Man is Either Everyone’s Mortal Enemy or the Object of Their Lust
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Review
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Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Legs That Won't Walk.
Content Warning: There may be references to violence, blood, permanent injury (including brain damage), ableism (including use of c-slur and r-slur), self-harm, dubcon, noncon, extortion, gang activity, murder, death, power imbalance, social gap, obsession, homomisia (including use of f-slur), slut-shaming, suicidal ideation, sex work (sex as debt repayment), vandalism, PTSD, implications of grooming (not between the main couple), mentions of corruption, mentions of spying, child abuse, mentions of alcoholism, excessive drinking, somnophilia, BDSM (including forced and dangerous such as breath play), heterosexual sex, slut-shaming, drugging, manipulation, mentions and implications of homelessness (including as a minor), dehumanization, body commentary (including fat-shaming), confinement, torture, mentions of money laundering, cheating (not between the main couple), nonconsenting porn filming, child abandonment, child neglect, theft, underage smoking, prejudice against sex workers, memory loss, sexism, human trafficking, mentions of religion, gambling, cancer, mentions of arranged marriage (not between the main couple), disordered eating, gun violence, mentions of divorce, attempted suicide, drugs, drug trafficking, drug addiction, kidnapping, mentions of underage drinking, parentification, and bullying, as they do appear in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Soo-young has to find a new meaning for his life. He’s used to fighting for everything he has. From when he was small, he had to deal with an abusive father, a mother who abandoned him, and a conman uncle who was murdered, but was his only hope at freedom. Then he discovered boxing and fell in love with another boxer at his gym. Unfortunately, Soo-young ended up suffering a debilitating injury, resulting in the premature end to his boxing career and the need for a crutch in order to walk. His lover is still by Soo-young’s side, but the pressure to help Soo-young “fix” his leg is too much for Soo-young to bear.
But things come to a head when he is approached by a man from a gang who claims Soo-young is the guarantor on a debt he never took out. Unwilling to go down without a fight, Soo-young attacks the gangster, and though it doesn’t deter him, it does lead to a surprising relationship between them. Park Tae-seung, head of the Snakes, has become obsessively attracted to Soo-young, and even if he can’t tie the boxer down with debt, he will do it by any means necessary. But as Tae-seung steadily tears down Soo-young’s walls and their relationship evolves into something physical, Tae-seung realizes he might have destined Soo-young to an early grave because both of them have enemies, and they are determined to get their revenge.
Review:
The art in this is rough. It is unique in that, unlike most manhwa, it is mostly black and white (and, just to clarify, by “mostly,” I mean 99% of it is black and white). But it really grows with the story. The beginning chapters are very inconsistent and very boxy. Over time, it settles into its more realistic art style, though that boxiness and inconsistency don’t entirely disappear. It is worth noting that much of this series is full of dubcon/noncon. Now, why would I be mentioning that in the art section? Because even the consensual acts feel very violent. If you are looking for sweet and sensual lovemaking (I hate that word, by the way), that isn’t here. This style lends itself really well to a dark, violent story, which this is, even in the not-so-dark and violent sections.
Now on to the story. As I mentioned, this is a very dark and violent story overall. I love a dark story, probably more than most fluffy or soft stories, but there are dark stories that are done well and those that are not. This, unfortunately, was not done well. If you’ve read Missing Love: The Marrying Man, the pacing is very similar. Soo-young, our main character and downtrodden bottom, attracts rapists and murderers alike. Everyone either wants to kill him or fuck him. There is no in between. And this is a relatively large cast, full of characters that play villains in various ‘arcs’ in varying degrees. But no matter what, the moment they meet Soo-young, they want to rape him or kill him.
And that is the main point of contention in every ‘arc’ of this story. It repeats itself over and over until the main story reaches its end after 109 episodes. If you consolidated some of the villains down, I think at least a third, if not more, of these episodes could’ve been cut out, and the story would’ve been better for it. It is truly a slog to get through, and the never-ending repetition of rape, attempted murder, and memory loss becomes predictable and boring very fast. Any punch or intensity these plotlines initially had is lost. Mix in the gang politics plotline, too, and this is just a mess. It may not have been as bad if the transitions between scenes were better, as there are many moments we jump dramatically from one thing to the next, and it can be hard to keep up, but even then, the sheer mass of the repeated content is just too much for what this was trying to convey.
Now, I have to give credit where credit is due. There are some powerful narrative points in this one that, had they been present in a better overall story, would’ve had me swooning. There is a journey Soo-young and Tae-seung take as characters that is actually very powerful. For Soo-young, it is learning to accept help and learning to trust rather than fight all the time. We see this through subtle actions. He refuses to let people help him up when he falls; he makes a point of avoiding people who try to push him to get his leg fixed, etc. As the title suggests, it isn’t that he can’t walk, it is that he won’t. He won’t allow himself to be vulnerable with anyone, wanting to fight off anything that might make him weak. Similarly, Tae-seung has always felt he could take whatever he wanted or needed because he had to do so to survive. But when he realizes his obsession can cause him to lose the very things he wants or needs, he does a 180 and decides to push Soo-young away. It isn’t until Soo-young reminds him that he can fight for himself, but is willing to be vulnerable with Tae-seung, that Tae-seung finally lets Soo-young get close to him. It is a beautiful transition, muddled by a ton of unnecessary drama. Very disappointing.
Before I close out this review, I did want to mention for my BDSM fans out there that this does have a lot of humiliation, breath, and impact play. It is much more on the dangerous and hardcore side than many BDSM-focused smut that I usually see, which is nice. It isn’t as good as Aporia, but it is a nice way to diversify the intensity of the BDSM BL you might be used to reading.
Results:
This was a huge disappointment. And since it is so long, it is not only a major time sink but also a very expensive one. I will say, there is an alternate-universe side story where Soo-young gets pregnant, and they have an ugly baby, which is a nice change of pace from the beautiful manhwa babies I’m used to seeing, but reading this whole thing just to get to those is certainly not worth it. It has potential, and I think if this had been appropriately cut down, it would’ve been very good, but we are left with a muddled stream of repetition. If you are just desperate for some harder BDSM content, then maybe this is worth it for you, but otherwise, I just don’t think it is.
Have you read Legs That Won't Walk? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!
