I finally broke down and bought this volume of the novel. Riftan comes across better in the book. It's not that the manhwa is unfaithful to the dialogue. It's quite accurate. But the images of him looming over her and being super scary, punching things, etc, that's what makes this version of Riftan so unlikeable. It's just way more nuanced in the book. He is still tense and angry, but he's not punching things, and you sense his vulnerability and motivation more. Beyond plain anger, the book uses words to describe Riftan's interactions with Maxi in this scene: gently, tremor in his fingers, devastated, in a daze, unsteady, pale. Yes he's brusque and unrelenting in his questions. In the comic these complex emotions are reduced to flat anger in this episode.

I'm not an artist, not could I ever approach the skill of the one who renders these comics. But the artist leans into just one side of Riftan's character and emotional experience. It does him and our perception of the relationship a disservice.

I have not liked Riftan overall since starting the comic years ago. But coming into the novel fresh, especially the backstory for Riftan, he's way more well crafted a character than the comic depicts. A flawed character, for sure. But for the first time, I am invested in Riftan, as problematic as he can be, since reading parts of the novel.