Have you heard about ‘Vigilante’? Vigilante, which means a vigilance committee, actually means security group organized by residents in one region to prepare for crimes or disasters and to keep order in the area. (I referred to Wikipedia). It is a new work written by Kim Gyu-sam (Q3), who is famous for various works such as Private Jungle High School for Entrance Examination, Cheap Cheonrima Mart, Hive, Buff Girl Oora, etc. (He acts as painter in this work.) I was first attracted to this work because it is Kim Gyu-sam’s work. But this work gives very strong impression from prologue. Very heavy story and messages and bgm made my whole body shudder. 

‘There is a loophole in the law. And I will fill it out. Blame the law which freed you.”

“The Chinese character of Law consists of the words meaning ‘water’ and ‘go’. So some people say that the law means to let the world flow as it is just like flowing water. But it’s not true. It is said that there was an animal called hatch in Yoshun Period in ancient China. Hatch is an animal that symbolizes water. That’s right. The Chinese character which consists of the word ‘water’ and ‘go’ doesn’t mean ‘just going through like flowing water’, but hatch which punishes villains goes. Yeah, this is my law.” – Among lines of episode 16

The above lines are extracted from Vigilante. I think it is the one that show the main character’s appearance well. 

‘Kim Ji-yong’ a main character of this work, lost her mother because of gangsters. She was assaulted until she was blacked out just because she was hit with them at the crosswalk. She was moved to the hospital, but unfortunately, she died. The punishment for them is as follow. ‘The defendant repeatedly stepped and kicked victim’s head and chest several times in front of young child just because of making him unpleasant. The defendant has same history of being punished in the past, so it is inevitable to sentence heavy penalty because he took other’s life with minor disputes.’

‘However, there is no intention to kill her, he is being treated for low intelligence and mental illness, and he is now regretting his crime. Considering these matters, I hereby sentence the defendant to prison for 3 years and 6 months.’ At this point, the main character monologizes. He is regretting deeply, so 3 years and 6 months? What kind of law is that? 

17 years after that, he was wondering continuously. He wonders if the man who killed his mother is really deeply repentant and reflective and if he is living a new life under the judgment of the law. After all, he decided to check it out with his own eyes. But, it’s not. He is still a scumbag who is not better than just waste and the main character rather was grateful to him. Why? Because he remained as scumbag, he could execute the justice. 

Vigilante (Kim Ji-yong) who directly punishes him with his own hands feels satisfied and delighted. This is justice. He thinks on his own that he is just doing the right justice. He is a student who is attending Police University. He is even an elite student who is perfect in both ‘literary and martial arts’ taking the top position in academic records with good skills on judo, boxing and wrestling. In other words, he is an exemplary figure. Emphasizing these aspects, his double personality is revealed more plainly. I think it is the ability of writer to make readers feel catharsis. Professors think that he gives ‘the pleasure of watching him grows’ and his peers think that ‘he is our pride’, getting trust from them. In the shade, he is cold-blooded murder, but he is regarded as a shining sun in the sun. In the group activity that presents the nation’s correctional system, one of his members asserted that the punishment is too weak, saying people’s legal feelings and asked Kim Ji-yong for his opinion. Then he just gives theoretical answer by saying ‘Police are not a group who retaliate for us. I think Police should keep their sobriety in front of law. Unfortunately, this is not the matter we can deal with in the project’. 

As the story develops, fake Vigilante also appears, and the existence of Vigilante itself brings enormous issues to society. The press is arguing to report at first and the police are trying to catch Vigilante to avoid the spotlight pouring out from the press. One massage from a young man has caused a great aftermath. Do we really need Vigilante in our society? When we watch the news, we can see a lot of terrible and unfortunate accidents. And when we see the results of trial for such accidents, there are quite a few cases with very light punishment compared to its severity. The fact that countless readers are crazy about this webtoon may be a proof that our society really wants and needs ‘Vigilante’. 

Because author often reconstructs real events and presents them in the story, we can fully understand that the reality of our society is really gloomy and many citizens are in fear and anger. It is quite heavy cartoon to read it casually, but I think that it conveys a lot of messages.