Lookism: unlaughable face of our society
There is Daniel, a timid, fatty and ugly faced protagonist, suffering from school bullying. When he manage to transfer to another school, Daniel finds his body switched with a fine-looking body, even good at fighting, and his old body where he was sleeping. Which means two bodies for a single soul. Once every 24 hours since then, his body is swapped to the other one. It is a whole new setting for manhwa: there were ones doing body switching before, but nothing had body swap between a newly appeared body and a former one. This unique setting may look somewhat familiar, but this is the essence that draws a whole new, creatively unfolding story.
Instead of telling why bullying takes place, it offers its setting which makes readers experience bullying as a victim. For example, Zack, who is good at fighting and tends to bully and beat someone everyday, becomes the one getting beaten by this setting: presenting a natural, critical view on bullying. It seems to expose the author’s belief that persuasion is pointless, but only a natural experience and getting feeling from it can make people change from their heart.
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However, the most important message throughout the webtoon is: a criticism on people’s bipolar, two-faced reaction on the protagonist, changing by his appearance, not his soul.
It’s like the author is whispering to the reader’s ear that ‘now let me show you how far people get low by bullying and ignoring a person just because he’s not very attractive,’ with his storytelling. Maybe this society is soaked too deep in lookism, suffering a disease that makes us not looking at a person. This webtoon invites the reader to undressed contemporary Korea, ‘the Republic of Plastic Surgery.’
Readers acclaim for not hiding the reality, enabling self-reflection and repentance. Other readers criticize it for too detailed depiction of negative aspects of the society, potentially encouraging bullying or lookism to young readers.
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