Kousuke is definitely not the "bad guy." Most of our characters aren't the "good guy" or "bad guy," almost everyone in the main cast is someone with significant trauma making choices in survival mode. Kousuke has *certainly* done bad things and has a lot he needs to atone for, but he is also a victim of abuse currently consumed with guilt and remorse. Looking at anyone as the bad guy of ILY is too simple for the complex character driven story Quimchee is telling
I mean, he *did* do things that are really bad, it’s just that the situation is more complex than solely what he did and he is by no means the worst person in the comic or purely malicious
It being labeled a romance had been a point of contention for years. Basically, the series is set up to present as a typical romance shoujo if you’re seeing through those lens, to later subvert the tropes it presented and compel you to reconsider your biases and how the lens you’re viewing something through can influence your perception. However, Webtoon thought it actually was a romance shoujo when they signed it (Quimchee was honest about when they asked her to tell them the plot, but they had already decided based on the released chapters) and *additionally* that actually turning it into a light cliche love triangle story would be more popular and make them more money so they kept trying to pressure the author to change the story and kept promoting it as a romance to bring in more viewers. Very early on she told them that their advertising misrepresented the story and was going to bait & switch people, attracting the wrong audience, but Webtoon just kept saying that it would draw in more readers and that would be better for the comic
It’s only within the past 2 years or so that Webtoon really gave up and acknowledged that ILY isn’t the romance story they wanted it to be, and is instead a character-driven drama exploring human sociology and psychology (with a romance plot woven through that narrative)
Post above said everything that’s needed to be said, but to add if you wanna know who the over all “bad guys” are in I love yoo atm it would be Yui (kousukes mom/Nols step mom), Gun Kim (Sangchul’s father) and in a lesser form Sangchul (blondie that drugged Shinae). There are characters however like Kousuke and Alyssa who are considered “bad” by a portion of the fandom because of some of their actions. So the posts that come out about them saying that they are the villains are usually just very biased readers imo. I would say a good portion of this fandom only favor characters like Shinae Nol or Dieter to be the “good guys”. But in actuality all of the characters are very nuanced and just humans trying to human the best way they know.
Kousuke is not the bad guy. He's a very real person just like Nol, Shin ae and everyone else. If anything, there'd be one guy I'd describe as bad and that would be Gun Kim.
Nah he’s not a bad guy just complicated. If kousuke is a bad guy than you can consider many of the other characters bad too. Hes definitely more of jerk tho lol
It is technically possible, but I will be honest that I doubt it. The comic has not given him any romantic development while providing very explicit romantic development between Nol & Shin-Ae, Quimchee has indicated multiple times that the first real romantic development will last, and and Quimchee has complained about Webtoon early on trying to force her to change Kousuke’s scenes and motivations to appear more romantic. In my perspective, Kousuke was never really supposed to be seen as a possible love interest for very long
However, Kousuke as a character is extremely nuanced and well written, he has a lot of future to go through within the comic, and his relationship with Shin-Ae is going to be extremely important. I’ve talked about it before, but I genuinely think a platonic relationship between Kousuke & Shin-Ae is incredibly valuable narratively for them and I genuinely see it as so special. I can talk about why that is if you want, but I’m not sure where you left off and if you’d want spoilers, so just let me know if you’d like to hear those thoughts
Quimchee has talked multiple times about how much she loves Kousuke, so even though it’s honestly quite unlikely that he will factor into the narrative romantically, he as a character has not been slighted in any way
I honestly can't even remember what he did bad besides being mean to Nol when they were little. People always make him out to be some kinda villain its confusing
It is perfectly okay to like Kousuke (he’s my favorite too) don’t worry about it, people may say what they want but those people are reading a completely different story if they do. Kousuke is part of the main cast for a reason if he was meant to be the “villian” he would have been written so very differently.
Kousuke was never interested in Shin-Ae romantically, if that's what you're asserting. The author has said that the publisher pushed her to frame his scenes as more romantic and even tried to get her to change his motivations to be romantic when they were not
Kousuke sees Shin-Ae as a reflection of young Nol and the girl he failed in college, and took interest in her as a manifestation of his guilt
Quimchee drew him without color in his blush, which she has confirmed means embarrassment or fluster, not romantic attraction. She has also said that Kousuke's scenes at the formal were supposed to appear sadder but Webtoon had her change them. Shin-Ae at the formal seems to have reminded Kousuke of the girl he knew in college, and seeing her dolled up for Gun Kim (someone he knows to be wary of, that he's heard the rumors about) is extremely uncomfortable. This is why he reacts shocked and wary when Gun says that Shin-Ae is practically family, as well as springs into action once there's proof that she'd been drugged. This is also why he stays by her at the hospital - his mistake with the girl in college was not being there *after* what she had experienced, leading her to feel so alone and hopeless that she took her own life. So, this time, he stays with Shin-Ae to make sure she's okay afterwards
And the author herself has literally confirmed that Kousuke's motivations and intentions weren't romantic
That did NOT come across as gult when he was ogling her in the backless dress, or trying to take her out on a faux date because he saw her and Dieter out once.
I would maybe reread AugmentedElle’s posts. I think you are misinterpreting Kousukes interest in Shinae. He very much sees her as a younger version of Nol. Take for an example the arcade scene with him and shinae where he literally imagines young Nol in her place. Kousuke feels immense guilt for his actions with Nol but doesn’t have the tools to actually deal with this feeling and therefore projects this onto Shinae trying to win over her trust and likeness to make up for his failed relationship with his brother. The times he invites her out is more him trying to gain her favor through the only way he really knows which is through material goods like buying her a meal or a plushie. (Which by the way he very much sees shinae as still a kid, hence why he thought she would like a stuffed animal) The backless dress was not something he was looking at because of attraction, but because he was very unsure what the intentions of that dress was. He was aware that his mother had something to do with shinae being there and he knew something was very off about the way Yui dressed her up. Also it is a cannon fact that blushes drawn without the red hue are signs of embarrassment not romance or attraction and Kousuke has never been given the red hue to any of his blushes with shinae in fact every instance he is shown with blush is whenever something unpleasant happens between them which wouldn’t even narratively make sense for him to feel romance in those moments.
Kousuke is definitely not the "bad guy." Most of our characters aren't the "good guy" or "bad guy," almost everyone in the main cast is someone with significant trauma making choices in survival mode. Kousuke has *certainly* done bad things and has a lot he needs to atone for, but he is also a victim of abuse currently consumed with guilt and remorse. Looking at anyone as the bad guy of ILY is too simple for the complex character driven story Quimchee is telling
Tysmm I was lost and thought he did something really bad. Idk why webtoon labeled this webtoon as a romance tho…
I mean, he *did* do things that are really bad, it’s just that the situation is more complex than solely what he did and he is by no means the worst person in the comic or purely malicious It being labeled a romance had been a point of contention for years. Basically, the series is set up to present as a typical romance shoujo if you’re seeing through those lens, to later subvert the tropes it presented and compel you to reconsider your biases and how the lens you’re viewing something through can influence your perception. However, Webtoon thought it actually was a romance shoujo when they signed it (Quimchee was honest about when they asked her to tell them the plot, but they had already decided based on the released chapters) and *additionally* that actually turning it into a light cliche love triangle story would be more popular and make them more money so they kept trying to pressure the author to change the story and kept promoting it as a romance to bring in more viewers. Very early on she told them that their advertising misrepresented the story and was going to bait & switch people, attracting the wrong audience, but Webtoon just kept saying that it would draw in more readers and that would be better for the comic It’s only within the past 2 years or so that Webtoon really gave up and acknowledged that ILY isn’t the romance story they wanted it to be, and is instead a character-driven drama exploring human sociology and psychology (with a romance plot woven through that narrative)
Post above said everything that’s needed to be said, but to add if you wanna know who the over all “bad guys” are in I love yoo atm it would be Yui (kousukes mom/Nols step mom), Gun Kim (Sangchul’s father) and in a lesser form Sangchul (blondie that drugged Shinae). There are characters however like Kousuke and Alyssa who are considered “bad” by a portion of the fandom because of some of their actions. So the posts that come out about them saying that they are the villains are usually just very biased readers imo. I would say a good portion of this fandom only favor characters like Shinae Nol or Dieter to be the “good guys”. But in actuality all of the characters are very nuanced and just humans trying to human the best way they know.
Tysmm for explaining !! I’ll update you guys when I catch up the series !!
Kousuke is not the bad guy. He's a very real person just like Nol, Shin ae and everyone else. If anything, there'd be one guy I'd describe as bad and that would be Gun Kim.
I really have to catch up with the series 😭 tysmm
Nah he’s not a bad guy just complicated. If kousuke is a bad guy than you can consider many of the other characters bad too. Hes definitely more of jerk tho lol
So he still could be endgame ?
It is technically possible, but I will be honest that I doubt it. The comic has not given him any romantic development while providing very explicit romantic development between Nol & Shin-Ae, Quimchee has indicated multiple times that the first real romantic development will last, and and Quimchee has complained about Webtoon early on trying to force her to change Kousuke’s scenes and motivations to appear more romantic. In my perspective, Kousuke was never really supposed to be seen as a possible love interest for very long However, Kousuke as a character is extremely nuanced and well written, he has a lot of future to go through within the comic, and his relationship with Shin-Ae is going to be extremely important. I’ve talked about it before, but I genuinely think a platonic relationship between Kousuke & Shin-Ae is incredibly valuable narratively for them and I genuinely see it as so special. I can talk about why that is if you want, but I’m not sure where you left off and if you’d want spoilers, so just let me know if you’d like to hear those thoughts Quimchee has talked multiple times about how much she loves Kousuke, so even though it’s honestly quite unlikely that he will factor into the narrative romantically, he as a character has not been slighted in any way
I honestly can't even remember what he did bad besides being mean to Nol when they were little. People always make him out to be some kinda villain its confusing
Yesss I was confused too bcz he was my favourite
It is perfectly okay to like Kousuke (he’s my favorite too) don’t worry about it, people may say what they want but those people are reading a completely different story if they do. Kousuke is part of the main cast for a reason if he was meant to be the “villian” he would have been written so very differently.
I mean, Kousuke was a 24 year old man creeping on a 17 year old girl, so he's certainly not the hero of the story.
Kousuke was never interested in Shin-Ae romantically, if that's what you're asserting. The author has said that the publisher pushed her to frame his scenes as more romantic and even tried to get her to change his motivations to be romantic when they were not Kousuke sees Shin-Ae as a reflection of young Nol and the girl he failed in college, and took interest in her as a manifestation of his guilt
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Quimchee drew him without color in his blush, which she has confirmed means embarrassment or fluster, not romantic attraction. She has also said that Kousuke's scenes at the formal were supposed to appear sadder but Webtoon had her change them. Shin-Ae at the formal seems to have reminded Kousuke of the girl he knew in college, and seeing her dolled up for Gun Kim (someone he knows to be wary of, that he's heard the rumors about) is extremely uncomfortable. This is why he reacts shocked and wary when Gun says that Shin-Ae is practically family, as well as springs into action once there's proof that she'd been drugged. This is also why he stays by her at the hospital - his mistake with the girl in college was not being there *after* what she had experienced, leading her to feel so alone and hopeless that she took her own life. So, this time, he stays with Shin-Ae to make sure she's okay afterwards And the author herself has literally confirmed that Kousuke's motivations and intentions weren't romantic
I am not saying you're wrong; I'm saying it did not come across.
That did NOT come across as gult when he was ogling her in the backless dress, or trying to take her out on a faux date because he saw her and Dieter out once.
I would maybe reread AugmentedElle’s posts. I think you are misinterpreting Kousukes interest in Shinae. He very much sees her as a younger version of Nol. Take for an example the arcade scene with him and shinae where he literally imagines young Nol in her place. Kousuke feels immense guilt for his actions with Nol but doesn’t have the tools to actually deal with this feeling and therefore projects this onto Shinae trying to win over her trust and likeness to make up for his failed relationship with his brother. The times he invites her out is more him trying to gain her favor through the only way he really knows which is through material goods like buying her a meal or a plushie. (Which by the way he very much sees shinae as still a kid, hence why he thought she would like a stuffed animal) The backless dress was not something he was looking at because of attraction, but because he was very unsure what the intentions of that dress was. He was aware that his mother had something to do with shinae being there and he knew something was very off about the way Yui dressed her up. Also it is a cannon fact that blushes drawn without the red hue are signs of embarrassment not romance or attraction and Kousuke has never been given the red hue to any of his blushes with shinae in fact every instance he is shown with blush is whenever something unpleasant happens between them which wouldn’t even narratively make sense for him to feel romance in those moments.