#featuredwebtoon

Intro

WHOA WHOA WHOAAAA, before you skip this part, I tweaked the process of how I review webcomics after reviewing the webcomic before this one, “Wizard of Arsenia”. The changes aren’t earth shattering, but I just wanted to put that out there.

If you don’t care. I mean, you can skip reading it. I guess it's cool. I don’t mind...not like I didn’t spend time refining it- but it's OKAY.

Before we get into this review, there are two main parts of the review:

The General Review

This route will give you a simple idea of the webcomic you are about to read. It will naturally include my personal opinions, but they will not be inconsistent to any prior or future reviews I do (in the sense that I don’t do double standards when I talk about said webcomics). 

Said opinions won’t really dominate this route because I will be mainly establishing what the webcomic has to offer in each part. 

Because of this, my opinions will always be presented at the end of each section.

If need be, I will refer to events that might be considered as “spoiler territory”. 

I will read as far as I require in order to get a good idea of the story I am reading, so the amount of chapters I read will vary. At a baseline, I will have read at least 10 chapters.

Granted, I doubt anything too important will change how you experience later chapters since it isn’t as, lets say, a “Season Review”.

The only sections that will be fully opinion within this route is: Execution and Conclusion.

      2. Beyond the Border

This route will be available if you scroll to the very bottom.

Think of this route as the “New Game+” equivalent of the review.

I will read further either because the story has me hooked, or if I want to see if my criticisms still hold true.

EXPECT TO SEE SPOILERS. ESPECIALLY IF I GAVE THE REQUIEM TRADEMARK COPYRIGHT APPROVED THUMBS UP.

Disclaimer:

If you decide to skip “The General Review” to read “Beyond the Boundary”, don’t let it affect your opinion of the work too much (if you are easily swayed). Despite how open I am to webcomics, I might have opinions that could contradict with how you might view the webcomic if YOU were to read it.

I do advise that you read “The General Review”, and with that information in mind, proceed to “Beyond the Boundary”, if you so wish.

The Description:

*Ahem*

" They say you can’t run away from your problems... and Joel just learned that the hard way. Talk about having cold feet! Joel is all set to marry Kim, his art school sweetheart, but in a moment of poor judgment he has an affair with his roommate Zoe. Hounded by the guilt, but unable to fess up to his fiancé, he decides the most responsible thing to do is... run away. As far and as fast as he can. He now finds himself selling cosmetics at a shopping mall in New Zealand. Sure, he is homesick, and everything is unfamiliar, but at least he can work through his issues in peace and quiet, right? Wrong. Read this comic to find out how Joel’s plans fall apart, and how he puts himself back together, with the help of an unexpected guest… “

Y’know, this is usually the part where I give my own synopsis of the story, at times because the description is in no way useful. 

But, I have nothing to add. 

I will say that when I first read “Deadlove”, I don’t believe I read the description, and I think not reading it was a welcome surprise considering that although I was expecting a “Comedy with a simplistic art style that is kind of charming”, I think I got a bit more than I bargained for.

I should also note that if it were not from my blind curiosity, and I were to judge it purely on description and the title art, I probably wouldn’t have read it.

It doesn’t do justice towards how creative the Webtoon itself presents its characters and the story it wants to portray.

But we’ll get to that in a minute. For now, let’s get a good idea of the characters we will be following.

Characters:

Joel:

(A panel in the middle of Chapter 1)

As you will quickly understand, Joel as far as life decisions go is the definition of incorrigible. Despite having many opportunities to confront his problems, or even having moments of foresight. These 5 chapters, if you are one to hate misunderstandings or easily resolvable conflicts, will be hell for the reader.

Maybe it was because I was forcing myself to read another webcomic before getting to this one, but I somehow  was not personally annoyed by the way Joel was acting. 

Granted, if I read this on ANY other day, I would have been seething and/cringing at the sight of this imbecile.

Which, as Creator Teo reveals in his editors notes at the end of every chapter, will be a very common theme.

(The last paragraph of Chapter 2’s Creators Note ^)

(The beginning of Chapter 3’s Creators Note ^)

I think it’s safe to say that Joel's current situation is the logical extreme of not taking responsibility for your poor decisions and refusing to confront and learn from your mistakes. 

I feel like because of how his character is written, everyone is going to be on the same page, regardless of personal views on life when reading this webcomic, specifically because of how comically stupid we as the audience see Joel as.

I mean, at the very least that's how I feel…

At the same time, after reading the first chapter multiple times, I decided to set my personal biases aside just so I could be sure Joel is full of shit.

There were two parts of the Webtoon that caught my eye:

^ For this dialogue portion, the part that caught my attention was him brushing past keywords that we have likely heard before when hearing about cheating: “Love isn’t Binary”, “I thought only assholes cheat”, and “She looks hot”.

Now, I could easily be reading too much into these lines, and I probably am. But this isn’t the first time I have heard or read about someone cheating on someone they love for “X,Y, and Z”, so I decided to look up a random case to see how the cheater in that situation felt.

After reading about it, I felt myself not necessarily thinking he wasn’t an ass, but I did end up feeling bad for Joel. Not because of the lines I just showed, but for the lines in the following panel towards the end of the chapter:

In the case that I looked up, they felt miserable at the development that had come of their new relationship, despite cherishing the one they already had. 

Now granted, Joel does say that he isn’t a reliable source of info for the story, but I feel as though the points where he does start deviating from truth are obvious enough to the viewer that we can differentiate it from the real truth. 

At least, that’s what I believe, I tried reading back to see if there were any obvious deviations in truth but I couldn’t find any. Maybe you found some? Share what you found in the comments section down below if you have.

I think this simple meme panel that is shown at the end of chapter 1, although very simple, justifies the way I think about Joel as a character:

Execution:

When I first started reading “Deadlove” I thought the charm would come from the simplistic art style, and I wasn’t wrong about it not having charm, but it is certainly not the main appeal of the Webtoon. The way the visual and writing style compliment each other reminds me of my time reading “God of Bath”. But with “God of Bath”, that would moresoe be applied to the gag panels.

For “Deadlove”, it's every panel of every chapter.

Visual Style: 

I think my favorite part of the Webtoon would have to be the way Creator Guy makes visually metaphorical jokes, and just the way he decides to show Joel’s interaction with the audience as he breaks the fourth wall.

An example of a visually metaphorical joke would be something Creator Teo actually had to point out for me. Had to do a whole double take:

( ^ A panel in the latter half of Chapter 1 )

( ^ The fourth paragraph of Chapter 2’s Creators Note )

( ^ Joel revealing his wishy washy nature to the audience in a panel towards the end of Chapter 5 )

Although there might be better examples of Joel’s audience interaction, I personally love this one. I can’t help but chuckle every time I remember it.

The Writing:

I rarely consume media that breaks the fourth wall. And even then, they would break the fourth wall for comedic effect, not for telling a story. 

Then again, many stories will have a narration at the beginning where they basically guide you in the beginning portions of the story, only to return every now and then.

Joel is telling the story as he is living it. I mean, he does say the story isn’t linear, implying that this isn’t the case, but I still appreciate how the story is written nevertheless.

Conclusion:

Overall, I feel like I’ve communicated how much I love “Deadlove”, and I shouldn’t be surprised considering the talented duo of Creators Teo and Guy have experience telling simple yet fun and captivating stories, such as “The Adventures of God” and “My Dictator Boyfriend”. Both Webtoons that I love.

I already feel like I am someone that Joel is talking to, making me in some way a part of the story too, but having Creator Teo talk say reveal some insights about the Webtoon and giving some giving some thoughts about “Deadlove” shows a connection with me, the reader, that I don’t really feel in other Webtoons, even if they do Q&A’s every now and then.

That being said, I think that Teo’s quick tidbits are a consequence of the very stylized nature of the story itself.

Official Synopsis: 

“The Great Prophet Godo has a place for everyone in his perfect society… so long as you aren't a failure. Itshou is living a diligent and sheltered life when she suddenly finds herself denounced and marked for exile. While her beliefs are shaken to their very core, a chance encounter with a childhood sweetheart derails Itshou’s banishment and puts her on the path to political uprising. Now facing down the same forces she once trusted to protect her, Itshou must untangle the web of lies at the heart of her city and unmask the Shadow Prophet.”

[Before I go further with this review, “The Shadow Prophet” at this point in time is not completed yet, so these points could be subject to change.]

Immersion:

As of now, The Shadow Prophet has 19 Episodes, but Episode 1 was a very strong pilot that demanded my attention. The art and writing both did their parts perfectly, but to understand why I think this way, I will dissect the first few panels of [Episode 1 Godo Says: “A Clean Room Mirrors A Clean Mind”].

The beginning of Episode 1 shows starts with a broadcast of “Godo TV”, and it immediately pulls the reader in everyone's, but more importantly Itshou’s, day-to-day. 

The next panel shows our main character Itshou searching through her cluttered room filled with paper cranes trying to search for something important. The messy room likely refers back to the Episode’s Title: “Godo Says: A Clean Room Mirrors A Clean Mind”. 

This is clearly not Itshou’s day: She lost her (whatever it is), she has to get a ride quickly so she won’t be late to her exams and being reminded of her late mother’s death because of rebels on the news.

Surrounded by all this confusion and negativity, she coils lies down in her bed with the many cranes she had made up until that point. It should also be said that on “The Shadow Prophets’ Marissa Delbressine and Anne Delseit LIVE Q&A (Toon Ladies Episode 06)”, Marissa confirms that the cranes Itshou made are used to focus on whatever she has to do, as well as carrying already present symbolism such as Luck, getting a wish granted, and/or even being used for meditative purposes.

At this point, I have only talked about half of the chapter, and I already cheering for Itshou’s success, and even started to unconsciously project some of her anxieties onto myself.

Setting:

From Itshou’s dorm, the city, and even the school: Marissa’s ability to draw settings that give off their respective vibes. For instance:

The Rush Hour of the city looks very cloudy, hidden, and pretty suffocating. Everyone doing their part as to not disappoint their peers nor The Great (yet mysterious) Godo, which you will quickly learn more about as you read. Because as the synopsis states, “The Great Prophet Godo has a place for everyone in his perfect society… so long as you aren't a failure”. The city’s suffocating environment matches the toxic relationship between the structure of this society and those that have to conform to it.

These scenes are from Episode 4: “Godo Says: When out of Ground. Learn To Fly.”

And as this scene suggests, The world is moving way too fast for Itshou to mentally comprehend at this moment in time. She can’t move at such a pace as calmly as everyone else around here seems to be. Although Godo Says: “A Productive Day Is A Healthy Day”, as prior events proved, Godo doesn’t acknowledge the imperfections of man in while only appreciating perfection.

This may sound like a digression, but it’s these experiences that will ultimately move the story forward.

Characters:

Because I want to keep the bare minimum of info so you, a possible reader, can enjoy the story more, I’ll only talk about two characters: Itshou and Ryuichi.

Itshou

Itshou’s role as the protagonist is to learn more about the truths of this world and determining the path she wants to go down. As soft-spoken as she appears to be in the initial chapters of the story, it doesn’t mean she isn’t determined or even afraid to go after an answer if need be, which caught me off-guard. She is definitely a character worth following should you consider reading The Shadow Prophet.

Ryuichi

Ryuichi, whether you love or hate him, is a compelling character. Everything he does makes you immediately curious to figure him out because ever since his introduction, we the reader could tell that he isn’t your average joe or even just any government worker. The more I learn about his relationship between him and Itshou, the more confusing his motives seem to be. Moreover, the way he gaslights Itshou makes me see him as the main antagonist (not even regarding what he did on Exam Day, which basically starts the story).

Quality:

The Shadow Prophet is one of the more unique Webcomics on Webtoons featured collection in terms of art. The only other Featured Webtoon that has put me in awe in terms of art is Space Boy, a webtoon I definitely want to get to Reviewing. I could share more examples of the art, but if what I have shared doesn’t convince you, I don’t think another example could.

Execution:

The Execution so far has been par for the course, and it helps that Marissa’s personal life had influenced the stories world, and some of its characters, but not in a way that messes with the integrity of the whole plot in a negative way.

Final Thoughts:

I ended up finding this out through the Toon Ladies Interview I referred to earlier when I was talking about Immersion, but apparently, there is a playlist you can listen to when reading The Shadow Prophet which I thought was pretty neat, but the playlist someone was meant to post was not posted, which sucks.

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