All I have to say is, people are jerks… and I have a lot of thoughts so let’s get into it.
Looksim is about a high school student who is constantly getting bullied in his every day school life , even after transferring schools, until one day he wakes up and finds he has a completely different body and is a totally different person. He uses this body to take on somewhat of a different life as he finds himself gaining attention, respect, and even kindness he wouldn’t get in his normal body. We’ve only gotten one season so far for this Webtoon adaptation. This season is about eight episodes and as of right now you can currently view it on Netflix.
Our main character, Park Hyung Suk, is actually a really nice person. He’s just extremely awkward and lacks social awareness. It doesn’t help that he’s not the most popular looking person when he is social awkward. A lot of people aren’t willing to give him the time of day just because of how he looks. How he looks shouldn’t work against him, but it always does. This unfair narrative leads us to the message, “don’t judge a book by it’s cover”. I mean this guy is really talented, fairly perceptive, and works really hard. People just don’t care to learn that about him and his personality because of their judgement based on appearance and finances. I do think he needs to learn how to talk to people and pick up on social cues, but my guy really doesn’t deserve to be treated the way he gets treated.
Now I have to be honest… in Lookism most of the students in this series are really screwed up. I can’t really speak for everyone, but I don’t remember my high school experience being that terrible. It was awful, but not this extreme. I’m sure it’s different for everyone, but this guy really goes through it no matter where he is. Plus, the students are pretty rude most of the series. Kindness is a very rare form in this series unless you’re good looking, extremely strong, you’re their mom, or you are the MC. HOWEVER, I find it extremely hard to believe that not a single person is willing to step in when someone is being verbally abused, physically abused, and straight up jumped without the MC initiating first. Everyone on the side just stares, records, and laughs/add to the abuse. It’s so extreme that it takes you out of the series a bit and has you questioning if every school in this specific universe is like this.
Lookism has some decent fights and a good amount of them. Now when I mean fights, I mean two people going at it, and not some student being jumped because they are being picked on. That was probably the most shocking thing for me. I didn’t expect a series like this to have so much action and entertaining action at that. These aren’t the most spectacular fights, but they are interesting to watch given how “realistic” they are for a supernatural show. They are well animated for the art style, quick pace, but don’t last very long so it’s enough to make you desire more, but not too short that it feels like a waste. We get to see different strength levels for this high school society which gives our character more of a hero feel given that the MC can actually throw hands in his body double. I’m hoping that the next season we get is even more action packed and honestly a little more brutal.
Now I do have to say, Lookism wasn’t that memorable for me. There weren’t a lot of stand out moments and I think it’s because the whole adaptation felt a little dull all around. The directing choices weren’t very creative. The fluidity of the animation was okay for the art style. Even the idea of having two different bodies could’ve been used and shown in a more interesting way. We learn a little bit of the rules for switching bodies, but we don't really get any creative choices to help build and showcase those rules. The only thing that really stood out to me was the K-pop like music and Basco. I honestly could watch a whole series featuring Basco as the main character. He’s hilarious but also interesting to watch. That being said, I don't really remember a lot of the side characters except for like two. Most of the side characters have a fair amount of screen time, but I just didn't care for them that much. I think by developing more relationships and diving deeper into the side characters, I would find myself having more of a connection and caring for them.
Overall, Lookism is okay as an anime. If it drops another season, I don’t think it’ll be high on my list to watch. It’ll be more like when I have time. I am happy that more webtoons are being adapted and I’m hoping that a few of my favorite webtoons get some type of production. This could lead to a huge amount of great content if more studios take chances on the artist. Have you seen Lookism? What did you think of it? Thanks for stopping by! Peace!
Comments
Post a Comment