Lookism

This is the first time EVER that I couldn't put a"book" down while reading. I got addicted to this manhwa pretty quick. Started reading it without knowing anything except for the description.

Story: 10/10. The story progression is well-paced. It is not too fast nor too slow. Whether or not it is realistic is for you to decide. Something supernatural happens in this story (as you can see from the genre tags), so I do not think it would be fair to expect too much realism in something such as this. However, on the side of school and bullying, I do have to say that it does a good job in portraying the harshness of it all and the things it can do to a person.

Art: 9/10. Pretty great art. I was not used to the art style at first, but it's not bad in the least. The only problem I have is that some characters (mostly secondary ones) are drawn similarly to others, which can be confusing if you don't pay attention.

Character: 10/10. All the characters play a role in the story. There are a ton of characters, but I found myself caring for all of them a lot, even the ones you are supposed to hate, as they are memorable. In a story, the best thing for me is how a character learns and develops as the story progresses. I believe Lookism really does a good job in making the characters alive in this way.

Enjoyment: 10/10. As I've already said, this is the first time I felt like I never wanted to put the "book" down.

If you ever wanna give this manhwa a shot, please read it through Line Webtoons in order to support the creators. Reading from the site is free, so there is really nothing to lose.

This is my first review, so I decided to do it for my favorite manhwa.

Summary of my review:
The story evolved around a guy named Daniel Park. He got blessed to have 2 bodies, which each bodies have a very separate trait. One is typical coolest handsome guy with OP moves and other body is fat lame guy who always got bullied. Daniel's adventure start in his high school after he moved from different school cause kept getting bullied, he meet different kinds of people and friends. The story focused on moral issue towards looks of people so much, then adding some "Crow" gang fights that when you keep reading it's just getting more interesting.


Story - 7
I am a person who likes the shonen gangster fights. It starts slow cause it's school theme-wise but after a while, the plot starts to deepen, and that's how things started making a lot of sense, and soon I wasn't expecting some interesting plot twists between the fights, the more you read the more you curious what will happened and the most interesting mystery until now is how come Daniel got his second body?

Art - 9
It's the normal manhwa art. Full colored etc. It's really nothing special, but the way the author created the character design (clothes, eyes etc) was amazing. It truly fit the character's personalities. And some fights truly have amazing effects in it, it just look like I can feel the fights just by reading it.

Character - 9
Characters were beautifully designed and drawn, as stated above. I really love all of them (so far) except for some villains (some betrayal happened and some protagonist friend switched side and became villains). The characters I thought I'd hate, I began to love. And the characters I thought had potential, I began to hate. Names are a tiny bit difficult to remember but it gets easier as you go on.

Enjoyment - 8
Let's just say I read all 290 chapters non-stop. It was a binge fest.
I regret it now though because I realised that there's a whole whopping 40 CHAPTERS NOT TRANSLATED I BEG Of YOU, TRANSLATORS, PLEASE, I NEED MORE.

This manhwa made me intrigued so much. I keep thinking like: "How?" "How" and "How?"
All in all, it was a blast. And the fights also epic.

Overall- 8
I highly recommend this manhwa.
THIS MAY BE A NEW CROWS KOREAN VERSION
The story is just keep getting better.

Lookism is a manhwa about an overweight, short, ugly, poor, fragile, very unfortunate kid named Daniel who one day mysteriously gains control over a seperate, super powerful, supermodel-esque body. What starts off as a very simple premise turns into a story full of lovable characters and crazy turns that separates it from the other pieces of literature I've read.

The best part of the manhwa is definitely the characters. Daniel is a great character that is surrounded by even better ones, mainly my personal two favorite, Vasco and Jay. The way these characters are explored and developed is done masterfully and leaves you smiling from chapter to chapter. The worst part about Lookism has to be the somewhat generic art, it's nothing flashy, but it serves it's purpose. It starts off a tad shit but over the 200+ chapters it becomes a lot more polished. That being said, objectively, the fairest score I can give the art is a 7, especially when comparing it to other pieces of work.

Lookism is great. It's not flawless, but it plays to it's strengths so well that it often times makes the flaws almost completely ignorable . It's phenomenal characters and story direction make it stand out amongst it's peers. It's very rare that I'm attached to a story as much as I was with this. Park Tae-Joon does a stellar job. It's good shit and holds a special place in my heart, 9/10.

The story is about a poor overweight high school guy that gets bullied and judged almost every single time he sees someone. He wants things to change, and much to his delight, he wakes up in a handsome and strong man's body, one day.

Story 4/10
I do not know what the story is supposed to be about at this point, it is so simplistic, unrealistic and lacks originality. In the beginning, you think you'd discover more about the mystery of the body swap, which is an overly used trope, but nope, it's just the main character, Hyung Suk, beating up bullies and protecting "ugly" people who remind him of his other body. He has a bunch of followers after him, because of his good looks and his strong punches and kicks, and yet there's always a bunch of idiotic characters that appear out of nowhere to stir some kind of unnecessary drama. Like, are you guys really high school students? They're really wild. And you never know what's happening to Hyung Suk's body in the end. He's just living the life, now that he's handsome and loved. The story seems mostly episodic: you'll have a few chapters about a certain character's unnecessary drama, and then Hyung Suk will beat the bullies with his new friends, or solve the problem with his "handsomeness" (he models at some point in the story). Though, the characters will sometimes have their own focus, and Hyung Suk will not appear or will be a side character, from time to time. The author seems to add a lot of comedy into his story, but honestly, I didn't laugh while reading the story. It's not my kind of comedy, or maybe it's truly bad.
You can tell me that the story gets better later on, but if it takes more than a hundred chapters for it to be "good", I'm not really interested.

Art 6/10
The "good-looking" characters look somewhat decent. The "ugly" ones are seriously... bad-looking, just like how it is in a lot of webtoons. I mean, was it really necessary to draw them THAT ugly? The art seems exaggerated when it comes to ugliness and some facial expressions. Like, when the characters get angry... They end up looking like the "unattractive" characters, which could sort of make sense, I suppose, since some characters that are good-looking have a rotten personality. Still, the art just isn't my type. The colors are nice and vibrant, though, it shows what kind of atmosphere the story should have, and it is somewhat appropriate for when the author tries to add some comic relief.

Characters 4/10
"What is going on with the characters...", is something I asked myself all the time while I was reading the webtoon. Their actions are so dumb and immature, and they don't make any sense, there's no real goal behind them. All the bullies look like they want to end up in jail with their violent tendencies, the "pretty" girls look like they just want to flirt with the "handsome" guys, and vice versa. The characters all seem like they have shallow personalities, and that they only care about good looks, clothes and money. If you're ugly, you are usually poor, and you don't deserve to live, is what this webtoon portrays, but then that's where Hyung Suk and a few persons come in. Of course, Hyung Suk is an exception, because he tries to fight bullies and he is, after all, initially an unattractive-looking person. He tries to help other people with their problems, but that's pretty much it... He's unable to grasp people's intentions and is so naive and optimistic, for someone who has been constantly bullied in the past. I mean, how can someone who wanted to die, be so carefree just because he got a nice new body? I'd be freaking out, not knowing if it's a short moment of happiness that's meant to destroy what little I have left of hope. I'd say, the only character that really matters in the story is his one and only true friend, the blonde dude... who has no eyes, because they're always hidden by his hair. He always helps Hyung Suk out and often shows acts of kindness without anyone noticing that he's doing so, aside from the readers. But the thing is, why is he so nice to Hyung Suk? And who is he, really? He doesn't even talk at all! The only thing we know is that he's super rich, and is probably handsome, from the way he looks. So in the end, none of the characters are really explored at all, we mostly see some drama between bullies and whatever, and then the case is somewhat resolved by beating them up. There's barely any character development: some side characters somewhat stop bullying and are kinder to "ugly" characters, and that's all there is to it. The main character doesn't even change or mature. He just lives his life innocently without even questioning what's going on around him, and he doesn't even seem to think much at all.

Enjoyment 5/10
The webtoon drags on and on, with its episodic chapters and its annoying characters. They really do get on your nerves. I ended up reading quite a lot of chapters, because I wanted to find out more about the body swap and the blonde friend, but I've reached my limit. The webtoon also has a bunch of random filler chapters, there was one about dogs... Anyway, I believe it's really not worth anyone's time and I wonder why it has so many chapters, but some people seem to still appreciate it nonetheless, so really, it all depends on what kind of tastes and how much free time you have. It can sometimes be a little entertaining to read.
This webtoon seems so superficial and tries to make it look like it's about not judging people by their appearance, but I think it really fails at delivering the message, since it's just a bunch of immature students that think they're better than elders and everyone else.

Overall 5/10

(8/10) I came across this gem a few years ago and have been keeping up with it ever since. I really enjoyed the topic it explores, the characters, the art style, and especially the fight scenes. Although this is one of my favorite webtoons it doesn’t mean that it’s flawless. The plot became way too confusing. Too many characters are getting introduced left and right leaving the main cast behind. Even though their personalities and past are well developed, the lack of scenes with these certain characters makes them kinda useless. The pacing wasn’t entirely bad but it wasn’t good either. With new arcs not including the main character, Daniel, The story got boring and progressively worse. But in the end, this manhwa was still a really fun read. And i will surely continue to keep pace with this story and hopefully by the end i could bump up the score to a 10.

*MINOR SPOILER AHEAD*


(This is my first review I've ever written, so bear with me when my words aren't the most elaborate. I am open to suggestions and advice, so please feel free to criticize me in a constructive manner. Note that this was also slovenly written)

Reading the first 4 chapters of Lookism, I was elated to continue reading. The joy and satisfaction of a student being bullied excessively and judged for his ugly looks finally getting a good life was overwhelming. So overwhelming that I overlooked the minor problems it had. Alas, that opinion slowly degraded and in recent chapters I was utterly disappointed how it turned out. Here are a list of reasons why:

1.The sheer amount of prejudice from superficial assholes is gaudy and suffocating to read. Not in the way the author intended, but in a way where I'm starting to be sick of the manga.

2.The antagonists are facsimiles of the preceding ones. Superiority complex? Check. Good looks? Check. Allures women with their handsome looks? Check. Hates ugly people? Check. For fuck's sake, when is the author going to change the formula?

3) Oh how I detest the protagonist's current way of thinking. It is unbearably naive and quick to change. An opinion he once had is diverted by one simple occurrence. For example, when Daniel encounters a female student, who too shares the same ability to switch from one unappealing body to a gorgeous one, he dislikes her immediately after she delivers an insult to someone who well deserved such treatment. Before, he admired her kindness when she met him occasionally in convenience stores. Now, he hates her. Isn't that the same kind of attitude Zach gives to others? He throws insults at others, yet Daniel continues to converse and be friendly with him? What the hell?

4) Daniel vows to change and become like others, but is never shown making any sort of progress. After a repeating influx of flashbacks and heart-wrenching images of Daniel's mother working tirelessly are presented to us, and Daniel talks about whatever negative emotion he holds towards himself, Daniel seems completely forget what he's been crying over about. It's frustrating to read. This happens with every single encounter. It is a circular path of recognizing faults and neglecting to change.

5) My lord, the fight cannot be any more repetitive. Character encounters an antagonist who is stronger than them, overcomes them from reflecting on past experiences or by strong emotion. They hold no merit and It screams "BORING BORING BORING."

This Manhwa (korean comics) is amazing and i recommend everyone to check it out. (Im also gonna be using the English version of there names so it wont be as complicated)

Story: 9/10
The main character Daniel is basically this fat teen that nobody really likes. he was basically bullied most of his life and his mom is the only person that looks out for him. His family is poor so they live in a shabby house with low quality food. his mom is the only person that helped him in life but he said harsh things towards her, even tho shes his only ally in life. He transfers schools because of all the bullying. and on the first day of school he became this hunk of a guy, he was fit handsome and was so confused as to what was going on. then he realized he basically had 2 bodies. his normal body and this one. he gets good friends later and basically has a pretty good life. The story is sort of a drama, slice of life, romance, mystery, action sort of manhwa. the story slows down often but then it gets good again after slowing down so i give it a 9/10

Art: 10/10
Lets take into consideration that this manga is in FULL COLOR! that takes so much time and effort. the art itself is also so amazing its one of the more simpler but amazing art styles.

Characters: 9.5/10
The characters in this story are amazing but some of them seem a bit bland. take his mom for example she is an amazingly nice character, however daniel was often an asshole to her. later in the story daniel becomes a better person and so on. there is also alot of amazing characters in this manhwa.

Enjoyment:10/10
This manga is so enjoyable i recommend it to everyone. it gives u the feels, the laughs, and everything else u could ever want in a story.

Overall 9.6/10:
Thats basically it, so go check out this manhwa i guarantee you will love it (most likely).

https://discord.gg/UbsGXHN to join my animu discord xD

I almost didn't read this because the (extremely short) synopsis of the story really turned me off. "Oh great, a story about how an unattractive and unpopular guy magically turns into a hot guy and gets all of the girls and his life is great - what a great message....NOT". I am glad that I gave into the high reviews and gave the story a shot, though, because my initial impression could not have been any more wrong.

Instead of a wish-fulfillment story about someone whose life sucked but suddenly gets better because of a change in appearance, this manhwa is a story that explores in great depth the prejudice that people subconsciously have based on the appearance of others, as well as many of the unhealthy and misguided aspects of modern Korean society. The change in Daniel's appearance becomes a tool for the author to expose how the way we treat people is often influenced by their appearance (and, it explores how having an overly perfect appearance can *also* lead others to form a poor impression of someone).

The characters are great. There is a large, well-developed cast of secondary characters to support Daniel (and honestly, I liked some of the secondary characters even more than the main characters). These characters frequently get story arcs of their own, which allows to author to show their background and explains what their motives as and why they act the way they do. I liked some of these side stories more than others, but overall I really appreciated how well developed the characters were because of that. I see that some reviewers do not think that Daniel develops as a character, but I have to disagree. It does take a long time (this is a very long manhwa, after all), but he does slowly begin to change, especially as he is encouraged by seeing other people like Duke and Crystal overcoming obstacles despite being in the same situation as he originally was.

I will definitely say that the author often set up situations for the characters that were not entirely realistic. I mean, honestly, how many bad-a** mofo's can you have in one high school? This manhwa makes it seem like Korea is full of hot young guys who all have superb fighting abilities. That being said, the set-ups that the author created in the plot did not bother me - to me this story is almost more like a parable or a fable used by the author to make a point and explore the darker side of Korean society rather than a story that is meant to be realistic or purely for enjoyment. In addition to the overall themes of bullying and "lookism" (prejudice based on appearance), the author also uses the subplots and characters to delve into the issues of gambling, addition, overuse of social media, etc. The author clearly has a point to make, and does a good job at making the readers reflect on what their own personal bias may be.

As far as the art goes, I wouldn't say that it is....attractive.....but it has a very distinct, well-drawn style. I don't read a whole lot of shounen manga so it is different than what I am used to, but I did like it, and I felt like it was well-suited to the subject matter. If you are trying to expose the dark underbelly of society, you don't want everything to look all shiny and perfect, do you?

Park Hyung Suk(Daniel), overweight and unattractive, is bullied and abused on a daily basis. But a miracle is about to happen.

Story 10+/10
The story focuses on Daniel's adventures and the fact that he has two bodies, as we will see later we will also tell a lot about the other characters giving us the opportunity to know them from our point of view and not only that of the protagonist.They are treated themes that not all works have the courage to rappresent, a clear example are pedophilia, rape, obsession, stalking and even religious themes.The bullisma is not romanticized and we see that each of the previous points expressed are touched with all their completeness without fear of nothing. Proceed the plot begins to divide into arcs where the author allows us to better organize the plot and to be able to divide it, always inserting some mention or advance here and the next arch. Entered moments are not forced and I spontaneous laughter escaped, there are not the classic scenes ecchi or the falls that are shown as something tender, the comedy is genuine and well inserted. usion the plot starts with a very simple and at the same time innovative concept that introduces us to live and follow a plot that will make the reader more and more cautious.

Art 9.9/10

The art of the author is precious and delicate, colorful and transmits perfectly every expression and feeling that the characters feel, changes according to the situation, in fact we move from a cheerful and colorful to a gloomy in dramatic moments by immersing the reader more and more in the moment.Who criticize the design style of the author that show his draw.The designen of characters is great, I found REALISTS, NOT EVERYONE ARE KIRINO OR MODELS,Like in other stories where the characters are all beautiful. So sincerely who is accustomed to a story where everyone they are so beautiful like Leonardio di Caprio and the women are a big boobies ,fall to their feet and go back to read those shitty harem without any sense because this story is not for them.The bodies are proportionate and completely realistic there and if we think there could be people like that.Some moments but I found the faces a little disproportionate but I'm kind of 2 throughout the story and the first time you do not even notice, but ins and style is almost PERFECT.

Characters 10/10
Well done, constant and not repetitive development. The story itself makes you love every character, suffer, cry, laugh, rejoice for them, there are no characters passive or lifeless, everyone has well-defined characteristics.There are characters for all types and tastes, each with a story to tell, with merits and defects that make them HUMAN. Some of them will hit the reader and many times, in my case, they will make at least one tear, while in other cases to cry for the impotence and to the thought that someone in the world could spend a moment like this. Everybody shows you their point of view to things and perfectly represents today's society in Korea but many affinities we can find them also in ours. and their intrusion puts us in front of a conflict of world view, just to give you an example, a character that I did not like has had such a nice development that now I adore it. It is also necessary to dwell on what are the drawings, all they have a precise design that allows us not to be confused and to identify them immediately.

Development 10/10

Well-executed, constant and non-repetitive development, it plunges you more and more into the plot and slowly introduces the reader into what is the world of lookism, not only the plot has an excellent development, the characters each one presents a CRAZY development, which is more some less depending on who is more important in that part of the saga, but in the end all show their own evolution, a goal to follow an objective and dream to be realized.there are unpredictable twists that take the reader by surprise to such an extent as to keep him completely enchanted.

Enjoyment 10/10
The weebtoon shows us certain parts or pauses to the development to deepen the characters and I found this choice, unexpectedly effective. There are chapters very funny and interesting, the pace is always constant and I really enjoyed those break chapters.Each chapter made me be willing to continue reading, just know that I read 100 and pass cracks in one night.The superficiality of which some speak sincerely do not see it, indeed I think that some comments are, have not even finished reading all the chapters and give a hasty opinion jumping parts of the story that deserve to be enjoyed.In conclusion read this work is pleasant and additive, mnon all the stories have managed to break the cliche and have had the courage to convey the message of lookism that is a set you many good ideals. This story made me laugh, emotion, cry, etc. , the author has created a work so alive that now I am completely in love with it.
I recommend this story to all those who do not fear reading a story that re-read REALITY, and is suitable for all ages.
Having said all this, I would have never thought to say this, but it is the first time in my life that I give a similar score, and it is because this work deserves that and much more.

final vote: 10

most of these reviews say lookism is generic and just full of moments where daniel fights people and helps the weak. but daniel himself is still weak minded. no matter what, daniel's mind will always go back to those days and he'll always feel terrible over what his mother did for him.

not to mention the addition of crystal's father, big 4 crew and james lee opened so many more doors in the story. most of these bad reviews are from before the chapters where the most exciting part of the whole series is introduced.

if i were you, i'd definitely read lookism. a really good story to read on your free time.

Lookism was great, but all I remember now is its wasted potential. TL;DR at bottom

I used to love Lookism, so much so that I would recommend it to all of my friends who liked Webtoons. It had a unique concept, and it acted as a form of social commentary on "lookism," or discrimination on the basis of looks, while still being an entertaining series with a colourful cast of mostly likable characters. If my score was based on my original opinion, I would've easily given the series at least an 8/10, so why do I give it a 5?

The story. I started reading Lookism because it was an interesting drama with well-placed humour and interesting social commentary. As I kept reading, I began to like it less and less but was convinced that there was to be a semblance of the original series I adored. There wasn't. By the time I dropped it at the end of 2019, at chapter 260, there was no trace of the story I had loved. I was utterly perplexed by what was going on (I believe it had something to do with a gang war or something), and too many new (and useless) characters had been added that it was too confusing to follow.

I don't know exactly when I began to dislike Lookism, but I know that I am very disappointed in the direction the story was heading. If you're curious as to why I originally liked the series, read it for yourself. But don't hesitate to drop it as soon as you start to dislike it.

TL;DR
used to love Lookism but story got bad
Story: 4
Art: 8
Character: 6
Enjoyment: 3
Overall: 5

Note: [Spoilers]
It's been a few weeks since I caught up with this manhwa but it is certainly very addictive, I also didn't know it had a MAL page so I'm going to add my thoughts of it here~~~

Story:
The story behind Lookism isn't fully articulated until the high school transfer but I feel that the approach of having a character that is obese being bullied on the lower end of the social spectrum also getting a chance to experience life on the upper echelon of the spectrum makes for an entertaining but educational narrative. The Story follows Danial Park, a bullied high school student living a miserable life serving a powerful bully which then forces him to transfer to another school where life as he knows it changes as he receives the ability to possess a physically superior, visually superior, height superior etc. body while also maintaining his original body. He learns to coexist with both bodies (while one body works and studies in the night at a convenient store, the other attends the newly transferred school) Daniel Park in his superior form supports other individuals who suffer similar to him as much as he can while also transforming the characters in his new school to help with his endeavor of minimizing bullying (or subconsciously so) Reading this series in webtoon form was 'dog god' tier since it was very easy to adapt to, character wise also. (I also enjoyed the JoJo References during the Family Gathering Arc where Daniel Park meets his cousins hehe...) 10/10 -

Art:
The art felt more on the less refined spectrum but the quality of the art is comparable to that of Solo Levelling. The shading, colors and even use of negative space made it easy to flow with the story; thus fuelling by addiction for webtoon style comics. The fighting scenes are my favorite by far and especially with Rohan's god dog facing off with Daniel Park's central crew teaming up together; all the art during that arc were masterpieces. 10/10 -

Character:
This webtoon has mastered the conditioning of character development, it manages the immediate character palette fairly nicely by constantly going back and using each character at least in every chapter and their quirky interaction. Similar to Jin Sung Lee and his 'gf' (forgot her name) when he ends up acting like an obedient dog to her when he intends to act dominant as an example to other characters needing relationship advice. Also, when Daniel Park's original body saves Ha Neul (can't remember her name) from the stalker fan, Ha Neul begins to favor him over his superior form. Overall amazing character development and there are a lot of promising characters. 9/10 -

Enjoyment:
easily 10/10, the author knows how to entertain their readers by not being too serious with content and even adding in other references besides JoJo's (I could only notice JoJo but there were many different random changes in art styles)

Story - 8
The story focuses on the concept of Lookism through the main character Daniel who suffers from bullying at the hands of other students who have more influence than him and are basically the anime bullies who are strong and powerful. The start is really good and focuses on Daniel as a character while also branching out to other characters that I like, such as Zack, Vasco, Zoe, and Mira. It does get some filler but personally I enjoy it, it shows the dynamic between the characters and will in some way lead to some sort of character progression. The story at the start is a solid 8 but then later on dips down to a 7 due to it having more filler and strays away from the initial mystery. Eventually the concept of Lookism in the story is overused but then the story takes a turn, and instead of introducing in new situations to explore this subject, it uses the characters, their development, and their motivations to develop into a really interesting plot that keeps me captivated today, and I'd easily rate it overall as a 9 but the story didn't really pick up immensely until around last year to reach that 9 mark. Overall, if you enjoy stories about characters wanting to be better, assholes getting what they deserve while not always being the stereotypical anime/manga, then you'd enjoy it.

Art - 7
There's not much to say, the art isn't bad but it sure isn't great. To me it's fine and it doesn't really negatively impact the story as a whole and doesn't detract from my enjoyment.

Character - 9
The characters in this series at first are really black and white, divided either into the category of being the ugly person who gets bullied or the handsome person who pulls all of the chicks, but as the story goes on these characters are shown to not be the case, and also get development. The characters most notable here are probably characters named Vasco and Zack, and I don't want to spoil the series but I enjoy their characters a lot. Eventually the series pulls in more characters and as the series develops they have been really really intriguing characters and I'm always captivated to learn more about them, and the series doesn't disappoint.

Enjoyment - 10
Although the series isn't a masterpiece like Berserk or Attack on Titan, or mainstream like My Hero Academia, this is one of the series that always makes me jump out of my seat in excitement with moments yelling "LET'S GOOOO" at certain times, hyping me up constantly and making me theorize about future events. This is a series that has been captivating me for the past 3 years and hasn't made me any less excited for it ever since.

Overall - 8
To me, despite the faults with the filler, black and white characters in the beginning, and some of the repetitive action sequences and fights, it has kept me intrigued and interested since day one, with the story starting off being a series of events showing Lookism through different characters with it now showing the consequences and developments of it, having a really complex and interesting plot with characters that I absolutely love like Eli Jang, Jake Kim, Johan Seong, and more that hopefully future readers will adore. Don't go into it expecting a masterpiece or anything great, but it's something that personally I have found to be exciting and interesting all these years of reading.

I really enjoyed Lookism when I first picked it up, which is what makes its current state more disappointing for me.

The first 100 or so chapters are pretty solid and introduce a very interesting body-swap scenario. The main character, who was bullied for his weight in previous years, wakes up in a completely different body, with his normal body sound asleep. Basically, people start to pay attention to him and treat him with respect because he's conventionally attractive. The manhwa covers how he makes new friends while hiding the fact that he has two bodies. It was a unique sort of slice-of-life series with its supernatural twists. Keep in mind that this whole premise is what the manhwa introduces itself as. (Even the Webtoon summary still promotes this concept.)

It does stick with the original body-swapping plot for a while, but later on the chapters seem to completely change in genre. The body-swapping is barely mentioned and the main character has becoming some amazing fighter who beats up gang members.

...What?

I would have been fine if this only happened for one arc. An odd twist for sure but the manhwa was very enjoyable before, so it'll probably pick up again. It did not. I could not continue reading Lookism because it just became battle after battle after battle. I appreciate that the series is tackling darker and less discussed topics about the modern world, but the drastic change in tone made me pretty disappointed. If you're a fan action manhwa, then the current Lookism could be for you. Unfortunely, it is not for me, as what I really loved about this manhwa is now long gone.

I've been following Lookism for about two years now, and I'll give it a brief review for those of you looking to start the daunting task of entering the world of Lookism:

The story focuses more on the main character during the first 100(?) or so chapters, after which point it starts diverging into side character backstories. This is not a bad thing. There IS an overarching plot, but it is extremely slow to unfold and takes a backseat to side stories, which are very well made. You will find yourself caring about and being invested in the backstories of just about every character. The author really knows how to reel you in.

As for the first 100(?) or so chapters, they are extremely blackpilled. Some readers, like myself, found it disappointing when this brutal nature of the story took a turn and got significantly softer. Not to say that the series has completely lost its edge, but it's definitely been dulled a bit. That being said, while the style of humor might have changed focus, it's still spot on. Seriously, Lookism is hilarious and the quality of the humor hasn't dropped one bit since it began.

The art is great. Practical most of the time but really shines in those moments when it's utterly horrifying and ridiculous. Some of the best twisted expressions I've ever seen in manga/manhwa come from Lookism. I particularly love the attention to character wardrobes. You can also get some serious streetwear inspo from these characters, as most of the clothes they wear are based on brands from real life.

Overall, very enjoyable, as long as you are into the episodic kind of story.
Overall: 7.75 (8)

The story is really great because it has true topics that nobody speaks so openly about them, like the discrimination to other people for their experience, bully abuse, the pressure of the social media nowadays and others. This story has drama, comedy, mystery and some chapters are even wicked.

The characters are developed so good because each one of them have an important role in the story, even the bad ones has a good background story and with the story progress you can understand more about their actions.

The art is pretty good and like in other webtoons it has color.

The updates are every week and the chapters are not small.

I’ve had a really good time reading it; I’ve laughed and cried with this, I totally recommended.

I just wanted to say that this is my first review. This is the best story I’ve ever read in my whole 14 years of life ( better than any movie, anime, book or manga plot I’ve ever seen) ! I can’t stress this enough . This really changed my outlook on life. It really helped me deal with my personal conflict.

The title Lookism isn’t there just for show . It tells us that everything isn’t what it seems . The first part shows the viewpoint of our mc Daniel Park. As the story gets deeper you see all kinds plot twists . You’ll really be able to love each character as you see their backstories . You might think they’re just pretty, but there’s always a backstory to their actions and why they do it.

Spoiler Alert!
(The story rn as I’m writing this )
In Eli’s backstory for example you see all the references like hide and seek and how he ended up the way he is. Most ppl might think Olly Wang is a psycho, but in reality he is just a victim of his parents ideals. It really hits you how he thinks Eli is a god who saved him from his despair , when in reality it was Heather all along .

The story starts off centered around the perceptions people have of others, and how appearance can change that. If you're ugly, you're bullied, and unwanted. If you look good, you're popular, desired for, and respected. After around 30-40 chapters, it goes into depth about the issues of Korean society, as Lookism takes place in South Korea.

Lookism covers topics such as bullying, gangs, corruption of the entertainment industry, animal cruelty, cults, and homelessness/runaways. It even covers BJ's (Broadcast Jockeys), who are basically streamers and a common way to get very popular. Of course, this webtoon is exaggerated to make it more interesting, but this only made it even more worthwhile for me.

One of the most prominent topics in lookism is bullying, showing just how severe bullying can get in Korea. Bullying has always been a huge issue in Korea, and there have even been cases where teens have been bullied to the point of hospitalization. There are no laws to prevent bullying because they are all minors, which is the main reason it is so prevalent. Lookism covers the severity of the bullying that occurs, and how it usually targets people who don't meet the standard of beauty or are just different from others.

Now onto the characters. They all have their own uniqueness to them that makes the webtoon even more lovable. Although there are annoying characters here and there, the development of the protagonist, Daniel overshadows that, not to mention his friends around him. I initially got a bad impression of many of the characters, including Daniel, but the more I read, the more I was intrigued. Daniel and his friends start off seeming shallow and rude, but there were reasons for their actions and as for Daniel, he realizes his mistakes and puts an effort to fix them. Many moments throughout the story were enjoyable and even humorous, adding to character development.

All in all, every topic Lookism covers has relevance to the issues that Korea faces. Whether it be the dangerous cults that drag in innocent people or the corrupted entertainment industry in which some companies (in real life too) are intertwined with gang-related activities concerning money laundering or extortion. Everyone faces hardships in life and Daniel lives through them in Lookism.


BTW. Don't look at this as a way to view South Korea in a bad light. This is only a small portion of the culture and life there. It's a nice country, and many want to live there. Lookism simply shows some of the negative aspects in a creative way.

Lookism is a very interesting series, written by an author who does not know when to quit for his own good! (the hallmark quality of a good author)

Ugly and fat daniel park is bullied relentlessly, and although his single widow mother is poor, after witnessing the truth of how he was treated at school, decide to grant him his wish to transfer schools.

Daniel moves to seoul, and one morning he wakes up in a muscular and good looking body, while his old body sleeps, the other one is awake.

The main theme of Lookism is vanity, and also lookism itself, defined as the discriminatory treatment of people based on looks. everyone is to some extent aware that this is true, we do treat good looking people better, and ugly people worse. It is human nature, although taboo to talk about. Adult people will go to great lengths in order to tip-toe around the subject. Most people would refrain from writing a series about such a sensitive issue, purely out of self-preservation instinct. That's what makes this author so admirable, he clearly has no shame in his body, the fact that he's known for his good looks makes it even more shameless, i love it!

The story itself i guess is not very original, it's the unique and uncomfortable spin on it that makes it feel fresh. The characters are very memorable and enjoyable. The art is good enough.

I will admit that it starts feeling less engaging after chapter 250 something, but still good.

"Don't judge a book by its cover," is what everybody says.

This story is about how unattractive people in the world survive and deal with bullying and criticism every day.

Please take note that there are 2 versions of this, and the names are different in both. For example, HyungSuk=Daniel
HaNeul=Zoe
MiJin=Mira

Story:
I haven't read anything quite like Lookism, so I was instantly hooked by the unique storyline. Daniel is a fat, unattractive guy and is bullied every day. Therefore he transfers to another school to avoid the bullies. One day before he starts school, he wakes up to be extremely handsome, fit, strong, everything a man wants to be, and everything a woman wants in a man.

Art:
I'll be honest, I hated the art at the beginning. It wasn't like the normal big-eyes characters in normal manhwa/ manga that I was used to, therefore I did not like it much. It was a cross between realistic art and comic art. However as the story progresses on, I found myself loving the art style.

Characters:
Here are the characters I am proud of

Daniel:
The main character, Daniel, is bullied every day and is ungrateful to his mother.
He was a sheep in front of the bullies but an asshole towards his mother. Therefore I was extremely annoyed with him and did not like him much.
I thought that, since he turned attractive, he would turn into an even bigger asshole, but no.
Daniel started to change for the better.
He helped people, he started to be nice and he began to inspire people to be better people themselves.
He started to appreciate his mother more.
He got a part-time job, earned money and provided for his mother.

Zoe:
A girl infatuated with Daniel (after he turned handsome)
When she sees the previous Daniel, she is disgusted, not knowing that they're the same person.
But after getting saved by ugly Daniel, she starts to like him romantically, instead of handsome Daniel. At first, she was in denial, but she accepts that Ugly Daniel is a great guy and continues to like him. She starts to treat other people better.

The characters I love:

Vasco
My sweet, innocent child, Vasco.
Bullied when he was younger, he now strives to be stronger in order to protect the weak. He becomes close friends with Ugly Daniel when Ugly Daniel told him that he wants to be stronger and starts exercising with him

Jay
Quiet and gentle, he has helped Handsome Daniel infinite times without him even knowing it.

Duke
Unattractive and fat like Ugly Daniel. However, he does not let this drag him down. He aspires to be a rapper and works extremely hard towards his goal. Even though he gets bullied every day, he never gave up even once.

Mira and Zack
Holy cow, do I ship them. They are childhood friends and Zack has had a crush on her since forever.

To be honest, I love everyone in this webtoon. Their growth and development throughout the webtoon have made me so proud of them all.

Enjoyment:

I love, love, LOVE lookism, because it shows how life is in reality. (Besides the fact that Daniel just woke up one day being the most handsome guy on earth)
It does not sugarcoat anything.
It shows how no matter what you do, if you're unattractive, you're going to have difficulty, especially in school.

Overall:
It's amazing. I really don't know what else to say.