Aug 29, 2022
Who Can Define Popularity? is a breath of fresh air in an oversaturated field of achillean manhwas.
The easy strength of this manhwa for me that makes it stand out from the others is the characters. Daun and Siwon, are two main leads, are good-looking and popular guys who are secretly narcissistic. Despite their similarities in terms of character traits, they honestly couldn't be more different from each other. Honestly, their dynamics is just so refreshing and fun to read because the balance isn't too off. I read this story at a time where my interest with BLs were dwindling just slightly because the ones
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I picked up borders fetishization so it really surprised me to read this one where they're of equal footing. There's no excessive dominant/submissive slash feminine/masculine, just two guys that don't reek of stereotypes.
Since I'm incoherently already singing praises for this story, can we talk about Yoonjung? One of my favorite things about this manhwa is Yoonjung's character arc. Yoonjung is a supporting character, and she isn't the first female character I read in a mlm manhwa that wasn't vilified as a plot device to advance the plot but reading all about her makes me happy all the same. I won't say much but I reread her arc a lot just because female characters don't get a lot of stuff going on for them and I love how the author gave me a little something to hold by.
All in all, I don't really know how to end this review but I rarely recommend manhwas but I'll recommend this one wholeheartedly! The story is very light-hearted but it deals with slightly heavy topics that you may find somewhat relatable. It has an overall fluffy theme but there's substance there and while I have issues with a few things, it's truly commendable how this was written. It's a story I always come back to whenever I find myself in a slump, and even though I've reread it countless of times by now- it's a manhwa that is still dear and precious to my heart ♥
PS.
In case someone gets my review wrong, I don't think all mlm reads are bad, nor do I think mlm that features dom/sub and fem/masc relationships are horrendous. My problem more or so comes with the fetishization that comes with these features and how often this is portrayed to pander towards cis/het girls who read this genre for the sake of objectifying gay people (and while we're at it, the blatant biphobia that comes with it). I guess what I'm trying to say is that the genre just has an excessive amount of that type of stories that stories like this one is so refreshing to see.
Reviewer’s Rating: 10
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