Killing Stalking

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***THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS***

"Didn't you see the statement? Sangwoo smashed Bum's legs with a hammer, and slashed his skin with a knife. Not to mention the beatings. If Bum still loves him after that, that's not love. Its an illness." - Seungbae to Lee, about Bum's Stockholm Syndrome.

Okay. Let's just get this outta the way, because this needs to be said. Killing Stalking isn't a Yaoi that is supposed to be romanticized in any way or form, it's a Psychological Thriller which depicts Abuse, Torture, Rape, Homophobia, Pedophilia and Incest. DON'T read this if you were a victim of any kind of abuse, it's very triggering.

Killing Stalking is not a romance, aight. The Author herself had to go out of her way to state that back in 2017 because of the sickos who romanticize this. Garbage like Tiktok (Anitiktok, romanticizing kidnapping, abuse, and rape, fetishizing mlm relationships, sexualizing children...🤡) unfortunately gives the toxic fans the opportunity to spread misguided sh*t, romanticizing a Domestic Abuser, Rapist and Serial Killer (Sangwoo). Even Roblox and Gacha have KS content and that's literally for kids lmao. We're talking about a Psychological Thriller for 18+ here, not some "uwu soft boys" shit. If you romanticize Sangwoo then you're not all there in the head and need to get of of your edgy teenager phase asap. Seeing so many people romanticize the abuse that gets lashed out on Bum is just beyond disrespectful to people irl who have to go through such events or are currently going through it. It's traumatizing, not some "uwu, i wish he breaks my legs". Bum gets beaten, tortured, raped, dehumanized and manipulated by Sangwoo. Something as graphic/triggering as KS should have never hit the Mainstream scene and you can easily tell so when all the fanbase is made out of, are 13 yrs olds with the same ankles "joke", as if it was ever the Author's intention to make a joke out of abuse (Not even going into the fact that the fandom makes fun of the scene when Sangwoo raped Bum, but then have the nerve to be mad at Bum's Uncle for raping Bum, JUST like Sangwoo??)

If you haven't read KS, then you probably still heard things like "Sangwoo is so hot and so are his actions, Bum and Sangwoo had relationship goals, those who hate this just misunderstood the whole context of their relationship" from the fandom. Even when you tell them that fiction affects reality, they always come with the same "I watched a horror movie but that doesn't mean I want to murder people" argument, completely missing the point. Just because it's fiction doesn't mean that you have to condone problematic sh*t, like shipping a victim together with his Abuser and Rapist cuz when you're spreading that it’s okay to romanticize fictional abuse and rape, you are setting a precedent. You are leaving the impression that you think that abuse and rape is okay, and that is DANGEROUS. In this case, it also means victims of abusive relationships have to sit through watching romanticized portrayals of abuse and seeing it be normalized, causing them to be more likely to overlook signs of abuse in their relationships.

Another nauseating thing is, is how easy it seems for the shippers to minimize what Sangwoo did to Bum (Severe physical abuse, serial rape and multiple killing attempts), yet they think that "good therapy" will fix them and then they can happily live together, as if that would erase the abuse that Sangwoo lashed out on Bum, the fact that Sangwoo kidnapped, tortured and killed innocent people for years, and the fact that Sangwoo is homophobic and doesn't love anybody but himself cuz he's a Narcissist. Just because Bum began to suffer from Stockholm Syndrome and put up with the abuse, doesn't mean that it isn't toxic. Downplaying what Bum went through by saying how he "willingly" stayed couldn't be more wrong. Bum got his legs broken so that he couldn't escape and whenever he tried to escape, it always failed and he got abused more. Are we just gonna ignore that Bum outright said that he prefers being with his abusive rapist uncle, over being with Sangwoo? He prefers being abused and raped every day over being with Sangwoo, that's how horrible Sangwoo is. Bum's brain made him develop Stockholm Syndrome as a self mechanism. Stockholm Syndrome=emotional response that happens to some abuse victims where they develop positive feelings towards their abuser. There's nothing romantic about that. It's messed up and sad.

Even the more mature fans of this fandom are ridiculous:
Sangwoo: *Breaks Bum's legs by shoving him down the stairs and breaking the other one with a sledgehammer, abused, manipulated, raped and tried to kill Bum throughout the entire story, is homophobic, confirmed to be straight, and a sociopathic narcissist, he lacks empathy, proving by the fact that the abused, raped and killed people for yrs without remorse, only kept Bum alive to use him as substitute of his mom, tried to kill Bum multiple times as well as in the end*
Them: "I think Sangwoo developed feelings for Bum in the end uwu"

Sure. It's not like abuse and rape are the cruelest things you can do to another human being. It's not like he's homophobic and used Bum as a substitute and never cared about Bum himself since he just abused, raped and used him.

"Oh, then the Author shouldn't have made Sangwoo so attractive then” THE WHOLE POINT IS FOR HIM TO BE ATTRACTIVE CAUSE PEOPLE WILL OFTEN FORGET/FORGIVE SOMEONE OF DOING BAD THINGS JUST BCUZ THEY'RE ATTRACTIVE. That's who Ted Bundy was, he used his looks to kidnap, rape and kill women and children. The WHOLE POINT with Sangwoo is that he's tricking people with a fake facade and then kidnaps them, breaks their legs, abuses them for days and kills them. Sangwoo would do the same things to his fans faster than they could count to ten, he's not some "edgy anime husbando uwu", he's a Textbook Abuser, Rapist and Serial Killer+Misogynist and Homophobe.

And then you got bad takes in the fandom like: "Bum would've been the villain if Sangwoo was a regular guy" And it's like...? The only reason why there was a story to begin with, is because of what Sangwoo is. In a scenario where Sangwoo was a regular guy, he wouldn't have broken Bum's legs, kidnapped him, and verbally abused him for the entire story. So there would've been no story. So how tf would Bum have been the villain instead in a alternative scenario? Are we talking about the same Bum? Bum who loves frogs and is is hyper empathetic? Bum who self hams and always blames himself? Bum who didn't even want his rapist uncle to die? Bum who sympathizes with his abusers? Bum who wants to harm nobody? How is he villain material?? I-🤦‍♂️ Like ffs, just because Bum isn't completely innocent (nobody is) doesn't mean that he's villain material. A villain is someone who is evil or who causes harm. Bum is nothing like that.

This review is from the perspective of someone who was once a fan and it contains spoilers, so beware.

I remember reading it back in Early 2017 and following it till it ended in 2019. I was quite intrigued by it in the beginning and I read all chapters which were out at the moment in one night, which was like, the first season, I think? My opinion to it changed over time however. First of all, the fanbase is one of the worst, toxic fandoms of all time. Shipping a narcissistic Serial Killer, Abuser and Rapist with the victim is a big yikes. Sangwoo Stans and Shippers don't care though. Many of the Sangwoo stans even went so far to victimblame Bum for Sangwoo's actions. Sangwoo kills people? They ignore that. Sangwoo beats and rapes Bum? They ignore that. Sangwoo blames Bum for everything? They ignore that. But as soon as Bum stands up for himself, they hate on him and blame him for everything, and that always made me SICK to my stomach. Bum was the one who was always there for Sangwoo. Bum was the one who always cheered him up and sympathized with him throughout the whole story. Bum was the one who just wanted a normal relationship. Bum was the one who always blamed himself when Sangwoo abused him. Bum was the one who always apologized. Bum was the one who always comforted Sangwoo even though Sangwoo never showed Bum any sympathy. Even near the end, when Sangwoo screamed at Bum and attempted to strangle him to death, Bum comforted Sangwoo, with Sangwoo ending up blaming Bum, again.

People who glamorize Sangwoo, glamorize people like Ted Bundy and the Murderers of Junko Furuta and I'm wondering if Hybristophilia is the reason for that cuz I can't, by any stretch of the imagination, see, why anybody would fangirl over a Serial Killer and Rapist and ship him with the person who gets beaten and raped by him. Sangwoo BROKE Bum's legs. He BEATS Bum. He TORTURES Bum. He MANIPULATES Bum. He RAPES Bum. He attempts to KILL Bum multiple times. He BLAMED Bum for getting RAPED by his uncle. He then SICCED said uncle on Bum. He uses Bum as REPLACEMENT of his mom. He NEVER showed Bum any sympathy. Sangwoo HATES gay people.

The Art isn't bad, it's one of the few things that carried the manhwa, but there were many panels were characters wouldn't have faces/facial details were missing (Sangwoo's eye disappears often...for no reason? Bum's Uncle doesn't even have eyes, only his eyebrows are there which looks ridiculous) or the Author would sometimes forget things in the panels, so that just came off as lazy to me. Sangwoo's eyebrows look like they wanna fly off his goddamn forehead, idk how someone could call those eyebrows lmao. The backgrounds were also lazy/boring as hell, looking back at it, you got like these heavily filtered photos while objects are obvious 3D models which look SO out of place. And while the Art itself became better with each season, I prefer Season 1's art style over the later ones, it suits the atmosphere perfectly.
Something I also noticed were the numerous, unnecessary panels. Both of their bodies were massively fetishized. Bum's body for example. The thin, gangly limbs with skin hanging off seems to be a constant point of sexualiation, from his underwear to how his body is framed in the sexual scenes. Like, yeah he's malnourished, but he's thin everywhere EXCEPT his ass and thighs. There are so many panels where Bum is in “sexy” compromising positions, it's as if the Author was not even trying to hide that they fetishize physical abuse. The whole rope scene from Chapter 8 where Sangwoo hangs Bum and almost kills him, was literally Torture Porn. The scenes where Sangwoo rapes Bum are framed as if Bum enjoys it towards the end, and it's never truly framed as rape within the series. Take Chapter 35 for example. Bum gets beaten, doesn't consent, gets raped, bleeds and screams "stop" and "no", yet in the next chapter it ends up with him being happy with it and not feeling ashamed, as if it wasn't rape even though he was clearly raped. It also simply got worse with the sexualization down the line. S3 has SO many unnecessary, weird and sexual scenes. The Author destroyed the potential of a good Psychological Thriller by throwing all these random moments in that do nothing, but fetishize weirdass sh*t. Abuse and rape aside, it was generally just uncomfortable to look at. Bum is older than Sangwoo but looks like a malnourished kid while Sangwoo looks like a grownass man. And idk if it's just personal preference, but like..Sangwoo isn't even attractive to me. From him looking like a racoon, to his weird eyebrows, to his ugly face, Seungbae is just way more attractive imo.

Anyways.

The MC Yoon Bum was a interesting and tragic character and I genuinely pity him more than any other tragic fictional character, however, Sangwoo was the definition of a typical, generic Serial Killer with Mother Issues. Sangwoo in the beginning was at least a little interesting although already highly unlikable due to being a abusive shitbag, but when his past got retconned with him now turning out to have have Mother Issues instead of what we were told, I was...disappointed? Disappointed that it was something so cliché. Especially because S3 was the worst season because the Author dragged Sangwoo's past for dozens of chapters and left more questions than it answered. S3 generally lacked the tension S1 had due to that.
"Mother Issues" is a Serial Killer trait that has been sucked dry since ages, the Author tried way too hard to make Sangwoo look smart that it got ridiculous, with the police being undoubtedly stupid just to make Sangwoo look like the "manipulative, charismatic Serial Killer" stereotype, basically Ted Bundy but fictional. It gets more ridiculous the more you think of it. Sangwoo somehow has the time to be at college, work as a bartender, workout and maintain his body, AND kidnap, torture and kill his victims and get rid of their bodies. He comes off as such a unrealistic character who shouldn't have the time for all those things but he does because the Author demands it. There is no reason for why he started kidnapping, abusing, raping and killing people, other than him taking his anger out on innocent people nor why is there a reason why he's homophobic. All the Side Characters were bland and forgettable and make you cringe due to their stupidity. Even the police were beyond useless. They had a mountain of evidences for Sangwoo's crimes but every single one of them apparently had the intellectual capacity of a 3 year old. Seungbae deserved way more love, he was the only cop with common sense, saved Bum, and fought for the justice of all the people Sangwoo has murdered, yet he gets hated on.
Basically, Killing Stalking brings nothing new to the table. You got the whole creepy rapist uncle trope, you got the whole serial killer with mother issues trope, you got the whole stupid police with that one underdog cop trope, it was just really cliché.

Yoon Bum (I feel like a better pic for him could be used here, him smiling is ooc, especially when it's from a scene where's being forced to do it so it ain't genuine) is the Main Character. From a writing standpoint, he was probably the only decent, original character in this. He's a shy, pitiful loner type guy who struggles socially and is a victim of severe abuse and tragedy throughout his whole life. Ngl, he had the most saddest life I've seen in fiction. Even Guts' (Berserk) backstory with Gambino and Donovan didn't hit me that hard. Bum's very easy to empathize with and I think that was the Author's intention since nothing good ever happened to Bum, he lost his parents when he was a kid and was violated by not just one, but multiple people throughout his life. He was regularly starved, beaten and emotionally abused by his uncle, then his uncle began to regularly rape him on top of that for years, he never had friends, he was bullied in school, he got constantly sexually abused in military and then Sangwoo put him through hell. Everyone in the story treated Bum like sh*t. From his uncle, to Sangwoo, to the bullies in school, to the guys in military, to Jiuen, to Yoon Jae, to that one Taxi Driver in the last chapter, to random people on the street, everyone had it out for Bum for no reason and yet he has still so much empathy for other people despite the fact that everyone in his life has used, bullied, abused, or raped him.

I liked the way the Author showed how Bum's Obsession slowly turned into Stockholm Syndrome due to Sangwoo abusing him. Besides his PTSD and Stockholm Syndrome, Bum suffers from Borderline Personality Disorder and as someone who suffers from BPD myself, the way Bum acted-or-reacted during the story hit me hard. The Author did a good job at showcasing Bum's BPD. The easiest way to describe BPD, is that people who suffer from it, are hyper-empathic, extremely sensitive to the emotions and energy of people, animals, and to the elements in the environment. They experience emotions intensely which can lead to them obsessing over things, may it be over how they look, what they eat or over a person they love. It's different for everyone, but most of the people who suffer from BPD experience it unintentionally often. Bum, who lost his parents and got verbally abused by his uncle, bullied school and sexually abused in military, gets easily attached when shown affection for once. Another few symptoms are Fear of Abandonment, Unclear Self-Image, Self-Destructive Behaviors, etc. Those I mentioned can also be seen in Bum throughout the story.

The reason WHY Bum became obsessed with Sangwoo at first makes completely sense as Sangwoo saved him from a rape attempt in military once, that was however before Bum knew Sangwoo's true nature. Even his lack of needed education from his parents was shown. In Chapter 26, the flashback chapter about Bum's traumatized past due to his uncle, he was shown holding a spoon in the wrong way, he didn't even know how to normally hold a spoon. Many people with BPD also state that they feel like a kid/have a childlike behavior, which is definitely the case for Bum since he's naive, shy and insecure and being open/honest about expressing his feelings (His surprised look when seeing a amusement park for the first time for example, it was such a innocent reaction).
He also suffers from Social Anxiety which the Author showcased well, in Chapter 15 and 24 for example, with Bum's intense fear when people stare at him. This is also showcased in his nightmare chapter, when the movie played his traumatic experiences while the audience laughs at Bum's trauma of his uncle's sexual abuse on him (It's unfortunately common in real life that male rape victims and their trauma aren't taken seriously).

I appreciate Koogi showing little traits about Bum throughout the story, without it being related to the story, his love for frogs for example which Bum adores since childhood (Wearing a cap with a frog symbol on it as a kid, being happy when finding a frog when hiking, fondly holding the frog keychain with both hands, etc) or how much he appreciates gifts, like when he held the frog keychain with both of his hands and panicked when he thought that he lost it which totally makes sense because it was the first present he ever got. It's the little things like these, that make a character, feel real.

The first chapter already showed that Bum doesn't know the definition of love due to his upbringing, he considers any affection he gets for once in his life as a sign of love, that's why he fell in love with the girl during his high school time who was the first person who Bum had a connection with, and then Sangwoo, who saved Bum from a rape attempt (Before Bum knew who Sangwoo really is). Bum's BPD and "desire" for affection made him the perfect victim in Sangwoo's eyes who verbally abused Bum in an attempt to completely break Bum psychologically.

Now, this wasn't confirmed by the author but I'm PRETTY sure that the constant sexual abuse that was lashed out on Bum made him hypersexual. Hypersexuality is a common symptom of sexual abuse during childhood, as well is it a symptom of BPD, which Bum suffers from. So since Bum was regularly raped by his uncle for years and sexual abused in military, it's likely that he became hypersexual as a Result of Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS). This is just another thing that causes him to be manipulated so easy.

It's honestly sad asf. No cap, I felt so bad for him the entire time, Bum lost both of his parents at the same day and was abused by EVERYONE during his life, he went through so many traumatic experiences where he was abused and raped, and all he ever wanted was for someone to love him for once. And y know what makes it even sadder? Bum was being used as a replacement for his own mother by his uncle for years. So I can't imagine what went through his head when he realized later on, that that was what he was to Sangwoo as well, a replacement.

I'm saddened by how much the romanticization of a character like Sangwoo, has hurt Bum's character. Because Bum is by far the most original and well written character in the story, yet whenever Killing Stalking is brought up, it's always about Sangwoo. Sangwoo edits, Sangwoo fanarts, Sangwoo Apologists, seriously the amount of nausea I feel about the fact that a rapist character like him gets romanticized, is immense. Sangwoo is clichê and unlikable, he fails as a villain and as a character, is so vile that he's worse than a child rapist, and we never got any explanation as to why he's homophobic or why he abuses, rapes, and kills people. Why does he molest corpses? Why does he hate gay people? We don't know. But as for Bum, eveything about his character is well done. Everything about his character, from his BPD to his Anxiety, makes sense, he's one of the best, morally grey characters that I've seen, yet he's so underrated. Sangwoo is only romanticized because of his looks, if he looked like Bum's uncle, he wouldn't even have a single fan.

My final opinion about Bum? He's overall a incredibly well written, morally grey character. While not completely innocent, he's a saint compared to Sangwoo, he doesn't want to hurt anyone and is a very empathetic and sensitive person, as seen by his self harming and him empathizing with his Abusers, his uncle and Sangwoo. Although both Bum's Uncle and Sangwoo abused Bum in every way, Bum didn't want his uncle to die, he was understandably afraid of him and with Sangwoo, Bum kept trying to see the good in him and was always there for him DESPITE everything Sangwoo did to Bum. He also sympathized with the girl from his high school time and was on good terms with her when they met again in the present. And when he noticed the bruises on her wrist and she told him that her boyfriend abuses her, he let her cry her heart out and sympathized with her. He was also never angry at Yoon Jae who bullied him nor did he have grudge against his superior in the army in military who regularly sexually abused him.
I feel like what I especially like about him is how despite how little he thinks of himself, he's a survivor. Does he self harm? Yes. Does he almost always blame himself? Yes. But considering what we know about what he already went through before the story, his mental state has to be ridiculously strong. I can't imagine staying alive for so long if I were him. And in the end, Bum stepped over his own shadow and saved Seungbae from Sangwoo. Not to mention the scene where he angrily told his uncle that he's not his mom (Ex of his uncle) or the scene where he got angry at Sangwoo when he killed his uncle without every having asked Bum if he wanted his uncle dead in the first place. He stood up to his Abusers. I'll always adore Bum's character and I don't think I'll ever sympathize with a tragic character as much as I did with Bum, he was realistic and just pitiful and he deserved a better fate.

Fun fact(?): There is a certain genuineness behind Bum's name. Yoon Bum means "Emotional Gift" which I think suits Bum's character perfectly.
Also, idk if it's just me but Bum and Hooni (Protagonist from the Manhwa "Suicide Boy") are quite similar.
Both have no parents (Bum's parents died while Hooni's mother died of illness while his father abandoned him), both are being bullied, both are depressed, both self harm, both get easily attached, both live in a apartment which they can hardly take care of, both are small, have black hair, eye bags and a fragile build, both get easily flattered, both love cute things, etc.

If you're wondering why Bum didn't try to escape anymore after S1, it's because of multiple factors.
1.Bum has been victim of abuse throughout his entire life, with nobody ever helping or saving him.
2.He suffers from BPD and Stockholm Syndrome, so he's constantly confused about how to feel about the situation he's in. Sangwoo abuses and rapes Bum, then he's being "kind" for once, then he abuses Bum in every way again, rinse and repeat, so Bum puts up with the abuse, thinking that it's worth it for the little affection that he gets sometimes.
3.Whenever he tried to escape, Sangwoo beat, tortured, and almost killed him. When Bum told people that he was kidnapped, they didn't believe him. And Sangwoo broke Bum's legs with a goddamn sledgehammer, so of course Bum would be afraid of being abused as punishment by him again.
4.Jiuen's Death. Sangwoo planned her death, so that Bum wouldn't try to escape again. After her death, Sangwoo blamed Bum and Bum stopped trying to escape cause Sangwoo blackmailed him.
5.Learned Helplessness. It's a state that occurs after a person has experienced a stressful situation repeatedly. They start to believe that they are unable to control or change the situation, so they do not try, even when opportunities for change become available. Considering that Bum was always abused by everyone around him, he simply stopped trying to escape, even when he had the chance to, since he felt like it was no use.

Sangwoo is the second Protagonist, the Main Antagonist. The ultimate cringeworthy "im14andthisisdeep" TikTok girl magnet. He was terrible. Not just as a person but also the way he's written. He was boring and cliché. Your typical Serial Killer with Mother Issues. He wasn't just one of the worst written characters I've ever encountered, he's also the worst piece of shit in the history of manhwa and makes even Griffith from Berserk look like a good person. I despise him as a character and as a person, and his stans didn't make it any better. Dude's a narcissistic, homophobic Abuser, Mass Murderer and Rapist, yet you got sickos excusing his behavior. It's the Ted Bundy Situation all over again. His Fangirls think that Looks=Good so they ignore/deny the fact how he kidnapped, beat, tortured and killed women or beat, tortured and raped Bum. Endeavor from MHA is/was hated by everyone cuz he abused his wife and kid, yet Sangwoo, another Domestic Abuser who is a hundred times worse and beyond redemption since the beginning, is beloved by people who ignore his personality, but are in for his looks, despite him being the equivalent of human garbage. I can admit that there was also more to him though, although it never changed my opinion over him, he was a vile abuser to the very end and his death wasn't as satisfying as it should have been.

It's ridiculous how people think that a "sad" past (I honestly gave no sh*t about his flashback, nothing of it explained why he abuses, rapes and slaughters people or why he's homophobic) justifies Sangwoo's abuse on women, his severe abuse on Bum, and his serial killings. His past may be seen as an EXPLANATION, but not as an EXCUSE. An abusers own trauma does not excuse or validate the trauma they inflict on others. Trauma doesn't and will never, give you a free pass to abuse, rape and kill others like Sangwoo does. I don't give a damn about his past just as much as I don't give a damn about the past of Bum's abusive uncle (Who also had a "sad" past). Fact of the matter is that both are Abusers and Rapists, they chose to abuse others for their own sadistic pleasure. Sangwoo is exactly like the uncle and worse on top of that, both are Abusers/Rapists and use Bum as replacement for a woman.
Sangwoo doesn't just kill women, he's also totally fine with killing men and children, as seen when he killed the man from the gay bar, then Officer Park, and also left a child to freeze to death. Koogi never showed us how his kidnapping, abuse and serial killings started, he just did it because he felt like it and that's what throws me off, it's poor writing. His past was retconned in S3 and then we didn't even get a explanation why his mom was like the way she is, she just was cray cray for the sake of it, which makes her come off as a one dimensional character.

For example, Albert Fish, a real life Serial Killer, Rapist and Cannibal had a fucked up past, but I don't ever have seen anyone excuse his actions. Why? Cuz the dude was a major piece of shit and ugly. Sangwoo is a piece of shit, but he ain't ugly, so everyone starts apologizing his crimes just because of his looks, being hypocritical. Sangwoo would immediately get the death penalty if he was real, he's that much of a bastard. I disliked Bum's uncle just as much, sure, but a Abuser, Rapist and Serial Killer (Sangwoo) is morally worse than a Abuser and Rapist (Bum's uncle). People glamorizing serial killers isn't rare, Ted Bundy's fangirls are the best examples and that was because of his looks. If Sangwoo was a ugly mofo like Bum's Uncle, then nobody would give a flying fuck about him. Any kind of Abuser, Rapist or Mass Murderer can go die in a hole.

^And to everyone who thinks "oH bUT wHAt aBoUT tHiS aNd tHaT, iT wAs sTiLL a rELaTiOnsHiP" Please grow up. Sangwoo is hetero and homophobic, so he's obviously not into Bum. At times when he wasn't physically abusing Bum, he was manipulating him, not being sweet. That's common in abusive relationships, they're manipulating their victim so they stay with them. The amusement park and skiing? It was him grooming Bum for his uncle's death and Sangwoo raped Bum again when they went skiing. Koogi also foreshadowed Sangwoo sending Bum's uncle messages during that time since that was revealed later. Sangwoo is also a sociopathic, narcissistic Serial Killer, so it was for sure that he'd try to kill Bum again. Remind you, Sangwoo broke Bum's legs and locked him up, beat him up for accidently dropping a plate, beat him up again when Bum tied to escape and then hang Bum in the basement, nearly drowned him and cut his chin, forced Bum to talk about his traumatizing past with his uncle and blamed Bum for getting raped by his uncle which broke Bum and made Bum attempt suicide, nearly drowned Bum just because Bum was feeling uncomfortable, lied to and manipulated Bum, raped Bum several times, brought Bum's uncle to Bum and let him beat up and nearly rape Bum again, kept physically abusing Bum and tried to kill Bum in the end again. It was a shithole of traumatizing experience for Bum who was already enough traumatized from his uncle's abuse and what happened to him in military. Sangwoo lost every chance of Redemption at the moment he broke Bum's legs. Bum was just too naive, mentally ill, still obsessed with the Sangwoo who saved him in military, and suffered from Stockholm Syndrome. Bum was walking on eggshells the whole time, he was afraid for his life and always had to do things that please Sangwoo, his Abuser, so that he doesn't get abused or killed by him. No, Sangwoo doesn't suffer from Lima Syndrome (Kidnapper falling in love with captive). He never gave a shit about Bum, abused, tortured, manipulated and raped him and only saw Bum as replacement which was confirmed by the Author in her notes. You can easily tell so as in the end, he began beating and sexually abusing Bum again, used Bum as bait to kill Seungbae, then beat Bum in front of Seungbae when he refused to kill Seungbae and was about to kill Bum had it no been for Seungbae saving Bum (Bum, with folded hands, was repeatedly BEGGING Sangwoo to not kill him, but Sangwoo was seconds away from stabbing Bum to death).

Sangwoo has always been "attracted" to Bum for his resemblance to his mother, not because of any actual male characteristics about him. It's important to remember the incidents where Sangwoo raped Bum as a way to punish/control him. Bum was a vessel for Sangwoo to enact his cruel fantasies of hurting his mother on. The sex was never about him being attracted to Bum himself in any way, shape, or form. Rape is never about sex, it's about power and Sangwoo was clearly not attracted to Bum, he even mixed his memories and thought Bum said things that actually were said by his mother. Bum was just a replacement for Sangwoo's mother. If Bum looked more "manly", then Sangwoo would've already killed him in the beginning of the Manhwa. Sangwoo was only selfishly using Bum in every abusive way and even told Bum that Bum should kill himself if he ever dies. Sangwoo is such a toxic asshole that I find even pure evil characters like the Joker more sympathizing than him.

No, Sangwoo would never change. He's a narcissistic and sociopathic Serial Killer and Abuser. Abusers do not change. What he did when he didn't physically, mentally or sexually abuse Bum is called "love-bombing", literally grooming, because he was always trying to lure him back under his control. He'll make any and all promises he has to make and pretend to be different for a few weeks or months, and then slowly but surely go back to his old ways just as soon as he thinks he's got Bum locked down again. All those promises Sangwoo ever did were nothing but empty bullshit. He wanted to psychologically break Bum. He wanted Bum to be traumatized, angry, sad, crying after Jieun's death, anything but nothing. When he didn’t get the response he wanted, he got angry and threatened Bum.

When Sangwoo forced Bum to talk about his past and Bum confided in Sangwoo about his uncle repeatedly raping him, Sangwoo gave no shits about showing empathy to Bum, he insulted him (He called Bum a "filthy rag", which means slut. Yes, Sangwoo called Bum a slut for getting constantly raped as a child by his uncle) and blamed Bum, saying that Bum wanted it, that it was his fault. This caused Bum to basically kill himself by cutting his wrists. Sangwoo realized that he went too far so when Bum woke up, he started acting nice again and said that it wasn’t his fault. But Sangwoo didn’t actually care. He only said that to keep Bum under his control again. It’s a cycle of love and abuse that keeps victims under the abuser’s control. Sangwoo knew exactly what to say to keep Bum in his claws. He hurts him by saying “you wanted it” and then tries to keep Bum in love with him by changing his answer to “it’s not your fault.” Yet, seconds later, he attempted to drown Bum in the bathtub.

Something I remember from S3 is when Sangwoo said "She told me to the die the most painful death" and I was actually wondering at first if I was supposed to take it seriously. But nope. The Author really just wrote that in. She expected the Reader to show sympathy to someone who abuses, rapes and kills people with no remorse. Sangwoo never showed sympathy to his victims nor to Bum who he regularly abuses and manipulates (Alongside blaming Bum for getting raped by his uncle), but the Author actually expected me to sympathize with Sangwoo. Okay, lmao. The attempt sure failed, I actually couldn't believe that people fell for such lazy writing. I don't see WHY the Author expects the Reader to sympathize with a character who has been a piece of sh*t for 99% during the story. I'm not sure if it's because of how common it is in Yaoi, that the Seme is a Rapist, but it either way ain't good writing.

^ALSO, even here, there are people who think that Sangwoo didn't rape Bum even though he did so several times. Chapter 20 for example.
Or when a manipulated Bum saved Sangwoo's ass at the police station and Sangwoo beat Bum up once they got home and raped him while Bum screamed, bled, and repeatedly told him to stop. Chapter 35.
During the skii chapters as well, he bit Bum and raped him who again, screamed and told him to stop. Chapter 43.
I'm guessing people think that he didn't rape Bum because he ain't ugly like Bum's Uncle. Pretty Privilege. It's either way sad how delusional people can be. Reminds me of the whole "it's not rape if the rapist isn't ugly" ideology that some people have and it's disgusting.

My final opinion about Sangwoo? I felt nothing but disgust towards him during the entire read-through until the end and he deserved his death. What he did the entire time was so extreme that when his past got revealed, it didnt work on me as a counterweight to the atrocities he commited and the awful behaviour towards poor Bum. It doesn't help that his past was a cakewalk compared to what Bum went through. Sangwoo at least always had friends, a loving father for years, was never physically abused nor starved, etc. That falls short to Bum's past who lost his parents, never had friends, was bullied in school, beaten, starved and mentally abused since he's little by his uncle, then regularly raped by his uncle on top of that and that for 2 decades, sexually abused in the army and then Sangwoo putting him through hell. This isn't supposed to be a trauma competition but I can't see why Sangwoo became the hypocritical, narcissistic, abusive Rapist and Serial Killer that he is. There is no reason for his Homophobia. His character is a deep as a puddle.

Fictional Serial Killers can be done right, been done multiple times, but most of them were irredeemable. Kira from JJBA, Johan from Monster, etc. They were fucked up and pure evil but it worked so well because they weren't supposed to be sympathized with and yet were such well done characters. When you try to make one sympathize with characters like them, it just doesn't work most of the time. The Author of KS tried that with Sangwoo, but it just didn't click at all for me. The most important point of a non-pure evil villain is to understand where they come from. And that just simply failed here. Y know how I would've done it? Make it similar to the Bastard Manhwa, make Sangwoo's mom a Serial Killer while Sangwoo gets groomed into helping her in the murders so that killing would be nothing new to him when he finally begins to murder people himself. Because unfortunately, that wasn't the case. We were revealed that Sangwoo's father was never abusive to him, we were revealed that Sangwoo always had friends and a girl who has a crush on him, we were revealed that Late Teens Sangwoo already had a well built body (Enough time to work out, enough food to grow), etc. And I'm just like...how? We were supposed to understand that his past was SO horrible that he began abusing, torturing, raping and killing people but how is it that his past is a joke compared to what Bum went through and yet he makes Bum look like a saint? I get that everyone processes trauma differently, but I feel like the Author made his actions way too over the top for me to get where he's coming from. His character is unoriginal, his whole character in S3 besides his abusive behavior is him throwing a pity party, Koogi made him do many heinous things to his victims and Bum, only to pull a retconned backstory out of the ass during S3 and expected to make one sympathize with him, but at that point, the only thing I wanted from Sangwoo was his death.
Also, pls stop comparing Atsumu from Haikyuu who is a comfort character to many, to this abusive trash.

Food for thought: Bum suffers from BPD and has never gotten any affection during his life which makes him easily attracted to people who show him affection. He's a sensitive individual, making him an Empath. Sangwoo is a Narcissist. Narcissists only care about their own well being, they think that they're superior to everyone. Narcissists are attracted to people they will get the greatest use from. Often, this means they pursue and target empaths. Empaths are „emotional sponges,“ who can absorb feelings from other people very easily. This makes them them very attractive to narcissists, because they see someone who will fulfill their every need in a selfless way.

Empaths and narcissists are often drawn to each other because empaths have a lot of compassion and understanding to give, while narcissists thrive on someone worshipping them. Borderlines/Empaths and Narcissists are never a good match, because empaths tend to forgive everything the narcissist does which results in them being completely used and degraded, while the narcissist creates more and more chaos. Empaths are highly empathetic, Narcissists lack empathy.

What narcissists see in empaths is a giving, loving person who is going to try and be devoted to you and love you and listen to you. But unfortunately empaths are attracted to narcissists, because at first this is about a false self. Narcissists present a false self, where they can seem charming and intelligent, and even giving, until you don’t do things their way, and then they get cold, withholding and punishing.
Narcissists manipulate empaths by stringing them along with intermittent hope. They will integrate compliments and kindness into their behaviour, making their victim believe that if they behave in the correct manner, they will get the loving person back who they once knew.

Empathetic people have the tendency to understand that we’re all human, we all have defects, and they’re willing to be patient with someone else’s personal growth. Empathetic people will be very long suffering if a narcissist says "I really want to change, I know I’m not perfect". Narcissists have these moments where they sort of admit fault, but they never actually follow through or believe it.
This is simply a tactic narcissists use to reel their partner back in. With empaths, it is very effective, because empaths want to support their partner and help them grow. Ultimately, they are just being exploited by the narcissist further.

Ya'll see what I see? Bum is a Textbook Borderline/Empath while Sangwoo is a Textbook Narcissist. Bum is someone with a massive amount of empathy while Sangwoo is someone with none. Bum got attracted to the false Sangwoo who saved him from a rape attempt in the army. Sangwoo abuses and manipulates Bum throughout the story and Bum always forgives Sangwoo and always blames himself. Any time Bum wasn't useful anymore, Sangwoo abandoned and attempted to kill Bum. Sangwoo manipulates Bum at the police station, Bum saves Sangwoo's ass, Sangwoo blames Bum once they got home and beats and rapes him. It's fuckin toxic.

Seungbae is the Tritagonist, basically Sangwoo's enemy and the only one who could save Bum from his situation. He goes through some Development over the story, but he had more potential and could've been better used tbh. There were times when I was frustrated with him, but he only means good and is probably the only officer in the story with common sense. I'm glad that he had a happy ending tho. Dude also gets too much hate from the fanbase for no reason.

As for Enjoyment, you really don't get anything enjoyable from reading this. Again, very uncomfortable to read, watching Sangwoo beat the shit out of Bum for the hundredth time just made me hate Sangwoo more and more because Bum did nothing to deserve that after what he already went through because of his abusive rapist uncle, his bullies in school and his rapists in the army. Chapter 25/26 made me want to throw up and still does because it was simply that graphic. If this wasn't a story full of abuse, rape and murder, maybe the art style would be enjoyable to see when used on something...less extreme.

Since it's a Manhwa, there was no Music ofc, but I remember that the Song Deep Horrors was used for Bum's nightmare chapter (Which was also my favorite chapter by far because of how well it was done and made sense, Bum's brain having suppressed the recent traumatic events which caused the nightmare and the whole chapter was like a acid trip). Then there's also the well known Killing Me Softly With His Song which suits the whole symbolism of the story, with Sangwoo slowly killing Bum over the course of the 3 seasons by abusing and manipulating Bum in every possible way.

Over the course, you could say that the reader becomes the victim. Sangwoo abuses Bum from the start. Even during the moments where Sangwoo seems to chill out a little bit, he's still extremely abusive to Bum. Then, towards the end, Sangwoo returns to the person he used to be and nearly kills Bum. The final twist is when we find out Sangwoo had been shouting Bum's name before being killed. At various times over the course of the series we're lead to believe Sangwoo has feelings for Bum. No matter how many times it's made apparent Bum is merely a sexualized stand in for Sangwoo's mother, the reader keeps subconsciously believing it's a genuine attachment. The reader begins to somehow see lower levels of abuse as "love". The mere fact Sangwoo never murders Bum and instead keeps him to torture is "love". Sangwoo's psychological torture is played out in different ways across the series and the final victim is the reader. You believed Sangwoo's lies. You even believed his fake attempts to get better. But that's all it ever really was: lies and fakery. If Bum had showed up before Sangwoo's death, Bum would have merely been blamed by Sangwoo for everything going wrong. There was never any great payoff coming. Sangwoo used Crocodile Tears to manipulate Bum, to gain sympathy from Bum. He was a hypocrite who abused and blamed Bum for getting raped but then asks a bruised up Bum for comfort and readers think that Sangwoo cares for Bum even though he only used him like a emotional tool, it's that fu**ed up.
Sangwoo never loved Bum and verbally abused him and the reader fell for Sangwoo's fake kindness, slowly developing Stockholm Syndrome, just like Bum did.
Luckily, I never fell for Sangwoo's bullsh*t, so there's that lmao.

As for the Genres, again, it ain't a Yaoi that is supposed to be romanticized. There is no love nor romance, it's a abusive relationship and Sangwoo is homophobic, confirmed by the Author to be hetero and doesn't give a damn (Not like the abuse scenes were making that clear enough for the Shippers lmao) about Bum, only using him as replacement. Yoon Bum is bi. I'm myself bi as well, so I have no problems with Yaoi, I do in fact actually adore it (As long as it ain't toxic like here). And as for the other genres? Drama, Horror, Psychological? It just didn't do those things well. The drama feels very forced and unrealistic. There are three seasons and the only reason it went that long is because the police in this manhwa are no smarter than elementary school kids and Seungbae is apparently the only one who can see behind Sangwoo's bullshit. Season 3 felt mostly like filler, it was SO dragged out and boring until the last few chapters. No Drama at all. Horror? It lost that feeling almost completely after Season 1. Psychological? Bum suffers from BPD and I think the Author did a good job at that. But otherwise? Sangwoo has Mother Issues but why did he start kidnapping, abusing, torturing, raping and killing people outta nowhere and that for dozens of years? We know he is self aware and manipulative asf, so he simply did all of those heinous crimes to take his anger out on innocent people? Apparently so cuz we never got a explanation for that.
Many other Psychological Thriller Manhwas simply accomplished the psychological aspect way better than KS did. "Bastard" for example.

Now, the reason why I think the Author clearly romanticized the abusive relationship is because of;
1.The special chapters, specifically the Christmas one during S3. Toddler Bum and Infant Sangwoo JUST SO happend to meet back all those years ago? What...? I mean, the special chapters aren't canon so there's that, but this was so cringe and forced, holy sh*t. Especially because the Author said it isn't supposed to be a romance but then did many special chapters which romanticizes a abusive relationship, contradicting herself. Except Bum's nightmare chapter, the special chapters contributed absolute NOTHING to the story.
2.The severel amounts of official arts by the Author, one for example is Bum being tied up and having bruises all over his body while Sangwoo is besides him and takes a photo. The Author did several similar ones where Bum is full of bruises, bandaged and even had a broken arm in one while his small, malnourished body is even more exaggerated, and she also retweets the fanarts of her fans which ship a Abuser/Rapist with his victim together, with her going like "💕😍".
3.The story doesn’t really do anything to make it seem like a bad thing that Bum was raped, beaten and tortured numerous times by Sangwoo, Sangwoo never pays for what he does to Bum or even got so much as a slap on the wrist, I understand that some of this is because of Sangwoo being a Serial Killer who hasn't been caught yet, but there should’ve been something. It comes off as if the Author doesn't take abuse seriously. Going from one chapter where Bum is being beaten or raped, to another chapter where he isn't being abused for once, doesn't erase what Sangwoo did to him, like the Author potrays it as, nor is it good writing.
4.The extreme power dynamic between Sangwoo who's popular, well liked in public and considered attractive, and Bum who gets abused by everyone, never had friends, and is a malnourished loner, with Bum having to do everything Sangwoo says or else he gets beaten, raped, or pays with his life. It's just a huge yikes.
5.The way the rape scenes were done. Example: Chapter 25/26, Bum's flashback with his uncle, perfectly shows how inhuman rape is. Bum is traumatized and begins self harming. Chapter 35/36 on the other hand, Sangwoo beats Bum, forces himself on him, Bum doesn't give consent, gets raped, bleeds and screams, but is totally fine the next day. You could argue that it's cuz Bum's Stockholm Syndrome is just that fucked up but the way the rape scene was drawn (Bum blushing while getting raped, big focus on his ass) makes a big difference. The rape scene was drawn in a erotic way. As if the Author romanticizes the rape.

Before anybody comes at me saying that I'm just being a hater and how Koogi wrote a Masterpiece, I'd argue that Koogi herself didn't do her researches:
Question: "It seems like you are well educated in BPD.
Did you do a lot of Research?"
Koogi: "No, not really. I just tried to express Yoon Bum's emotions in a not so normal way. It just so happend that those behaviors resembled that of people with BPD." -from Koogi's Q&A.
And yet Koogi ended up stating in the beginning of the Manhwa that Bum suffers from BPD?
It's as if the Author just followed stereotypes which kinda comes off as disrespectful. Mind you, while I agree that she did do a excellent job with Bum's BPD, the fact that she didn't do any(?) research and just assumed that "not so normal" behaviors resemble those of people with BPD, is kinda offensive tbh.

Overall, I basically have a Love Hate Relationship for it. For what it's worth, I actually liked Season 1 for what it was, a Psychological Thriller. When I was younger and read it for the first time when only S1 was out, I enjoyed it. You know why? Because I wanted to see Bum get away from this shit, I wanted someone to save his ass, because it is thrilling to watch something with suspense in it. I did not enjoy the abuse or the rape he went through AT ALL. I did not enjoy the abusive relationship. Nobody should. I enjoyed the suspense around it and I wanted to know if Bum would get away and how. S1 was my favorite season BY FAR due to the Mind Games which is why I guess part of the reason why I'm giving this the lowest rating. It all went downhill in Season 2 imo, S2 was generally already a massive downgrade from the actually well done S1. In Season 1, it felt like every chapter had something to offer. It genuinely fucks with the Readers mind. In Season 2 however, no character developed, we got Bum's backstory, but Sangwoo is still always an asshole to him and Bum is still timid (Although there was one moment where he stood up to the hallucination of his uncle), while the mind games are gone and Sangwoo isn't the scary antagonist anymore, but just a complete Domestic Abuser. Like, S1 wasn't exactly original but at least you were still able to tell that it was a Psychological Thriller, not some "honeymoon phase with my Abuser/Rapist" fanservice crap. Season 3 completely lacked what Season 1 had and can be summed up as a Slice of Life about Sangwoo's Mother Issues+Forced Drama. S3 has 31 chapters, but around 10 chapters are wasted on Sangwoo's past that left more questions than it answered, while the other half is wasted on forced drama+unnecessary rape and sex scenes that do nothing for the plot, while Seungbae barely had screentime. And it's like, what ya'll fail to understand is that Abusers in abusive relationships can also abuse someone mentally in a way to break them even more. In S3, Sangwoo pretended to care about Bum which was only because he was preparing Bum to meet his uncle (Without Bum knowing). Sangwoo, despite knowing how vile Bum's uncle is, brought the uncle to Bum, let him beat Bum up and almost rape Bum again JUST so he can kill the uncle in front of Bum. Sangwoo never gave a damn about how it would affect Bum. He then began physically Bum again, but hey, Sangwoo looks good so him abusing and raping Bum is fine, right? Many things were also left unexplained till the end. Plot points which came up in Season 1 were retconned in later seasons as it never happend. Then there were characters who were forgotten for a majority of the Manwha (Seungbae for example was barely there during the third season). Many Rape Scenes felt like "Sexual Abuse Porn", as seen by Chapter 35, there being no consequences for what Sangwoo did. It also felt like that the Author was contracting herself for what she was actually going for, as some of the Special Chapters felt like Fanservice for the toxic Shippers, trying to put Sangwoo in a different light. And it's not just the author, but the fans as well. Best example is when Bum's grandma is excusing Bum's uncle disturbing abuse on Bum, just because the uncle had a sad past. The author was literally pointing at all the Readers and Shippers, she wanted them to know that a sad past is no excuse for Sangwoo's crimes and abuse on Bum, but they all were either too delusional to catch that, or didn't give a shit. I think the Manhwa had potential, but not only got worse with each season, but also had the wrong fanbase. I know it sounds weird and while I probably will never re-read it, KS feels very nostalgic to me, waiting each week for a new chapter and being pulled into it. I really wish that I could have given it a better rating because it was one hell of a complicated ride, but there were too many things that bothered me over time.

The Author probably knew what they were doing and I respect that...but I wish it wasn't labeled as a Yaoi. It causes PRE-TEENS to normalize the abuse Sangwoo lashes out on Bum, saying how "every relationship needs abuse". I feel like the Author started trying to please the toxic fanbase down the line instead of doing her own things anymore. If someone told me that S1 and S3 was written by the same person, I wouldn't believe it. It became just cringeworthy by the time the honeymoon phase was going on. "He broke my legs, regularly beats and rapes me but we went skiing so everything's good lol🙂".
And idk if it's just me who noticed this, but the chapters where Sangwoo rapes Bum, don't even have a triggering warning. No, because Lezhin is seriously weird about this, Chapter 26 where the uncle rapes Bum has a trigger warning, but Chapter 35 where Sangwoo beats AND rapes Bum (where the rape scene goes on for like half of the chapter), has no trigger warning?? And then one chapter in Sangwoo's backstory has a warning for sexual assault, but Chapter 43, where Sangwoo rapes Bum again, has NO warning at all? I don't get it.

The toxic fandom only further proves my point, if Bum was female or Sangwoo was ugly then nobody would read this. The recent popularity for the Manhwa "Painter of the Night" is another example, as long as it's two dudes, Fujoshis are fine with romanticizing the abuse and rape that is lashed out on the victim, idk nor do I care whether it is a fetish of the Author and the fans, but Yaois which romanticize such things shouldn't exist in the first place, it is again, disrespectful towards irl victims of physical abuse and rape. Shiet, I like Yaoi but can we stop fetishizing literal abuse, ya'll would see how toxic it is if the victim was female.

All in all, it has too many negative things for me to give it a higher rating. When one season is alright, while the other season is boring and lacks character growth, while the last season feels like filler and had a flashback dragged on for several chapters and it ends with a rushed ending, it just can't be considered good at all. The Drama is forced, the pacing is just horrible, the dialogue is cringeworthy and we are stuck with 3 MCs where one is being constantly abused, the other is a absolute asshole while the third one doesn't get as much screentime+all side characters being forgettable. The story is okay at best and unfortunately got worse the longer the story went on. It's unrealistic (as in, having beyond stupid side characters), unoriginal, has unexplained things (How did Bum's parents die, how did Bum have the money to get into college in the first place, how did he escape his uncle, what was wrong with Sangwoo's mom, how is it that the police never catched Sangwoo with the mountain of evidences they had, die Bum die at the end or not, etc), a horrible fandom, a disappointing ending, the list goes on. It did start out okay but it became worse and worse and all the development was thrown away in the end and we received a rushed ending. The Author also used WAY TOO MUCH shock value and many chapters were just unnecessary and felt like filler. Idk, I guess I expected too much?? The only reason why I even finished reading it is because I wanted to see how it will end, not because I enjoyed reading it anymore. It ultimately comes off as something that fetishizes abusive relationships behind it being a "psychological thriller".

I recommend people to check out "Trauma Bonding" and "The Cycle of Abuse". It's what been going on during the story and romanticizing something that toxic is a big yikes.

But for anybody who at least wants to know about Trauma Bonding:

Person 1 creates drama over total bullshit and blames Person 2 for Person 1's feelings. Person 2 feels really insecure and apologizes profusely. Person 1 doles out punishment. Person 2 feels as if they deserve it. Person 1 then doles out comfort, reassurance, and maybe even an apology once they decide that enough punishment has happened. Person 2 falls for it every time. Repeat.
The one who causes the hurt is also the one who heals. This creates a mad crazy strong bond in both their minds. One of them gets to be in complete control. The other one relives childhood attachment dysfunction which feels so warm and familiar and gets interpreted as love.
Love is an action however and these actions are not love. All it is is trauma bonding. And it's close to impossible to get out of.
It feels like love, but it's not. Instead it's more like drugs. They make you feel so good in the beginning, and you're hooked. Then, they make you feel so bad, you go through withdrawal and feel desperate to get back to the good feeling, you'll do literally anything to get high. Then they give you the drugs, you feel amazing. And it all crashes again. It just keeps going around and around and around because humans are wired for addiction.
This is not love. This is trauma bonding. Love is an action. And their actions are abuse.
Person 1, the Abuser in this case, is obviously Sangwoo while Person 2 is Bum.

I ultimately wanna say that I despise the message that the Author tried to give at the end. The power dynamic between Bum and Sangwoo was one-sided since the beginning and Sangwoo abused, tortured, manipulated, and raped Bum, while Bum wasn't allowed to defend himself or else he gets abused even more. And yet, as the story goes on, it changes from a scary Psychological Thriller where Bum has to fear for his life, to the Author trying to humanize Sangwoo which completely shatters the image of Sangwoo as the irredeemable monster that he is. The message that the Author made at the end was simply that Sangwoo, a Abuser, Rapist, and Serial Killer, had a hard childhood. Okay...? How are you gonna tell the Readers that the hard childhood of Bum's Uncle doesn't justify the abuse/rape that he lashed out on Bum, but then waste chapters where you try to humanize Sangwoo, who is MUCH worse than Bum's Uncle? Not only does that leave the impression that you're supposed to sympathize with Abusers as long as they're not ugly, but it also leaves the message that Abusers are victims, that you need to understand them, that you need to heal them, and that deep down, they love their victims who they abused/raped. That is pure bs. Victims don't have to empathise or try to heal their Abusers. Sangwoo and Bum's Uncle were both Abusers and Rapists who gave Bum pure hell, they don't deserve even a single ounce of sympathy.

The comic portrayed a physically, sexually and emotionally abusive "relationship". From the beatings, to the torture, to the manipulation, to the rape, to the murder attempts, Bum went through dozens of traumatic experiences during it due to Sangwoo and his previous trauma due to his uncle was reopened by Sangwoo when he was forced to tell him about it, only to get blamed for what the uncle did to him. Whenever Sangwoo showed vulnerability, it was never about Bum, but about himself, and he used Bum as a emotional tool, a vessel to take his frustration out on. That's it. The first chapter shows how Bum almost got gangraped by his superiors during his military service, so I don't get how someone came to the idea to romanticize such a story. It's a shame that this got overrun by people who romanticize and joke about about abuse&rape. James Somerton made a really good video on this so I recommend checking it out.

Stop romanticizing abusive relationships and instead try to help those who are being abused irl. Thank you.

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[Spoiler Warning]

There seems to be some tension about the merit of Killing Stalking due to a toxic fanbase and relatively questionable content, so there are a few things that should be made clear right off the bat: Killing Stalking is NOT a Romance.

Yes, the series centers around a pairing is gay. Yes, it is sexually explicit. But it is NOT cute. It is NOT hot. It is not about the romance, if you can even consider it that.

What it IS is a Psychological Thriller manhwa that truly excels in every category, and I’ll be addressing some of the discourse surrounding it first.

Yaoi is a very loaded genre in terms of both content and fanbase—There are some (a lot) of BL (short for boy’s love, i.e. everything male x male no matter how explicit or not explicit the content) that are extremely fetishizing and problematic, perpetuating a “female fantasy” of what gay relationships are like with tropes such as rape and pedophilia. A good portion of the fanbase would also consider themselves diehard fujoshis/yaoi fans (fujoshis literally meaning rotten girl, as in “I'm rotten for reading about gay relationships” which isn’t homophobic at all of course) that glorify such tropes and deny any criticism that comes their way. This portion of the fanbase also tends to be the loudest and most unapologetic, which is why they’re looked down upon by non-BL readers as they should be.

However, many non-BL readers then go to label all BL and BL readers according to these trends because these trends are the most “loudest” (cringey and vocal fujoshis, notorious rape and pedophilia yaoi series). Do you see where this is going?

So now we have Killing Stalking, a twisted story about two mentally unstable people in an incredibly toxic and unhealthy relationship, and those two people are male. So not only is it now labeled as a Yaoi and inheriting all the stereotypes that come with that genre, but it’s also now inherited a fanbase that definitely has a few crazies that will see that relationship as hot.

And so then non-BL readers have this opinion, or at the very least a preconception, about what Killing Stalking is: a gay torture porn that is the epitome of fucked up yaoi.

Just to be clear, the blame doesn’t fall just on the crazy fujoshis. If you have a Thriller with straight, ‘normal’ romance it’s still a Thriller. If you have a Thriller with gay romance, like Killing Stalking it’s suddenly become Yaoi. When series have gay (particularly male x male) relationships, that series will suddenly get the “Gay label.” It’ll be placed on a special Gay bookshelf where all the other books with The Gay are placed. Even if there is a substantial amount of gay content (like with Killing Stalking), the main genre is far overshadowed by the fact that it’s Gay.

With Killing Stalking, I imagine that a lot of people see the Yaoi tag and automatically turn away, or are at least somewhat deterred. Then they hear about or see the violence/abuse/psychological aspect and they tie the two together and think, “oh, so it’s weird gay torture porn,” whereas if the couple was straight it would just be “an abusive relationship.”

To reiterate what I said before, Killing Stalking is first and foremost a Psychological Thriller. The story centers around Yoon Bum, a loner with attachment issues, who falls in love with Oh Sangwoo, a popular, charismatic, attractive guy that he finds out is also secretly a serial murderer (you learn all this in the prologue and first chapters don’t worry). For some reason Sangwoo decides to spare his life after Bum confesses to him and thus an incredibly complex relationship/character dynamic ensues and evolves.

There is gore, sex, murder, and some fucked up themes surrounding all of those. I don't want to reveal too much because the reveals are worth experiencing, but does get a little heavy at times, but if you can handle it then it’s definitely worth the read.

The characters, their development, and their relationship are for sure the winning point of Killing Stalking. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it as well done as in KS. Koogi does a masterful job in this aspect in multiple ways: first, both Bum and Sangwoo have extreme emotional depth, the complexity of which is slowly revealed throughout the story. While Bum seems like and is a quiet, socially anxious stalker and Sangwoo seems like and is a manipulative psychopath/sociopath, the degree to which these characterizations are true and how they change throughout the story as the two characters interact and develop is the most interesting part.

From the first several chapters, we already learn that Sangwoo has several sides to his personality and is able to project and manipulate a certain image of himself based on his audience. This leads to a variety of questions: which Sangwoo is the “true” Sangwoo, what triggers him to act a certain way/shift personalities, do more sides exist, why all these different sides of him exist, and how they originate. At the same time, we begin to see how these sides of him change and develop as other characters and events impact his psyche.

With Bum, our understanding of him is totally different. The story is told mainly from his point of view and so the reader is let in on his thoughts and feelings from the start. However, as the story progresses, the reader learns that what Bum hides from the readers and consequently, himself, reveals just as much about him as what we are otherwise shown and told. This also means that one of the driving forces of Bum’s character development is how he changes and evolves, whereas with Sangwoo, the focus is primarily on unearthing his already existing complexity. These two different modes of character development are a testament to Koogi’s ability to create characters that aren’t just interesting and complex, but also complex in different ways.

This leads into the second thing Koogi does really well in terms of characters, which is the execution of their development. More specifically, Koogi is a master of storytelling, subtlety, and a slow, bit-by-bit reveal that isn’t too vague nor too explicit. Especially in the second half of the series, each new chapter begins to feel like an additional puzzle piece in the larger puzzle that is what the hell is going on. The foreshadowing is also very well done. This is particularly true for Sangwoo’s past, which becomes more complicated than anyone could’ve imagined at the beginning. There are definitely a lot of “woah” and “oh shit” moments throughout the story that are credited to the way Koogi is able to build suspense and execute reveals.

Playing into that is the way the characters’ relationships reveal more about each character while simultaneously flowing completely naturally. Nothing feels forced and everything slots together truly like a puzzle, creating a seamless and immersive experience. Even the sexually explicit scenes have a purpose and are rarely just for the sake of appealing to fans.

Another thing that makes KS so seamless is how interconnected the plot is with the characters. Plot events happen because it makes sense for the characters. It’s as if the characters are deciding the plot, which is how it is in real life and how it should be in non-fantasy, real-world manhwa.

The suspense and story are especially gripping because Sangwoo’s mysteriousness and mental state make him unpredictable and able to take the story anywhere. This is established from an early point onward and keeps the story from falling into cliches. The plot never gets boring for the majority of the story.

However, because of the focus on the characters, the last third-ish of Killing Stalking ends up becoming not as plot driven as some other Thriller/Horror series near the middle and end. This isn’t necessarily a good or bad thing and is pretty expected given the large psychological aspect of KS. There are also some times when the plot does slow down a little. It usually makes sense later on in establishing a certain image/mood, but can feel flat in the moment.

The art is stellar. The style is pleasing while avoiding same face syndrome and the color palette nicely complements the mood of the manhwa. Art plays a large part in the quality of storytelling through things such as perspective, angles, and progression of panels, and it’s safe to say both are top notch.

I will say that it does get explicit, both with sex and with gore. It’s definitely not the worst I’ve seen and it’s artfully done so that it’s not “depictions and close ups of gore/sex for the sake of gore/sex.”

Finally, I highly HIGHLY suggest you read the chapter reddit threads for the later chapters when it becomes more subtle and confusing. I only did it from chapter 55/67 onward and a few random chapters before then that I was confused about. This is because sometimes you might miss out on crucial foreshadowing and they usually pick up on it in those threads. People also have some interesting theories and predictions that enhance the experience a lot, given that so much is left to be implied/not explicit until much later.

Go onto reddit.com/r/killingstalking and search “chapter ##” and you’ll get the discussion thread for each chapter when that chapter was released. There most usually won’t be spoilers because future chapters haven’t been released yet at the time the thread is made.

TL;DR:
Do NOT read this if:
- You’re here for the Yaoi/a “dark but cute” romance. Sorry but the only ships you should shipping are Yoonbum x Therapy and Sangwoo x Prison. If you ultimately think the main pairing is cute or hot you need to stop fetishizing gay couples and you probably also some need help.
- You can’t handle gore, murder, physical and psychological abuse

DO read this for:
- The best characters + character development I’ve ever seen, hands down
- Unique, suspenseful story that avoids cliches
- Amazing storytelling through pacing, foreshadowing, etc
- Amazing art

Even if you’re deterred by the Yaoi tag, give it a shot. It’s not a Yaoi with Psychological Thriller aspects, it’s a Psychological Thriller with Yaoi aspects.

Read the chapter discussion threads on Reddit.

*******Also! if you do plan on reading it, here are some things to think about/watch out for while reading:
- Placement and types of injuries (won't be hard to miss)
- Clothing (won't be hard to miss)
- Who has power, and what actions or objects show that (becomes very interesting near the end)
- Significance of the different floors of the house (interesting to think about)

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Beware of Spoilers.
I'm not into Yaoi, needless to say, i know it wasn't for me. But I was interested. After reading it, it's not something I would consider "Yaoi" in any way. It's a Psychological Thriller, much Abuse and Toxic Stuff. It seemed the whole time like the Author tried to do something, but all I could catch were Cliche troupes.

Yoon Bum-Chapter 1 literally shows a flashback of him being almost raped in military, he's underweight, he's lonely, he's mentally ill, he's hurt, he's traumatized and that stays for the rest of the Manwha. He got abused by everyone, his parents died when he was little, his uncle abused him physically, sexually and mentally, he never had friends and was bullied, it got revealed later that he was actually raped in military several times and Sangwoo does all of that stuff combined to him and even worse. It's like the Author wants you to pity him and I guess it worked because his life is literally hell and makes Guts(Berserk)'s past look nice. No idea if the car hit him in the end or not, either way, its just tragic.

Oh Sangwoo-A Sociopath. A Serial Killer. A Abuser. A Rapist. A Narcissist. Everything that would make you hate someone. Many, including me despise him. So he's hated, right? Right? Well, not quite. Unfortunately somehow, his crazy fans love him. Had a off-screen death and got away quite easily for what he's done to so many people.(Karma Houdini). I expected him to be finally caught and rot in jail.

Yang Seungbae-Had more potential. No idea how his past even was, that, or it was so unimportant that I already forgot about it. Only character in the police who knew how Sangwoo already is. Unfortunately for him, everyone other than him over there is quite dumb that it makes me even wonder how they've gotten their jobs. Seungbae also had many moments where he acted dumb. I guess I'm happy that it ended got for him?

Art was alright, had many disturbing scenes where I had to look away(Poor Bum).

So yeah, quite an experience, but not something I would want to read again. Kinda overrated imo.

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First things first, I found out about it per edits which completely gives this a different representation.

SPOILERS WARNING!

I was already genuinely disgusted after Chapter 2 by anyone who would still ship this after finding out who Sangwoo really is.
So we find out that Sangwoo is a Serial Killer who beats women and kills them after torturing them. Bum, the MC, gets his legs broken by Sangwoo and goes through hell during the story.

Yoonbum: Suffers from PTSD, Borderline Personality Disorder and then Stockholm Syndrome because of Sangwoo. Textbook victim, doesn't mean that the Author did a bad job with him, the way he acts and reacts makes sense and although Bum isn't fully innocent, he doesn't want to harm anyone and is really just a sad, severely traumatized individual. He is 28 or 29, but looks and acts way younger due to the abuse he endured while growing up, getting starved by his uncle, he literally looks as if he just entered middle school, loves frogs, and is very naive. His BPD causes him to obsess once he gets affection for one since he never received affection from anyone due to his parents dying when he was a baby and his beyond horrible uncle abusing him+getting bullied in school and also abused in military. Bum is in the Grey Zone, but he is in any way not a bad, or evil individual as he didn't even want to kill his uncle during the story when Sangwoo brought him to Bum. His fate his unknown as far as I know, but I wish he survives and gets the help he needed for so long.

Sangwoo: Textbook Serial Killer with Mother Issues. Very unlikable, Narcissists are already unlikable to me but he's also abusive, homophobic, homicidal and a Serial Killer and Rapist. I feel like most of his fans only like him because of his appearance as they already did so before his past was revealed. His past didn't explain much nor did it justify his behavior. Got what he deserved, although I'm one of these people who think that vile criminals like him should just get thrown in prison and rot instead of dying and get the easy way out.

Seungbae(?): The cop. He didn't have as much appearance in the story as Yoonbum or Sangwoo, but I really liked him as he only wanted to bring justice to the world, arresting Sangwoo who murdered so many people. He had kind of a depressing turn in the beginning of S3 which is understandable, but then fortunately came back to finally end Sangwoo and save Yoonbum.

Season 1 was how it should've stayed the whole time.
I did not like Season 2 and 3. Season 1 had mindfuckery going on the whole time, Bum was trying to escape, Sangwoo was the scary antagonist, Seungbae tried his best to catch proofs to arrest Sangwoo. But then...it just kind of dragged out? And that for too long which I just didn't like. The fanbase is HORRIBLE. Ya'll really gonna hate on Yoonbums uncle (Trust me, I do hate him too), but then like or justify Sangwoo who is worse and ship him with Bum, WHO gets abused and raped by Sangwoo as well? It's so hypocritical.
But a fanbase shouldn't make the actual source material worse, so this was just a extra point.

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