- Status: Ongoing but Operation True Love is on Hiatus again
- Platform: Webtoon
- Episodes: 122+
- Genre: Modern Romance Manhwa
- Creators: kkokkalee (Story), Dledumb (Art)
- Release year: 2024
- tropes: fake relationship, revenge, love triangle, time skip
- Spice level: 1/5
Warning: This review contains major spoilers for the series!!
It’s hard dating someone who won’t give you the time of day. Su-ae Shim knows that better than anyone, having dated her indifferent boyfriend, Minu Kang, for years. She sometimes wishes she could be more like her charismatic stepsister, Ra-im, who seems to have it all. But life takes a turn for the weird when Su-ae discovers Jellypop, a sentient flip phone, in her locker. Jellypop has a lot to say about her love life, especially as Su-ae drifts further away from Minu and finds herself running into Minu’s friend, Eunhyeok. Add to the mix a growing suspicion that Minu and Ra-im might be more than friends, and Su-ae might need a miracle to navigate the ups and downs of high school romance!
“Operation True Love” is keeping the story running after the timeskip – but is it still good?
The short answer: definitely not if you read it every week.
If you let it marinate and binge it later, it can still be entertaining, although I can promise you one thing: this story will raise your blood pressure. That said, the storytelling itself is still strong. The creators know how to build tension, pace emotional scenes, and make you want to keep reading, even when the plot choices are frustrating.
Roughly 30 chapters after the timeskip, we still do not know why Eunhyeok ghosted Su-ae. We still have Dohwa, who is hopelessly in love with Su-ae, even though his life has changed completely and he is now a famous idol. And we still have Ra-im, who keeps clinging to Eunhyeok.
So, as a reader, it is very hard not to feel like the timeskip was mainly a way to keep the story going. I am really sorry to say this. But I recently binged the remaining chapters, and the storytelling is still interesting. The story has a nice flow while reading, even if it does not flow in the direction it probably should.
But one major critique I have: the whole subplot with the love points was just… resolved. In one chapter.
Su-ae was literally fighting for her life. It was the whole premise of the story, and the reason why Operation True Love stood out in the first place, mind you. And then the story basically goes: “Oh well, the crazy CEO just became a depressed shut-in and does not care anymore. And by the way, you are not the only one with a zero. It was a bug. Goodbye.”
To me, that did not feel satisfying at all, although the comments under the chapters seem to suggest otherwise. While I do appreciate that this important subplot was not completely forgotten, the resolution felt way too convenient. Now, the love triangle is basically all that is left.
artstyle and premise
Operation True Love has unique and beautiful art, although some characters do suffer a little from same-face syndrome. Thanks to the different hair colors and hairstyles, the characters are still easy to tell apart.
The premise was the real star of this webtoon: our FL Su-ae finds a flip phone in her locker that she cannot get rid of. Through this phone, she receives creepy messages from someone who seems to know her every move. Su-ae’s zero love points become central to the story, and for a while, this plotline made the series feel genuinely different.
Romance
Operation True Love is a love triangle, and well. It is love-triangling like 90 percent of love triangles out there.
The second ML is there. He is caring. He is present. He clearly loves her. But “her heart feels heavy when she thinks of him,” which usually means she feels guilty because she cannot return his feelings. At least, that is my interpretation.
It feels especially strange because Su-ae and Eunhyeok were already together before the timeskip. So there was not really a need to keep Dohwa in the picture unless he is supposed to be endgame. Right now, though, it does not feel like he is.
characters
There are a few characters who are relevant to the story without being directly part of the love triangle. The two most important ones are Ra-im and the CEO of Marang.
Ra-im is Su-ae’s manipulative sister, who always felt left behind. That is how she justifies her behavior. But honestly, this is another plot point I wish had been given more room. She just reappears after the timeskip, and her relationship with Su-ae feels almost the same as before. There is no real conversation, no big emotional confrontation, and no meaningful progress.
The other important character is the CEO of Marang. He is supposed to be this crazy genius with software that can predict who the next star will be. But as I said earlier, he basically gets written off. For a character who was tied so closely to the original premise, that feels disappointing.
protagonists
We have Eunhyeok and Dohwa, our male love interests, and Su-ae, our female lead.
Eunhyeok is the calm and collected guy with a difficult family situation. He feels broken, and Su-ae is the only person who brings him joy. That makes it even harder to believe that he would ghost her after one call.
I mean, yes, we did see a scene where Eunhyeok calls her and Su-ae stares at her phone without picking up. But it still feels out of character for a guy who used to wait for her for hours just to walk her home.
Dohwa feels like a character who exists mainly to highlight how fun and quirky Su-ae is. There is no real reason why he is still so obsessed with her, even after ten years. It feels like no time has passed. He is still just the big puppy, second ML.
Su-ae is the FL, and she started this journey with an ex-boyfriend she wanted to get revenge on. That plot point went out the window pretty fast, too. She is chaotic, emotional, and honestly still fun to follow, but the story often seems more interested in the love triangle around her than in her own development.
Read if you…
- like love triangles that make you root for the second ML
- enjoy modern school romance with a fantasy element, even if that fantasy element gets written off later
- like tension and slow storytelling, because the creators really know how to take their time in certain scenes. We see shoes turning, legs running, tiny pauses, and then suddenly we are at the destination. It sucks you right in.
- love the fake relationship trope
Skip if you…
- don’t like timeskips that do not really serve the story and instead feel like a reset button for the characters
- are not in the mood for kisses while absolutely nothing gets cleared up
- cannot stand stories where no one talks to each other hate when important plot points just get written off
- are not in the mood for a love triangle where the first ML seems like endgame, but you cannot fully understand why
