Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight #139: A DeadbEAT's Meal

Have you ever wanted to devour a new story? If so, you'll love digging into DeadbEAT's Meal by Cheese.

Summary

For seven years, Jaeho and Sujeong were practically a perfect couple. However, just like how change is constant, so too does love stack societal pressures, and Jaeho's lack of a job strains their relationship to the point it snaps. Now unemployed and alone, our resident Deadbeat must learn to survive from meal to meal.

Characters

Jaeho: Growing up in a chaotic home, Jaeho has always been left to his own devices. A mindset which, on one end, leads him to be somewhat resourceful, relaxed, kind, stubborn, and regretful, though often at the expense of not taking into account others' feelings. Amidst his many mistakes, though, Jaeho always tries to look back on his past to create a better future.

Sujeong: Jaeho's former love interest, Sujeong, often matches his more oafish tendencies with a fiery personality. An often double edged sword as she tends to jump the gun and make somewhat drastic assumptions. Still, despite being a couple of years Jaeho's junior, she does have a cute demeanor and disposition toward the world.

Overview

DeadbEAT is a series that gave me a lot of worries going in and a lot of surprises going out. Underdog or loser protagonists are usually some of my favorites in any genre, but the usual catch 22 with them is balancing sympathy with action. I am fine if they get knocked down or start from the bottom, but if they're unwilling to move past blaming themselves or others instead of moving on, then most sympathy flies out the window like a popped balloon.

This goes doubly so in any romance series, but I was pleasantly surprised to see where this series went. Using different meals (which all look and are described as excellent) as a framing device, we get the unique opportunity to see two people falling out of love through years of cute memories and delicious meals.

The thing is, Jaeho and Seonji are a genuinely cute couple. You kind of grow to want to succeed. Yet, simultaneously, I'm actively rooting for them not to get together and move on from one another because of their flaws. Our titular deadbeat often lacks self-awareness, causing him to make boneheaded decisions or step on others people's toes continuously.

Seonji isn't squeaky clean either since her hotheadedness often leads her to hyperbolize small details and be unwilling to communicate when Jaeho tries to understand his wrongdoings. So they were an admittedly dysfunctional relationship but in a way that feels human. Which I guess is why the story, despite being very simple visually and narratively, grabs me.

I'm a kid in college fucking scared out of his mind about engaging the real world. So seeing the characters part into their mirrored lives, mature and regret, gives me hope always to recover, which Jaeho does in later chapters. Now on, if he can keep that stability and mend, his relationship remains to be seen.

Conclusion

Honest DeadbEAT's meal is a refreshingly exciting series. It's a bit of a bittersweet tale of two flawed adults who have to learn how to mature in a world that doesn't give a shit. Wrapped up in the eye candy of some fancy meals, decent comedy, and drama, an average webtoon has. The story doesn't seem to be slowing down any time soon. But, of course, having your own live action K drama doesn't hurt, either. Though I guess after talking about this series for so long, my mouth is watering toward whatever the spotlight feast it's eyes on next.