My Heart Is Beating
Be Still My Heart

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It's always very interesting to read manhwa, in which we have only 3 volumes and 30 chapters, as well as a huge number of genres.

So "My Heart Is Beating" published by Ha il Kwon in 2009, which is now known for such works as the Annarasumanara and although Annarasumanara published later than MHIB, it is most popular. "My Heart Is Beating" see into teenagers problems, which in turn consist in understanding between father and son and a strange fascination of swimsuits.

The story begins from the face of high school student Bai Sugu, it is a excellent student in the past has always listened to his ... father. He has a strange fascination (or fetish) with on swimwear that inadequately perceived by other people, confirmation of this was in the school.
Later he learns what assemble a women's water polo team, where he can watch the swimsuits and even photograph them, and the story begins from this.

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From the above it can be concluded that this manhwa is intended primarily to the teen group of people (14-15 years), after this retreat, Let's look more closely at the idea.

Each of teenagers trying to find their place in life, based on the interests and priorities. But what happens if no one not understands his interests? That's the problem faced the main character. Such admiration of swimsuits, causing resentment of others.
The protagonist will experience abrupt exit from the comfort zone of the unexpected changing into a girl, new friends, a new favorite hobby, first love. All this exposes the self-awareness is not only a main character, but also the reader. In Manhwa raises questions over the actual problem for teenagers, self-challenge themselves in a society that can not understand you.

In general, I remained satisfied throughout the reading manhwa, but since here we have a huge number of genres, there are drawbacks. A lot crammed into a small story in 30 chapters, and of course the characters, involved here, smart beyond his years. Children say clever phrase, in 17 years they have more problems than adults. Lost hope, death of loved ones, complexes and much more. I do not trying to say that it's all bad show, I am only to the fact that in my opinion, not enough length of manhwa, for so many genres.

This manhwa shows itself as a story that will suit everyone. The manhwa was introduced a lot of different characters, so everyone can find their favorite. It have a nonstandard story, some interesting characters, romance, sports and a bit of humor.

"My Heart is Beating" leaves a pleasant precipitate, which promote teenagers to move forward and to open itself to the world, despite the difficulties that they will face.

My Heart is beating is the story about this boy who has a strained relationship with his father. They barely talk anymore and all the father says is that he wants him to be better. As such the MC suffocating in his house finds solace in swimsuits.... Yes the man loves swimsuits. So when he was peeking at the female water polo team and gets caught the teacher decides to blackmail him to make him the final member of the female water polo team.

Now the good part about the series is the dynamic between the father and his son. You can feel the son ... suffocating because of the pressure, however because of the short length of the series a lot of characters don't get proper development. and although majority of them are mediocre some suffer from being very 2 dimensional. The ex boyfriend for example is like the example of every ex boyfriend ever. Its very poor character writing. Considering the toughness of the situation i didn't like the art style change for comedic purposes. I actually didn't like some of the comedy in its entirety, and some were just plain gross.

The romance was fine but i do wish it was more detailed. It just kinda implied in the end and i didn't like that. Nonetheless the author gave us some great panels that used the webtoon format to its advantage. Especially in regards to swimming, romance and the family pressure.

TLDR: Some great scenes. and nice characters, but medicore almost everywhere else. 6/10

So, while i was browsing through stuff i have yet to read, i ended up stumbling upon this extremely underrated jewel.

Illustrated by the same guy (Il-Kwon Ha) who did Annarasumanara (go read it!), it's a very heartwarming story of a guy with a swimsuit fetish living with a strict asian parent and, due to certain circumstances, forced by his teacher to crossdress as a girl and play in a girls water polo team. Kinda generic and uninsteresting, right?

Well, while the premise may not sound that exciting or unique (it isn't), the way the story was handled in such a short albeit suitable run is ... truly remarkable and worth praising. The comedy, the relationship between the two protagonists, the extremely likable side characters (and a special shout-out to the teacher, whose backstory was surprisingly touching) and even the more serious parts, everything was handled with the dignity and quality of a good writer, which is what Il-Kwon certainly is.

And even though the story as a whole is fairly simple and straighforward, it's also quite meaningful and the deeper themes the artist manages to explore here (things like loneliness, child trauma, the pressure of having to meet expectations imposed by those around you, etc.) are elegantly incorporated in it thanks to Il-Kwon's charmingly artistic artwork, which makes it for a rather satisfying experience, because you can clearly feel the kids you've grown to like becoming more mature and overcoming their issues. And that's what makes a coming of age narrative compelling. You end up feeling happy when they feel happy and you get sad when they get sad. It's that sense of progress that makes the whole thing enjoyable, imo.

All in all, it's only 30 chapters long (kinda wish it was a bit longer) and it's a really sweet and satisfying read, so i highly recommend it. Oh, and don't let the gender bender tag turn you off - even though the main guy crossdresses, the people who should know his true identity know it from very early in the story, so it's never annoying. So yeah, don´t waste more time and go read it, you'll probably be pleasantly surprised.

Before i start, sorry if my english not that great. bear with me here.
Have you ever felt the weight of expectation and hope by the people around you? If yes, you know how it feel. This manga represent that feeling of expectation and pressure that we face in our daily life. I feel how this manga is a bit realistic (other than a guy who is cross dressing).

First of all, to make it clear, this is a Korean Manga, or know as Mahwa. Second of all, for me to call this manga a gender bender genre is quite heavy for me it is better to ... known this as cross dressing. I know most of people (including myself) try to skip any manga related to gender bender, but anyone who love shonen romance manga should give the manga a chance.

~.It has a bit of spoiler but i will try my best not to expose to much.~

STORY (8) - My Heart Is Beating story revolves around our MC, Bae Sugu an average student who has a father as the vice principal of his school. He weight the expectation of his father to be the top student and enter a good college after school. This cause his life to be in a standstill. He doesn't know what to do with his life. Until he met a girl with tears on her eyes. This where his life changes. Due to certain circumstances he was force to enter the school Polo Team while cross dressing and teaming up with the girl. This manga tell the story of HIM, HER AND THEIRS expectation. It really hit a nail on that side. Well, it has some comedy in it, and it is enjoyable.

ART (9) - Its beautiful. That the only thing i could say. Well, i could say more because i love how mahwa (korean manga) draw their character. Its beautiful in colors and drawing. It draw in a 1 page long with beautiful coloring and scene plot.

Character (8) - There are a few characters and each character will leave an impact on you, even thou they story are told in short scene. Each character has their own weight of expectation on their shoulder and this really make the story really interesting as it foretold the story and how they outcome their expectation.

Enjoyment (8) - I really don't enjoy much a genre with gender bender in it. But come to my surprise really enjoy this manga. Because it doesn't focus much on that genre as it more to show slice of life genre and romance.

Overall (8) - One of the best manga/Mahwa i read that should have been given much credit for it slice of life realistic plot and with that romance and comedy.

(BTW- The mahwa has a manga remake called Water Cube. Well it Basically the same plot, just the name are more to japanese name as maybe the mangaka want to tackle the japanese manga market)

When the expectation doesn’t meet, it has a lot of burden. The boy named sugu has a passion in swimsuits, he like swimsuits but he always hide his passion to his father. His father, the vice principal of his school has a lot of expectations in him like competing over the grades. Their teacher forces him to join in water polo sports unintentionally and dress as a girl because he needs one player. He will stop wearing swimsuits and fake boobs until the teacher has already found a real girl player but that not would happen. They still playing water polo team to ... compete with the other school. Then sugu realised that it’s much more fun than competing over grades.

At first, I thought sugu was a girl but when I read the next page he was totally a boy. It is also funny because he is trying hard not to caught in a team. It is also have a deep meaning relationship between the father and the son. No communication except about his grades. Everyone in the character has a different reason why they love the sport. Has a different passion and expectations to their parents on how they can handle the pressure.

In this manhwa, i learned that working with a team and having a passion cannot go by her oneself but helping each other. Two heads is better than one head. And a passion is to do what you love. You can’t become good and it must be frustrating if someone force you what to do.

My Heart is Beating definitely has an outstanding story and setup that can relate to many of its viewers. From strict parental expectations to a deluded interest for their boyfriend, the characters were built based on the lives of real people. As eccentric as the synopsis may sound, the swim suit fetish develops the story into a 3-dimensional dilemma.

Don't be turned off-- the usual use of genres such as cross dressing and perverted fetishes were changed into something more serious and plausible, and definitely does not meet your usual expectations of these types of stories.

As far as the art goes, the ... artist definitely manipulated the use of tone in their scenery. You could be seeing blues one chapter and vibrant hues the next; it really sets up the proper atmosphere. Personally speaking, I really liked how the eyes were drawn in a semi-realistic way.

Within these thirty chapters, the author did a good job on selecting a few characters and giving his/her best on developing them. They had me emotionally moved, since as I had said before, the characters were very close to life. Even the personalities of all the members of the Water Polo team were just like your usual pet peeves of group projects-- incompetent, fussy, and bossy.

Do you know Ha Il Kwon?
He is a Korean mangaka(I don’t know if manhwaka is a word, lol). He has worked with Naver webtoons and created beautiful stories like:
Annarasumanara(most famous),
God of bath, Taste of illness, Sambong barbershop.

I have read 3 of these and I can find the common denominator here.....these stories have a light premise, are fast paced, short(always less then 30 ch),
and give a beautiful experience.

Here we have MY HEART IS BEATING. An amazing, criminally underrated, hidden gem.
It is about Bae Sugu, a model student who loves swimsuits. Why does he love swimsuits and not the girls? Why does he study hard ... when he doesn’t enjoy it?
Can’t he be a normal guy? Somehow he’s cross dressing and playing water polo.
And what’s up with his strict stuck up dad.


Story. 8/10
I liked the plot. There is a sense of fun and happiness throughout the story. There is also the desire to see our MC live a happy life. It is as cool as it can get without becoming unrealistic.

Art. 8/10
Clean, coloured art. Expressive and simple. I saw Water Cube, a manga adaptation of this story.....and it seemed off. This manhwa here, has good art.

Characters. 9/10
I loved the characters. Within 30ch they got the depth they deserved. Even though the main protagonist is our focus, we never feel for a moment that the others are just extras. They have their own lives, their own struggles and victories.
Nobody is black or white. They are grey.

Enjoyment. 8/10
I loved the story, read it really fast. Re read the emotional parts. The ending is cathartic. You’ll love it.


This is a coming of age, dramatic slice of life story. Features high school comedy, romance, friendship and teamwork. It touched upon parent-child relationship and the relationship you have with yourself. And still remains a light and fun read.
Highly recommended.

Not recommended if you are looking for action, adventure, power upgrading shonen.

Thank you for reading!

I was so ready to hate this manhwa after reading a few chapters ,but it got kind of good at some points and its only 30 chapters so might as well read it. But I can't really look past the creepy parts that will never turn out good in real life. I mean first the 'funny' talk and jokes about size of breasts are boring and annoying. And I can't even defend the mc actions because its plain creepy and in real life no one would have let it slide (hopefully). Also, the description of this manhwa is not exaggerating his obsession with swimsuits which ... are women's swimsuits obviously, to which people might say this obsession was explained but nonetheless approach for this could have been better and palatable. Not to mention the male side character has extreme stalker tendencies. The artwork was decent but the anatomy is a bit ehhh. The only reason this gets a 6/10 is because I'm a sucker for emotional plot points. The last 5 chapters saved this manhwa from an even lower rating and take that how you will.