human" decency. Albeit, emotionlessly. And Hogu soon finds femself relying on fem for support and companionship. Dramatic events ensue. The main theme is the question of whether Vrolet (as fe's called) is just a scrap of metal or if fe's a person. Hogu wants fem to be a person, despite all signs that fe's not. I enjoyed the sense of humor sprinkled throughout (especially in the earlier chapters). The house robot. The grandma. The giant robot.

EYOK
9

It was a long time since I cried like an idiot reading any kind of manga/manhua/comic/whatever. It was moving or simply sad through its entirety, but since chapter 18 it was like a stab at every turn. During the story Hogu finds happiness, compassion and empathy in a machine, because humans are rotten. Even his grandma is unable to give him what he needs, because she went senile. His sister hardened up, one of his old friends bullies him, the other one sometimes helps, and involves him in the Chevrolet experiment, but she has a completely different social status and they don't really hang out. In this story humanity is a choice that most of the characters refuse. They seem strong just because they distance themselves, but they are the first unable to face their own flaws. Hogu is weak because he stays, through and through, a real human admitting he's weak and pathetic. No, he's not great at first sight, but what's great about him is that he keeps being true to his own nature even when the only one that accepts it is Chevrolet, a robot. He doesn't care, he embraces it. One way or another the other characters too are, at some point, forced to face their own flaws and this affects and/or destroys them in different ways, because humanity is a tough choice and not always repays. But overall, the message of this story is not that depressing. Hogu in the end is happy because humanity was never something he repressed, no matter how things could turn for him. Of course anyone can be conflitted about some statements I made now, but that's what I saw in this story. Bonus point: this story is not about "average boy finds sexy robot girl". This is on an entire different level. It's the first time I see the trope human boy/robot girl done well without getting trash or cringy, and that's another reason this story gained my admiration.

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