Why you should read Yumi’s Cells
It’s amazing how storytellers can teach so many things through their characters. One particular story I really like is Yumi’s Cells. You can read the entire chapters on the English version of Webtoon. You might be put off by the early chibi-ish art but trust me, it gets better - you can compare it to elementary school Miiko and high school Miiko that somehow grows a lot of arms and legs length. Just bear with the art until maybe episode 200-300 ish, and focus on the intricacies of the interactions between characters’ inner brain cells.
It is a story about Kim Yu Mi, a 30-something office worker and her daily struggles, and the relationships she went through. In my opinion, the webtoon depicts our internal debate and thought process and decision making process perfectly. There are a lot of different cells - from love cell, rational cell, badness, endorphin, emotional cell, naughty cell, housekeeping cell, and any shade of feelings you’ve ever experienced. We went on a ride with Yumi as she navigates through her life. From crushing on a fellow colleague, to having to choose between a friend and this new guy, to breaking up, to choosing her passion over the certainty of a 9-to-5 jobs, to putting herself first, to the ever-changing priority in her life, and to every single brave decision that she made.
Throughout the story, Yumi fell in and out of relationships. She made some hard decisions, but in the end it eventually works out for Yumi. I learned a lot from the webtoon and that is not an overstatement. The plots are realistic and the problems hit too close to home at times. It takes time for Yumi to heal from each of her failed relationships, and the readers are being dragged into an empathetic 360 view of a person’s internal struggle. The storytelling works so well for me. I adore the comical portrayal of the brain cells that is able to depict each situation.
When Yumi’s Cells ended in its 511th episode, I was both sad and happy. Sad that I no longer have an amazing series to wait for, and happy that Yumi has finally found ‘the one’. But I would not be able to deal with another heartache and according to some reader/observer, Yumi would probably be almost 40 (the series start with a 32-year old Yumi in 2015, and ended in 2020). Too many roller coaster rides, and I was especially disappointed by how Yumi’s penultimate relationship ended - she could’ve just forgiven the person and they could become the end game, I swear. But that’s Yumi and her firm principle of how she should and should not be treated, and that’s admirable. She will never settle for less.
The author also puts in a lot of theories and moves that you could learn - from how to behave around your crush, to negotiation tactics, and how to draw lines between you and the people you’re not interested in. It’s been quite a long time since I first read the early episodes so I can’t really remember them all. But Yumi’s Cells is too damn good and too damn adorable to be missed out.
Consider this post as a public service announcement, and to prepare you for the live action adaptation of Yumi’s Cells which will start shooting in the first half of 2021. Can’t wait.
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