Lookism – Park Tae Jun

Boy, I’m just exploring all kinds of new reading material on this blog, huh?

The Story:

Lookism is a serial webtoon. It is an on-going drama, so I can’t give an overall description, but I can offer the main gist of the story. Daniel Park is an obese, unattractive, poverty-stricken victim of severe bullying (I mean, like on enslavement levels of treatment, I swear, it’s that bad) with the lowest of low self-esteem. The bullying has gotten so out of hand that his mother lets him transfer to a new school, where he’d live on his own, and take care of himself. One day, Daniel wakes up in a perfect specimen of a body, handsome, healthy, athletic, perfect in every way. His old body (which if I refer to it again, will be called Body A) is lying asleep next to his awake new body (Body A Prime). Through a little experimentation, he discovers that whenever Body A Prime is conscious, Body A will not be, and vice versa. So, Daniel lives life in both bodies, switching whenever necessary.

Honestly, is there really any point by now in saying that this will be structured differently from my first few blogs? I think not, so let’s move on; let the record show that my coming blogs won’t be a uniformly organized.

Characters (my god the characters, in that there are so freaking many, but let’s only hit the main-main):

Daniel:

Daniel is the main protagonist. He is a great character, very relatable and realistic. Because of his years of bullying trauma, he behaves as such. He yells his frustration at his mother, (something that he matures out of don’t worry, he isn’t a toxic character). Just because he gets a more desirable body doesn’t change his mind.  He still has the past. While he is learning to become a more confident person, even in Body A, he does have relapses. One instant, he, in Body A Prime, encounter his bully and instantly falls back into his own cowering way at the very sight of him.

Vasco:

Vasco is the leader of a notorious, The Burn Knuckles. He possesses ungodly strength, both of will, kindness, and physical means. That’s right, Vasco is a muscled teddy bear. He’s probably the second nicest character in the series. He happy-cries at the slightest thing. He’s sensitive and has good character development.

Jay:

Jay is the most mysterious main character. The way he is drawn prevents people from seeing his face, and he doesn’t speak audibly, but apparently Daniel manages to communicate with him easily. He is presumed to be handsome, and somewhat unaware of it. He is also very generous with his wealth. The most mysterious thing about him, aside from his face and manner of speech, is his relationship with Daniel. It is unknown whether he regards Daniel romantically, or if he is just a very good friend. He has been shown to be jealous and protective of Daniel, going out of his way to even hurt himself even if helps Daniel. I wonder if this is a plot point or just plain fan-service: I’d be upset if it were the latter.

Zack:

Zack is the best developed character of the series. He begins a main antagonist, but it isn’t long before his allegiance switches, and he becomes one of Daniel’s closest friends. Zack has two characteristics: tough boy, professional boxer, and mad lover boy. Mira is the object of his affections, and it is for her that he changes from a thug to a hard, but nice guy.

 

 

The Plots (sweet Jesus):

Okay, so something that could turn you off from his story are the plots. MY GOD ARE THEY BRUTALLY REALISTIC. From killer stalkers, to freaking serial rapists, to What-The-Actual-Jesus level bullying, to dog-worshipping cults, to kidnappers, to blackmailing gangsters, to abuse of social media trash-talk, to thievery, GOD THIS SERIES NEEDS TO HECKING CHILL.

But that’s also the beauty of it.

I rate Lookism a 7 out of 10 stars. I would give it more bu the disturbing art style makes me reluctant to re-read certain parts.

Author: Jordyn Harper

If I were to describe my writing style, it would be... volcanic. Most of the time, I sit, looming, silent, harmless. My writing is generally romantic, pleasing to the eye. I imagine a scenario that in my opinion would be mutually satisfying. But every now and then, maybe after a particularly odd dream or an especially horrible day, I will erupt. And these eruptions might last for a long time. My writing devolves, or evolves, however you choose to view it, into madness. Scrawls of controversy and scribbles of the chaos of my inner mind. That is my best writing, and I can rarely summon that at will, which means, I have plenty of room to improve. But then again, don't we all?