May 20, 2020
This manhwa has been critiqued a lot and I do understand why. However, I found it interesting and wanted to share some thoughts.
Art shouldn't be defined by its fanbase. I think Killing Stalking has many similarities with "Lolita" by Vladimir Nabokov. If you find Lolita disturbing, you have a right to. If you see it as romantic story about forbidden love, then you do. But the story isn't famous for being controversial only. I watched the movie when I was underage and didn't understand why it even was made. I didn't like and felt like it wasn't something I should be watching. About five years
...
later something made me watch the movie again. Maybe it was me growing into an adult, becoming more mature or studying literature and learning how to see behind the words, but the story opened to me in a whole new way. Art can be interpreted in different ways, but if we really look at the choices the artist has made and try to have an open mind, yes, there are right and wrong interpretations.
So, why am I talking about Lolita, when I should be reviewing Killing Stalking? Because both of them take their audience and show them good sides of a sick relationship, but only to show us how twisted the abuse can be. The strong moments that explain why both of the characters want to be together. In Lolita, Dolores does things that signal that she is mature, sexual and that she maybe wanted to be with this older man. But what we should take from it is that non of that matters. No matter how in love the victim seems to be or how willingly they act, abuse is always the abuser's fault. In Killing Stalking Bum is not underage, but his consent cannot be looked at as real. The first encounter in the house of his "lover" is traumatic to say the least. Everything from that on is him trying to survive. Just like Hubert is an unreliable narrator in Lolita, telling himself this girl more willing and sexual and mature than she is, bum is unreliable in a way that we cannot know if his feelings are real. And in the end he doesn't seem to know that himself either. Someone said there are too many sex scenes but I didn't think those scenes were unneccessary. They fit the story well.
Killing Stalking is not a bad manhwa in my opinion. It has a nice art style that fits the story well, and some cool storytelling tricks can be found in there too. The dialogue feels real. There is a lot of gore and horrible things happening but it keeps the reader on their toes. Can be too harsh to read if you are sensitive to that kind of subjects. Definetly for adults only. I think the best thing about it was the atmosphere and feeling that the artist has created. Very immersive and intense and even in the parts that show the main characters as a couple there is always this scary tone in the background.
Not perfect, but for me it was very enjoyable.
Reviewer’s Rating: 9
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