Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight#81: I Love Yoo

Have you ever wanted something out of the norm? If so, then I love Yoo might by Quimchee might be the place for you? But, first, let's discuss one of the most popular webtoons with one of my favorite females in webtoon.

Summary

After a very messy divorce, Shin Ae has two things on her mind. First, pass through school and try to support her struggling dad. However, after accidentally bumping into a young man, Shin Ae will soon realize that her ordinary and dull life is about to get a lot more hectic with the appearance of a strange family.

Characters

Shin-Ae: Our main heroine, Shin Ae, is a classic tomboy. She has a love of food and a hatred for all things romance after her parent's divorce. She is somewhat introverted and standoffish, making approaching her a problematic situation. 

However, this hides a far kinder, more sensitive personality that reveals that Shin Ae has very low self-esteem and sabotaging selfishness. That said, she has shown an impressive loyalty to the people she does count as friends. Throughout the story, she does learn to better open up to more people and stand up for herself.

Yeong Gi: The youngest brother of the wealthy Hirhara family, Yeong gi is a rather friendly, open, and positive individual who struggles to make his identity known amongst his somewhat eccentric family. His kind and true personality have granted him plenty of friends throughout the story. However, the stress from such an illustrious family has often made him headstrong and stubborn when angered.

Kousuke: Yeong Gi's straight-laced, high-strung older brother of the Hirahara family. Kousuke, by comparison, is straight-laced, proper, and rudely short-tempered to others he thinks is annoying. In a way, this makes Kousuke a sort of perfect child to his family as he seeks to become the company heir. Even at the cost of his social skills, awkwardness is rather piss poor as he needs validation from others even when he pushes himself to the brink.

Overview

Honestly don't know if I should call this a romance, more so a k-drama, but that is just my take. While Shin Ae interacts with the brothers a lot, Kousuke is a little old with no romantic interest, and Yeong Gi has a lovely girlfriend to him as of right now, so it seems everyone is locked down. But I don't mind this since what we get is something far more compelling. 

The relationship and overall interactions in the trio are endlessly entertaining. Each character feels so different and provides for some interesting dynamics. This has led the series to be probably one of the funniest I've read. At first glance, Shin Ae only gets chance meetings with the brothers, but throughout the story, she becomes impossibly intertwined with them and is better for it despite the challenges that come with it.

This webtoon is the epitome of a slow burn, but that isn't always an alarming occurrence as we further delve into the separate worlds the trio lives in. However, a slow burn isn't always a bad thing as we see the development and peeling back of all three characters start to shine. It also doesn't hurt that I Love Yoo has a solid supporting cast of characters that also get plenty of interactions off each other. 

It's diverse enough to remember almost every character, and we get plenty of significant development all around. While I Love Yoo has a relatively streamlined art style with thin outlines and simple backgrounds, some of the title cards and art outside of the main series are honestly beautiful, with the music adding a lot.

However, amongst the very light-hearted fun and comedy, there are some severe themes thrown around. From divorce, alcoholism and elitism are all common trends in the WEBTOON to the point that I genuinely wish the best for our young protags who have to figure it all out.

Epilogue

I Love Yoo like unordinary is a very popular WEBTOON that has remained strong throughout its entire run. It may not be your traditional romance and a little overrated. But it's still a story worth reading. I hope that it comes back with a bang. But until that day. Let's focus the spotlight somewhere else.