So in the past, i saw James as a man who just needed some institutional help. Honestly, when you look at it, he doesn’t think what he is doing is bad. (I am curious of his back story tbh. but that’s not what I wanted to post about.)
You see this look from Zach? You see when Zach’s assumed last thoughts were “Mira, Amen” (Which makes me like him a whole lot more because even in his dying breath, his thoughts were on the two things he loves the most, his religion and Mira), I was so anxious!
For the first time in the webtoon, I thought of Jay as something more than an over glorified side character. I knew he could fight, and i knew he sticks up for what he thinks is right.... in his own Jay way but damn. He stole the show!
Key points from this episode (and the reason why i wanted to scream to the world that we don’t appreciate Taejoon’s work enough)
Bandaids!
James used a bus pass for the bus he stole.
James wasn’t going to do Zach anything because he assumed Zach to be Jiho’s friend.
Let me repeat. James wasn’t going to do Zach anything because he assumed Zach was Jihole’s (aka the guy who pushed him out the window of a second-floor building’s) friend.
Let me clarify this. James thought Zach was a ‘bad guy’ because he got punched and got ‘robbed’ of the stolen phones... yet he holds no bad thoughts about Jiho. Pay attention to this. Pay attention to this man’s thought process because I’m dying for a backstory. (Tempted to read the Korean version, but I’ll hold off for now).
Jake is in prison and would probably do a better job at running Big Deal than anyone else.
Jake.... is manipulating Jihole. We have much more to see from those prison dogs.
Logan Lee is still a monster and is incapable of knowing or admitting when he’s wrong. You guys thought he was on our side of the fight? He did it ‘for Zoe’ then had an epiphany that she was smart enough to not appreciate it. He realized that all his good memories of them being ‘together’ was when he hallucinated the anime body pillow to be her. P.S. Logan has yet to show any ounce of remorse, we are not to redeem this fellow. This arc hs shown me that.
Zach and Daniel could be good leaders alongside Vasco. If the Zach/Daniel duo could be a permanent thing, fake Hostel got nothing on them and their associates.
Even though he was a freaking hero, Zach doesn't want Mira to know he fought... and Daniel is testing his patience which I love.
So yeah, this arc was epic. Eli was probably the GOAT but Taejoon is just stringing us along for a nice long ride. Anyway, Crystal Choi and her dad have some questions needed to be answered so as much as I loved the arc, we really need to get back to this not to mention i miss seeing the king of kpop’s cameo.
All in all, the identity theft thing is over and even though Jasmine had nothing to do with the last part, I have something to add to it (my theory).
The police investigations showed that fake Hostel used information on the stolen phones to sell those ... unsavory items. Mira, Joy, Zoe and Mary’s phones weren’t stolen. I still believe that Jasmine had the intention of doing this and Zach scared her straight. (Though I wished she did... Mary would have checked her into next year)
So this is just my short theory ramble, I’ll probably edit this when I’m not sleep deprived and exhausted. I’m both happy and satisfied with this conclusion so I’m ready for whatever’s next to come hopefully. (I just won’t sleep well If my top three; Zoe, Zack, and Mira, gets hurt).
so... it’s spring break. and i’ve spent the entire break doing what any smart ap student would do: ignoring my five looming ap tests and draining my phone battery by looking at webtoons and instagram. since most of my favorite webtoons are on hiatus, i have resolved to rereading my favorites, and one that i’ve reread the most so far is lookism. as spring break comes to a finish in two days, i decided to get my life back on track and instead of simply rereading the comic, i will rant about my most and least favorite characters starting with the fandom’s all-time favorite character (yes, if you check the wiki for lookism there is a poll and it is fact that he is the majority’s favorite), jay hong/hong jae yeol. (also, note that these are my opinions so if you disagree with them don’t be offended but i would be happy to hear other people’s opinions on the webtoon! please comment who would be on your list because i need to talk to more people who read lookism!)
top favorite characters~
1. jay hong/hong jae yeol:
let’s just list off reasons why everyone loves him: he is well-dressed (even plans out other people’s outfits), generous (gives daniel literally everything he wants), selfless (he fricking took in enu’s pups even though he is scared of dogs), RICH (main reason for kouji’s admiration), strong (manz uses his systema well), and CAN RIDE A MOTORCYCLE (yes, i love a man who can ride a bike). he may not be the most dynamic character, but his static puppy status makes it impossible for me to put him lower on this list. we honestly don’t know that much about his backstory and i am super curious about why his family relationships are so strained (except with his sister, joy). for now, he remains a mystery, but like an attractive mystery. overall, me -> ( ･_･)♡
2. zach lee/lee jin sung:
honestly hated this boi in the beginning because he was a big bully to daniel, but he has been through some SERIOUS character development. mira was a big part in this but i feel like overall his morals have changed so much even when mira isn’t around. he does still fight often, but now it’s not meaningless violence as he uses his boxing skills to defend his friends (ex: defending johan during the god dogs arc).
i also hated his eyebrows and hair in the beginning of the comic but like that’s personal preference. however, in the last few episodes, his hair looks SO GOOD (reference image above).
he is second on my list of favorite characters because i feel that his development throughout the story has been the most dynamic. he not only changed mentally as he overlooks lookism more (ex: he is not only friends with big daniel but also little daniel) but also physically as he doesn’t simply depend on his inherent talent for boxing but actually goes back and trains again in order to get better (to defend mira >.<)
in the future, i hope to see more development with his relationship with mira and his friends because i hold a lot of high hopes for this boi! ♥‿♥
3. vasco/lee eun tae/tabasco:
BIG CUTIE ENERGY ♥╣[-_-]╠♥! first off, he may not have as much long-term development over the course of the story like zach, but we do see a lot of his development with his own arc and bullying story. he was always a pure boi and his inherent innocence creates a discrepancy with his appearance which makes him more endearing in my opinion. the idea of lookism is very apparent in his character because most people look at him and see him as a gangster or someone very intimidating, but in reality his personality and mindset are very innocent (showing another way that you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover). i honestly LOVED the scene in the god dogs arc in which he defended zach and daniel joins in because that friendship is GOLDEN. i love how he always strives to be stronger and more powerful to defeat the evil in the world because it shows that he truly cares about the weaker people and those impacted by lookism. in my opinion, i think that vasco and zach will end up being the most powerful in the story (but that’s my opinion)
4. mira kim/kim mi jin:
pure! cute! sweet! moral! (✿ ♥‿♥)! mira is just an all-around great gal that makes it impossible for me to find flaws with. although she isn’t super major in terms of daniel’s story, she does impact zach significantly and makes him a better person. like she is the sole reason that zach has become a character that i truly admire and like. (although she did think that daniel was the r-word when he tried hitting on her in the beginning of the story. but throughout the story we see that she isn’t really a person to judge people on looks and stuff as we see that she gives jasmine the benefit of the doubt even after the vasco fiasco)
5. yena/eli jang’s (jang hyun’s) daughter:
honestly too cute for words. like the episodes where zach and mira find her are my favorites so i just wanted to include her in my favorite character list. also, she seems to be a character that really impacts other characters (zach and eli really changed for her ಥ_ಥ)
least favorite characters~
park ji ho:
always doing dumb things and making it harder for the people around him. he tries too hard to be a part of the popular group and as zach said, he doesn’t really think of them as friends because he just thinks about what the benefits are for hanging out with daniel and co. i think we all went from being tolerant of jiho in the beginning and then hating him at the end. i especially hated how he kept blaming other people and yet not accepting when people were being friendly. especially during the fake bank account arc, he just brushed off daniel when he asked jiho if he wanted to go to the convenience store then jiho goes running back to daniel and his friends when he realizes his mistake. overall, -123912830/10.
2. james gong:
don’t even know where to start with this punk. very violent for very little reason! i know i stated before that i hate jiho but i still felt kinda bad for him when he realized that james had sold the bank account he made for him. just overall a very intimidating character that hurt zach (ﾉಥ益ಥ）ﾉ ┻━┻
3. jasmine huh:
needs to get her shit(ake) together. first off, she almost got vasco expelled from the school because of her lies. like big! red! flag! it seems that she really doesn’t care about other people (except james) and is willing to put so many other people at risk to save her own behind. also, i hate how she uses other people. like how she uses mira to make money when mira didn’t do anything wrong ヾ(ﾟдﾟ)ﾉ. i hope she one day realizes that her lies are gonna hurt so many other people and then herself.
4. heemin kim/zeus/creepy dude from the boot camp arc:
sexual assault is a big no in this household. i hate how he thinks that being handsome can defend him of his crimes! also, he broke zach’s arms which made me FLIP OUT. LIKE HOW DO YOU DARE TO HARM MY BOXER BOI. he also attacked mira, an actual angel ლ(ﾟдﾟლ). words can’t describe how much i hate this man but numbers can -> 0/10
5. logan lee/lee tae sung:
big bully energy. he needs to lay his hands off of everyone (especially zoe!). blackmail? big no go in this household. he also dumped his plate of food on mira? BIG NO GO! he needs to get his life together and realize that people don’t hate him because he’s “ugly,” it’s because he has THE WORST PERSONALITY!
6. strong contenders for least favorite: stalker girl, animal cruelty cat mom/hoarder, zoe’s stalker
characters that i need more information about to form stronger opinions about~
vin jin/jin ho bin:
dislike him because he abused enu but also want to know more about him. big bully energy but i feel like he has a deep backstory behind him so i want to know more. why did he quite judo? why does he wear sunglasses? hope he gets over his superiority complex and changes because i feel like he has a lot of potential.
2. eli jang/jang hyun:
so far, very cute and strong is all i have to say about him. also, he is a good dad like that scene where he put out that god dog’s cigarette? MAJOR PROPS TO YOU ELI. i’m very curious about his backstory as well because it seems that he was a contender for gun’s successor but he changed drastically to take care of yena. i also just love a man with good hair sooo…
3. jong gun + joon goo:
i want to know more about these two! like what’s their backstory? why did gun create the 4 big crews? why was goo sent to the juvenile detention center before? (look at vasco’s bullying arc for reference) why did gun leave goo alone with the money collection? overall very mysterious and i want to learn more.
random characters that just deserve appreciation~
crystal choi/choi soo jung:
we stan a strong female character. however, i don’t like how she is immediately prejudiced against handsome men in the beginning of her appearance. i think over time she’ll realize that her prejudice isn’t right and her experience as someone who has to deal with lookism doesn’t justify her immediate judgements. however, we need more female fighters in this story so she is a big yes.
2. duke pyeon:
WE STAN A MAN WHO FOLLOWS HIS DREAMS DESPITE BEING BULLIED AND JUDGED. yes, we stan.
3. daniel park/park hyung suk:
honestly, he’s a great character and all, but i don’t know if he could ever reach favorite character status. i just have a mindset that makes me unable to pick the protagonist as a favorite character because i feel like they are sometimes created specifically to just bring the story together. don’t get me wrong, he’s a great person, defends his friends, and doesn’t fight for no reason, but i feel like there isn’t anything super special about his personality (other than the fact that he has two bodies but like so does crystal). he also looks like kim seokjin in his new body which is a big plus.
4. inu/enu + inu/enu’s pups:
i love dogs
5. mary kim/idk her korean name someone help me:
strong female character? i think yes. honestly such a fav. she doesn’t take sh*t from vin jin and i honestly want to know more about her character and background. *spoiler alert* i read ahead in the korean version and saw that she can beat people up too so like… she’s a bada**.
6. kouji:
as a person interested in computer science, I STAN. i also love a man with good hair. his cocky personality is sometimes off-putting but honestly his confidence is endearing at times. also we both love money!
7. jace park/park bum jae:
during vasco’s bullying story, i was so sad when he left vasco, but i love how he realized that he should’ve been a better friend and has stuck with vasco after all of this time. also love how he listens to vasco and tries to make him happy even when he knows that vasco does some silly things (like planting durian seeds in korea)
8. zoe park/park ha neul:
i love her development! she still fights with herself over whether she should like big daniel or small daniel, which displays her internal conflict with lookism. over time she has stopped judging people solely on their appearance and she is even able to distinguish between daniel and his cousin! (in my opinion, if daniel doesn’t end up with jay he better end up with zoe instead)
9. daniel’s (hyung suk’s) mother:
ICON! WE NEED TO APPRECIATE OUR PARENTS MORE! I AM A BIG STAN! SHE WORKS HARD FOR DANIEL AND IT BREAKS MY HEART WHEN DANIEL DOESN’T REALIZE!
10. song johan:
deserved better. he was just trying to help his mom which makes him so pure! but i feel like he should realize that he has friends (zach and mira) that could help him get through his problems! overall, want to see more of him and i hope he develops even more.
