I joined a long time ago and forgot and after reading GOTW 221, I felt I needed a place to vent other than Webtoons, so I rekindled my membership.
Suffice to say, this chapter destroyed the entire story for me. Jaegu has effectively returned to the character he was when we first met him aside from bullying and his defeatist world view. However, I wouldn't be surprised if those things returned as PantsuPillow alludes to regarding the repetition of the bullying trope.
Still, the major problem for me is the destruction of Jaegu's character development. I see some trying to hold on to hope and explain the internal reasons Jaegu did this. I completely get that, but the point that defense misses is that this entirely nullifies all of the 221 chapters of character growth Jaegu went through. It's effectively destroyed now, even if the cliche trope arises later that he ends up realizing his second big mistake of rejecting them both.
I see most are Dal-Dal fans here, I'm a Queen fan. I was content with chapter 220 because I saw it as character growth and to be honest, I do not appreciate the cliche obsessive love angle. Nor do I agree with people who feel because someone fights hard for their one sided love that they deserve reciprocation. I guess it was too much for me to hope for some realistic portrayals of human complexities, etc. Which is why I hoped Jaegu went with Queen because I dislike the "fighting for my love despite him/her not reciprocating" done to death angle in manga/manwha/anime. It's so unrealistic because that is not how real life plays out. Sure, sometimes it does, but often times more than not, that person will be seen as a crazy stalker. Especially in most modern societies...but I can only speak from a Western perspective on this one.
I can't read this anymore because the characters I rooted for were destroyed. I had hoped Dal-Dal would mature and move on with the college boy. That would've been character growth and not a generic trope she would be forced to follow. I had hoped Jaegu and Queen would get together and we would experience the complexities of their relationships as they are both from two different worlds. As well as diving into Jaegu's relationship issues and woman problems considering his view of his mother. As I said, I guess I expected entirely too much from this manwha. Now I'm thoroughly disappointed and thoroughly done with it.
I also don't think this is a clever writing decision, as I said, I believe it's a bad choice. Sure, most people will continue to read because they've invested so much time in the story, but this is problematic and why such stories continue these particular tropes and plot angles...because we put up with them. I won't be satisfied with what transpired if in the next 1-5 chapters someone lectures Jaegu again and he suddenly does another 180 and decides to apologize to everyone. Also, this will interrupt the fighting plot-lines because the people who were teaching him how to fight were the very people he just emotionally wounded. Even if it takes 20-100 or so chapters for him to realize his mistake, it should not be an easy, cliche, apology and make up event to the point where he is able to rekindle a romance with either Dal-Dal or Queen at that point. I also don't want to see any one secretly continuing to harbor their feelings for him. Maybe Queen can retort once and if she gets shot down again she should move on. Also, he needs to suffer repercussions of his actions. Queen's brother owns everything that is sustaining him. Since his argument is he needs to work to take care of his family, he should have to deal with the reality of what he just did and how it will effect everything around him. Right now, Jaegu has returned to the isolationist, defeatist Jaegu we met in the beginning. That just really screams bad story-telling to me. |