#manhwa analysis

[theprocrastinatingredkitty]

Someone asked this in one of the pages I follow

So here’s my take on this

BD posted a teaser of Seungwon’s appearance in season 4 before in one of her tweets

And in this season, we also see Heena, taking Seungho’s side after she’s been saved

Since Seungho and Na-Kyum are mirrors of each other, we can also assume that even their respective families are mirrors as well

With Seungwon now in the picture, him having shown to appearing as a defiant younger brother who’s messing up his older brother’s household, we can take this as his version of Heena’s first appearance in the manhwa, where she raised ruckus in the Yoon household

Notice that in both cases, they barged in under the assumption that Seungho had commited a crime. For Heena, she assumed that Seungho kidnapped Na-Kyum, whereas now, Seungwon assumed that Seungho burned down the shaman house after the murders of the noblemen

In Heena’s case, Na-Kyum defended Seungho’s name and told her that she’ll stay with him despite the “evidence” that Seungho committed the crime of murdering In-Hun

And we can assume that in Seungwon’s case, Na-Kyum will also do the same to Seungwon. We can assume that Na-Kyum will not believe that Seungho murdered the noblemen, as Na-Kyum had been brainwashed that the night of the kidnapping was merely a nightmare, and I think that in his delusion of wanting peace to remain in his heart, Na-Kyum will believe it for some time unless he sees or hears evidence that Seungho did commit a crime

Seungwon can come off as someone who is hardheaded just like in his first appearance when he barged in on Seungho’s bedchamber despite even being told off by Kim, and we can assume that Seungwon has been brainwashed by Chang-Hyeon that his older brother had committed a crime and must be punished before officials find out, because a nobleman committing murder of another noble, let alone a bunch of noblemen, can equate to the annihilation of the criminal’s entire clan. Additionally, the sacrilegious act of defiling and burning down a shaman house along with a sacred tree, warrants hatred from the Shamanistic Joseon people, who considers these elements as beings not to be destroyed, as doing so would incur the wrath of heaven upon the entire village or even the nation itself. With this knowledge of the gravity of the situation, this is why Seungwon orders the guards around in such haste in case any of the servants have destroyed any evidence unknowingly

Seungwon has yet to know though, that the biggest evidence would be in the form of Na-Kyum himself. The trauma is still fresh in his mind even after a month under Seungho’s care and supervision.

And just like the brainwashed Heena who was convinced that In-Hun had been kind to Na-Kyum, Seungwon would initially not likely to believe that his brother didn’t burn the shaman house down, as it’s most likely that the info he got had been from his trusted source, Yoon Chang-Hyeon, their father. Who, in Seungwon’s eyes, is most likely his hero who does everything he can to preserve the Yoon family name. Seungwon had most likely been subjected to information that Seungho is a stain on the family and would one day be the cause of their annihilation. And Seungwon is now there at Seungho’s house to “save the family from his brother’s misdeed”. I think Seungwon thinks Seungho “can be saved from his father’s wrath if he can only come clean with his crime”. Judging by the urgency and the calm appearance of Seungwon in chapter 115, I think he wants his older brother’s affection in some way, despite them being estranged. Hence this is why Seungwon might initially come off as an enemy (like Heena did in her first appearance), but is most likely going to be an ally once the truth is revealed to him—that his brother didn’t destroy a holy place and the sacred tree, that his brother committed murder in the name of love

Seungwon, I think, has a heart in there somewhere, a heart that wants to understand why his brother acts the way he does. And yet, his actions come off to Seungho as meddlesome—exactly like how Heena is to Na-Kyum’s life when she found out he was living with Seungho.

For now, I am placing Seungwon as a gray character who’d be most likely become one of SeungKyum’s supporters once the truth is revealed to him—that the bad guy had been his father all along. But I am sure he’ll be having a moral dilemma at that point, it’d be hard for him to believe it at first, just like when Heena didn’t believe Seungho until she gets kidnapped

Which brings me to another theory, that at some point, Seungwon might get caught up in a conspiracy and he’d be wrapped up in something he’s not supposed to see. And just like Heena, Seungwon, too, could get kidnapped—either by Song’s men, or maybe even Chang-Hyeon himself, probably under the pretext that “your brother did this to you and therefore you must kill him”

I think that is the plan that Chang-Hyeon is going to pull off. He doesn’t want his hands dirty, he always gets others to do the dirty work for him. And Seungho’s death could include that. Since the ending of chapter 115 showed Seungho being stabbed, we can assume that it’s Chang-Hyeon’s guard who did this. This coincides with the appearance of Song before In-Hun. The older nobles are looking for ways to dispose of Seungho without linking the crimes back to them—and I think they found their fall guy with In-Hun

Now, I think: Chang-Hyeon made a deal with Song and it seemingly appeared as if they want In-Hun to take the blame under the pretext that In-Hun hated Seungho enough, he hired an assassin to get him killed; but all the while, Song is thinking of something else entirely. I think Song wants Seungwon to take the blame. Song could manipulate Seungwon at some point into thinking that the younger Yoon is helping his brother when in reality it’s not. (Like in the case of Min manipulating Heena into thinking he’ll save Na-Kyum when he did the complete opposite.) Song could take down both the Yoon brothers and Chang-Hyeon in one fell swoop, all the while Chang-Hyeon is unknowingly signing the death of his entire clan to this one devious man

#potn #painter of the night #yahwacheop #seungho x nakyum #potn analysis #yahwacheop analysis #painter of the night analysis #manhwa analysis

[myuiis]

lookism ch 484 semi analysis semi rant

ok so MAYBE im just projecting good character writing onto lookism because frankly, after the shitshow that was 1A, i have lost a lot of confidence in ptj's writing abilities, but i GENUINELY think the ending sequence of today's chapter was incredibly done

like... idk...

it's not that vin jin didn't want to be saved. he did. he spoke out against the shaman and the village and probably secretly wanted someone to agree and to change their ways and save him; it's just that he felt like it was too hard and too embarrassing to be saved by a village that hated his very existence. every time he tried to speak out against what was happening to him, he would only be punished, so he was gradually taught that wanting to be saved was something shameful and that would be punished. and since he would only get disappointed again and again by trying to look for salvation, he decided he would stop looking. he takes pride in that, really. he takes pride in growing up and fending off the bullies and being strong and he hates the idea of needing to be saved because... why wouldn't he?

it's never worked in the past. a mix of his defense mechanism of being a mean person to stop others from hurting him and his internal self-hatred that secretly believes that he brings suffering to the people around him and that he is a monster combine to create a sort of "i'm good enough on my own. i neither want nor need to be saved" kind of mentality. he doesn't want to be vulnerable enough to admit that he really wants to be saved so seeing him take that first step admit that "yes, i want to be saved" is SUCH a cathartic moment. it's like that one kim dokja "ah, as i thought, i'm glad i survived" moment. it's not a particularly poetic or life-changing statement, but the fact that it comes from someone that, before this point, has only ever wanted to die and has never expressed that they wanted to be save or keep living just makes it hit a lot harder.

and the fact that he is validated for the first time after this, not only because he realizes that seongji, someone he perceives as cool and strong and noble is also a "monster" like him (thus indirectly implying that he can also change his circumstances and improve his station), but also because he was finally recognized as anything but a monster.... i think the expression in that panel really expresses that emotion well. the sort of warmth and shock from being cared for and approved of for the first time since his mom died.

its just so UGH... but maybe im reading too much into it.

#lookism #lookism manhwa #lookism webtoon #seongji yuk #vin jin #jin hobin #lookism rant #looksim 484 #literature analysis #sort of #more like a rant #hehe #so surprised that ptj can still write because the cheonliang arc has been rlly great so far #hopefully it doesnt fall off #my girl mary only deserves the best

[squishyneet]

Let us review the major players of Lookism as of late . . .

Charles Choi

Wants to keep running HNH Group, will step on anyone to get his way. Wanted to eliminate the 4 crews since he no longer needs them. Same as ever, pretty straightforward.

Eugene

Similar to Charles Choi, with the exception of being more careful and considerate of his employees and negotiations and such. Achieved the goal of uniting the 4 crews. Wants to get rid of Daniel Park.

Daniel Park

Wants to stop Eugene and Charles Choi, currently working to find the secret of the two bodies and the history of Jinyoung Park. Also working with DG but does not completely trust him.

DG/James Lee

Has been working against Charles Choi from the beginning. Waited for Daniel to prove himself, currently working with him to uncover the secret of the two bodies. Was blackmailed by Charles since killing Gapryong Kim.

Goo Kim

Has been working with Eugene since before the series started. About to be fired by Charles. True motive unknown. Said he might kill someone.

Whose side are you on?

#I just realized goo has never been confirmed to actually kill anyone #this is the first time we've seen him think abt killing someone #atp it's villain vs villain #lookism #charles choi #choi dongsoo #lookism eugene #lookism yujin #daniel park #park hyungseok #lookism dg #james lee #diego kang #kang dagyum #goo kim #lookism goo #webtoon #manhwa #analysis

[cinycesum-fan]

Analyzing Kim Gimyung/Jake Kim

introduction

I’m just trying to share my perspective on my favorite character in Lookism, Kim Gimyung/ Jake Kim. Also posted on Reddit.

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i. first impression

When I was first introduced to Gimyung in the gambling arc, I thought he was going to be one of those stereotypical villains who constantly tries to rise to the top but falls short. That is why I didn’t really pay any attention to his character. But as the plot progresses, we learn more about his character and learn that he wasn't always the bad guy and is a good guy. In his backstory (Jake Kim arc), we were able to understand how he became who he is.

I think PTJ wasn’t sure about Gimyung’s backstory and future roles at that time. Or maybe we were reading from a different perspective (Jace’s), which blinded us from understanding the true goals and motivations of Gimyung. In a later chapter, we got a bigger overview of the fight between Gimyung and Vasco, where Gimyung said something like “I have much more weight on my shoulders than you” (rescuing Sinu and protecting Big Deal).

ii. countenance

His face has displayed various ranges of expressions, but his eyebrows are almost always raised and have a composed expression. I'm not sure why I'm bringing this up specifically, but I believe it distinguishes him from other characters. I really wanted to write how it makes him special, but for some reason I'm having a hard time articulating my thoughts in this regard. For some reason, his right eye is depicted glowing magenta when he’s deeply motivated.

iii. fighting prowess

Gimyung’s fighting style is based off mixed martial arts (MMA) and Gapryong Kim’s street fighting style. His level of MMA is to the point that he can overwhelm Xiaolong at his best regardless of when he used his weapon or best martial art.

He defeated Xiaolong, whose fighting prowess was on par with Gun's.

Every time Xiaolong swung his Guandao during their battle, Gimyung got better at anticipating attacks. (Chapter 419)

He blocked invisible kick from Sinu Han. (Chapter 388)

He took hits from Ultra Instinct (UI) Hyungseok.

During his time in prison, he followed Gun’s fighting routine and was successfully able to master it. He could fight hundreds of prisoners at once (like Gun).

He was able surmount Brekdak’s forbidden techniques. (Chapter 351)

Gun took out almost all his teeth

He is one of the only people in the series to be able to overcome invisible attacks. He’s so skilled that it was said that he could surpass Gun [5]. He is able to defeat opponents by abruptly changing his combat effectiveness [1 and 3]. He also has high attack potency [1, 3 and 6] and he’s also fast [2 and 3]. He has immense stamina and endurance [5 and 7]. Gimyung has a method to defend against attacks that take advantage of blindspots at a very efficient level. He is also able to see visions of attacks before they land on him, though it's only used against Xiaolung.

iv. intelligence and tactics

He's gifted. He was able to:

run an entire gang and managed to find methods to earn money continuously despite the odds being against him.

easily deduce why Vasco was attacking the Workers Third Affiliate and prevented Yohan from continuing to fight when it wasn't needed.

find a way to prevent Yohan and Seongeun from fighting them and aid Hostel.

convince Choi Dongsoo to aid him and cooperate with Seongeun in backstabbing the Yoojin.

He avoids using weapons and simple fights. He frequently attempts to break his opponent's arms or legs. He is practical enough to employ subpar methods, such as pursuing his target while Xiaolong is left vulnerable to an assault. Gimyung will treat his adversary like Gun Park if he ever feels overpowered, making him even more dangerous.

He is incredibly perceptive to the outside world because he saw Jiho's influence on Jason when Jason made a peculiar face. By concentrating on the crack in the wall, Gimyung could determine the spinning mechanism during the club arc. He observes and notes how things function as he calmly takes in the details and information of his surroundings. He frequently attends to what needs to be done, discreetly and modestly addressing the immediate needs of the circumstance.

v. charisma and determination

He uses his communication skills, persuasiveness and charms to influence others. That is why he’s able to connect with people and manipulate (sometimes in good way, sometimes in bad) them on a deep level. He uses this skill in many ways that can affect a fight indirectly (his fight with Xiaolong in Hunt for Big Deal), including buying time, obtaining information that could be important, or manipulating how a person might approach a situation.

Gimyung had a strong determination. His goal was to save Sinu and to keep Big Deal safe. And to do that, he could even choose the path of unfairness. In middle school, he saved Brad and Jason from getting ganged up on, because he couldn’t tolerate injustice (just like his father). But he was so devoted to his goal that he went against his own principles.

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It’s an universal fact that our bae is painfully funny and charming and handsome. Fun fact: Gimyung loves red velvet cake.

so caring

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iv. leadership and big deal

To his allies, he is a caring leader. They are one of the most devoted crews because he fought valiantly to keep Big Deal independent and because they deeply care about him. He appreciates those who are truthful and just, and dislikes those who engage in unsavory behavior. Lineman, one of the newbies, bragged to others about how close he was to Gimyung, even though he felt inferior because he wasn’t acknowledged by others in Big Deal. He said he was brother to Gimyung, when Gimyung appeared and said Lineman was like a family. This was surprising because Gimyung knew him when other members didn’t.

After serving time in a juvenile facility, Gimyung's personality started to alter. He lost interest in fairness and is now only concerned with getting revenge. He made a promise to do away with Gun. He had a significant impact on Jiho and advised him to fight to the death if he wanted to defeat opponents who were stronger than he was. He later admitted that he was giving himself advice rather than Jiho because he thought that fighting Gun to the death was the only way he could defeat him.

Being such a devoted leader, he would allow himself to be humiliated, but he would do whatever it took to keep Big Deal alive. He licked wine on the floor, which prompted the gambler to take him into gambling business. Prior to being sent to prison, he only ate instant noodles to save money. But he never made the other members of his crew eat less.

As the series progressed, he began to sound like Sinu Han, who showed Gimyung the value of "romance" and “passion”, and ideals which he followed.

vii. thinking and intuition

Gimyung frequently prefers consistency of logic to morality. Despite his mom's problems, he flees because he hates his father for being unfair to her while being just the opposite to the rest of the world. He makes numerous attempts to leave Big Deal because of this as well. He also emphasizes the inside a lot when making decisions. He turns inward to develop his own ideas, viewpoints, and answers for the outside world.

In short, he has morals, but he also has a personal agenda. He is prepared to put his agenda ahead of his morals if doing so will help him accomplish his objectives. This establishes his compelling internal and external conflicts with other characters.

He was prepared to leave Big Deal and the girls because he thought Sinu had renounced his principles. But his viewpoint quickly changed once he realized that Sinu was behaving in a very consistent manner. Gimyung is unquestionably a good example of an anti-hero. He has fairly consistent morals but is aware of the immorality of what he is doing.

Gimyung viewed prison as a place where he could try out different methods for getting stronger. There's no way a group of inmates would suddenly attack Gimyung because he had a lot of influence over the guards and inmates through bribery and pure loyalty. Majority of Jake's fights in jail are well-controlled. Jiho might have also crossed Gimyung’s mind as a potential experiment subject. His opinion that fighting fairly is stupid was only reinforced by seeing Jiho get stronger.

vii. jitae and sinu

Gimyung is very considerate of Jitae/Jerry and frequently involved in his education. He pushed Jitae to be a modest student and get along well with his classmates. In order to avoid reprimands from his teachers and to practice the Jeongseon Arirang, he bought Jitae a bamboo flute. Jitae is without a doubt Gimyung's most devoted team member; he refuses to address anyone else as "Sir," and he always obediently complies with his orders. He was regarded as Gimyung's "sword," and after Gimyung was defeated by Gun, he vowed to get stronger in order to defend Gimyung.

When Gimyung first encountered Sinu, he was aloof and rejected Sinu’s invitation to join Big Deal. However, after learning about Sinu’s backstory and Big Deal’s purpose, he began to grow respect for the latter and even took his words about “romance and passion” into consideration. When Sinu pretended to have sold Big Deal, Gimyung had a hard time believing it and he even fought Sinu to “correct him”. After he came to know that Sinu sold himself, all his motivations and goals revolved around retrieving Sinu back. His admiration for Sinu was to such a great length that he claimed that Sinu is “his everything”.

ix. the flaws

All the characters have flaws and here I’m going to point out some inadequacies in his character.

He didn't really have a seamless transition from villain to hero archetype. It is clear from earlier chapters that PTJ did not write out his intentions clearly. It seemed as though his priorities and driving forces were money and power. In the gambling arc, he had a very different personality and physical description, which led to some uneven character development.

His logical thinking borders on insensitivity, which is why he’s often unaware of the impact their words or actions have on others’ feelings. He’s only concerned about the people he loves, so he’s not mindful of other people’s lives. But, it seems that he’s overcoming this. As in chapter 431, we saw that he motivated Xiaolong to go to Vivi and love her unconditionally.

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I promise you that I’m going to update this analysis when the series ends, with much more evidence provided for my claims. 

#kim gimyung #jake kim #manhwa #lookism spoilers #lookism webtoon #lookism manhwa #lookism #kim gapryong #gapryong kim #jitae kwon #jerry kwon #sinu han #han shinwoo #big deal #character analysis #anti hero #lunarmis

[weirdplutoprince]

When the Villainess shines through

I love villainess isekais so much but I feel that a lot of these titles, even ones I’d consider personal favourites, kinda fail to see the inherent appeal and potencial of a villainess character in itself. Like don’t get me wrong, it can be pretty fun to see a villainess that was once mean and generally disliked become cute and nice and beloved by all. It’s wholesome, it’s sweet etc etc. But I personally feel that the thing that really sets the villainess apart - and the way the story around her builds itself - is that by definition, a villainess is a character to opose the heroine. And I don’t mean it just in the literal sense of opposing the heroine’s goals and inflicting harm etc but in the sense that a villainess is what the heroine cannot be.

In most stories outside the still somewhat niche villainess isekai genre, this is supposed to be a death sentence. But, I can’t help but to think that with the direction some of these stories have been taking, the villainess is instead a character that is allowed to be what the heroine cannot be - and that is where it becomes interesting.

See, a villainess isekai has, in my opinion, two most common routes that it can take it’s main character through; the first one is what likes of ‘Hamefura’ or ‘When the villainess loves’ do, which I call ‘Becoming the heroine’. When following through the BTH route, the villainess character - usually by the means of reincarnation - is stripped of all if not most of the traits that made her villainous in the first place. This villaines is kind, sweet, something of an air headed and generally in possession of child like innocence and naivety. By all means, traits not unlike of your average heroine. In these stories, although the world might initially be against her, the villaines should eventually come through - winning her enemies over by kindness and love, and with that, turning the power they held over her in her favour. It’s not uncommon for these stories to involve the ‘taming’ - by which they mean charming - of otherwise unfair and unloving authority figures such as fiances, fathers or brothers.

The second most common alternative is then what I call the Villainess Route - present in titles such as Beware of the villainess or The Villainess reverses the hourglass. In this route, the villainess is in some way or another, rewarded for her villainous traits. This is a broader definition if only for the fact that this reward will vary according to tone and subgenre of the titles. The real significance here is that whatever it is, it is understood as being earned by the villaines for her own merits as such. In these stories, it is more common for the villainess to be struggling against the current - clawing her way up - or out - of a world where she was always meant to lose. This is why it is not unheard of that the ‘happy endings’ in these stories might be as morbid as being able to die in your own terms, or going down a long pitfall of revenge.

Having said that, it becomes easy to notice certain patterns that differ these routes from one another. In the BTH stories, there is often an implicit message that somehow underlies the ‘heartwarming’ aspect that they seem to convey. That is, that for one reason or another, it is alright for the Original Villaines - and whoever might take after her - to suffer. That might seem like a reasonable message; after all, not few of the O!Villainess of the BTH routes were known for being generally cruel and innapropriate. But likewise, not few of these villainess were guilty of crimes so simple as ‘being cold’. ‘Being bland’. ‘Being demanding’. And other traits that are commonly used when to depict the image of an ‘undesirable’ and ‘unlikeable’ woman. In my opinion, it is not a coincidence that in most BTH stories, the seemingly only path where a villainous woman can be reedemed is to simply turn her into a heroine. Someone that is ‘nice’, ‘gentle’ and ‘soft’ - even when she is at the receiving end of cruelty and callousness by the people around her. This is why even if I understand why BTH can be fun and appealing, something at the core message of their narrative always kinda rubs me the wrong way.

The villainess routes on the other hand are their own special kind of fun. You see, the world might be against them as well. Like their BTH conterparts, they might be entrapped by unhappy marriages, toxic families or just overall unfair circumstances. But these characters do not just wear the mask of villany; They’re villainesses through and through: meaning that it is their essence to oppose. Pettiness, arrogance, defiance, pride, resentfulness and anger are just some things that a true villainess is allowed - and even expected to display. These are flaws, yes, but also the very qualities that allow her to win and pull through. They go against the flow, the systemn, the world and anything that stands between them and whatever might be their ‘happy ending’. And this fascinates me because not only is a genre that when done right, can tell compelling stories about unconventional ‘heroines’ that are not punished for their deviance - but it also examines the very thing they deviate from.

The only thing better than VR isekai to me is a VR isekai that is willing to extend a hand to it’s ‘heroine’ as well. Meaning, the ‘female lead to be’ of the original tale of our Villainess main character. Because it is so easy to just exchange the roles and make villainess into heroine and heroine into villainess. But there is something incredibly tasteful about a story that is willing to deconstruct both characters. A story that looks at its original heroine and displays her through the lens of someone that is also fighting their own battle! A girl that for whatever reason will not, or cannot, fight the battles that a villainess would but that is still fighting somehow. That the same way as the woman that is villainized and shamed, she too feels restricted in her role as a woman to be idolized and controlled. It is unfortunately rare but incredibly satisfying to see both villainess and heroine realize that they’re both being played by the people around them - and that together they can find an understanding and companionship they could not anywhere else. One of the only examples I can think of this take is ‘I want to be you, Just for a day’.

These are my thoughts about the potential of the villainess isekai genre and why I find it so interesting. There’s certainly a lot to unpack but I wanted to say it anyway!

#falando #manhwa #shoujo isekai #villainess isekai #manhwas #anime #analise #long post #isekai posting #analysis

[homeless202]

part 1 | part 2

what pissed Haejoon off the most abt Eunyung were his reactions to their conversations (even the deep personal ones). Eunyung used to react with a smile or disdain after most conversations, which was often what put Haejoon on edge and triggered him. to him, that's how his old bullies acted, so he thought Eunyung must also be bullying him.

now, idk if Eunyung's smiles were a weird kind of happiness bc he wasn't the only miserable one around, or that thing called "Schadenfreude", or if that's simply his natural reaction to things ('play nice, smile wide' mentality or humor as a coping mechanism).

but to put it into perspective, Eunyung was also bullied. by his dad, who looked at him like he was less than trash after beating him (disdain), and by older kids, who laughed at him when crawling on his knees two stations (smiles). <- both his reaction expressions are learned behavior from what/whom he grew up around.

#i need to make a character analysis post for ey bc everything is scattered and i don't like it #but i'm lazy #and busy with life :/ #no home #eunyung baek #no home wanan #집이 없어 #webtoon #haejoon goh #ey hj parallels #meta #multipart #no home manhwa

[aliennazero]

Not CSM related, but the fucked up realization I had after I reread early « What It Means to be You » manhwa chapters is that every nobles who had encounter with Winter is either racist or super greedy. No wonder he's so angry when Violet accidentally call him a slur, an "outsider".

I think this is another thing than family abuse that most manhwa readers often forgot when talking about his characterization and his motives. Why he has inferior complex. Why he thinks everyone must hate him. Why he is so materialistic.

I'm talking about "Internalized racism."

And it's NOT even subtext, this narratives is a SLAP on the face. But even after that, I never found any other fellow readers talked about this.

Let's be real here. The first thing the Margrave family thought to get a business deal with him is not to do an actual meeting but using millitary forces. The old nobles are legit willing to do brutality just because they see him lesser than them. If not because of their son stopping them, they will absolutely fkin did that.

Even Violet's NICEST friends are subtly racist towards Winter.... They got called out by Winter HIMSELF, but no one bat an eye. No one read it this way, right?

This racism is systematical. It passed through older generation to the young. Even though it seems to be tamer than the old days, it's still there. The generational traumas, the stereotypes, "the uneasiness" are still there.

Real sad hours to think Winter outwardly admit that he don't want to have kids who would looks like him (silver eyes, etc) with Violet in the early WIMTBY days because he don't want his kids to experience the same racial traumas as him. To the point he prefer Violet to have kids with another man. This is another level of pain and I'm sfwhskawlalsl 😭😭😭.

It's always "Oh, Winter is so bad" , "Why he is so insecure, he's rich! His life is better now why he still think of his past!" , "Winter is so cruel to other person except Violet" etc etc, but never "He become cruel like that because it's his defend mechanism. For him, being seen as intimidating is better than being seen as weak and get oppressed because of that."

If that's not a product of racism, I don't know what it is.

There's no winning in this situation, man. I think I just hit myself with a massive brick. This is what happen when rofan author decided to put a little bit too much realism in their works. It's a great portrayal though. It just that... not everyone get it at first reading.

"So you want us to reread WIMTBY? Are you insane?"

Yes. I know I sound crazy when I say WIMTBY is my comfort read. But really, there's so much to unwrap here that might not seems obvious until some reread. It's not just an angst p000rn when you realized the deeper meanings behind it.

And I don't want to see anyone compare Winter to literal r4p1st like Ruve and Alecto ever again. He never tried to abuse Violet in any way, it's purely miscommunication. His character is a product of racism that resulted in toxic masculinity. He is not close to allat tr4shy men.

#manhwa #romance fantasy manhwa #historical romance manhwa #josei manhwa #manhwa recommendation #angst #kakaopage #what it means to be you #winter blooming lawrence #violet blooming lawrence #character analysis #i'm so sick #anyway expect me to tweet more rofan manhwa like this because I think my fixation towards them is back #if this WIMTBY manhwa didn't have a fandom I'll make one myself

[kimdokja-real]

Loving how the story of Omniscient Reader has evolved so much.

You would have never expected such crazy amazing world-building in the first few chapters of the manhwa or even novel, where it just seems like a horror supernatural genre with the apocalypse and surviving.

You would think it's just another Horror and Supernatural and somewhat Action story in the apocalypse, but then it changes so much.

From interesting, dangerous scenarios in the apocalypse, to going to this mysterious place and that faraway mythical place on an adventure with people with different personalities and gaining Stories, like Fantasy and Adventure, to time-lines being involved and Sci-fi, Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint is truly a masterpiece with all the genres.

#orv #orv analysis #omniscient reader spoilers #it's a very great story #and fools you with its beginning #i didn't expect it to be such an amazing fantasy piece #i'm glad i clicked on the manhwa and read it #even though i was just looking for popular manga then #never expected to get into the fandom at all

[bebebisous33]

The Ghost's 🥀 Nocturne: 🤔 Choose your fate! ⚰️ 👼

#TheGhostsNocturne @ananas4write @c_r_jade #귀야곡 The essay about #jaeshin and #Leenok "🤔Choose your fate! ⚰😇" is finished. Feel free to comment. I hope you'll like it. Retweet/like it as support. Thanks. It contains theories once again.

Please support the authors by reading the manhwas on the official websites. This is where you can read the manhwa. https://www.lezhinus.com/en/comic/ghost_nocturne  https://www.lezhin.com/ko/comic/night_song But be aware that this manhwa is a mature Yaoi, which means, it is about homosexuality with explicit scenes. Here is the link, if you are interested in other…

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#analysis #Analyses #ANANAS #C. R. Jade #귀야곡 #Jae Shin #Lee Nok #Manhwa #mature Yaoi #Psychology #Queen Han Chae-Hee #Yeom #Yeom-ra

[ultramarine-spirit]

I was reading the novel and this time something caught my attention that I don't know why I had overlooked it before, and that is how Athy talks about her life in the orphanage. Athy says that the children in the orphanage knew things that the children should not know, that she had to fight for what she wanted and that when she left that place she felt a kind of freedom.

To me, that screams abuse.

It bothers me that the fandom so overlooked the fact that Athy was abused not only in her first life (neglect) but also in her second life and I'm sure it must have been hell. I wish the manhwa had put more emphasis on this because many fans overlook Athy's trauma when she is literally the character who suffered the most.

Yes, to me it's canon that Athy was heavily abused in her second life. Adding to what you said, I remember her mentioning having to literally fight for food (a bowl of rice), or how they got a single sad birthday celebration per month. That's also where her initial fixiations with candy, money and her genuine love for studying come from, as Athy herself admits, she never had those kinds of luxuries (she mentions having to eat expired food in a "haha funny" way, but if you think about it for two seconds, it's just tragic. Like, she died from overdosing on sleeping pills to deal with the cold). I know a thing or two about how orphanages operate from my field of work and acquaintances, and kids in those institutions suffer from abuse in all sorts of ways while being completely ignored by society. I'm not from Korea, but going by what Plutus wrote and reading about the subject, the situation seems to be similar or even worse.

If I want to get overanalytical, part of her depression while living alone could be a consequence of the treatment she received at the orphanage. It's super common for kids in those situations to end up with depression, PTSD, having issues forming emotional connections, facing prejudice, etc. It's also canon that she was verbally and physically abused at her workplace. Athy treats her death as an accident, but in my opinion it's implied that it was a suicide, perhaps not in an "active way", but her behavior was edging the line. Which is again, common for people with that background. I think this plot point is interesting, as to my knowledge suicide is a taboo subject in East Asia. Most manhwas don't have their FL reincarnate after that.

I get what you mean, that part of Athy's trauma is often overlooked, but it probably has to do with most people not reading the novel and with Athy herself not really acknowledging it. She mentions her life as Lee Jihye at the beginning of the story, and then very rarely brings it up. But if anything, that's pretty consistent with how Athy deals with her trauma and negative emotions, refusing to acknowledge they exist until their weight is too heavy for her to endure. I like this piece of characterization a lot, but it leaves us with many questions that are hard to answer when Athy herself doesn't remember or actively tries to forget the trauma from her past lives. You could draw some parallels with Lucas and Claude's respective ways of dealing with trauma, loss and trying to forget (but Athy's mindset is more healthy and not so self-destructive lol).

Also yes, to me Athy is the character that has suffered the most by far. Not like this is a competition, but *gestures at LP* and the fact that she was a working class woman in Korea while the other characters (sans Lucas and Diana, I guess) are and always have been rich aristocrats in pseudo-France says enough /hj.

#thinking about how being called a bitch and the threat of physical violence from Aety made Athy flashback to her second life... #I feel like I should add some trigger warnings #suicide mention #suicide tw #abuse tw #moving on to the joke-y tags #while we are on this topic. i once read someone cry about Athy *checks notes* benefiting from imperialism. it was p funny #This is a 'not that deep princess manhwa' focusing on family drama and comedy not a Tolstoy novel #And even if we engage in such a dumb and intellectually tryhard discussion. My girl lived in the capitalistic hellscape that's Korea #if anyone in the whole cast deserves to live well that's Athy #the rest of the characters are all royals or from the very top of the nobility (sans Lucas? and Diana) #that haven't had to endure poverty and hunger for a single second in their whole lives (again sans Lucas) #so ig nobody should feel sorry for them (see how stupid that sounds? but i digress) #literature analysis courses are fun. people should take them to learn grown-up words #anyways i think the underlying exploration of trauma in Claude Athy and Lucas' narratives is so interesting #i kinda wish it was more touched upon but ig the manhwa would have gotten too heavy? i would have loved it tho #who made me a princess #i suddenly became a princess #suddenly became a princess one day #wmmap #sbapod #sbap #athanasia de alger obelia #athanasia #athy #wmmap meta

[theanimeview]

[Commentary] The Fluidity of Water & Genderless Characters

Source: Spirit King Elquines, Chapter 12 – https://page.kakao.com/content/49361421/viewer/49499204

By: Peggy Sue Wood | @pswediting

Water and fluidity are often used as metaphors when discussing some nonbinary or non-conforming gender identities because they are both characterized by their ability to take on different shapes and forms. Water can exist as a liquid, a gas, or a solid, and it can change its shape and form depending on its environment. Similarly, some people who identify as nonbinary may feel that their gender identity is not fixed or static but rather as something that can shift and change over time, depending on the person, circumstances, and, potentially, the context.

Using water and fluidity as metaphors can highlight the idea that gender identity is not necessarily a binary concept but rather exists on a spectrum that is separate from sex-based distinction. Just as water can exist in various forms and take on different properties depending on its state, gender can also be multifaceted and exist in a range of expressions and identities. At least, that is how I have come to understand this concept over the years through my interactions with nonbinary identifying peoples and research/analysis read in psychological journals. With that said, this a rather new-concept that is still being explored beyond the sciences and politics through art and media.

Right now, there are several manhwa currently exploring this idea of gender as a fluid concept (i.e. constantly changing or apt to change) in societal terms, two of which I think are worth mentioning here for those interested. These are the Daughter of the Spirit King, currently available on TappyToon, and Spirit King Elquines, currently available on Kakao.

In both works, the main characters are spirits. Spirits that are defined as genderless beings who may or may not take on masculine and feminine traits. The genderlessness of these characters may be rooted in cultural or religious beliefs, such as in Taoist or Buddhist, wherein spirits and other supernatural entities are often considered to exist outside the constraints of gender, but regardless of the roots for the idea of genderless spirits, the stories themselves defined them as nonbinary and as beings which exist beyond the norms and conventions of the physical world.

Yet, the genderless main characters of both works assign themselves a gender. Haein, from the Daughter of the Spirit King, calls herself a girl despite many viewing her as masculine. Meanwhile, Elquines, the title character of Spirit King Elquines, views himself as male despite many perceiving him as female. Their respective choices in identity are regularly brought up in the works, and there is consistent commentary by other members of the respective manhwa’s casts on these characters’ clothing choices, identity, and capability based on their image.

Perhaps, the depiction of spirits, particularly these water spirits who are picking their gender, as ultimately genderless/sexless can be seen as a commentary on the fluidity of gender and sexuality. By not adhering to traditional binary gender roles, the spirits can represent the idea that gender is a social construct.

These water-based spirits challenge traditional gender norms and expectations by identifying differently from how they look and by acting in ways that are a mix of traditional masculine and feminine assigned “traits,” challenging the often rigid and fixed perspectives on gender and sex within their respective works without being outright in their messaging.

While the intentions of the authors may vary, I believe that the main characters in these works are being used to challenge traditional gender roles and explore alternative perspectives on gender and identity in somewhat subtle and yet not subtle ways.

I’m not sure if this is truly the authorial intent of these works, but, regardless, it is an interesting concept to think over and explore. With that said, what do you all think? Let us know!

#Spirit King Elquines #Daughter of the spirit king #spirit king elqueeness #analysis #comic #gender #manhwa #review #spirit #spirits

[theprocrastinatingredkitty]

One question that comes to mind is:

Why is Deokbrows #2 here? Yes, I know he's a servant of the household, but the fact that he's been in a number of panels in this chapter, even managing to enter the room while Na-Kyum is being tended to, suggests that BD has something in store for him

Also.

WHO BURNED THE SHAMAN HOUSE!?

Seungho, Jihwa, and Mumyeong all had shoes different from the one in the panel above

CHAPTER 100, Mumyeong:

Seungho

One could argue that Mumyeong could roll down his pants, sure. BUT WHAT ABOUT THE SHOES? The shoes look like they belong to Seungho

But then I remember that all nobles wore the same type of shoe

So now it makes me think. What if.

What if Mumyeong rolled down his pant hems, BORROWED Jihwa's shoes, and then murdered brow guy over here, and then burned down the shaman house to prevent Jihwa from being dragged there too?

Some would think that Seungho returned to the crime scene on the same night, but...

Assuming that Kim is to be trusted with his words (highly unlikely, as he mixes truth and lie), Seungho's alibi for burning down the house doesn't add up to Kim's statement. And I don't think Kim has it in him to do the dirty deed of killing a nobleman and burning down a sacred house

So, who do you think is the culprit behind the arson?

Also. Assuming that Seungho could return to the crime scene, it would have to be during the time when the doctor was tending to Na-Kyum. But in the snippet from the trailer of s4, Seungho was seen standing by the doorway while talking to Kim and observing Na-Kyum and the doctor

Seungho COULD return during that timeframe if he runs back to the place. Plus, judging from the way the brow dude got killed, (Lord Shin? Was that his name? i forgot), he looks like he had been stabbed with a sword

Seungho told Na-Kyum not to worry anymore

Plus the way the next scene started off seems like Seungho was recalling from memory

Then I remember, there is another one who wears black pants

Heena's guards from c64 wear the black pants too, but then they also wear white socks. BUT. They are also armed with swords~ They can be suspects too. They might be on a lookout trying to locate where Heena was. They might have assumed that she had been killed and they enacted revenge while trying to find her

What are your thoughts on this?

#potn #painter of the night #yahwacheop #potn analysis #painter of the night analysis #yahwacheop analysis #manhwa analysis

[myuiis]

sally park: a missed opportunity

this is probably going to rot in drafts for a WHILE but i needed to scream into the void about this so let me rant to YOU (yes, you) about how ptj fucked up sally park's writing and purpose in the story so much that she is now just a bundle of missed opportunities. the same could also be said about other characters like crystal choi, luah lim, etc. but i just reread hunt for hostel and i have a lot of insane thoughts that need to be screamed about.

as a character who was the center of attention during her introduction arc, she has been reduced to simply an eli enabler and warren's love interest, who gets about 3 panels to really shine, and then is demoted back into window dressing.

warning: mild eli hate ahead but i do NOT hate eli, i just hate ptj for making everything hostel related eli-centric, when sally is arguably just as important.

so. lets start at the beginning.

from the very beginning, the eli jang arc was told from sally's perspective especially based off the narration, and her character during the majority of the eli jang arc BANGED. initially introduced as a classic demure, feminine savior figure for bad boy warren in the first chapter of the eli jang arc, it's then shown that she isn't as naive or one-dimensional as she may seem.

in fact, shes shown to be fiercely independent and self-sufficient, learning to live by herself and deal with her own problems without anyone helping her, while simultaneously grappling with her grandmother blaming her over her dad's death (side note this plotline, which could've added so much depth to her story was NEVER picked up again)

on my first read of the eli jang arc, this sequence actually punched me in the gut and sally became an instant fav

but i digress. continuing back to the main point, sally was a tremendously well written character (or as good as we're gonna' get when it comes to female characters by ptj) in the eli jang arc, whether it be her narration (scenes like "sometimes i think if i hadn't introduced them to eli back then, our story wouldn't have been such a tragedy"), or her actual actions in the story.

she was integral to the story. in fact, i would say that she was MORE central to the heart and soul of hostel than eli jang was (at first, before she got butchered by ptj and forgotten about) because it was HER that was providing for her family with HER own money, until eli stepped in months later. she was the one that everyone wanted to assist and protect because she was who was holding everyone together through her sacrifice and love.

LOOK AT HER!!! just LOOK AT HER!!! she is so noble and tragic and she does everything for the sake of her family, including starving herself! she is so tremendously loving and sacrifices so much for her family, which is why everyone unites around her to help her!

in fact, the reason warren, eli, and others devolve into crime and stealing is to help her get more money for food, as they can't bear to see her starve herself. while this does come off a little bit white knight-ey (oh a big strong man has to save the sweet damsel), the point is that she has this kind of power over the people around her through her genuine leadership skills

not only that, but she was actually also the one who came up with the idea of using their old building to provide for more homeless kids, showing that she really should be credited with the creation and management of the runaway fams, far more than she is in the story.

even though, immediately after, its shown that she didn't think enough about the financials of the situation, and eli gets his time to shine by coming up with the point organization stuff, the way its framed portrays both sally's idea and eli's financial proposal of the financial system as equally important things. this scene makes me think that, at the very least, sally and eli's importance should be on equal footing: sally is the passion, the heart, the core, while eli is the figurehead, the brains, the fighter.

in summary, sally was the person who united the original hostel A through her leadership, kindness, and sacrifice, and had so much soft power over everyone that the entirety of her family would do anything to help her. she also came up with the idea of helping runaway families, demonstrating her kindness and generosity.

not only that, she was still actively managing the runaway families and making money while eli fucked off to j high to become a barber, allowing her to get closer to the runaway fams and inspire them with her leadership.

with all that said, it's clear that sally should be a three-dimensional girlboss who uses her charisma and good personality to gain soft power and lead the people around her as one of the figureheads and hearts of the hostel crew, right?

well. no.

after the eli jang arc, she becomes close to useless.

i dont remember much of 2A outside of the big deal stuff, but what i do remember is that sally does nothing, wins a singular rock-papers-scissors game, and then becomes a damsel in distress again that warren needs to save and gets to show off his cool fighting skills in the process. (this may not be accurate, feel free to correct me if im wrong)

but my BIGGEST gripe is the hunt for hostel arc. the hunt for hostel arc was very much centered around eli, warren, and even jerry, more than it was sally, despite how much of an integral role she played in the formation of hostel. during the entire arc, she does basically nothing but watch on the sidelines

... and then ptj pulls this on us. they all unite because they admire and love eli jang so much? only eli jang? not warren chae, gangdong's mighty? not max and derek, the two uncles? not sally park, THE big mama?

i cannot emphasize how ironic it is that sally, the big mama, quite literally gave birth to the idea of the runaway fams, and yet nobody mentions her again afterwards, and only ever eli jang. like... what did eli ever do for you? give you a shitty haircut?

and when warren and eli leave, i FINALLY thought that ptj was going to give sally a moment to shine and show her by herself again, like she was all that time ago, and how she figures out how to save her family despite being unable to fight...

but no. we get this sick ass panel and then she is completely irrelevant again

the next example of the sally erasure comes when eugene is talking to eli about him joining workers. he tries to convince eli that this is the ONLY thing that he can do to protect his family, and that, now that he's here and so is warren, hostel is weak and helpless because the MEN that get everything done aren't there anymore and "oh no, what can sally park and the girls do?"

like fym "what can they do"?! sally is a LEADER and she has POWER and INFLUENCE (or at least, she should). but no, the narrative doesn't prove him wrong, and sally does next to nothing in the narrative.

i cannot emphasize how much more of a leader figure she is than eli btw. she took all the runaway kids under her wing. it was her idea to build an organization for these kids in the first place. she was the one singlehandedly raising money for all 7 high schoolers in her family before eli stepped in. she STARVED HERSELF and CUT HER OWN FINGERS trying to make food for her family. she was THE big mama. EVERYONE wanted to protect her and respect and love her. and yet ELI is the main character of hostel that is oh so important and that everyone will unite under????

"oh no without you how will anything get done, eli jang?" stfu

and even when she does do things, later on, it's really more of an excuse for vasco to shine. while she was the one to get heather's mom to forgive eli, as well as the one that got vasco to save eli in the first place, 1) her major role in this part of the story is entirely sidelined and given no narrative weight outside of being the reason that eli's healing arc can happen and 2) the only agency we've ever seen her having since hostel arc is in relation to eli. she only ever acts on her own to save eli. she PROBABLY did stuff outside of that to help hostel, but that is entirely offscreen and not focused on at all, so her leadership and agency when it comes to things outside of a MAN are ignored.

in chapter 478, i thought that she was once again given a brief moment to shine when she looked sad and all wondering what they would do once they didn't have the income workers supplied them with, and i was hoping that she'd get a chance to creatively problem solve around it to show a good character moment for her and the rest of hostel... but who am i kidding this is ptj of course he wouldnt do that. nah, it was just a scene so that vasco could introduce jay again and be like "hey guys jay is actually relevant to the story and he's a nice person, just so you guys dont forget that he's still there! and also ignore this deus ex machina ass solution to a conflict that could've been a really interesting character study!!"

so yeah. that's basically it. in conclusion, i think sally park is a HUGE missed opportunity for ptj to finally write a good female character. kind, compassionate, charismatic, smart, sally's got it all. however, just because she is a soft character doesn't mean that she's a pushover and she held tremendous power and authority because of everything she did for her family. however, ptj decides to do nothing with her and turn her into an eli enabler and a warren love interest instead, ignoring her leadership skills and influence.

and once again, no hate to eli, warren, jerry, jay, or any of the other character i just shat on to make a point!! i like all of them, but i just think that sally's character assassination to allow them to shine was an infuriating decision on ptj's part

#lookism #lookism manhwa #eli jang #jang hyun #eli lookism #warren chae #chae wonseok #jerry kwon #kwon jitae #sally park #lookism rant #literature analysis #(?) kinda #hostel #lookism webtoon #jay hong #hong jaeyeol #i hate how ptj treats his female characters #women deserve better

[squishyneet]

I’m going to tell you what I think about DG and you are going to listen please and thank you

I think in the beginning of Lookism, in his first few appearances, PTJ tried too hard to make him like G-Dragon. If you don’t know, DG is based off of him. He got his pink hair and tattoos of crosses and “vita dolce moderato” on his arms.

It’s not bad to have a character based on a real person, but it doesn’t suit DG at all. When you look at his old panels, it’s completely different than the DG we got later. PTJ tried too hard to give him the cool, distant popstar vibe which ended up not being true to who DG is. He is cool and collected and considerate, not distant and standoffish.

The DG that helped Daniel and that showed up to help in the Hunt for Big Deal arc is more true to who he is.

Side note this panel of him is super cute

<33333333

#he's sweet like sugar in my eyes #lookism #lookism dg #diego kang #kang dagyum #kang dagyeom #james lee #lee jihoon #why tf he got so many names #webtoon #manhwa #analysis

[cinycesum-fan]

Analyzing Lee Jinsung/Zack Lee

"A strong fighter is not one who always wins, but one who stands after defeat”

introduction:

Do not repost, or copy my analysis without my permission. I’ve poured my heart and soul into it. 

I've seen many people write analysis on characters like Gimyung, Jiho, Shinwoo or Johan, but I've never seen one about Jinsung, so I decided to write this to break down his personality and elaborate his character development.

────────────────────────────────────────

i. fighting prowess:

ii. design:

Without a doubt, Jinsung is one of the most beautiful characters of Lookism, especially with his hair down. He has a very good fashion sense, paying attention to his looks when it comes to outshining his peers. He tends to wear gray scale colored brand clothing. On several occasions, he has worn earrings. Jinsung has a serious resting face, with sharp glaring eyes, which in turn, easily intimidates those who look at him. He only occasionally smiles, and this typically takes place either when he is with Mijin or when he is fighting someone of great strength and beating them. When he’s extremely sincere in a fight, his eye is drawn glowing sky blue.

I don’t have much to write in this section, but I just wanted to point out how beautifully he was drawn, especially in the God Dog arc.

iii. bullying and redemption

TW: Mention of bullying and rape

1. It is stated that he saved Yohan/Johan from getting bullied several times in the past, when they were in elementary and middle school. This involved severely beating up the bullies.

Jisnung was kind-hearted despite his bad manners and extreme imprudence even before meeting Hyungseok. He assisted Mira and Yohan in numerous circumstances relating to their pasts, such as rushing Mijin to the hospital (episode and 94) and protecting Yohan from bullies, but this kind of generosity was largely reserved for those who were close to him.

2. In the beginning, he had a pretty rocky relationship with Hyungseok/Daniel. When Little Hyungseok, who was trying to start over after transferring schools, approached him and Mijin, he thought that he was harassing Mijin and beat him up. He went to a convenience store where Hyungseok worked at night to buy alcohol and cigarettes. He beat up Hyungseok, bought some cigarettes and alcohol, and then he left. Even so, he proudly boasted about it again the following day at school and punched Big Hyungseok, who was attempting to stop him out of a fit of rage.

3. He engaged in a fight with Big Hyungseok but was unable to hit Hyungseok's perfect body with even one effective blow and kept missing. Finally, Hyungseok delivered a body blow, ending the fight.

In the Cult Arc, it was revealed that Jinsung was regarded as the strongest student at his middle school (episode 133). This significantly boosted his ego, which when combined with his extremely short fuse and bad temper, was the primary cause of the majority, if not all, of his fights as well as the aggression he showed toward the helpless.

4. He kept his word to Mijin/Mira and didn't react when getting bullied by the bullies who got into a fight in the "Deviation" episode. He appeared to have at least partially realized that bullying is bad because it appeared that what he was facing now was similar to what he did in the past. 

5. He said, "Hey, you guys, don't bully him," to the group of Jin Hobin/Vin who were attempting to harass Jiho. Hobin and Jiho were taken aback by the words.

6. He asked Namsoo to buy some sneakers from Craigslist, but Namsoo accepted it as an order even though he smiled and spoke kindly (because of his past as a bully). Because of that, Namsoo begged sellers to sell cheaply, not daring to say that the money Jinsunng gave him was quite less. Namsoo traded the sneakers, but it was a scam, and he was robbed of his money and even beaten up. In response, Jinsung went to the swindlers with Hyungseok, saying that he will get his money back, and Vasco, who heard everything about the scam, followed along. He was initially injured in a surprise attack, but he held out until the end because Mijin was watching and single-handedly defeated the three imposters.  

7. He helped Jiho and also regarded Jiho as a friend.

8. Jinsung suffered arm and rib injuries while battling Zeus to prevent Mijin from being raped. Assistant Instructor Won Bin, who had recently lost his teeth due to being struck in the face by Zeus, crawled on the ground at this point and caught Zeus by the ankles, startling him. When the students, who were making fun of Won Bin because he was ugly while Zeus was handsome, said, "Won Bin is the criminal," Jinsung became enraged, told them to keep quiet, and bowed down to Won Bin to show respect as he was being taken to the hospital.  

9. While being beaten by Shin Daehoon, he thought back to the time he beat Park Hyungseok by himself the other day, confessing, "I was like that." and feeling regret for his past deeds.

10. Jinsung was suspicious when little Hyungseok came to school instead of big Hyungseok due to body mix up. Of course, he did not doubt that he has two bodies, but he suspected that Little Hyungseok was being bullied by Big Hyungseok. Then, when Taeseong/Logan started a fight with Hyungseok again, he saved Hyungseok.

Jinsung gradually changed after meeting Hyungseok. He had to maintain his composure in the face of those making fun of him because he had promised his Mijin not to fight, and in doing so, he discovered what it was like for his own victims. He began to stop bothering those under him after realizing his immature empowerment actions were wrong (episode 19), and he was even shown to be remorseful. Although his friends made comments about this behavior, Zack didn't find it to be particularly bothersome to waste time picking on others. His tolerance allowed him to mature impressively in a short amount of time.

When someone tried to annoy him, he would try to reason with them instead of getting into a fight. In terms of how he treated other people, he would reprimand them for unfair behavior but tried to control it before it escalated to violence. Even though there was nothing to apologize for, he kept his cool. This is because he doesn't want to physically fight people and cause them to think he's weak-willed, which would make Mijin unhappy.

iv. guilt

1 . He has helped Jiho countless times, but he felt that it was his fault that Jiho ended up going in the wrong path, ending up etc. He also grieved Jiho’s death and felt that he could’ve done more to help Jiho learn the correct path.

2. Youngmi Heo/Jasmine Huh sold paraphernalia using Mijin’s picture to pretend to be her. Jisnung was able to catch Youngmi and he threatened her to never show her face around him and after that she ran away from home and joined Hostel A.  

Jinsung went to find Youngmi after her father told him he missed her. Jinsung felt guilty because he thought that Youngmi ran away because he threatened her. He was able to find her and ordered her to come with him, but she refused saying her father sexually assaulted her. Jinsung decided to let her go a second time. It was only after that he realized that she lied again.

After all the incidents, he went to visit Yohan’s mother in the hospital. When Yohan's mother asked Jinsung to tell Yohan that she wanted to see Yohan. He vowed that he will bring him back so that he doesn't become like Wang Ohchun/Olly, who committed suicide. In this case, Jinsung also blamed himself and felt guilt, and was strongly determined not to let any incident like Ohchun’s suicide happen again.

It was stated that he went looking for Yohan and Youngmi every morning.

In the end, he found Yohan and told him to go back to his mom. Johan refused, smiling bitterly. Jinsung claimed that he was going to force Yohan. In the end, he started fighting with Yohan. Even though Jinsung was able to put up a good fight, he held back a little because he was aware of Yohn’s eye condition. 

Jisnung eventually decided to help Yohan, who wants to take revenge on Gun.

Here, we can see that Jinsung feels that he has a huge responsibility in helping his acquaintances. Being unable to do that makes him feel regret. This can also be linked to his past as a bully, since he used to prey on these kinds of people. This makes Jinsung's character much more humane, as it beautifully overlaps with his redemption.

v. love and jealousy for mijin

1. During lunch time, when Lee Taesung/Logan’s right-hand man, Jegal Gong, was looking for something to make him fight with someone in order to show off Taesung's power to the whole school, he pushed Jinsung, who was passing by, to spill side dishes on Taesung's clothes. Of course, Taesung, who was angry at this, almost got into a fight, but when Mijin persuaded Jinsung not to fight, he apologized to Lee Taesung but when Taesung poured soybean paste soup on Mijin's head as revenge, Jinsung became enraged and a fight broke out. 

2. He told Vasco to be 'gentle and fast' and to be 'kind but manly' when he was asked for dating advice.

3. He went on a date with Mijin and was surprised to see a child with her. He thought it was her child and started assuring her about how he was going to be there to support her. After hearing Mijin’s explanation on how she found the girl alone in a restaurant, Jinsung decided to help her.  

4. When he found out that his classmate, Heo Youngmi, was selling stockings by stealing Mi-jin's picture, he robbed the stocking buyer and warned Youngmi.

5. While on a train trip to Cheongryang with his friends, there was a bit of a fight with local gangsters on the train, but they still arrived in Cheongryang without much problems. He promised Mijin that he will shave his head if he fights one more time, but he got into a fight with Cheongryang-fam, so he later shaved his head.

It has been shown numerous times in the whole series that Jinsung has romantic feelings for Mijin. Many of the fights in early Lookism occurred because Jinsung wanted to protect Mijin. He has an urge to prove that he is the best to her, which was clearly demonstrated in sports day of J High. Jinsung was unable to beat Hyungseok in almost every sport because Hyungseok had a perfect body. However he was able to catch Mijin’s phone from falling from the ground even before Hyungseok could. 

From the redemption section, we can already see that Mijin played a huge and prominent role in Jinsung's redemption. Jinsung decided to stop fighting because of Mijin but he could never tolerate anyone harassing her and he would break his promise in that case.

He was always shown to be jealous when anyone seemed to like her, or make comments on her. When they were young, Jinsung was jealous because Yohan had feelings for Mijin.

vi. pride and ego

In the God Dog arc, he started his training in boxing again. While reminiscing at this time, he argued with his boxing director, saying that he wanted to become a pro, but his boxing teacher said that he had emotions in his punches and told him that he wouldn’t teach him unless he removed those emotions. According to his boxing teacher, he was born with the talent of boxing, and has learnt everything. So, his boxing teacher decided a training routine for him that involved jumping ropes and jogging, so he would get a stronger lower body. 

He was shamed by a few of God Dog’s members (who were in the same gym) for jumping ropes. At this point, Jinsung calmly replied by saying that he wasn’t an amateur boxer, but he was a pro. Afterwards, Kwon Seungryong threw a glove at Jinsung and sarcastically said, "Teach an amateur a lesson. Pro." Jinsung refused, saying that he needs to get rid of the emotions in his punches. At this time, the boxing teacher came and saw him patiently enduring ridicule from his juniors and Seungryong. After getting approval from the teacher, he climbed into the ring and the match between the two began.

Afterwards, Jinsung effortlessly dodged all of Seungryong's punches and was driven into a corner, however, Jingung was able to defeat Seungryong due to having a strong lower body. After that, he went to jog again, but Kwon Seungryong, who came to retaliate with a group of God Dog, Then Jinsung said, "I don't fight unless it's on the ring. Cause I'm a pro. No, I don't 'fight' outside. I beat you to death." Saying that, he easily brushed off Kwon Seungryong and God Dog. Afterwards, Kwon Seungryong said, "I remember you now. You came in second place in that middle school boxing tournament. You're Zach Lee." He also revealed the fact that the head of God Dog was Seong Yohan.

Afterwards, he saved Yohan from getting his teeth pulled out by Gun and asked Yohan "Are you okay?". He introduced himself as the guy who beats up anyone who bullies Johan since their childhood to Gun. Jinsung prepared to fight Gun, as he was 'bullying' Yohan. Gun was impressed by Jinsung's strong lower body, his flexibility and speed. Jinsung ignored Gun's praise and almost hit Gun with a follow-up hit, but he was counterattacked and was about to get hit when Vasco and Hyungseok rushed in and helped.  The situation ended when Gun decided to resign.

Even at school, Jinsung continued to train his body. At this time, he showed signs of reflecting on what he had done in the past.

From this section, we can see that Jinsung paused boxing after he became second in Middle School Boxing. Boxing was his passion, that was hugely tangled with his pride. After losing to Yohan, he gave up on his hobby, but still maintained a confident and strong attitude about his fighting ability. This showed us that he was sensitive about his fighting skills, and he refused to show anyone his vulnerable side.

vii. depression

Jinsung immediately rushed with his bicycle to Club Vivi after Kim Gimyung called him and said that Hyungseok was in danger. After he arrived there, he and Vasco had to fight Yohan to get into the club. When Jang Hyun/Eli tried to intervene, Jinsung grabbed Yohan's foot and told the others to go in and he'll take care of Yohan.

Jinsung was defeated by Yohan and passed out. And after everything was over, he decided to help Johan, but he blamed himself for not doing anything, lamenting his situation. After that, he clutched his chest and sobbed, and entered Heat Mode.

In the Summit Arc, where the four major crews were gathered, Jinsung came to save Yohan. He said that he was weak but he was going to try and save Yohan. Later, Mandeok, who was asked by Yoojin to deal with Hyeongseok, knocked Jinsung to the floor. However, Jinsung got up and stood behind Mandeok to stop him and complained how he never won any fight (which wasn't true, but we can assume that he was talking about his recent fights) but his boxing instructor said that he was a genius and was full of talent.  After Mandeok punched him again, Jinsung asked if he really was a boxer. He was ignored and punched again but he got up and complained about his boxing. He got punched in the side of his face and flew away. However, he suddenly rotated his body and threw a punch at Mandeok. Hyungseok was surprised by this because he saw his body do that in the ultra instinct state but Jinsung never witnessed that.

In response, Yoojin became interested in Jinsung, and when Mandeok asked him his name, Jinsung said, "Me? Lee Jinsung." and prepared to fight properly.

Mandeok hit him again, but Jinsung didn't show much reaction and asked why he kept hitting him with just that. Mandeok punched him, but Jinsung landed an uppercut at the same time. Then, he grabbed Mandeok's arm by his armpit and punched him in the head. When Mandeok hesitated, he grabbed him by the back of the head and headbutted him, saying that boxing is done with the head. Mandeok punched him in the chin and he flew away, but he stepped on the blind Yohan's face and blew Mandeok's head with a bang and said, "Fuck the pride. I won't lose anymore." 

Later, Jinsung asked Yohan if his eyes were okay. Then, Yohan said thank you and said he would repay the debt by allying with Jinsung, Hyungseok, Burn Knuckles and Hostel.

Afterwards, Jinsung asked Hyeongseok, who came to school, what conversation he had with Yoojin that day and why he disappeared with Ilhaehoe. However, Hyungseok hesitated and did not answer. When Park Haneul informed him that the teacher was calling, Hyungseok apologized and went to the principal's office, saying that he will explain soon. Because of Hyungseok's suspicious attitude, Jinsung looked at him with meaningful eyes.

Following Beomjae's strategy, he and Beomjae infiltrated an entertainment establishment in Gangbuk as guests. However, when he learnt that some minor girls were somewhat forced to work there, he became furious and overturned Beomjae's plan and beat down all Gangbuk thugs who look after the establishment, saying that he won't lose anymore. Beomjae, who saw it, monologued that it was more complete than before, and that it was like watching Yohan fight.

Jinsung asked the gangsters where Ansan Public is stationed, but the gangsters said they didn’t know. Then, Choi Changwon, who seems to have come to raid the business, appeared and started fighting, but Jinsung confronted Changwon.

Observing Changwon's posture, Jinsung noticed that kickboxing was his base, prepared for kickboxing and tried to attack with a custom tactic, but was halfway trampled by Changwon's irregular tattoo pen attack and lost with a knee kick to the face. Jinsung's facial expression at this time was the same as the crying face right before entering the body heating state in the 3rd affiliate arc, and the monologue said that his body was becoming hot.

After that, he fainted and woke up and lamented that he lost again, and when he saw Vasco crying as he hugged Beom Jae, who had been hacked up by the tattoo pen, he blamed himself for losing, and searched all the businesses in Gangbuk to find Ansan public. He found Jaehee and challenged him to a fight, but he lost mercilessly and despaired.

After that, he went looking for Changwon when he encountered Jaehee. Jaehee tried to irritate Jinsung by saying that it was okay to lose and it was easy to give up and Jinsung became enraged and started a fight. Jaehee commented that he was stronger than Changwon. Jinsung was seemingly defeated when his body heat activated. Jisnung clinched Jaehee and bit his ear, and in the monologue, Jinsung said he would show Jaehee what boxing is. Jinsung stuck Jaehee in a car, and punched him repeatedly. Then Jinsung said “Winning is a damn tough thing to do. You said you were stronger than that guy, right? Then since I won against you, I didn’t lose today.” and he monologued “ I caught up to others too. It’s for real now.”

Afterwards, Jinsung hit Taesoo Ma using a chain with a pivot blow. He said “I picked this up on the way. But it’s pretty useful. I look like a real boxer now.” The situation ended when Lee Jihoon came and defeated Taesoo.

Later, he was seen eating Haejangguk at a restaurant, feeling ashamed of his disastrous record at the 2nd affiliate and his own talent. The lady at the soup restaurant asked where he got hit, and no matter how he explained it, the lady claimed that it looked like he was beaten one-sidedly, which made it even more miserable for JInsung. He didn’t even shed tears, as if he's used to losing now. While eating soup, he meets Ma Cho-il and Ji-gong.

While talking with Cho-il and Ji-gong, he was surprised to hear that Cho-il and Ji-gong used to fight before. Then, following the advice of Ji-gong, he went to Daeho Temple in Daeho Mountain. He begged Ji Gongseop to teach him how to fight, and he received instruction, but was cheated into doing chores.

Still continuing to clean the courthouse, he got angry at Gongseop for not teaching him how to fight and just playing him. He threw punches with all his might, but there was no damage at all, and Gongseop told him to go down the mountain because he only needed to clean the courtroom. Then Jisnung said that he wanted to learn because he had never won properly. Those words moved Gongseop's heart, and he decided to teach Jinsung.

It is pretty clear that Jinsung's depression has triggered him to get into heat mode several times. At this stage, he's pretty crazy too, except he lacks excitement and a maniac smile, unlike Hyungseok and Seongeon. He has said things like boxing is done with the head and that fighting with chains is proper boxing countless times during this phase.

vii. reformation and strenghtening

In episode 411, Gongseop finally came out with the teachings including the transfer of the realm. As much as he learned directly from the first-generation king, Jinsung became greatly stronger. At this time, the narration described him as a boxer rather than a dirty boxer after a long time. It may have been that he regained his pride because he was taught by Ji Gong-seop that 'the important thing for a boxer is not winning'. However, even when he fought Kenta, he just came out as a boxer, so maybe he just put it in.

In episode 423, he finally showed up. After being ordered by Mandeok to burn down Big Deal Street, Kenta Magami threw a lighter on the greasy street, and Jinsung snatched the lighter and held it in his hand.

In episode 424, it was shown that he succeeded in growing up while being trained under Gongseop and completely overcoming the slump. According to Gongseop's comment, as Jinsung’s boxing instructor said, Jinsung’s specs were certainly high, but his excessive entanglement in the shock of defeat prevented him from exerting his full strength. In other words, he was trapped in a vicious cycle of 'I was defeated - I was caught up in this defeat and couldn't fight properly - and because of that, I lost again'. In a way, it was natural that even Seongeon and Hyun risked their lives against the first-generation king to barely reach the level, but Lee Jin-seong also reached the level or just below it in a month at the longest. In other words, in terms of level, he had already reached a level similar to them, but he was entangled in his defeat slump and couldn't exert his strength. 

Jinsung received Kenta’s attack and subdued it with a single blow. After that, he quickly approached Mandeok , who was fighting Vasco, and even knocked him down once by feeding him a series of attacks. Even in episode 425, Mandeok's power-packed punches were easily blocked and continued to give critical hits, but when Mandeok used capoeira, Jinsung was pushed against the wall. However, there was no sign of blood splattering while the wall was being smashed, and it showed a crazy toughness to stop it again . After that, the confrontation with Mandeok was canceled due to the appearance of Gun. Soon after, Jihoon, who was brought by Yoojin, appeared and had a confrontation with Hyung-seok and Vasco.

The moment Jihoon evaded Vasco's compression low kick, Jinsung tried to hit it with a punch, but failed, and Hyungseok and Vasco slammed into the floor or wall, but Jinsung was the only one who endured it. After that, looking at Jihoon, he thought of him as a mountain to overcome and fought again, but was fooled by an invisible attack.

His personality appears to be calmer than after receiving Gongseop's training.  In particular, when Park Hyeongseok recruited Ahn Hyunseong into the Allied Crew, he was very reluctant, but in order to prevent a large force, he briefly set aside his past bad ties.  If Jinsung were still the same as he was in the past, he might have managed without any of that.

ix. flaws

He has a very rough personality, so he has a strong tendency to resolve his intentions through fighting, whether it's good or bad. In fact, Kim Mijin/Mira acts as a brake for Jinsung.

When they first met, he assaulted Hyungseok in the street. Later, when they ran into each other at the convenience store while he was buying alcohol and cigarettes, he assaulted him once more. His friends even took pictures of his genitalia and silenced him. 

It should be taken into account that Hyeongseok in the beginning of the series also appeared as a strange character who monologues that he was happy to be regarded as a friend among the people who harassed him. In other words, it was a ridiculous representation in which the victim of school violence thought and perceived the perspective of the offender. 

x. thinking and intitution

Throughout the series, it was clear that Jinsung wants to be self-reliant, to prove his strength and resist weakness, to be important in his world, to dominate the environment, and to stay in control of the situation. For example in the God Dog arc, Hyungseok said "Don't hurt Zack" and Vasco said "Power exists for the weak" and Jinsung immediately got embarrassed and angry at that because he believed that he doesn't need any other people's help.

He wants to keep the environment, and especially other people, from hurting those he care about (Mijin, Yohan). From an early age, he understands that this requires strength, will, persistence, and endurance—qualities that he developed in himself. He prided himself and his talent in fighting and bragged about it quite a lot.

His basic desire and fear revolves around the security of people he loves. He always protected Mijin from any danger and he got involved in gangs to protect Yohan. The more he built up his ego in order to protect, the more sensitive he became to any real or imaginary slight to their self-respect, authority, or preeminence. 

As the series progressed and his opponents got stronger, Jinsung became more desperate. He went on trying different methods and changing his mindset to win in the fights, but he kept losing. Jinsung became depressed and kept saying how he never won a fight, ignoring his previous records.

In the beginning of the series, he never wanted anyone, especially Mijin, to witness his vulnerable side, which was mostly losing in fights. He wanted to prove that he was capable to the people he wanted to protect. When his depression phase started, his sensitivity and vulnerability got more exposed to his friends. But he realized that his friends were stronger than him and were capable of protecting themselves, which hugely contradicted his pride and his urge to be self-reliant.

Now that he's calm and stronger after receiving training from Gongseop, he has regained his self confidence. He doesn't feel the need to prove anything to anyone anymore, for he knows that he's capable and strong. Winning is not the biggest factor to him right now.

xi. quotes:

Quotes about Jisnung from other characters:

“Lead the way, thug specialist.”

Hyungseok to Jinsung in chapter 226

“When he came back and said he wanted to wear the gloves again… I was worried. How was I supposed to train him? Because there was… nothing left… to teach! He was already… full of talent! ”

-Jinsung’s boxing teacher in chapter 207

“This guy is.. beyond complete.”

-Jinsung’s boxing teacher in chapter 300

“How about you, kid? You interested? You look better than your friend over there. Talent is one thing… but you’re a go-getter too.”

-Gun in chapter 212

“I did see it. I saw the light in him. It’s up to him to catch. If I do it for him, it’s meaningless. You’ll be having doubts on yourself. But you have to remember it. On that day, when you were next to Johan Seong, I acknowledged you too.”

-Gun in chapter 363

Notable quotes of Jisnung:

“I’m gonna end you. Kill or be killed.”

Jinsung to Taeseong in chapter 126

“Yeah, well… you’re right. I have no excuses. But… you… never thought of us as friends either, did you? Did you even interact with us… before calculating the benefits beforehand? If you’re a friend… try to be more honest with yourself.”

Jinsung to Jiho in chapter 166

“I don’t know any amateur boxers. I’m a pro.”

Jinsung to God Dog in chapter 206 

“Put your headgear on… you amateur.”

Jinsung to Seungryong in chapter 206

“Me? I’m the one who beats up… any one who bullies Johan… or as long as I can remember, Johan.  Did this guy bully you?”

Jinsung to Yohan in chapter 212

“You need thugs… to fight other thugs. I’m the thug specialist… you see. Thanks for bringing me back to my old days.”

Jinsung to Hyungseok in chapter 226

“I’ll lend you my experience to pair with your talent… so show those bastards… exactly… what a duo is.”

Jinsung to Hyungseok in chapter 226

“This is what I truly love. Mira may have taught me boxing, but I like boxing itself now. So, don’t copy me. You’re not even interested in boxing, but I am. All things I’ve earned with hard work, don’t you dare take it away at once like that.”

Jinsung in chapter 272

“Something you cannot copy, because your body is perfect.  My lethal move, that belongs to me only. The pride of a boxer.”

Jinsung in chapter 272

"I thought about it a lot. How can I win? How can I stop losing? The answer was damn simple. I just had to forget about all the things that eat me away."

“I was not a genius. Thank God I am not. Since I’m not a genius, it doesn’t matter if I lose. I can just try harder until I can become one. Now that I put everything down, I can give it all I’ve got.”

Jinsung in chapter 273

“Get rid of positive thinking. Put some emotions in my attacks. Throw away my pride. What is boxing? Boxing is about winning.”

Jinsung in chapter 351

“In boxing… you fight with your head.”

Jisnung in chapter 352

“Screw pride. I’m done losing.”

Jinsung in chapter 352

“I’m zack Lee, a classic boxer.”

Jinsung in chapter 384 (said this while hiding a chain behind him)

“I’ve never properly won a fight. You said I was already strong… yet I’ve never been able to win. Not even -once.”

Jinsung in chapter 404

“I no longer fear the storm for all I need to do is not get wet.”

-Jinsung

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Conclusion:

To be honest, analyzing Jinsung was difficult because different events, people and aspects brought out different sides of him. Regardless of that, I think he had one of the best character developments in the series, even though his depression phase was a mess.

recommended:

Analyzing Lee Jinsung/Zack Lee’s Fighting Prowess (part of this analysis that was too big so I had to post it separately)

also read:

Analyzing Kim Gimyung/Jake Kim

#lee jinsung #zack lee #manhwa #lookism #lookism manhwa #lookism webtoon #lookism spoilers #park tae joon #ptj #daniel park #park hyungseok #hyungseok park #kim mijin #jinjin #character analysis #analysis #seong yohan #johan seong #cinycesum-fan-stuffs

[dawn-t0-dusk]

#35: Them, You, Me

There has always been a gap. There is you two-         Mother. Father. There is my siblings-         Elder Brother. Elder Sister. Sister. And then there is me.         I don't belong with you, or those three.         Don’t you agree?

Them goes something like this-                  Brother,         Honorable and Prosperous and Just         He rules the kingdom and it's him who we all trust.         The people flourish under his rule         There has never been any ridicule                  Sister,         Powerful, Brilliant and Generous         She makes the rivers flow, keeps the crops lush         When she speaks, they all hush         Its her, they all look up to                  Sister,         Beautiful, Harmonious and Exuberant         She told the truths that changed the way people thought         It was her who brought order and peace         Without her, countless pointless wars would have been fought

You two are different but somehow the same.         Beyond what we children can comprehend         Not when you rule over the water and the air         Even then, you find time to see them.         So why is it only me you condemn?

I don't belong,         Not in You,                  -and not in Them,         I am just Me,                  -and it has never been enough for any of you.

#original poem #original poetry #poetry #poem #writers and poets #poets on tumblr #ennead manhwa #ennead #seth #ennead seth #character introspection #character analysis #written from the perspective of a character #comfort character #manhwa #prose poetry #egyptian mythology #daily poem