Webtoon Spotlight

Spotlight #66/67: Down to Earth/Webtoon Now

Have you thought real girls were too much hassle? Then I think it's time to shine the light to the stars with Down to Earth by Pookie Senpai.

Author

Pookie Senpai decided to give Webtoon a try after getting a recommendation for Winter Moon. Combine that with her Youtube audience, and the rest was history.

Story

After a series of messy breakups, Kade wants to be left alone, for goodness sake. But it seems that's never going to happen now that he has a literal out-of-this-world guest. Enter Zadia, a thicc (by Kade's admission) alien that has come to invade Kade's depression while living in his house.

Characters

Kade: Our despicable main character Kade is often standoffish, introverted, and can be a perv. However, these are masks to hide Kade's extreme self-loathing after breaking up with his long-time girlfriend. After meeting Zadia, he starts adopting a far more soft and open exterior.

Zadia: Our cheerful alien waifu Zadia treats Earth as a cavalcade of unique experiences. She is incredibly kind, friendly, carefree, and happy-go-lucky. However, this can also lead to common misunderstandings and nosy tendencies.

Stace: Kade's annoying manager always tries to get Kade to open up, even if he's manipulative. He loves to push buttons and do anything to have his job improved.

Ethan: An overenthusiastic alien lover, Ethan serves as a fun but invasive ally to Kade and Zadia.

Overview

Down to Earth tries to hit home about how important the little things in life are, which I appreciated in 2020. While we don't know much about Zadia's homeworld, the little info we do get implies a rigorous, sterilized, unguarded upbringing given the way she acts. 

Despite being a romance, I do like how she and Kade are building up their relationship. So far, they've been nothing more than roommates, really, and I think that they have a very natural and slow development into a refreshing romance. But with all of the charming scenes they have together, I believe that I find their weaknesses more appealing.

The beauty of this webtoon is that every character is inherently flawed to certain degrees. Kade himself is a perfect example through his many failed relationships, pervy nature, and rude attitude. Unlike many ya novels, though, Kade knows when he takes it too far and always reels back in immediately while often regretting his action in such a human manner that it hits home. 

You could, in a way, see this WEBTOON as a man's redemption arc into self-love. All the characters are also around this level of flawed, which makes the series relatable given how stressed we can be when things go wrong. This webtoon is all about finding peace and happiness when you can when things get rough in life. It's about trying to branch out and becoming better for it.

Presentation-wise this webtoon is also a treat. While I think the characters can be somewhat blocky, the backgrounds and lights used in the story are gorgeous. I like to think that this is mainly the "suicide squad" effect, as sometimes the character's design gets layered with fancy effects like neon vines or emotes to give a sparkly effect for the entire series.

Webtoon Now

You all are mean for not telling me about this waaaaaayyyyy sooner. Webtoon Now is an interview for popular webtoon creators and their various stories. I've been trying to get info for many of these authors for over a year now, and I'm glad that I finally have a place where it's easier.

 For all my complaints, I genuinely do find webtoon to be a glorious site filled with great potential for new creators, and I'm glad I can now find a place that can now more easily introduce people to new webtoons on the site.

Epilogue

Overall, Down to Earth is true to its name, a down-to-earth story that everyone can relate to. And the series seems only to be getting better and better, so I hope that we can all keep going for next time. But this will be my last spotlight of 2020, and with it, I hope we can shine the light on new webtoons in 2021.