A Man Who Dates Everyone Meets a Man Who Only Wants to Date Him
About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Date Me, Too!.
Content Warning: There may be references to gossiping, violence, overwork, blood, trespassing, and obsession, as they do appear in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Kang Juyeong has been in love for a long time. He’s had a crush on the same man since they were in high school together, but Juyeong has always kept his love quiet and distant, admiring the popular and athletic Choi Hyun from afar. He cared for Hyun so much that he switched his preferred college to Hyun’s at the last moment, just to continue seeing him. Things haven’t changed all that much from high school, though Hyun has become the talk of campus – and not for good reasons.
Everyone suspects that Hyun is impotent because he dates anyone who will ask him out, but for the short time they are together, he never touches his partners. This leaves them feeling unloved and unwanted, which inevitably ends with them dumping him within a week of getting together. People are so interested in Hyun’s dating life that they start throwing out bets for who will be the next to date him. Juyeong couldn’t care less about money or bets, but is very interested in Hyun. So, when he finds Hyun in the midst of a violent breakup, Juyeong jumps at the opportunity to finally date the man of his dreams. As expected, Hyun agrees, but it’s clear that Juyeong will have to put in some work because dating Hyun isn’t as easy as one might expect.
Review:
I’m not gonna lie, as clean as Chada‘s work was in Define the Relationship, the design of the character Ash made me nervous. He came off as suspicious and untrustworthy to me, even though he’s meant to be the super sweet and romantic gentleman. I feared the same might happen in this series. That is actually not the case at all here, which I was so relieved by. That’s not to say the art is perfect by any means. This is a bit messier than Define the Relationship, which is to be expected since this is older, but the characters, even those with big, expressive eyes like Ash’s, are much sweeter-looking. I’m still not sure what my issue was with Ash in that series, but I am so thankful that’s not an issue with every character.
But let’s move on to the story. This is truly a short story. I’ve read plenty of shorts at this point, but this is one of the shortest at only five episodes long. That made me super nervous because I’ve had some really bad luck with shorts that were full manga volumes or were at least 29 episodes. Surely something even shorter couldn’t be better, right? Well, lo and behold, this one is pretty strong. It isn’t narrative-heavy by any means, but that’s its strength. A lot of these short titles take on far more plot than they could ever reasonably and satisfyingly resolve in the time they have. This story is hardly a story, and that is its strength.
The plot is very simple. Guy (Juyeong) has a long, unrequited love for another guy (Hyun). The other guy is suddenly super accessible. The first guy jumps on the opportunity and discovers that the other guy is super busy. Instead of being deterred, the first guy uses this to endear himself to the other guy. This leads to requited love and, in turn, smut. It’s a straightforward formula that doesn’t require these super deep plot points, and it creates an energetic pace that I found immensely satisfying. It has story beats, but we don’t dwell on them. Is it superficial? Yes. Is that a bad thing? In this case, I don’t think so. It’s the perfect amount of depth for the amount of time it had, and I really like that.
Something else I really like that I want to bring up before I close out this review is the final conflict, the reveal that there was a bet, leading up to the climax, and eventually the resolution. I hated this when it first showed up as the final conflict. This is a super common conflict we’ve seen in 90s and early 00s romantic comedies, assuming you are as ancient as I am. Usually, in those cases, it is an actual bet that was taken, which leads to immense pain when it is revealed and calls into question whether or not anything the person said or did was ever honest. This is even worse because Juyeong did not take part in any bet, so I presume this is going to be an annoying and painful misunderstanding. But to my surprise, Hyun doesn’t get upset in the angry sense – he gets upset in absolute despair, and rather than assume what he’s heard is 100% true, he asks Juyeong, they have an open dialogue about it, they confess to each other, and then that’s it. Resolution time. I can’t express to you how relieved I was and how, in turn, satisfying this was to see.
Results:
This was a real treat. I went in not expecting much, and, in all honesty, expecting the worst, only to be proven completely wrong in the best way. This is not for anyone who is looking for a tear-filled, hyper-romantic, and deep tale. But if you want something quick, easy, packed with cuteness and some raucous smut at the end, look no further. Sure, this isn’t necessarily a favorite, but it’s a good time. I am immensely satisfied.
Have you read Date Me, Too!? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!