[Magazine Kave=Choi Jae-hyuk Reporter] On a congested commute, a high school student races down the sidewalk on a bicycle as if flying. Dressed in a red tracksuit, he turns corners, gets caught stealing snacks, and saves an elderly person from a traffic accident. If 'Spider-Man' swings between buildings in New York, the protagonist Jin Mori flies through the alleys of Seoul on his bicycle.
The first impression of Naver Webtoon 'God of High School' (hereafter referred to as God of High School) is encapsulated in this one scene. He seems to live carelessly, but his fighting skills are unmatched. Jin Mori enters the readers' view like this. While 'Naruto' shouted his goal of becoming Hokage, Jin Mori laughs, saying, "I want to fight strong people." It's simpler, purer, and thus more threatening.
The Simplest Setting, the Most Explosive Development
The skeleton of the story is as intuitive as the World Martial Arts Tournament in 'Dragon Ball'. High school students from all over the country gather to participate in a fighting tournament called 'God of High School'. Regardless of the form, whether it's mixed martial arts, traditional martial arts, or street fighting, they determine who is the strongest. The winner is granted one wish of any kind, an outrageous condition.
Jin Mori's motivation is the purest. Just as Saitama from 'One Punch Man' fights as a hobby, Jin Mori fights for fun. By his side are Han Daewi, who hides his fists, and Yu Mira, who wields a sword to carry on her family's legacy. They are like the core trio leading the early narrative, akin to Team 7 from 'Naruto' or the Straw Hat Pirates from 'One Piece'.
The early matches take place in familiar settings like classrooms and gyms. However, as the rounds progress, the scale of the fights rapidly expands. What starts as simple combat eventually enters the realm of 'superpowers' and 'supernatural abilities', transforming the arena into a battlefield where myths and legends intertwine.
The core setting of the work, 'superpowers', is the ability to borrow the strength of transcendent beings such as gods, monsters, and heroes. Characters summon figures like Chinese immortals or Korean generals and monsters to fight. In essence, the reality of high school students is layered with the myths of the world.
Interestingly, Jin Mori fights solely with physical abilities in the early stages. When his opponent conjures a storm with their superpowers, he retaliates with kicks and punches. This provides a thrill similar to Saitama from 'One Punch Man' defeating monsters with a single punch. The setting of a high school student overwhelming superpowered opponents with just his body is a strong hook in the early part of the story.
However, as the story progresses, relying solely on physical strength reaches its limits. In this process, Jin Mori's identity, past, and the origin of his power are gradually revealed, and the work expands from a 'high school fighting tournament' to a narrative of war entangled with gods, humans, and massive organizations.
Inflation of the Worldview, From Classroom to Universe
The stage extends beyond the city to the sky and other dimensions. Governments, secret organizations, the religious group 'Nox', and the strongest fighting group 'Six' all attempt to use or destroy the tournament for their own purposes. The tournament becomes a prelude to reshaping the laws of the world, not just a simple show.
Even in this massive whirlwind, the protagonists do not lose their identity as high school students. Yu Mira stands against the fate of her family's honor and legacy, while Han Daewi faces a greater choice in the fight he started to save a friend. Just as Tanjiro from 'Demon Slayer' fought for his family, they too struggle to protect their own precious values.
The latter part of the development resembles a large console RPG. Mythical monsters descend upon the city, portals to other worlds open, and divine beings clash. High school students are caught in a situation akin to the scale of 'Avengers: Endgame'. Yet, Jin Mori states, "I just want to fight with my friends." Even amidst the grand mythical battles, the theme that permeates the work is ultimately 'friendship and growth'.
Explosion of Energy... The Great Alliance of Myths
The greatest strength of 'God of High School' is its overwhelming energy. While inheriting the grammar of traditional shonen manga, it reinterprets speed and rhythm to fit the characteristics of the webtoon medium. Utilizing vertical scroll direction, it maximizes the trajectory of strikes and aerial battles, delivering the impact of action in sync with the reader's scrolling speed. This has been praised for opening a new horizon in webtoon action direction.
The art style is also flexible. In comedic scenes, it is expressed lightly with simple lines, while in battle scenes, it meticulously depicts the movement of muscles and shockwaves. This control of strength in the artwork serves as a key mechanism for regulating the pacing of the story.
The balance of character narratives is also noteworthy. Jin Mori, Han Daewi, and Yu Mira fight not for a grand mission to save the world, but to protect specific targets such as friends, family, and their clan. As the scale of the fights grows, these personal motivations become more urgent. In particular, Yu Mira's process of choosing responsibility and growing independently leaves a heavy aftertaste rarely seen in shonen manga.
The Completion of 'Korean-style Shonen Manga'
'God of High School' is undoubtedly regarded as the 'completion of Korean-style shonen manga'. It appropriately fuses the thrill of Japanese battle stories with the scale of American superhero tales, based on Korean martial arts and sentiments. This originality led to a Crunchyroll animation production in 2020, proving the global impact of K-content.
This work is the optimal choice for readers who value the intensity of cuts, the thrill of techniques, and the excitement of reversals over logical coherence. Just as 'Dragon Ball' became the benchmark for battle manga, 'God of High School' remains an important milestone in Korean webtoon action.
The work does not settle for reality and races toward inflation and mythology until the end. While it may seem like an exaggerated story to some, it is undeniable that it is a mad result of the author's energy poured in until the end. A story that starts with kicks and ends with saving the universe, is there a more 'shonen manga' ending than this?
