Comic Strip Review: My Life as an Internet Novel by A. Hyeon & Yu Han-Ryeo
Dani Hahm is fourteen years old and looking forward to her first day at Daedam Middle School. Or at least she was. When Dani woke up today, a completely different school uniform was laid out for her. One that looked like something out of a school life comic book. Dani’s mother insists this is the correct uniform, and it does fit. Then there’s a knock at the front door, and a beautiful girl Dani has never seen before is there. This is Cheonyong Yoo, who claims to be her best friend, and drags her off to school.
Cheonyong seems confused by Dani not seeming to recognize her, and once they arrive at Jijon (“Epic”) Middle School, Dani’s claim that she’s not enrolled there. Dani rushes off to find her own school, only to discover there’s no Daedam Middle School anywhere in Seoul. Along the way, she bumps into four super attractive boys her age, and is steered back to Jijon. It turns out that all these hot boys are in the same class with Dani and Cheonyong.
Dani finally figures out that she’s somehow in an “internet novel”, with all the usual stereotypes and tropes of that brand of romance story. That’s why no one thinks it’s odd for middle school boys to have anime hair colors and the collective nickname of “the Four Heavenly Kings.” And why Cheonyong, who is drop dead gorgeous, completely blanks on the notion she might be attractive.
All is not roses and honey however. Dani realizes that she’s been cast in the role of “plain best friend of the heroine.” Which in most romance novels means that she gets stuck participating in the drama but without the sweet payout. She’s explicitly compared to Hyangdan, the faithful maidservant of the heroine in The Tale of Chunhyang.
Plus, due to the quarrel she can’t remember and Dani’s initial attempts to avoid getting involved with Cheonyong, it’s hurting her relationship with her new friend. And because the four hot boys have become very protective of Cheonyong, they’re not happy with Dani either.
This story began as, itself, a Korean online novel, before being adapted as a webcomic which is here being collected into bound volumes of which this is the first.
This first volume is mostly setting up the initial premise and making fun of the cliches of the genre. The Four Heavenly Kings stick pretty strongly to their shallow stereotypes, so we don’t really get a good handle on who they actually are at this point. Indeed, there’s very little romance in this section as the characters are not mature enough to recognize their own feelings, but Dani knowing where this is obviously heading.
The art is okay, but tends to “same face” so it can be hard to tell people apart without their distinctive hair. Dani being “plain” as opposed to the gorgeous Cheonyong is something we just have to accept because the story says so (though apparently that will be a plot point later.)
Content note: Brief fisticuffs, some blood. A mean girl does some social bullying. Dani and Cheonyong’s relationship (once they’re friends again/for the first time) is way more touchy-feely than is usual in American culture, but apparently this is more normal for Korean teenagers. There are hints that Dani’s bisexual, but don’t expect this to be relevant to the main story.
The “meta” humor is what largely carries this first volume. It remains to be seen if the story can keep up interest once the serious plot fully kicks in.
Recommended to fans of teen romance and internet junkies.
