User:RAllauigan/The God of High School
| The God of High School | |
|---|---|
| 갓 오브 하이 스쿨 God of High School | |
| Genre | Shounen, Action, Comedy, Supernatural |
| Author | Park Yong Jae |
| Magazine | Line Webtoon |
| Original run | 2011 – ongoing |
The God of High School (Korean: 갓 오브 하이 스쿨; RR: Gahd Obu Hai Sukool) is a webtoon written by Park Yong Jae. God of High Scool was first posted on Naver Webtoon on 8 April 2011[1], and has been ongoing ever since; it was one of the first webtoons to receive an English translation at the launch of Line Webtoon app and website in July 2014. Since then it has received a mobile game and an original video animation attached to the aforementioned game's original soundtrack.[2]
Plot
[edit]The God of High School is about a 17-year-old martial artist from Seoul, South Korea[3]. At the start of the webtoon, Jin Mo-Ri is in the midst of a fist fight proclaiming himself to be the best fighter. A blonde haired man in a suit then appears and invites him to a martial arts even called "The God of High School." Mo-Ri only agrees to fight when the blonde haired man knocks him out in one punch.
Characters
[edit]Jin Mo-Ri/The Monkey King
Jin Mo-Ri is a 17-year-old martial artist from Seoul, South Korea who practices a fictional version of the Korean martial art Taekwondo called Renewal Taekwondo (shortened to Re-Taekwondo)[4]. Later in the series, after the mystical "Borrowed Power" is introduced Mo-Ri is labeled as a Genuine Fighter meaning he uses martial arts to fight rather than borrowing power from other beings, hence the name Borrowed Power. However, the reason Mo-Ri is so powerful is due to his true identity of the mythical Sun Wukong, inspired by the Ancient Chinese Novel Journey to the West much like Goku from the Dragonball manga series.
- Han Dae-Wi
Han Dae-Wi is a 17-year-old martial artist from Seoul, South Korea who practices Kyokushin Karate[5]. He was taught the fighting style by the creator of the art himself Mas Oyama. Dae-Wi starts off the series as a hard working young man who works to pay off his best friend's hospital bill due to terminal cancer. After being invited to the God of High School tournament and it's prize of a wish that makes anything come true, Dae-Wi participates to cure his friend of the disease. His Borrowed Power is that of an odd looking mythical creature with the ability to control water as a defensive tool or a weapon as well as augmenting attacks.
- Yoo Mi-Ra
Yoo Mi-Ra is 17-year-old swordsman from Seoul, South Korea who is the 25th master of a fictitious sword style called the Moonlight Sword[5], which emphasizes strong yet fluid attacks. At the start of the series, Mi-Ra is portrayed as a normal high school aged girl in a typical relationship. However, she is soon harassed by another group of students picking a fight with her significant other and later with her. While the boy struggles, Mi-Ra easily beats the other students and breaks up with the boy. She is then approached by another official inviting her to God of High School, with her wish of finding a suitable husband to be granted. Mi-Ra's borrowed power is of an Ancient Chinese general named Lü Bu, which is loosely based off of the historical figure of the same name. This power gives her several abilities such as enhanced strength and the ability so summon a red horse.
- Park Mu-Bong/Jin
Park Mu-Jin is portrayed as the figure in charge of the God of High School tournament in South Korea. In the series, he acts as a mastermind by laying out plans to achieve his goal of obtaining power. His borrowed power is called "Longinus' Hand" which manifests as two yellow crosses appearing on each of Mu-Jin's hands. The name Longinus' Hand is loosely based off of Longinus the Roman soldier from Christian history who said to have pierced the side of Jesus during the Crucifixion, hence the crosses on the character's hands. Longinus' Hand allows him control over gravity and as a defensive shield.
- Jin Tae-Jin
Jin Tae-Jin is an elderly man of unknown age, the adoptive grandfather of series protagonist Jin Mo-Ri, and the man who taught Mo-Ri his specialty of Re-Taekwondo. Within the webcomic, Tae-Jin is the creator and only master of the fictional Renewal Taekwondo, and while on a mission to infiltrate North Korea he found an infant Mo-Ri encased within a transparent green shell and guarded by a giant bipedal ape-like humanoid. Being the only survivor of the mission, Tae-Jin returned home and raised Mo-Ri as his own family.
- Park Il-Pyo
Park Il-Pyo is an 18-year-old boy competing in the God of High School tournament. He is introduced as a cold and calculating fighter who uses a fictional version of the traditional Korean martial art of Taekkyeon called Ssamsu-Taekkyeon[6]. He later acts as an ally to Jin Mo-Ri and helps him through a great many hardships in the series.
- Baek Seung-Cheol
Baek Seung-Cheol is introduced as an 18-year-old participant in the God of High School tournament who uses a metal baseball bat as a weapon. Seung-Cheol is of genius level intellect and peak physical conditioning capable of predicting an opponent's movements and suddenly changing the direction of his swing. This makes his fighting style unorthodox and unpredictable for those he is fighting[7]. Later on in the series, Seung-Cheol gains the favor of the Oxen King and she becomes his borrowed power giving him increased strength, speed, and durability. The character of the Oxen King is a combination of characters from Journey to the West: Bull King and his wife Princess Iron Fan.
Borrowed Power
[edit]Within the God of High School webcomic, humans are capable of making contracts with gods and other divine beings to borrow a piece of their power to enhance themselves physically and gain supernatural powers. Each divine or otherworldly being lends different powers to their contractors or descendants, one example with in the comic is Thor who gives his contractor Anna the ability to fly, superhuman strength, and speed. A select few individuals are allowed to make a "Direct Contract" with their divine being, lending the human more power and sometimes an item originally used by said figure.
Mobile Game
[edit]A mobile game containing the characters of the webcomic God of High School was released in May 21, 2015 by YD Online a South Korean game development company.
Music Video
[edit]A music video from the original soundtrack of the game was released on August 11, 2016 on 1theK's YouTube channel with singer Younha as lead vocalist.
Reception
[edit]After the it's release on Naver, in the original Korean, and on Line Webtoon, with the official English translation, God of High School was met with love and adoration from readers and critics. One reader on the website Anime-Planet put it best: "The artwork in [The God of High School] is probably one of the best. It is typical of Korean webtoons, especially those by Naver, to be in full color with modern CG/shading. Colors are useful in this series to help distinguish characters, because many are introduced but have relatively minor roles in the progression of the plot."[8]
References
[edit]- ^ "갓 오브 하이스쿨" (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ "와이디온라인, '갓오브하이스쿨' 모바일 게임 개발". Acrofan (in Korean). Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ "The God of High School - Ep. 1". www.webtoons.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ "The God of High School - Ep. 13". www.webtoons.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ a b "The God of High School - Ep. 6". www.webtoons.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ "The God of High School - Ep. 58". www.webtoons.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ "The God of High School - Ep. 17". www.webtoons.com. Retrieved 2017-11-30.
- ^ "The God of High School". Anime-Planet. June 5, 2012.