Killing Stalking Chapter 19

Posted on by Karandi

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:

Well, that is apparently the end of the first volume or season or whatever they want to call it and it ended about as well as could be expected. Two truly horrible people, made so by their upbringing and the society they lived in, found each other and now the second one has definitely had a taste for killing.

The surprising choice of this chapter was that most of it was spent on a flash back of Yoon Bum in highschool and a girl who once befriended him. Turns out Yoon Bum was pretty weird even back then due to his uncle and he mistook overtures of friendship for something more to be rudely pushed aside before being fully discarded once the girl’s personal situation improved. Apparently Sangwoo was not the first person Yoon Bum had become obsessed with.

Essentially the point of the flash back, other than once again giving us plenty of reason to understand why Yoon Bum is Yoon Bum, is to draw an absolute parallel between the girl chained in the basement and the girl who cruelly used and then ditched Yoon Bum way back when. The flash back is even triggered after the girl delivers this insult:

“You dirty, perverted parasite.”

And then she tells Yoon Bum to just die. Her words echo the words of the girl from high school.

After we see the flash back it is obvious Yoon Bum has snapped. Not that he had much of a grip on his sanity prior to this, but it has definitely left the building as Yoon Bum sees the current girl as the girl from high school and he screams at her that she’s the one that should just die. And… Yoon Bum has a knife in his hand. It isn’t pretty what happens next but the one positive is at least for the girl it is over pretty quick. Unlike Sangwoo, Yoon Bum isn’t up for playing with his victim, he just wants to make the voices in his head go away.

The chapter ends with Sangwoo congratulating Yoon Bum on the kill and asking him how he feels. Not surprised at all that Yoon Bum says he can’t feel anything.

This has been an experience. At the moment this is the end so I’ll start thinking about whether I’m picking up something else to read and review or whether I’ll just stick to anime for a while. I’m still not sure if I will continue reading this once more is released, honestly, I’m kind of happy with this as an end point for the pair. It is kind of sweet in the way that they’ve drawn together against the world, even if I suddenly feel very alarmed for everyone Sangwoo knows.

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Karandi James

Killing Stalking Chapter 18

Posted on by Karandi

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:

Okay, so we’ve gone from really messed up to so messed up there are no words to describe it. First of all, pretty much Sangwoo and the girl are either naked or in just underwear for the entire chapter though I somehow doubt you made it this far through the story if nudity was going to offend you given the early chapters.

Secondly, Sangwoo beings interrogating the girl about why she was treating Yoon Bum poorly earlier in the evening. At first she’s a bit puzzled and then she actually starts getting both angry and concerned.

“Sangwoo, why are we talking about this right now?”

Then of course, Sangwoo reveals who is in the closet and the girl runs screaming, only that door is a real pain with its electronic lock and Sangwoo drags her down into the basement. After a minor scuffle, that ends about as well for the girl as you would expect, she’s chained to the pole and Sangwoo helps Yoon Bum down the stairs.

There’s a bit of back and forth at this stage, but it is clear Sangwoo is just messing with the girl. He does not intend for her to get out of the basement alive. So going into chapter 19 we have a couple of options. Option 1 is that Yoon Bum is actually about to kill the girl at Sangwoo’s insistence. Option 2 is that Yoon Bum may wimp out and Sangwoo will still kill the girl and find some other way to torture Yoon Bum. Option 3, though I doubt it, is that Yoon Bum may actually turn on Sangwoo for all the good that will do him.

Honestly, not sure what to expect in chapter 19 but I am very curious to know.

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Killing Stalking Chapter 17

Posted on by Karandi

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:

The after party continues and as much as Sangwoo has proven himself to be a very disturbed and quite sadistic human being, you have to wonder what excuses his friends may have?

They are horrible people. From the guy who won’t move to let Yoon Bum out (he’s using a crutch to walk, get out of his way), to the girls giggling over whether or not he has a girlfriend. They are petty and cruel and when Sangwoo kind of suggests they are all just future fodder (or maybe he really just changes friendship circles, his phrasing was ambiguous), you kind of don’t feel sorry for any of them.

This seems to be a reoccurring theme in this story. As horrible as both our protagonists are, everything they’ve faced outside of their twisted relationship has also been pretty horrible. It isn’t a subtle message, but it is clear that these monsters were made by the society they live in and now society is going to have to deal with them.

Still, Sangwoo is as cruel as ever. After taking Yoon Bum home and shoving him in a closet, telling Bum not to leave until he let’s him out, he then goes and retrieves the girl he earlier ditched. But, and this is where my concern for her immediate safety kicked in, he called her away from the others with a text before meeting up with her.

Jieun, without anyone else knowing, come down. I’ll wait for you.

I guess for her, she thought she’d struck gold. Her earlier jealousy over the fact that Sangwoo was leaving with Yoon Bum erased, she was all smiles.

I do not know what Sangwoo’s next plan is but at the end of this chapter it is clear he is in true sadistic form this evening, given he was having sex with the girl right outside the cupboard he threw Yoon Bum into.

There are no decent human beings in this story.

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Killing Stalking Chapter 16

Posted on by Karandi

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:

So this chapter wasn’t great either but as its only up to chapter 19 (at least where I’m reading it) I’ll finish up to there and see if that is actually some sort of end or not.

The girl apparently has a big crush on Sangwoo (why does everyone like this psycho) and she gets so nervous that she messes up her part to be saved by the oh-so-amazing Sangwoo. Afterwards, the girl is waiting for Sangwoo as she and some friends are going out but Sangwoo has tracked down Yoon Bum who is hiding in a toilet.

Just in case we forgot that this story contained explicit sex scenes, here’s a totally unnecessary one thrown at us. Previously, while this has been graphic at times, those scenes have seemed necessary to either show the changing relationship, the psychological state of the characters, or have been mixed with violence to add to the overall psychological tone of the series. This one just felt gratuitous and didn’t seem to add much of anything. Even Sangwoo got bored midway.

Sangwoo then takes Bum to meet his friends (wait, isn’t Bum still technically a kidnapping victim – never mind) and Sangwoo’s friends react totally appropriately by staring at Bum like he is some kind of three-headed alien.

So still feeling that around chapter 14 this story and I went our seperate ways but as I said at the start I’ll finish up what’s currently available.

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Killing Stalking Chapter 15

Posted on by Karandi

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:

So after the nothingness that was chapter 14 this chapter does at least have some bite to it but what is wrong with the people in this story? And I don’t mean the lead characters who have both clearly established themselves as unstable.

Anyway, they have actually gone out of the house and while Sangwoo is behind stage or whatever waiting for his turn to sing with some random girl that we’ve been given no reason to care about, Bum actually tells not one but two people in the audience that he’s been kidnapped. He desperately asks one girl for help and to call the emergency line.

And guess what her response is? She knocks him to the ground (remembering he’s recently had his legs broken though they’ve clearly healed a fair way at this point) and then calls him a pervert. Excuse me? Someone just told you they’d been kidnapped and asked you to call for help. Even if you don’t believe them and think they are crazy, calling for help still seems like a good plan.

Then Yoon Bum apparently just gives up on getting help and listens to Sangwoo sing getting all teary as he tries to convince himself he doesn’t love Sangwoo.

To be honest, chapters 14 and 15 haven’t been particularly good, or interesting. If chapter 16 doesn’t pick up I’m probably going to call it there.

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Killing Stalking Chapter 14

Posted on by Karandi

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:

Depsite this being a long chapter, very little actually happens. Sangwoo goes to Yoon Bum’s former address and grabs some of the stuff, pays off the land lord and returns bringing Yoon Bum (who is back to being chained up but no longer in the basement) crutches. Then Sangwoo says something strange about them going out. So… Is Yoon Bum still imprisoned, as the chain suggests, or not?

And really, that’s all I got out of this chapter. No thrills, no games, no emotional up and downs. Nothing. I get that not every chapter is going to be a gem but I’m just not sure what exactly we were supposed to get out of this. If they wanted to show us Yoon Bum’s pathetic life before Sangwoo, we already had a firm picture. Maybe there’s something significant in some of the objects Sangwoo collected but there’s nothing in this chapter to let us know that.

Part of me had been wondering how long before this story lost steam. I mean, how long can you keep someone imprisoned and find ways to make that entertaining to the audience without just going too far? Maybe it was jut me but this chapter felt like it was just stretching content.

Oh well, I’ll see what the next chapter brings.

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Killing Stalking Chapter 13 Review

Posted on by Karandi

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:

This chapter is kind of amazing.

It is substantially longer than the previous one but all that build up comes to a head here and yet we get to the end of the chapter without anybody dying but it isn’t a let down.

If you aren’t interested in plot spoilers please stop reading now. There’s a few big ones in this review.

The police officer uses the lame excuse of a noise complaint to Sangwoo to get inside the house. We know Sangwoo doesn’t buy this. Firstly because we know that he’s stood outside and shouted for help with Bum with no concern whatsoever for anyone hearing or complaining. And in case that wasn’t enough to make the officer’s story totally suspect and for the readers to figure out that Sangwoo knew this, we get this line from Sangwoo:

“Which is why I’m so surprised you received a complaint…”

The whole scene as Sangwoo allows the officer to check the house just smacks of Sangwoo’s usual games. It’s satisfying enough but nothing spectacular and then the officer notices the missing knife.

At this point the reader inevitably draws the conclusion that his time is short. It’s going to be brutal and its going to happen soon. We keep cutting between Sangwoo and the officer to Yoon Bum who is cowering, hands over his mouth (which is interesting in and of itself given this is potential rescue material but clearly Yoon Bum isn’t interested – unless he’s also smart enough to have figured out there’s no chance of one guy overpowering Sangwoo and is waiting a better chance).

Then the officer does the second idiotic thing in this chapter. To delay leaving he pretends to receive a phone call. Of course he actually gets a real phone call. It all seems like death is looming.

And finally, Sangwoo leads him to the wardrobe. He’s going to open the door and then he’s going to stab the officer with the knife. But that isn’t what happens. I love being surprised by a story in an intelligent manner and not something totally random. So the officer opens the wardrobe and there is no Yoon Bum. The officer is confused. He was certain someone was in the house. He was sure the wardrobe was where they had to be. But there’s nothing. And so he leaves.

Then, and this is why I started this review with ‘this chapter is kind of amazing’, we get this expression from Sangwoo:

That was so incredibly satisfying. For 13 chapters we’ve not seen Sangwoo even vaguely rattled. Crazy certainly, furious occasionally, smug and self-assured almost constantly, but that look… I would almost say it is worth reading the 13 chapters to this point, even if this isn’t your style of story, just for the satisfaction that this look will bring you.

Following this Sangwoo literally tears around the house, almost mirroring the path of the police officer, frantically searching. Then he runs outside and has kind of a break down and we get a weird mix of sexual desire and murderous intent. There’s also some foul language but all of this can be neatly summed up by Sangwoo’s statement:

“He actually ran away.”

Sangwoo is being hit by mixtures of betrayal, heart-break, loss of control, rage, abandonment issues, and there’s definitely some sexual tension thrown into the mix. And it shakes him hard.

Meanwhile, as a reader I’m frantically trying to put the pieces together. I know Yoon Bum hasn’t run away because the whole time the search was on we saw Yoon Bum in the closet…

Wait, no we didn’t.

We saw Yoon Bum in a small space, cowering. I assumed, as the police officer did, that he was in the wardrobe because that’s where we saw the foot through the mail slot in the door. And suddenly I get it.

It’s a very weird reunion at the end of the chapter and what, from anyone else, would sound like a marriage proposal but all and all it just means that this creepy and highly dysfunctional relationship is going to continue and now I’m really not sure what the end game is unless eventually the plan is for Sangwoo to just snap. More importantly, the officer still knows something is off. Will he come back?

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Killing Stalking Chapter 12 Review

Posted on by Karandi

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:

It’s definitely wrong for me to get my hopes up that the police officer will prove useful. It’s definitely wrong. Even if he doesn’t turn out to be completely inept, I’m pretty sure Sangwoo is not going to take any interference lightly. Still…

Not going to lie; seeing the police office actually see this in the footage and follow up kind of gave me hope that maybe there’s an out to this that doesn’t involve complete tragedy.

Of course, that just makes me think the writer is playing us the way Sangwoo keeps playing Bum. There’s the possibility, the che smallest of chances, that somehow things will be okay. Right, you believe that? Let’s snatch it away and watch you crumble.

Chapter 12 is pretty short and really we see the police officer get the footage and begin using his time to watch Sangwoo (I’m avoiding the term stalk only because well that mirrors Bum’s story too much but it might be accurate of what is happening here). Naturally because the officer in question has no friends at the station he’s working solo and the chapter ends with Sangwoo literally catching him on the doorstep.

I think there’s a great deal of credit needed for the writer here. Nothing in this chapter was unexpected and yet it still managed to keep me waiting and built tension beautifully throughout.

Seriously worried this is not going to end well for the officer.

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Killing Stalking Chapter 11

Posted on by Karandi

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:

Okay, I’m confused, but that’s probably because I don’t get the whole black box thing.

This chapter gets us out of Sangwoo’s house for the first time in awhile. We follow the pint of view of that police officer we met quite a number of chapters ago. Turns out he isn’t well liked by the other police (partly because of past success, and because he’s new in the area, and partly because his personality stinks). Anyway, while out on patrol he comes across a argument between two drivers who have had a minor collision. I’m assuming the younger one is Sangwoo (or maybe he’s Clark Kent, I’m not really sure on that one given despite there being a police officer on the scene neither motorist was asked to identify themselves).

Anyway, it gets to a point where the police guy asks the two drivers to hand over their black box footage and given the next drawing, I’m guessing that’s some sort of camera in the car, but I’m not entirely sure. Nor am I entirely sure why the younger driver at that point admits they were both at fault, though the police officer jumps onto the idea that maybe he has something to hide on the footage.

Which then got me thinking so the rest of this is random speculation. If the driver is Sangwoo (which is a logical deduction given I don’t think we know any other characters at this point that it could be) and if we assume the black box footage comes from a car camera that can operate when the car is not operational, then there’s been a recent incident involving Sangwoo’s car that might be of note. When Yoon Bum crawled into the street and was beaten down, Sangwoo threw him at one point onto the hood of a car. If the camera caught that then it would be on the footage.

Again, this is highly speculative and I have no idea if that is how the black box thing works or not, nor do I know for sure that it is Sangwoo or his car.

Still, that might be some way to move the story along if someone actually starts looking for Yoon Bum.

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Killing Stalking Chapter 10

Posted on by Karandi

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:

How is it? Your first killing.

I’m going to stop being surprised by how twisted Sangwoo is eventually.

There isn’t much too this chapter so this is going to be pretty short. Essentially, having lost the card game, Yoon Bum is now terrified of being killed but Sangwoo isn’t done playing just yet. He decides to have the other guy be the one to kill Yoon Bum.

Only, as much as the other guy wants out of there, homicide is apparently a step too far. So, Sangwoo, being the sweet guy he is helps him out. By blindfolding him and then taping the knife to his hands. Let me just assure you this doesn’t end well and leave the rest of the scenario for you to find out when you read it.

Taken by itself, this chapter really is nothing. As a follow up to the previous events, it is as horrifically perfect as can be expected. Although, given Sangwoo seems very seasoned at this sort of thing I have to wonder where he’s been hiding all the bodies.

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