Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight#78: Odd Girl Out 2

Have you ever felt like you didn't give something enough credit? Because I certainly did. In 2019, I dared compare Odd Girls Out to Lookism in a vs. battle despite OGO's infancy. Because of this mistake, I've moved away from Canvasplazooa to give proper spotlights. And with its recent rebranding, I think it's more than appropriate to refocus on Odd Girl Out by Moragg!

Summary

After spending all of her break dieting for that sweet bod, Nari Kim hopes to start high school. However, when the three most famous and beautiful girls in school, Nari quickly realized that all of her efforts were naught because now, out of her new friend group, she has to die of embarrassment as the Odd Girl Out!

Characters

Nari Oh: At the beginning of the story, Nari remains a friendly, humble girl who has severe insecurities about her beauty. However, due to further interactions with the girls, Nari develops into a more confident, aggressive, and wiser woman. Because of this, Nari has a very relatable and down-to-earth glue that holds the group together.

Yuna Kim: Nari's childhood friend, Yuna, is easily the most famous girl. Her beauty, wealth, and harsh disposition have granted her a rather mean girl persona. Despite her pride and insecurities, she is willing to do almost anything when protecting Nari.

Mirae Seo: An old "friend" of Yuna's Mirae is the most tomboyish and cheerful group. She is usually the most confident and relaxed of the group but, when pushed, can get somewhat cowardly due to her past.

Seonji: While lacking in brains, Seonji is genuinely the friendliest and most loyal of the girls. She is almost always willing to help just about anyone and is always reliable. She might be dumb as bricks, but her work ethic is something to be admired.

Overview

I think the most incredible thing I didn't give Odd Girl Out enough credit for was its art. At the beginning of the story, the characters feel like a children's book, with lots of cutesy bright colors and simple shapes (in a good way). However, as the characters mature, so does the art as it gets more detailed and streamlined. But no matter what, Odd uses a hot color palette composed of yellow, brown, and white to give a pleasing look to everything. Plus, the expressions are top-notch meme-worthy if you are a mad screen shooter like I am.

But the real bread and butter of this webtoon is the overall story and characters. A large portion of the first 30 to 40 chapters is Nari adapting to the girls and becoming a stronger person. After that, the girls physically grapple with their pasts to pursue a future that changes their overall dynamic.  The second season with a hint of a love triangle blooming with Nari right in the middle.

It's a very natural-paced story with a lot more depth than expected since you can effectively switch between these 3 acts while having a lot of entertaining fillerish chapters. I see so many shows tackle teenagers' lives in this overwhelmingly dark or sexualized manner that it's kind of nice to have all that flipped into something far more positive.

 It may be a bit over the top, but the way OGO tackles various social situations is strikingly mature. We humans can be a fickle thing. For some reason, we tend to judge people who are probably living just as bad as we are to make us feel better. And to be accepted or feel victorious, we force ourselves into situations that we know are bad and fail to humanize with people.

 Combine all that OGO tells us that while we still have to fight for ourselves, we shouldn't put ourselves on a pedestal just for preconceived notions. And I can't thank that message enough in these trying times.

Epilogue

All in all, returning to Odd Girl Out was an absolute joy. I've always had a profound connection with the webtoon, and I'm glad I got to give it a proper spotlight this time. I like the new direction Odd Girl Out is going, and I hope to see it through to the end. 

It just makes you go back to that time where you could hang out with your friends until it got late. I hope that I can refocus on other WEBTOONs in due time as there are many past ones I wouldn't mind shining a light on again. But with that out of the way, let's move the spotlight to something a little more chaotic.