Webcomic Review: Fools by Yeongha and Bagdam

Webcomic Review: Fools by Yeongha and Bagdam

Quote: If this were a relationship between a male and a female, wouldn't it be safe to assume that we were 100% attracted to each other?

But because I'm a male and just an underclassman, Eungi Hyung would never consider anything like that, would he?

Fools is a Korean Webtoon written by Yeongha and adorably illustrated by Bagdam. A weepy and heartbroken teen Choi Jeongwoo meets Kwon Enugi one night, where the latter ends up comforting and advising the teen. 

A few years later, Jeongwoo is a freshman in the university where Enugi has returned for his final year after completing his military service. Enugi comes off as a standoffish young man while Jeongwoo the pretty boy is always smiling and super friendly. 

After hearing Jeongwoo cry on his phone to his boyfriend during the welcoming party, Enugi can't stop but worry about him from then on. By the twist of fate they end up having breakfast together a few days later and soon Jeongwoo joins Enugi's classical guitar club to become close to him and from then on both become a pair of in-separable Sunbae and Hoobae: senior and junior, who eat out, watch cinemas and just chill out. 

This is again a slow burn romance, the deconstruction of Enugi's image is what I loved the most. He is super sensitive, caring and stubborn, but never lets his guard down, despite rumours about him and his ex-girlfriend still circling. He also stands up for what is right, he is against peer pressure and stops people from harassing Jeongwoo to wear makeup.

Jeongwoo is young, impulsive and madly in love with the idea of love. He wants someone to love him. So when he finds out his classmate has a crush on Enugi, he becomes jealous and takes borderline childish steps to keep her away from Enugi.  

Enugi's confusion with his growing attractions towards Jeongwoo was so naturally handled. And his fears of how Jeongwoo would react to his attraction was relatable, he who always thought he was attracted to women, finds himself falling for a man when he was avoiding love altogether. It's such a slow burn romance! Both the characters behave like idiots and absolutely make fool of themselves in this process. It takes almost forty chapters for them to reach that first kiss.

The story doesn't try to swallow multiple themes. The narrative flow is smooth and ordinary, it has issues that is common and universal: jealousy, confusion, lust, love and college life and fear of the future. It touches upon the issues of coming out in a society that is hostile to same-sex love. There is a powerfully placed scene of aggression towards the non-heteronormative that is born out of a joke but soon turns into hate. Jeongwoo's conversation with his sister was so heartfelt, she empathises with him but also makes it clear she has no right to judge because her brother's happiness is his own to create. 

I loved the inclusion of the trope opposites attracts in small doses. Jeongwoo loves taking food photographs, selfies and indulges in fashion openly, and is an Instagram addict, while Enugi knows he is good-looking is not much interested in fashion or social media, so he finds selfies a bit annoying but never stops Jeongwoo even reminds his boyfriend later during dates to click photographs.

The exes play an important role in the story, they are messed up and provided a foil to our heroes. Enugi's crafted image is the result of the heartbreak he never saw coming, while Jeongwoo would rather cling to an almost relationship for fear of being alone and left out or he would just run away to avoid his problems. 

It was such a sweet story, the colouring of each panel so soothing and fluffy, and the theme colour of yellow and mint was cute and parallel to their personalities. Each character was different from another and had their artistic quirk which made them stand out.

My major complaint was with Tapas translators! How dare they anglicize the Korean names to Edward and Justin! Are we English readers so dumb? Are we so incapable and culturally blind that names need to be changed to their English counterparts? I read the chapters on Tapas for which I paid in coins, but I was not happy with the translation at all. So after finishing the actual official translation, I went to sites with fan translation and realised so much had been chucked out and miswritten. The structure and hierarchy of the Korean Cultural and mannerism that is best-expressed through the spoken language were thrown out of the window and flattened.  

Translators and their company have to respect the original text and story, they just can't change the names and actions that is a taste of foreign (a term I learned in my Japanese classes); because it's not culturally familiar to the English speaking readers. Challenge your readers don't dumb them down Tapas. 

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