Among the big 4 GunGoo, James and Gitae who is the most well written and who is the least and why? What do you think?
As always, these are just my personal opinions, others are entitled to theirs. I am no intellectual, so take this with a grain of salt.
You can’t spell GOAT and goon without Goo. This man has layers and motives. We know enough about him to understand him, yet he still manages to intrigue us. His intentions and emotions are fleshed out surprisingly well although, to be fair, the writing standard in Lookism is buried six feet to the core of the Earth, so the bar isn’t exactly high. What works for me is the duality in his character. Yes, he loves money, but the story subtly shows that when Goo genuinely cares about someone, he cares a lot. He isn’t just some greedy psychopath. That contrast adds depth to his personality.
His fighting style is also entertaining as hell, and whenever he appears, things move forward. A lot of his role felt like it existed to humanize Gun, but even outside of that, Goo stands strongly on his own as a character. He’s also unpredictable. You can’t really say he’s on James’ side or anyone else’s. He goes where the money, respect, and opportunity are. That ambiguity builds anticipation because you never fully know what his next move will be.
Hmm… daddy’s mistakes are embedded in him through and through.
With Kitae, I can see the potential for massive impact on the story, although most of that impact comes from the fact that he kills people and starts chain reactions. But presence alone doesn’t automatically mean well written. Still, compared to the other members of the Big 4, he works fairly well. Him embodying the darker side of Gapryong, carrying the burden of that generational legacy, and his connection to Jake are all solid narrative points. His fight with Jinyeong especially made him feel like a deeply desperate man, someone constantly searching for stability or acknowledgment. There’s something genuinely unsettling about him. Honestly, he feels like an actual villain. And I’ll never stop being surprised at how conveniently people forget this man literally runs a bloody cartel. He’s not some misunderstood kindergarten teacher.
I also don’t understand the constant outrage around him. People keep saying they want a real menace in Lookism, but the moment someone actually acts like one, they can’t digest it when he harms their favorite character🥀
Holy shit, his fanbase might genuinely be the worst I’ve ever seen after Salman Khan fans.
Why bring up Gun fans? Because they’ve genuinely damaged his character to some extent, alongside PTJ becoming way too attached to him. As a character, Gun is honestly kind of subpar. His depth and writing quality feel almost inversely proportional to his fighting ability. His backstory is probably his saving grace, but even there, his mother and uncle steal most of the spotlight.
What annoys me is the way parts of the fandom try to portray him as this innocent soft boy who did nothing wrong, while the other side glazes him so hard that the second Goo, Kitae, or James get any spotlight, they instantly scream, BUT GUN IS STRONGER.
Gun has potential. There’s clearly room to explore his psychology and emotional contradictions. But every time the story could go deeper, it feels like the narrative and the fans only care about hyping up how unbeatable he is. Part of the reason could be he inherited Shingen’s bum genes so the bumness shows at times in his character
Writing-wise, James is mid-tier. The potential man of Lookism finally decided to do something after 600+ chs, only to get exposed.
We still have almost no real understanding of who he actually is. Where did he come from? Is he Charles Choi’s son or not? What exactly is his goal? Why does he do the things he does?
It’s always “when” and “if” with James, never “is.”
The story constantly tells us he’s intelligent, but honestly? Even as a James fan myself, I struggle to see the genius everyone hypes up. Intelligence isn’t just being academically smart. Yes, James had long-term planning by transitioning from Kpop into politics, but the execution still feels underwhelming compared to the weight the narrative gives him. He lacks depth to a very large degree.
Sometimes I genuinely think swapping him with Crystal would improve the story, but that’ll never happen because Crystal is a girl🥀
James feels extremely superficial as a character. He exists in a vacuum and gets thrown into the story whenever it’s convenient. In terms of fights and power, he has tons of narrative backing, but that only goes so far when the actual execution keeps fumbling him.At some point, you can’t keep excusing everything with, “He was just acting cocky.” That excuse stops working after the nth time.
James is basically a Temu version of Aizen with the brain of Shinchan. A lot of work still needs to be done for his character to truly shine.
