beta
So...what have happened to the author's writing? Does she even realize there are too many plot holes in just the 2 latest chapters? I just feel like the more she writes, the more mistakes can be found. My expectation for all sidestories at first was pretty high yet because of a dozen of random, unnecessary scenes in Paradise that lessen the story's coherence + the rushed ending of One with many things left untold that I gotta admit her writing is quite bad (then I reassured myself that was a bit okay for a side story after all) but I've never thought it could be this bad until I read chap 126. So, the ugly truth could make people feel irritated, but I still want to say it:
1. Couldn’t she come up with a better reason on why Sunhwa died? What kind of work did she experience to have her health deteriorate? How much money did they need? Don’t her parents have savings? Why her parents still managed to live through bankruptcy thought they were the core problems but their daughter got to pass away?
2. She twisted Sumin's character, or this was really the sort of person she is - Sumin's true color? I’m not sure. But all I can see now is a selfish, entitled Sung Sumin who always tries to make excuses for every mistake she made. Sumin wasn't that drunk based on the unopened wine bottles but how could she just toss aside the contact note Sunhwa gave to her like that? Even if she forgot about the unfortunate meeting with Sunhwa the next day, and she had forgotten every single detail of it for more than 10 years, but just look at how fast she remembered it when Nammi asked her to recollect memories. Lmao. And the author was even caught off guard that Sumin's behaviour in newest chapters was criticized in Kakao's comment section that she tweeted something about it, thinking that all Sumin did to the best friend who used to like her were acceptable?
3. The point mentioned above led me to wonder: Don’t tell me Alggumba’s planning to shift the blame on Seju by having Nammi saying “I just know you two were close until you met Baek Seju…” – UGGH, ex-excuse me? Just like the dark pink haired girl who slapped Sumin in this chapter. It was actually Sumin who have problems, Sumin herself is the problem. I once thought it was Seju who had turned Sumin into a distant person to her friends. But no, it was Sumin who was willing to make all the choices to stay far from her friends, even when Seju said she didn’t have to. It was her who chose to confront her darkest moments when she lost both of her parents and first love by hooking up with every woman in Korea. Nobody owes her anything.
4. People seemed to sympathize with Sumin's claim "Because you liked me that you couldn't be friends with me" that they don't even know how ridiculous it may sound to Sunhwa when she just asked her "Why should I go back to you?" and Sumin: "Because you liked me" - What is this hella disgusting reasoning? Because I used to like you that I should run into your arms and have you bang me after all these years you shut me out of your world? Don't make me laugh!
5. All Sumin cares for is basically about whether or not she would lose face to her friends, to Sunhwa, or even to herself. As long as nobody makes she feel embarrassed, she will be quite okay with it. At first I didn't want to to believe in this point, but her self-defensed act after the reunion to Nammi by saying "How ridiculous it may sound to the others - do you enjoy making me look stupid that much?" and "in any case, it might have been a good thing that I didn't run into Sunhwa after that" --- Did she even care for the fact that Sunhwa was dead, for the sake of her constant struggle to make ends meet? Sumin was scared she might have lost her face to Sunhwa in the second encounter? But did she ever think that if she ran into her after that, they could just sit in the same table, talking things out in a sober state, and she could have helped Sunhwa to overcome her hardships a bit? So that Sunhwa wouldn't have died for this lame reason? Sumin is rich though?
6. Why the letter was obviously placed on the table? As Sunhwa just died a few years ago and Nammi said Sumin wasn't in a state to hear more bad news, I would assume that it was during the time Sumin broke up with Sungji, and Seju already said farewell to her before leaving to Jeju island - which means at the end of 2015 - in around November exactly 4 years ago. And Sumin and Sunhwa met again after her breakup with first love Seju - which also means in 2005. So Sunhwa really kept that letter for almost 10 years until her death? After knowing her crush becoming this ugly? I can understand as to why Seju lingered on Sumin for 10 years, they were staying beside each other physically and mentally, and they still have feelings for one another. But Sunhwa...Ugh, she couldn't even say a single word to Sumin. Couldn't she meet new people during those years? Yet still kept the letter? I'm sorry, I. don't. buy. that. Don't try to make reasons on why she left it at that place. It's just that Alggumba couldn't think of another faster way to make Sumin know about Sunhwa's untold confession in details. The same way as Seju reading her mother's diary. But the diary was a bit more convinced to me considering Chahee was living in the villa all alone, which bored her to death, and at least Chahee didn't leave the diary right under Seju's bed.
7. Where is Sungji? Isn't this side story is meant for Sumin and Sungji 3 years later? Why is too much of Sunhwa in here, with this kind of approach? Why was she in Paradise when eventually all she could have is her death? Couldn't the author try to show Seju's school life or one of her arguments with her siblings/step-mother? Couldn't she try to develop Sungji's character more instead of letting her be Sumin's therapist all the time? Is she just there as an angel to heal Sumin's past wounds? Why was the story focusing too much on recycling Sumin's drama, which all people already know and get tired of?
8. Last point, I don't know this Sumin. Either a too hella selfish, entitled Sumin or a freaking soft who always smiles shyly to her friends that the author is trying hard to show. She seems very unfamiliar to me now. Am I reading a different story?
What can I say? Your opinion is legion, I agree with all your points and questions. I seriously hope Seju is not thrown under the bus yet again, making her guilty for stuff she didn't have any participation in. Glad Seju is happy with Won, even if I didn't like the way One was executed.
Also, from way before in the main story I could already see Sumin was the main culprit for all her own problems and basically a super selfish and spoiled person. In contrast, Seju's only problem was that she had FEAR of abandonment, and that made her act in bad ways as a reaction to fears of losing Sumin (the initial cheating, sticking around, etc).
I don't think Seju would participate in this side story, probably she will just be mentioned or show up a little for the last time right before it ends. I'm also happy that Won is there to help Seju move on from the long term haunting past, and that she actually has her own complicating background even though it didn't get exposed in depth rather than a white paper like Sungji. Currently I just hope the author could at least try to develop her character more but it looks like Sungji can't stand a chapter without Sumin so yeah, perhaps next chapters will just focus on fluffy moments of Sumin and Sungji and how she cheered her up.
Hell, you said pretty much what most readers out there are probably thinking about this last side story, which honestly has been a letdown in terms of storytelling so far.
The evidence is piling up to prove that Sumin has always been an asshole, even before the shitstorm that happened with Seju cheating on her and Seju's brother assaulting her. If you're not her lover, she tends to treat you like crap or maybe not spare a single thought about you. Even if you're her lover, she has a habit of being dishonest with you, lying and taking you for granted - basically a doormat. Nothing really has changed much about Sumin's personality from the main story, and here in this last side story.
And as expected, it seems like Sungji has stepped in and played therapist for her again, magically helping her forget all about Sunhwa just like that. It saddens me the author is sending the wrong kind of message, meaning you can be an asshole of a person but so long as you have an angelic partner with you, there's no need for you to learn from your mistakes in the past and improve yourself.
To be fair though, maybe the author is just showing that women like Sumin exist, and they do plenty. Usually, main characters are good people, or at least turn into good people by the end of the story. But that's just fiction xD Most people never change, and a lot of times the people we at first glance consider to be "mean" (like Seju) are actually being led on/manipulated by the Sumin type of person.
In other words: Sumin is "covert", she is passive, shies away from responsibility for her actions, self-centered, she lies by omission to get what she needs and to get away from any feelings of guilt. This is very different from what most people identify as a "villain", because it's not obvious, it's not in your face. And it's very easy to be fooled by this kind of person because they seem like a victim to whom bad things are always happening, and if you get on their wrong side, you will be made to seem like the bad person who victimized them too (Seju). That's why Sungji sticks around, and that's why Seju stuck around out of guilt. It's a mistake that happens a lot.
I apologize first if my words might sound harsh to some people, but in terms of SALES, if you don’t either know a fucking single word of Korean language to understand what’s really happening not just on Twitter but also on other Korean forums regarding Korean readers’ point of view on each side-story OR have access to the current platform of WDTFS - Kakaopage which shows you the exact number of views and comments for each chapter then you’d better shut your mouth rather than use your hallucination to create MISLEADING information to perhaps please your own emotions.
The truth is, the only person in this universe who truly knows if the sales were good or bad, if they plummeted or rocketed is Team Gaji, not someone who according to Alggumba, reading illegal translations while hiding behind that “Anonymous identity” to throw in the bomb that sales begins going downhill after Paradise or One, making others who were engaged in the other following stories feel downhearted, to again, being satisfied and proud of your favorite couple? Do you really enjoy it that much? I’m not even a fan of Will story but it’s so annoying to see people trampling over it to worship their own favorite.
And if you want to talk about sales, I gotta say I don’t know a bit about it since I'm not Team Gaji but here is the number of views, comments, and topic discussion (which are mostly similar to sales):
556000 views in total (chapters with sex content got higher views than usual since there are also newer/redrawing scenes)
+ Main story: 2000-3000 views each chap
+ Paradise: 5-7k views each chap, 4k comments, 30 topics (2 delay, 1 hiatus = 1 week of free reading as a compensation)
+ One: 5-7k views each chap 5k comments, 44 topics (no delay)
+ Will: 6-7k views each chap, 2k views starting chap 127, 1k comments
BUT are these directly proportional to sales? Only Team Gaji knows.
+ In terms of characters (based on polls, readers’ demand, and reactions on social media):
Korea (Sumin -> Sungji/Seju)
International: Seju -> Sumin/Sungji
+ In terms of couples:
Korea: Sumin Sungji -> Sumin Seju/Seju Dowon
International: Seju Dowon -> Sumin Sungji -> Sumin Seju
https://imgur.com/a/0eb5fIb Many other proof on Kakao, weibo, aminoapp, insta, facebook, twitter,… but I’m too lazy to capture everything.
Couldn't agree more,btw, a twitter blogger, voted for a favorite couple as of Nov. 30: Suju x Won 38%, Sungji x Sumin 32%, Seju x Sumin 26%, Sungji x Dawoon 4%.
Nov 2017: announcing Paradise would be around 10 chapters
March 2018: announcing she planned ~30 chapters in total for spinoff
https://twitter.com/alggumba/status/973240939861831680?s=20
Sep 2019: complaining on illegal translation, causing negative impact on the sales on former platform, which eventually led her to kakaopage.
I'm sorry I typed the wrong name of Seju. a twitter blogger, voted for a favorite couple as of Nov. 30：Seju x Won 38%, Sungji x Sumin 32%, Seju x Sumin 26%, Sungji x Dawoon 4%.
Woww... It's surprising! Never did i think the author plans to finish the sequel, like 5 side stories in only 30 chapters u.u It would be much more rushed than i can imagine. Still sad it's going to end t.t
seeing the images, except in korea, seems to be baek seju is much more popular than the main couple. i dont understand why baek seju is not so popular in korea too, that's sad.
Lol dude, don't make me laugh please. These polls don't mean much because they are in FB groups and other websites where the majority of people are reading the illegal version. It is very reasonable to say that after Paradise the sales tanked because it was only during One that Team Gaji complained about it, even though the series had been illegally uploaded to a bunch of websites since literally 2015. Besides it's just basic logic here: what is the "competitive advantage", the "special factor" that WDTFS has over other series that I can spend my money one? Since Paradise ended, because the story became so rushed, there is no special factor in this manga. I know several people including myself who were paying for it up till Paradise and then stopped paying; not because they necessarily prefer Seju and Sumin together, but rather because Sungji and Dowon are highly undeveloped characters and whenever the story focuses on them, the quality drops, and it feels too rushed.
I repeat:
1. Team Gaji complained about sales in general, back to the days when it was published on Lezhin and til now when she switched to Kakaopage - the only reliable platform in copyrights issue so far in Korea, to minimize illegal uploads in both foreign and international markets. Did you even know illegal upload of WDTFS sidestories in all Korean pirated websites have been stopped?
2. She complained during ONE because people demanded it so much during One era which she couldn't help but spill the hot cup of tea she's already holding for years lol
3. I only captured some, it's not everything but it says something. Much better than something with nothing but words so far.
4. Which factor proves the quality drops when it focuses on Sungji and Dowon? Did the author ever focus on Dowon?
5. Whom are those several people? Who are you again, Anon?
6. Proofs of Paradise selling best? Proofs of One's - Will's sales tanked?
7. Don't just say, prove it.
Different culture has different perceptions I guess. Maybe for them, women with big boobs are seen as the slutty type who can't be faithful in a relationship. She's the third wheeler trying to get in the main couple's way during the main story, so that's not going to make her too popular. You could argue she's not as cute as Sungji, who has that childlike innocence about her.
you're so good at lying, paying on lezhin or tappytoon where paradise hasn't even been released pffttttt i think i know your identity already and i guessed you should have noticed why not so many people agreed with anything you said pftt there must be a reason u know. you're so obsessed with Paradise and overpraise it like it's the world's 8th wonder pftttt shit talking about other stories which don't focus on your babies Sumin and Seju while in fact Paradise was just a fucking piece of shit that's only great at the very final chapter which wrapped up everything and should be enough with that single chap only pffttt Others chapters are a whole random, unnecessary, chaotic mess that people don't even know who are the main characters anymore. Paradise - sumin and sunhwa? pftt Sorry sorry dude, I too know a lot of people who were wishing for Paradise to end soon to see Seju's new future without that scumbag Salmon and sure it is fucking great pfttt suminxseju is the ship the majority don't want to see, remember this fact （￣へ￣）