Lookism

Lookism manages to tackle difficult social situations with a lovable array of characters. It follows the concept of "Lookism" (The judgment of others based on looks alone), and everything that surrounds the term. I loved the webtoon, and held high hopes for the animation. I'm happy to report that I absolutely adore Lookism in this format! It's like it was made to be animated! The OST is fantastic, and it helped bring a lot of the scenes I loved to life. I've been telling everyone I know to watch it, since it needs to get a season 2! Please everyone give a lot of love to this show, I promise it deserves it!

First off, let me disclose that I have not read the webcomic, so I am judging this show for its own qualities and not for how well it adapts the comic.

Conceptually speaking, the show has a lot of potential. Bullying is an amazing topic to make a show about. At points, the show really convinces me, that it has what is needed to explore it, but at other points I am just let down.

This show shines when it comes to the characterization of the bullied characters. Time and time again, it gives them amazing characterization with a lot of heart to it. You sympathize with them, their interactions makes sense, and their feelings are realistic to those of bullied teens.

I absolutely hate how the general public and every teen is characterized in this show.

Women in the background will constantly talk about how weird it is that a handsome guy talks with ugly losers or actively agree with people that bully and beat up those 'losers'. I understand that this has roots in reality, but there literally are scenes that show the public actively cheering on the beating up of a fat child and bullying that child on the internet. It's crazy how cruel everyone is shown to be.

I kept hoping that at some point, this would change. That more than an incredibly rare few people would develop empathy. Perhaps that the series shows us how change in that regard is possible.

Instead, people don't change and I think this is incredibly disappointing.

Picking up on that point, it's horrible to watch how bad the main character is at defusing situations. He will barely be able to say 3 word sentences in shock before a fight ensues. At some point it just feels like the show forcing it.

I think the show has a lot of potential, but it keeps falling flat again and again. Hopefully some of those issues might be resolved in season 2 with the writing of the webtoon creator/netflix writers improving too.

Although I don't believe the themes of this anime will resonate with everyone, it certainly is a moving animation. The Anime is centered around the concept of how visual appeal directly effects one's life with an intense focus on extreme bullying and hazing that would push most over the edge in just a short while. I could imagine this type of violence might be traumatic to some viewers. I could certainly sense a palpable sense of realism, as though the writer may have drawn some inspiration from truth. It definitely dredged up some memories for me as well. But looking past that, into the myriad of ways this story explores this type of societal norm from both sides through eyes of the main character is a refreshing perspective. I would like to say that, although the surrounding characters lack depth, and mostly act as plot mechanisms for this sort-of pseudo-Cinderella tale, the story and the plot certainly do not and thicken with each episode, drawing the viewer in with tension. It's the first time I've really seen an anime like this one. It's heartbreaking and heartwarming to watch. I can't wait for another season.

This was my first introduction to Lookism both as an animated series and as a manhwa, and I must say it was a lot better than I expected! A LOT BETTER. At first I thought it was gonna be your average freaky-friday/bullied-becomes-chad/corny-overexagerrated-coming-of-age-story - while it certainly had elements of it (especially at the beginning) - it treated a lot of the topics a lot better and more skillfully compared to the other genre flicks I just stated.

Where this show gets dragged down though its with its rocky start especially from episodes 1-3. From the start we get introduced to unlikable characters (even the protagonist) which will certainly turnoff a lot of new viewers coming in (I guess this is where most of the 1 star reviews come from) But trust me, they do get better, the characters become more lovable. I do believe the start could've been handled better, but I also believe the unlikable aspects those characters had (especially the protagonist) was needed in order to establish the character arcs they had later on (and also to further drive home the message of the show) Past those episodes the series really takes off, and we get a fantastic bingable show, with surprisingly human characters.

Would recommend, just know that the start may turn some people off, so keep an openmind that the show gets A LOT better.

I don't understand the 1 star ratings - have you even watched the series? It just came out lol Regardless, I really enjoyed it - animation is well done, voice acting and singing was also really good.

Bullying is not an easy theme to narrate, although I believe Lookism did a good job. One may think it's a bit exaggerated, but it is like that... especially when you are targeted due to your looks.

The "twist" is also quite interesting, without spoiling anything... I'm curious about how they are going to explain it. Perhaps reading the webtoon will respond to these questions... Hopefully a second season will be released!