Morangji's ​Odd Girl Out

Reviewed by Anson Leung

(Webtoons, 2020-present)

Morangji’s Odd Girl Out manhwa is about a teenage girl with self-esteem issues, Nari Oh, who feels constantly inferior to her group of good-looking close friends. The beginning chapters of the series have her trying to find ways to avoid spending time with them during lunch. She does this in order to avoid any unwanted attention they draw to their lunch table, which is caused by admirers constantly captivated by their good looks. Slowly but surely, she understands her newfound friends, and an old one, much better. She discovers and helps with their own issues, and finds that they have problems of their own, despite being immensely popular. She learns that she isn’t as inferior as she thought, and her friendships with them solidify over time into lifelong bonds.
 
The main strong point of this manhwa is in its emotional enthrallment. Even if the story sometimes goes into exaggerated territory, soap opera levels if you will, the reader never fails to feel the emotion the author wants them to feel. Sadness, excitement, happiness and humor come to mind. Some stories follow a somewhat cliché formula, of which the manhwa later is guilty in Part 2, but Part 1 of the manhwa (Chapter 1-214) has such deep storytelling that it far supersedes the quality of these somewhat tired stories. In fact, any clichés that come with it are executed so well that the reader won’t mind them at all. The emotion is gripping, and you won’t be able to stop reading it because you’ll want more. There are many good stories, even world-class ones, that you nonetheless feel like you can put down at any time. But there are a few out there that you can’t, and this one comfortably fits into that category.
 
Odd Girl Out shows you the perspective of Nari Oh, as she strives to fit in with her friends. Her finding out how to accept her friend group, despite being inferior in them in terms of looks and talent, is a huge part of the manhwa. Nari Oh struggles to find acceptance with them, but the irony is, they all love Nari Oh. They have talent and good looks, but they love Nari because of her deep empathy and dedication towards being there for them when it matters. They all have fun in a natural manner, with no backstabbing between friends, which we see other friend groups experience in the story. Nari is a form of emotional support for each of them during their darkest times. As the story focuses on the problems of the four main girls, it shows how Nari is there to help them out. It also sometimes shifts the protagonist spotlight to each of them, while Nari becomes a side character in their story. While Nari is the main protagonist, this form of storytelling is needed to go into the girls’ problems so we can flesh them out more. Nari is still the main character of the story, especially in Part 2 during the manhwa’s decline.
 
There are conflicts in the story that Nari and her friends contend with. The first is Nari’s problem in the form of Bin Kim, affectionately known as “Trash Bin” by the fandom. Despite initially seen as a reprieve from the unrelenting attention she gets by being surrounded by her main friend group, she soon learns that Kim is a backstabbing bi*ch who uses her wealth to gain social status, and uses that same social status to bully whoever she pleases for no reason whatsoever. Nari soon becomes isolated from her friends she made with Kim’s friend group, and also isolated from her classmates because of Bin’s influence. She also has a self-imposed isolation from her own friend group because she felt inferior to them, and finally wanted to quit their group after someone uses her just to get close to Yuna. I like how the author paints an increasingly bleak picture of her situation, which only gets worse with each progressive chapter for a while before she resolves it. It’s a very good slow burn.
 
A silver lining is that she discovers how special her old friends were, because they always stood by her no matter what. She apologizes to them, becomes friends again, and stands up for herself against Bin’s group. After they leave Nari alone, Bin soon finds herself in the same situation of social isolation, having been called out for her selfish behavior. I like how the manhwa makes Nari decide not to pursue revenge, and leaves Bin to deal with the consequences of her own actions. Nari is allowed to preserve a moral high ground and still leave a winner. Earlier on, Yuna helps Nari out by using her higher social status to humiliate Bin publicly. This is also cathartic, as the manhwa now effectively has Nari being able to eat her cake and keep it, too. Also, bonus points on being aggressive towards the bully rather than unconditionally forgiving her for no reason whatsoever, like most other comics tend to do.  
 
Her friends’ conflicts, however, are not nearly that simple. All 3 of them, especially Mirae, have problems that go beyond a typical classroom bully.
 
Seonji Lim, the photogenic dark-haired girl in her group, was initially from a neglected household, and as a result suffered from abject poverty and an untreated skin condition. In elementary school, she was forced to borrow school supplies from everybody because her parents didn’t buy her any, which annoyed them to no end. She also was not that pretty because of the skin condition, and thus attracted no attention from boys. She was all alone, and nobody wanted anything to do with her.
 
Her first friend she made was Yeseul Jin. What Seonji didn’t know at the time was that Yeseul decided to only be friends with her out of pity, and to use her as a virtue signal to boost her own social standing.

​In junior high, Seonji moves in with her grandmother, where she gains basic necessities. This includes medicine to clear up her skin condition. As a result, unlike her elementary school days, she now looks beautiful. Coupled with the fact that Seonji attracts all the boys’ attention, Yeseul soon becomes jealous. She orchestrates an elaborate series of lies that relies on circumstantial evidence to turn the school against her. Seonji, despite having evidence to clear her name, decides not to take action against her because she pities Yeseul for wanting to boost her reputation so badly that she’s willing to resort to lies. Thus, at the start of the series, Seonji is isolated at Nari’s school because the rumors of her bad behavior, namely the false rumors of her stealing Yeseul’s boyfriend, have followed her.

The complexity of the bullying itself, coupled with the fact the unique power that Seonji can break out of her predicament if she just lets Yeseul suffer the consequences of her actions, is quite unique among stories in which high school girls suffer bullying. She pities Yeseul for wanting her reputation so badly, which is why she does not want to reveal the truth. I like how she doesn’t actively stop her friends from spreading the truth for her, though. Showing that while she does have empathy for Yeseul, she has enough self-respect not to suffer needlessly anymore when help is offered.

On the other hand, Yeseul is implied to be genuinely remorseful and knows she can’t go back to the way things were, thus painting her in a morally grey area. She, unlike Bin, isn’t fully a villain. She, in her own way, sincerely apologizes to Seonji. Very surprisingly, especially given Seonji’s personality, the apology is rejected, and Seonji tells Yeseul to think of what it means to be a friend. This implies that it’s not enough to simply be remorseful; a person has to earn forgiveness by changing their behavior to the desired results the recipient expects. Intent is not enough; to be friends, both people have to understand what the other wants. This is a fairly profound lesson, and one that will resurface during the Yuna arc.

Mirae Seo’s case is one that attracts national attention. As a child actor, a horrible director edited footage of her during a reality television show to depict her as a brat, which was true at first, since her initial personality was selfish and rude. Despite her improvements in personality once she realizes her behavior, the director is desperate for ratings and continues to depict her unfaithfully. With the help of her actor friends, she uses evidence to clear her name. Despite this, she realizes that the people who attacked her over the internet did so because she was an easy target; they didn’t care once the truth came out, and moved on to something else. I like this part of the story because not everyone will realize this, and will blame themselves for the hatred of others. A life lesson here from the author that should not be overlooked. To paraphrase her words (great analogy by the author), it’s like “being pelted with rocks; one or two won’t hurt too much. But a thousand will”. Realizing that her old classmates, who she thought she was good friends with, helped slander her on the internet forums, she closes herself up to other people. Her relationships with her friends are only on a superficial level because she fears being hurt again. But Nari and Seonji bare all their secrets to her to show how deep their bond is, showing that Mirae doesn’t have to hide from them. This a beautiful show of friendship the author has depicted. Simple, effective, and heartwarming. How many readers, I wonder, wish their friends would do the same. A bit of wish fulfillment, but very satisfying nonetheless. The best is still yet to come.
   
Yuna’s backstory is a beautiful stretch over more than 10 chapters, detailing her initial dislike of Nari’s naïve childlike attitude from their Grade 1 days, to her slowly but surely accepting her company during her car accident. It shifts to her developing a codependence with Nari due to her isolation from other people. This recontextualizes why Yuna always seemed to help her out in the present time. It goes beyond mere friendship, and borders on obsession. It explains how Yuna was somehow able to “coincidentally” meet Nari after all those years of being apart. It explains why she was there to help Nari put down Bin earlier on by humiliating her with her higher social status. It also explains how somebody, while seeming so smart at times, can also have poor social skills. Never mind that she was blunt to begin with because she saw herself as superior to the other kids with her natural gifts and family wealth. The complexity of Yuna herself, the complexity of the situation between how Nari and her friendship deteriorated, is a multi-faceted tapestry that needs several re-reads to truly appreciate. Yuna was obsessed with keeping her only friend to the point her mom noticed it and tried to curb her behavior. She went as far as throwing tantrums and putting on a controlling front when it came to who Nari could make friends with. None of that was out of malice, but rather fear of losing one of the things she valued most. Nari, on the other hand, felt Yuna do this, and tried to make her treat her as a better friend. She was worried Yuna was taking advantage of her kindness, and wanted a real friendship to happen, where both were on even ground. She pushed back against Yuna, and Yuna misinterpreted this behavior as a sign she wanted to break up as friends. Yuna doubled down on her behavior out of fear and paranoia. People who wanted to monopolize both Nari and Yuna sabotaged their relationship even further. Through no one person’s fault, this entire mess was made. The author thus shows the value of communication. Both Yuna and Nari needed to actively talk out their problems, even if it was hard to do so. And when they do, after waiting so many chapters, it is a beautiful scene. The author shows the brilliance of a powerful friendship etching itself into the night sky that Yuna and Nari stand under, and the reader will enjoy it immensely.

There are quite a few characters in the manhwa. All of the main ones were mentioned above. The kindhearted and photogenic Seonji who likes food, the intelligent, beautiful and rich Yuna who is above everyone else, the kindhearted and dogged supporter Nari Oh, and the tomboy with the uncouth attitude, Mirae. There is an excellent dark horse character, namely a friend of Bin’s who shows signs of succumbing to peer pressure, yet becomes a close friend to Nari outside of the main group of four after much struggle from peer pressure versus her conscience on doing what’s right. Personally, watching her character development is almost as satisfying as watching the main cast. Other colorful characters include a 12-year-old martial arts prodigy who Mirae starts a friendly rivalry with in art school, a nice neighbor who talks to Nari for advice even though he’s a grown man, and Nari’s jerk of an older brother who likes fried chicken. A lot.  
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Odd Girl Out is a manhwa with an endearing protagonist. She is an enormous underdog at the beginning. But she makes friends with a lot of people. She doesn’t use talent or wealth. What she uses is kindness, empathy, dedication towards her friends, and being there during hard times. That’s a lesson every reader should take to heart when it comes to friendship. 

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​Anson Leung is a graduate of the University of Alberta’s Bachelor of Commerce program. He is an Alberta-based writer who loves all forms of writing, including poetry and article writing. In his spare time, he loves playing tennis and board games.