RADIO STORM VOLUME 2
Writer & Artist: Team S&S
Publisher: Ize Press (digital & print)
Translation: Tapas Entertainment Inc.
Lettering: Toppy
Publication Date: Sep 23, 2025
Rating: Mature
Genre: Boys’ Love, VSC (S. Korea), Manhwa, Webtoon, Dystopian, Horror, Science Fiction
Radio Storm, the hit dystopian Boys Love series available digitally first on Tapas, is now in print from Ize Press! The creators, Team S&S, are an author/artist duo who have collaborated under this alias or worked with other artists on other BL series in the past. The second volume of Radio Storm includes chapters 21 to 40. While there won’t be any spoilers from this book, this review assumes the reader is familiar with the previous volume and contains spoilers for the first.
Before I dive into the events, I wanted to note that the sepia-ish tones I mentioned in my previous review were probably a problem related to the copy I had. In this volume, blacks are darker and cooler in tone, closer to the digital version. Moreover, I can’t get enough of how lovely the silver foil used for the title and on the spine looks.
The first volume ended on a painful and emotionally complicated sex scene between Sak, the core user and Lima, the caller. There was also a brief appearance of a new and important character on the last page.
We finally meet Hana, who has become a researcher at the academy. She was the first to manifest as a core user whose caller was her sister. Her and Ginger’s discussion on the academy’s plans has an unnerving tone to it. Later in the volume, we uncover how the war broke out, how the plague came to spread and the ways governments tried to contain it, along with the reasons behind the foundation of the academy, layer by layer.
In that sense, there’s a lot of exposition in this volume, especially in the second half. However, if you were already sold on the premise, your curiosity regarding the events behind the thick curtains of these institutions will be satiated. Team S&S’s talent in writing witty conversations that keep your attention on the page contributes significantly. Specifically, the exchange that transpired between Ginger and Lima towards the end was thrilling to read.
Following the thread the first volume left, where Lima was having conflicting feelings towards Sak, the two young men continue to explore each other and start forming a more concrete bond. Lima’s changing feelings toward Sak and the way he treats this frail, hard-to-understand stranger surprise him the most. In tandem with this emotional turmoil, they are still on the road to Ralta Island to find Echo’s body, or what’s left of him. Echo is Lima’s childhood “companion” and another rental who was forced to kill other kids. Through the journey, we learn about Lima’s past and his days as a rental extensively. Because Lima and Echo were the only kids surviving countless battles that the kids were forced to participate in, they are the sole survivors to question the status quo and piece the information and patterns together to make sense of the greater picture.
One aspect I wholeheartedly appreciate in works such as Radio Storm, but don’t see as often as I’d like, is the intention behind the themes introduced. This isn’t to mean every work that depicts military, war, gang involvement, drugs, etc., has to fully commit to their atrocities or horrifying consequences. However, when the creators do commit, the exploration serves as a layer that provides narrative depth that no miscommunication/jealousy beat can deliver. One great example would be another Boys’ Love VSC I highlighted in my column, whose return from hiatus I’m waiting with bated breath, Approximal Guide.
This is one of the reasons why I enjoy reading Radio Storm. Team S&S’s approach to the topic, both on a personal and institutional level, is unflinching. You can feel the apathy of Lima, who has spent his life doing nothing but trying to survive in the unimaginably cruel conditions. Deprived of even the most basic needs, carrying guns that are bigger than his body, he’s been forced to take lives of others day in and day out.
The cruelty of these institutions that were formed supposedly to protect humanity is central to the story and they continue to fail the ones they were supposed to help horribly. The academy and reasons behind its insistence on accepting Sak despite his seemingly useless core are equally evil, and everyone we met up until this point in the story is complicit in this ruin to varying degrees.
Overall, Radio Storm‘s second volume is full of heart-wrenching details as much as it’s full of beautiful moments between Sak and Lima. We cover a great distance in terms of plot, but there’s still a lot to discover about how the plague and the unfortunate stalemate Sak and Lima find themselves in will unfold. I mean, have you seen the cover for the next volume? December can’t come fast enough! Although the series is available on Tapas digitally, I came to enjoy following Radio Storm through Ize Press’ beautiful print editions. The final verdict (for now) is that the series is still going strong!
A copy of Radio Storm Volume 2 was provided by Ize Press in exchange for an honest review.
Radio Storm Volume 2 by Team S&S is available digitally and in print on Yen Press’ website and other retailers.
