Before I get into reviewing this I want to make it clear that none of the content being reviewed in this post is suitable for children and even for adults is probably going to be confronting. Anyone who has been following the copious posts about Killing Stalking on Twitter probably already know that, but just giving everyone else fair warning.
Review:
Chapter 6 gives us a break from violence or even the implied threat of violence as Sangwoo and Yoon Bum seem to have found a new equilibrium early in the chapter. That doesn’t mean Bum isn’t jumping every time Sangwoo looks sideways at him, but there’s definitely a feeling that things are slipping into a slightly warped but stable pattern.
However, for a story that so far has pushed the audience and gone for shock, violence is replaced almost entirely by sex in terms of how much space it takes in the chapter and for some this might be just as confronting. Particularly when you consider the position Yoon Bum is in. This is not a romance built on good intentions or anything even vaguely stable. Most tellingly when Sangwoo pushes himself under Yoon Bum’s shirt and comments on how warm it is, comparing it to being back in his mother’s belly. Even when he isn’t being violent, Sangwoo remains a highly disturbing character.
Some spoilers below.
I’ll admit, I was waiting for the moments that came at the end of the chapter given someone posted there own thoughts on the situation on Twitter so I kind of knew it was coming and was paying fairly close attention. The only thing that I was left wondering about was why on earth does Bum feel Sangwoo is in any way being honest? Sangwoo who has played Bum at every single step and now he’s left him alone in the house with a warning to not cross the line. Seriously, read between the lines and realise you are being played.
Of course, even if the Twitter spoiler of what happens next hadn’t been a thing the clear clue to the audience is the umbrella. Sangwoo clearly comments on the rain while he’s on the phone and then we get three very clear images of Sangwoo exiting the house and leaving that umbrella sitting in the umbrella stand.
Killing Stalking is not subtle, but it does do foreshadowing very well. When something is seen like that, it is going to be important.
So now of course I want to read the next chapter but at the same time I’m a little apprehensive about just what will unfold.
Thank-you for reading 100 Word Anime.
Join the discussion in the comments.
Karandi James
I should be packing but I needed to know what happens here. Maybe I really should read this.
‘comparing it to being back in his mother’s belly’
Wow. That’s a whole new level of creepiness.
I imagine sex of any kind would be unsettling considering the extreme power imbalance between these two. Good luck for the next chapter.
This story keeps finding whole new levels of creepiness to dive into. Good fun but not for the faint of heart.