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Did she just finagle a date with him?? Cool.
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28 Comments On “Today’s Webtoon: Eps 3 & 4 Open Thread”
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Did she just finagle a date with him?? Cool.
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Let’s enjoy the show!
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Transferring @Fern’s comment here.
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I liked episode 3. OME respects GJY’s decisions by saying her own opinions without denigrating his plans. She appears to be more mature than he is about making an effort and gaining experience through it, even if it may not last long. They are both getting polished slowly in the professional world.
I like how OME lists quotes from different series to put near the books in her family’s café.
Thanks @pkml3! I trust that you’re having a good break away.
Yes Ma Eum very enthusiastically suggested that Ji Hyung fed her, but at this stage, she’s seeing it as something the manager does for his subordinate as a reward for her good work. We, of course, know it’s a prelude to dating. LOL.
@Fern, I’ll be watching Ep 3 now, and will catch up with you.
I forgot to add that it’s strangely winsome, the way she’s like a child, skipping beside him without embarrassment. So much more appealing than the usual aegyo!
I’m already back at work, @GB. I had to cut vacation short because of an emergency.
True! That skip is so full of innocence and gaiety.
Oh, sorry to hear that you had to cut your vacation short, @packmule3. I hope it’s something that can be resolved rapidly now.
I was supposed to retire on July 22nd. As I was saying goodbye to some people in the main office, my boss came in to say that my replacement couldn’t start for the beginning of the next school year and could I stay until the end of September? Life is strange sometimes. At least I’ll be paid over the summer now.
In episode 3, I like how OME cajoled, persuaded and brought the writer’s girlfriend back from her escapade. OME was able to get into the girlfriend’s frame of mind and reassure her of her value to the writer, and of his value to his profession. It was done cleverly and believably. Kim Se-jeong is doing a great job here.
I do think that OME’s character has been thrown into the deep end with little preparation about the writer’s personality except for the information that he is lazy and prone to be late. Her state of grace from meeting the first deadline was short lived. GJY is luckier with his writer who explains her habits and needs right away. He can also benefit from overhearing the scolding/lesson given to OME by Seok Ji-hyung. OME doesn’t blame her mentor, instead she says he is correct and literally runs to the writer’s studio.
It struck me that OME wasn’t technically wrong to assume that someone with much experience and fame should be able to call the shots and be relied upon to make good judgements. It will be a delicate dance to side-step all of the pitfalls: her perceived youth and inexperience, the writer’s ego, his tendency to avoidance behaviour and procrastination, his inability to step back from his work to investigate the problems on his own. I look forward to tomorrow’s episode.
Hi @pkml3, I’m sorry you had to cut your vacation short. If it’s any comfort, I don’t get any Summer vacations LOL… we don’t have Summer.
Episode 3 was another good episode. I like that in the course of publishing the ‘light’ fare of webtoons, we explore the more weighty (but not depressing) issue of self and people management.
On Contributing Instead of Thinking of What One Can Get
This week’s advice given by Dept Head Jang Man Cheol and seconded by OME’s thoughts are that we can make a difference, ie the future is not set in stone. Instead of behaving as if there is no future in the Webtoon Editorial Team, JY could take every opportunity to learn as he would be well-placed to lead a next new team should it be formed.
Jang to Jun Yeong: “Give your all, then you’ll see the next step. Nothing is useless in this world. You can even make a tasty dish with leftover side dishes.” … “If you work hard, your environment is bound to change. You don’t know the thrill of that yet. First, you need to break out of that petty pride you have.”
OME to Jun Yeong: “I’ll work twice as hard and do a better job to make sure that the team won’t be disbanded.”
JY : “Knowing that they might ditch you next year?”
OME: “Yes. Because we can change the future. Worrying about what hasn’t even happened yet and feeling all anxious and scared is not my style.” …”… don’t be so sure of what will happen in someone else’s future.”
We see the shift in JY out of his defeatist attitude. He chooses not to go for the new job interview. He decides that he is not running away from the battle, … but had been looking for a more worthy battlefield (He thought in his pride, that he was wasted in that department).
JY to Jang: “I thought I didn’t have to fight hard in this team. I was arrogant.” … “You said my environment would change if I gave it my all, right? I’ll try my best to change my environment. To make this team into a proper battlefield.” I hope it sticks, this attitude of looking at how he can contribute instead of what he can get out of the job.
On Running Away
“There’s no paradise for you to escape to” is a quotation that sets me thinking about the fine line between avoidance/escape and choosing the right path. Ma Eum wanted to change her path from Judo, but her father is likely to think she’s just running away. She still has not spoken to him yet and she’s been at work with Neon for a few months now! She’s running more from disappointing her dad than from Judo.
I like that Jun Yeong’s warning about the closure of the department spurred her on instead of dampening her spirits.
The other character who needs to be shaken out of his lethargy is the so-called mentor Kwon of JY. I dislike him quite heartily now, but would be interested to see if show will also make his character grow a bit more diligent and warmer towards his hoobae.
I was also touched by OME’s vision of running the 3 legged race with Writer Na. To be fair, Ji Hyung had never explained that a PD had to journey with the Writer, hence she didn’t know what to do. We see that the minute she’s clear about the action that is needed, she runs off to take it.
Separately, there may be a stalker of some kind near Writer Pomme, since we get an unknown person’s point-of-view watching Jun Yeong leaving Pomme’s apartment.
Ordinarily I shy away from these female characters – the ditzy, overly bright girls. As a character role, they are actually really hard to get right. There’s a fine line between winsome innocence and downright annoying and vacuous. Kim TaeRi, Moon GaYoung, Kim HyeYoon and Kim GoEun do this well. And I believe Kim SeJeong is winning me over too. 🙂. Maybe it’s her judo? And her lower voice register? She has this vivacious personality which makes it very hard to dislike her. Haven’t had the chance to watch ep3. Will try to catch it early next week. This weekend is busy socially for me.
There are a lot of meaningful quotes in Ep 3 although the lines look and sound ordinary. Those quotes are like life lessons not just for rookie but even for veterans.
@nrllee I agree with your list of female characters. I also like Kim Go Eun and Kim TaeRi… and now Kim Sejeong (these girls don’t care if they don’t look extra pretty). I can associate their characters with lessons I learned from their dramas.
This episode shows value, goal, passion and purpose of people in their team. OME’s boss Seok Ji-Hyeong said that when people have been in the industry for a long time doesn’t mean they are always right. That’s true in many cases.
I appreciate “Today’s Webtoom” since they can incorporate the motto of martial arts like judo to the daily challenges of the people in and around their team.
@Growing Beautifully, I saw that ‘watcher’ point of view in Pomme’s hallway, too. Trouble ahead. Stalker or paparazzi? Will GYJ save the day or become implicated in a crime? Some directors use this shot to indicate someone else watching and some others use it to make it seem more like the viewer is looking in or to heighten suspense (Link Eat Love Kill). This seems like a straight-forward type of drama, and OME already had to deal with someone who was bothering Pomme in episode 1 so I agree that stalker is most likely.
I liked the way that Ji Hyung’s scolding got OME to think of sports parallels – individual events with support vs. team sports. It was a lightbulb moment for OME. What I don’t like is that Ji Hyung has given her few practical examples; he lets her figure it out on her own with only some clues but scolds her in public if she gets it wrong. I preferred the lady editor’s way of asking OME to step outside of the office to a private space to explain things to her and to suggest that she ask her if she is not understanding. It says a lot about OME’s fortitude to withstand such a public bollocking without getting in a funk.
@nrllee, I agree that Kim SeJeong can do this role without resorting to aegyo. Her style is tidy but a bit dorky and practical. She’s always wearing clothing that she can move in, sort of unisex style, which makes her look sort of boxy and muscular. It makes me wonder if she will have to wear a dress and surprise everyone in a future episode.
@Eureka, yes it is interesting to see how habits and tactics from sports can be incorporated into the work space. This reminds me of the more intense kdrama Misaeng Incomplete Life.
Episode 4 has introduced more possible artists who look like they may stay in as side characters. Among them is a girl who has to choose to be an artist (or not) against the wishes of her mother, and a boy who seems to be on some spectrum, badly traumatised or both, who draws dark manhwa in a very raw, un-beautified style.
I find the latter more interesting. I’d like to see if OME gets a chance to mentor him, should he make it through the webtoon camp, to become a signed on artist.
It’s good to see the Jun Yeong has reason to smile now, although he’s been put into a position where he is conflicted. I trust that he’ll put the team before his own interests in the end.
With new characters and a bit of a twist, Show is keeping me engaged. 🙂
Signs that the coupling between OME and mentor Seok Ji Hyung will ultimately take place.
He’s the one to cover her with a blanket when she’s sleeping.
He feeds her.
He good humouredly finds fault with her for saying that he nags her.
I believe the one who uploads complaint videos against the Writer Gang Nam, is none other than OME’s sister, but why can’t OME or her mother recognise the lower part of their own family member’s face in the videos?
It was nice to see that the senior artists were on hand to give advice to newbie wannabes.
We get a bit of back story about how the lady manager chose to bring in Jang of Gingertoon, believing that someone could have restructured the company and Gingertoon might have succeeded, but Heo Gwan Yeong is constantly out to shut Jang and the Webtoon Service team down. I wonder why.
OME’s mum’s method of distracting dad from asking about OME’s absence was hilarious.
I liked how OME and Jun Yeong raced, with smiles on their faces, and he thought he beat her, until he found that she was wearing ankle weights the whole time and still ran faster than him most of the time.
I wonder who the woman was that Jun Yeong thought of, when he looked at OME.
Sin Dae Lyuk the newbie artist who got bullied, has drawn a personification of anger and hatred in a FEEB, where people stand against a religious leader. It would be interesting to know what his back story is that his world is so dark. Also he says he seems to see things without much colour. We get a glimpse of his flashback to being a child and the violence/anger took life as strands of shadows that creeped and wrapped around him.
I agree with your points @GB. This drama is keeping me engaged. It’s a fascinating insight into the life of a webtoon artist and the people who support them. They must make a lot of money. Pomme, Na GangNam and Baek OhJin all live in lavish apartments/houses. Still, their life is no picnic. Work life balance is non existent. I quite like the black and white crude style of outlier Shin. It wouldn’t surprise me if it takes off because it’s so unusual. 2 things that piqued my interest
1. The woman who rang Seok JiHyung. She seemed to insinuate a deeper level of understanding of him? Old flame maybe?
2. And as you observed, this woman (who also appeared in JunYeong’s apartment (?) when he woke up in another ep? I was wondering who she was because she was just there and he didn’t seem to acknowledge her existence which I thought was odd.)
https://i.ibb.co/94wQ6zn/A0-BE15-BC-4-AF0-494-F-9-FCB-F4731-C5-D64-EE.jpg
She seemed far too young to be his mom had she lived. Maybe she died young and he’s seeing her young self?
I laughed out loud when I watched OME’s mom putting her plan to…err…occupy (distract) hubby in motion to cover OME’s absence from home for the week. 😂😂😂. It’s good to see how supportive her mother is of her.
@nrllee The expensive looking apartments of the artists also struck me. They make loads of money when they are successful, but what a terrible thing to have weekly deadlines and hardly any life apart from creating their webtoons.
It was fascinating as well as very disturbing to watch the high stress situations that everyone is in, over publishing on time. I like the senior artist’s motto of having 3 weeks’ of work ready in advance. At the rate they have to go, no one has time to be sick or take a break.
The resounding ‘warning’ is that once they lost their readership, it was hard to get them back.
So mum has postponed the time of reckoning for OME with her dad. It’s going to be fraught if he stubbornly insists that he knows best for OME.
I’m learning so much about the life of webtoon artists. Watching them type with one hand and draw with the other gave me 2nd hand stress. It must have been easier in the days of on-paper publishing? In this case, technology has only served to speed things up and make it more stressful rather than less. Add to that those who have associate artists on call and waiting for the work to arrive, who are financially dependent on them. I had no idea.
The woman, I assumed to be Jun Yeong’s mother. I didn’t realise it was the same person. I did notice that there was no interaction between them, but that she looked at him as though she were proud of him. If she’s calling Ji Hyung, she can’t be a ghost?
The work schedule also makes me wonder how the writers get their ideas and how they change things in response to public comments. I wonder if there is a parallel with the drama writers/directors of some of the shows we have watched which hadn’t been completed at the time of airing.
@Fern First woman I was talking about wasn’t a ghost. She was working in a rival company? She asked for him to pass on new leads (people with potential) from the webtoon camp? I was just wondering if she was SJH’s old flame (competition for OME). It was the second one that JunYoung (other rookie) that GB and I suspect is an apparition.
@nrllee, my bad. 🤦♀️ I was thrown off by your observation 2. when you said ‘this woman’, I thought you meant it was the same one. Yes, I thought the rival was an ex-girlfriend.
NOTE: this is actually for Episode 5
*SPOILERS*
It’s such a relief to me that OME has finally spoken to dad. I recall in “25-21” it was hard for a coach to tell if the candidate was giving up or making a positive choice. It is afterall the responsibility of the coach that the one with talent does not waste that talent by ‘running away’.
Still, OME’s dad looks like a teddy bear… maybe he’s more like one when convinced.
I do not understand why Neon keeps on staff like Kwon. He does hardly any work, finds fault in a high-handed way as if he’s the boss, has nothing uplifting to say to any of the others and now we hear he is a Rookie Artist’s Grave. Poor Seul Ah has probably made a mistake jumping over to Kwon’s project.
It’s intriguing the people management that is required behind the scenes of webtoon creation. It seems that Jun Yeong has a better grasp of how the assistant of Artist Baek feels over failing to debut even after 10 years. Jun Yeong seems to have taken a backseat in this episode, but he still has to decide if he will help Boss Heo to eradicate the Webtoon Dept, or find ways to save it instead.
@Growing Beautifully, I’m still scratching my head at rookies being thrown in at the deep end without first doing a lot more shadowing of the established staff. They wouldn’t make some of their serious mistakes if they knew more.
I agree that Seul-Ah probably has made an error but she needs a salary. I hope at least that she is paid from the time she starts working for Kwon…
I was relieved that OME finally spoke to her father and did so in a thoughtful, positive way and respectfully so she didn’t lose any ground. I hope that he can see her point of view and not remain entrenched in his hopes for her Judo career.
I liked Jun Yeong’s perception during the situation at Baek’s house and why a person has to learn to read the room and not just blurt out the first things that come to mind in a moment of enthusiasm or emotion. He has social skills that are coming out now compared to the first episodes. He will be in a very rough spot trying to please the big boss Heo while managing the team’s good reputation as well.
Hi @Fern, I agree that rookies should have been given a whole lot of mentoring before being assigned artists all by themselves. It’s really not the way to treat both the rookies and the artists.
Well Seul Ah better get paid or her mother will be after her again. Kwon is also not an easy PD to work with.
As for Jung Yeong, it will be good to watch his growth and see if he can walk the tightrope between Dept and Heo. He may surprise us. I’m placing bets that he’ll contribute to the overall growth of the dept so that it does not get the axe. 🙂
Yes, I agree. What’s happening is exactly what the webtoon department boss predicted might happen when they had the discussion about changing departments.
Seok Ji-hyung asked if there was bad blood between the webtoon dept. boss and Heo. The others are starting to notice as well. I wonder if Heo was piqued or jealous that the webtoon manager was brought in by the lady boss?
Hello, @Packmule3, @GrowingBeautifully, @nrllee, @Fern, and @Eureka! I’m watching this show (as well as many others) but not taking the time to read or make comments. I’m devoting my computer time these days to planning my October trip to Portugal.
I think of all the shows I’m currently watching, Today’s Webtoon is becoming my favorite. Part of it is because of Kim Se Jeong’s down-to-earth portrayal of On Ma Eum. Jang Man Cheol is right about his assessment of her: she may not have an academic background, but her years in judo inculcated her with positive characteristics that benefit the workplace. I like that she’s enthusiastic without being an attention hog. I like that she acknowledges her weaknesses and learns from her mistakes.
I have been a bit uncomfortable with the control Coach On seems to exert over his daughter’s life. I don’t like when people have to hide and lie to carry on living as they wish, although such subterfuge is a common Kdrama trope. Coach’s push for her to go to the Olympics is not just because of her talent, but because he wants her to accomplish what he’s regretted he, himself, could not achieve. I was glad to see in Episode 5 that OME proved to her father that she’s retained her skills, continues to love judo, but doesn’t want to compete any more because she wants to pursue other things she loves. She was respectful, but firm, in conveying that message to him. Let’s see if he accepts her choice.
I do think OME has more work to do to recover from her emotional trauma of having won an important match while her opponent had to be carried from the mat on a stretcher. From the flashback we saw in Episode 5, it looks like her opponent was already injured, as her ankle was heavily bandaged. If legal judo moves were enough to cause the opponent’s pre-existing condition to worsen, perhaps to the point of ending her career, that competitor’s coach or team doctor should have withdrawn her from the match. That’s the ideal, but in real life we’ve seen many athletes pushed past the point of their bodies’ limitations, with serious physical repercussions, paying a huge price personally for the glory of their teams or countries. I think OME is bearing guilt for seeing her opponent’s weakness and taking advantage of it for the win, but she couldn’t have known at one glance the magnitude of her opponent’s vulnerability. She did what a competitor should do, as long as she didn’t resort to illegal moves. In my opinion, the outcome was the responsibility of the opponent, her coach, etc. because they made the choice for her to enter the match with a fragile ankle.
The antagonists so far seem to be Kwon Young-Bae, the sunbae PD who has a sour disposition and isn’t a team player, and Heo Gwan Young, the Neon executive who is out to sink the Webtoon Planning Department. It sounds like he played a hand in the buyout of Gingertoon, and wants all the staff absorbed by Neon to be eliminated. He is blatant about wanting Goo Jun Yeong not only to be his spy, but also a henchman that actively sabotages the department. I’m glad to see that GJY is not eager to be Heo’s minion.
I’m worried that in a side arc, Artist Baek’s assistant Im Dong Hee may be driven to the “dark side” because of jealousy over Sin Dae Lyug’s successes despite unconventional manners and drawings. Yes, I do think Sin Dae Lyug is on the autism spectrum, and we see fragments of flashbacks that suggest he was a victim of child abuse. His inability to “read” faces and communicate verbally are difficulties reading social cues commonly experienced by people on the spectrum. His preference for depicting the world in black and white may be a coping mechanism to deal with over stimulation. Some autistic people are highly sensitive to color; the protagonist in the book “The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime” would have his whole day ruined if he saw a yellow car.
@Welmaris, I think that Dae Lyug needs some serious therapy, judging by his flashbacks and reactions to bullying. If Im Dong Hee acts out, Dae Lyug may lose his control. Thanks for your theory about Dae Lyug’s possible autism. It would explain a lot about his social anxiety and awkwardness, but I’m worried that he has mental health issues on top of that.
PD Kwon has almost had an apology for his tactics because he keeps the department afloat. It was sort of an incidence of ‘Desperate times call for desperate measures’ but he should not be deceiving rookie artists. I’m sure you didn’t miss the camera lingering on the photo of his little daughter on his desk. I was proud of Seul-ah for setting limits for herself.
Today’s Webtoon Episode 6
@Fern, I see what you mean about Kwon. As always, we are reminded that it’s hard to judge accurately without knowing the backstory. The only good thing I picked up from scenes of Kwon was that he was a devoted father, and he relished family time. I didn’t like that he pushed work onto his rookie without mentoring him or that he used such harsh, unkind words in speaking with his colleagues. We can see why he gets a free pass for his ill-manners but he really should be called out on them as well. He could be more life-giving in the way he makes comments or just be silent.
OME is beginning to learn from the remarks and advice of others how to not just speak her mind indiscreetly. I thought it was good advice from Artist Na, that she should retrain herself from bad mouthing others, especially other PDs and Artists in front of a client.
Jun Yeong is still on the fringe, but at the moment, does not seem to be agonising too much about what to do. I like that he’s been analysing in what way the dept is succeeding or failing. Perhaps he can suggest the areas that could be changed for a new grow spurt.
@Welmaris, we will see more of Artist Im in the next episode, I believe, from the trailer. There will be more drama surrounding him and Sin Dae Lyug. I did peg Artist Sin as someone on the spectrum from the beginning. It was noticeable that he cannot abide being touched and has difficulty communicating. The poor fellow seems very much alone. I’d like to know if he has family or friends. His world as shown us in his mind and as drawn by him, is so dark and disturbing. He may be dealing with PTSD on top of everything else.
@GB, I was surprised that no one else supported OME in her defense of Seul-Ah. Not even a bit or giving a third point of view. I guess they are afraid to lose their most profitable PD. But I also feel that she perhaps should have gone to the managers above her with her concerns first. She would have received the information about Kwon’s background and utility before the confrontation. Then if she still wanted to confront him, she would at least know more about the situation.
The writers are the ones who have prepared the apology or free pass for Kwon, I guess to show the extent that economics drive any business. However, as you say, he could be more life giving or give more accurate, constructive criticism, even if he has to move the goal-posts due to external factors. There must be more ethical ways to get artists to work hard for a one-off/temporary job if that is his goal.
This is an interesting show in terms of work culture and also in how different individuals confront challenge. Just squaring off doesn’t work, nor does sitting back, observing and being cautious. The boss is good but self-described as soft. The webtoon office is missing a strong team bond. It will be interesting to see how the dynamics change over the course of the show.
Hello everyone watching this show! I’m learning again from these two episodes. I didn’t know that Webtoon industry is as stressful as the other industry. Managing people is one of the hardest thing especially that artists have different ways of expressing their craft. I guess that artists don’t have the time to be moody or chose a specific time to draw when they are at their most productive state.
Both rookie PD’s OMe and Jun Yeong are learning the ropes and they are getting more comfortable with each other.
@Fern I agree that nobody has supported OME regarding the newbie artist Seul Ah. PD Kwon has also crossed the boundary and asked too much revisions from a rookie.
I believe Jun Yeong will use his ability and will suggest some new strategies, with some economic or sales indicator thing to improve their team’s performance