About:
Warning:
There will be spoilers for the manhwa series Shoot My Shot.
Content Warning: There may be references to police, dubcon, harassment, stalking, obsession, mentions of flashing, corruption, mentions of death, sexual assault, pseudo-incest, mentions of cheating (not between the main couples), power imbalance, prejudice, relationship between boss and employee, strained child and parent relationship, mentions of break ups, BDSM, violence, child neglect, marriage of convenience (not between the main couples), excessive drinking, gossiping, classism, homomisia, forced arranged marriage, blood, extortion, attempted murder, and mentions of divorce, as it appears in the manhwa.
Synopsis:
Officer Jaehui Yoo lives in an extremely small town. While that means his work is relatively peaceful and easy, it has the negative effect of making it nearly impossible to find other gay men. Jaehui would love to get off with someone, but no matter how often he checks his dating apps, there just aren't any options in his small town. He's bemoaning his unfortunate situation when a whiny man is brought into the station. The man throws an absolute tantrum, claiming he doesn't remember where he lives as he's just moved into town. Jaehui approaches to help when the man stops, stunned. Instantly, the man claims Jaehui is the one for him.
The young man's name is Hoon Dokgo. And though Jaehui would love a bedmate, Hoon is a bit too obsessive for Jaehui's taste. But Hoon isn't dissuaded in the least. Every moment of every day, Hoon hunts Jaehui down, hangs around the police station, and declares that Jaehui is his. Unfortunately for Jaehui, this leads to multiple unwanted sexual encounters that he ends up enjoying. Hoon is packing, and while Jaehui may not be interested in the man, he's interested in what the man has to offer. Jaehui is determined to shake off this annoying fly of a man until it's revealed his father is none other than Police Commissioner Youngsik Dokgo.
He doesn't believe Hoon at first, but when they head to his father's house, he encounters not only the commissioner but also his own father. If things weren't already bad enough, it turns out Jaehui's father, Taeha, and Youngsik were lovers in college, and they've now found their way back to each other. So, now he's being pursued by what is the equivalent of his stepbrother? Will Jaehui ever find peace, or is he destined for this chaos for the rest of his life?
Review:
The art in this is pretty inconsistent, which for a comedy manhwa isn't all that surprising. I'm not expecting perfection, as often, the chaotic energy of the art lends itself to the story's humor. However, a big surprise was how pretty it was during the sex scenes. There is a moment when Jaehui makes a stunning ahegao face with the classic heart eyes, and I stared at for far too long. I loved those moments a ton, and really, all of the sex scenes are pretty enjoyable on the art front. Smut-wise, this one is a huge winner. There are very pretty panels outside of the sex scenes, but I think the coloring and shading give it a very flat look that isn't all that appealing. It's not the best, but certainly not the worst.
However, before I move on to the story more directly, I need to talk about something I'm not a fan of: the character designs. Jaehui looks like a carbon copy of his father. Similarly, Hoon is a pretty close replica of his father. This leads to some really creepy dynamics where Youngsik seems like he's hitting on Jaehui (right in front of his father, mind you) because Jaehui looks like a younger Taeha. Then, there's the reveal that the reason Hoon was acting all feral and wild before being brought into the station is because he jerked off to his father and Taeha having sex, and it turns out that Hoon was super attracted to his father's lover. That's why he fell in love with Jaehui at first sight… because he looks like his dad. ICK. That made me super uncomfortable, and it just tosses away any possibility of Hoon's love being actual love. It's solely based on the fact that he looks like his father and is available to Hoon, unlike Taeha himself. Sad and gross.
On the other hand, I love that we see some older men going at it. I've read a few titles where the father or an older man is added into a side couple, but we don't get any hot and steamy scenes with them. That is not the case here. I'd actually say we see more sex between Taeha and Youngsik than we do the young guys, which I was all for. Their story is also much more interesting and cohesive than the main one, which is good and bad. It's good for them but bad for the overall story. Unfortunately, as much as I like the dads' story, it is a massive tonal shift from the main story, which is more comedic. Their story is full of sadness and abuse, and though we know it has a happy ending, going from a more messy, lusty, and lighthearted story to one that is much heavier is a bit jarring. Part of me wishes they had gotten a spin-off instead, so maybe the main story could've been better fleshed out and not have to share focus between the kids and their parents, and the dads' story could have been given the time and atmosphere-building it really needed.
Overall, this is “Chaos the Manhwa.” The main story is formatted like a weekly comic strip, compiled into a much larger work, which makes it feel disjointed. I'm not too bothered by it since it is a comedic and smutty series, so we're not talking about a deep and powerful story here, but it would've been a better experience if it had been formatted differently. It's not the best experience out there, and though I have been calling this a comedy series, I didn't laugh all that much. It tries really hard on the comedy front, and there were some giggles here and there, but there were lots of moments that just didn't hit. It's a bit lacking on that front, and I wouldn't recommend it for the laughs, personally.
Results:
This is a bit of a miss for me. It is a super quick read, and if you're looking for more porn than plot, this is probably a big win for you. But if you're looking for something actually funny, I'm not sure this is the one, at least not for me. On the comedy front, I think The Devil's Temptation is much funnier. If you want better art with your comedy, My X Report is a better option. The porn is a win, the humor is not, and the story even less so, but it's relatively inexpensive on the money front and the time front, so it's hard to fault it.
Have you read Shoot My Shot? If so, what do you think? Do you agree with my assessment? Do you not? Let me know, and comment below!