Asaekkiga
February 20, 2010 10:44 PM Subscribe
Asaekkiga a comic by Yang Young Soon
That's what I thought also, but searching turned up nothing.
posted by MetaMonkey at 11:03 PM on February 20, 2010
posted by MetaMonkey at 11:03 PM on February 20, 2010
I saw these years ago but had totally forgotten about them. Thanks, they are really great!
posted by maishuno at 11:27 PM on February 20, 2010
posted by maishuno at 11:27 PM on February 20, 2010
Very uneven. Some good, some poor. None quite as funny as the first with the wife with the large expectations, which is hilarious.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 12:12 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 12:12 AM on February 21, 2010
The one with the guy on the roof who gets penis-rayed by the UFO is classic.
posted by infinitewindow at 12:34 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by infinitewindow at 12:34 AM on February 21, 2010
Thank you for sharing. I really enjoyed those. Some were lol-funny, others were dark, and many were a quirky mystery that you had to stop and think through to make sense of (and sometimes couldn't make sense of).
For example, does anyone have any thoughts about the one with the weird orange monster pushing people off of high places to their death? It looked like some of those people were suicidal, so perhaps the monster just represents whatever pushed them over the edge (literally/figuratively)... but why is it sitting at the dinner table with the happy kid at the end? The kid isn't depressed, he's happy. And it doesn't look like he's about to fall out of the window, as some commented, so...?
Anyway, there were many like that which just left scratching your head. But that's what made it so compelling for me.
posted by Davenhill at 12:52 AM on February 21, 2010
For example, does anyone have any thoughts about the one with the weird orange monster pushing people off of high places to their death? It looked like some of those people were suicidal, so perhaps the monster just represents whatever pushed them over the edge (literally/figuratively)... but why is it sitting at the dinner table with the happy kid at the end? The kid isn't depressed, he's happy. And it doesn't look like he's about to fall out of the window, as some commented, so...?
Anyway, there were many like that which just left scratching your head. But that's what made it so compelling for me.
posted by Davenhill at 12:52 AM on February 21, 2010
What?!
posted by basicchannel at 1:10 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by basicchannel at 1:10 AM on February 21, 2010
Hahaha, I enjoyed these. Wonderfully different perspective. Thanks for the link!
posted by thisperon at 1:10 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by thisperon at 1:10 AM on February 21, 2010
LOL. A lot of these are really weird, which makes them funnier. But some of the absurd ones might not be that funny one by one but when you read a bunch they just get funnier and funnier.
posted by delmoi at 1:16 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by delmoi at 1:16 AM on February 21, 2010
Great! I enjoyed these, and bookmarked them for later, old yin.
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:31 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by BrotherCaine at 1:31 AM on February 21, 2010
I liked the one where the girl invites the guy to spend the night and he has to sleep in the same room as her whole family. I wouldn't have got it if I hadn't watched so many Korean films and seen how whole families (and sometimes their visitors too) do all sleep together like that. (Less so today, presumably.)
Which makes one wonder how those kids ever got conceived in the first place?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:37 AM on February 21, 2010
Which makes one wonder how those kids ever got conceived in the first place?
posted by PeterMcDermott at 1:37 AM on February 21, 2010
Justininian--I love perry bible, but I've never felt palpable dread while reading a "funny" comic strip before. This series was a whole new experience for me, almost painful, but not in a bad way...
posted by thisperon at 1:48 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by thisperon at 1:48 AM on February 21, 2010
This is great. Yang Young Soon is like a more cerebral Iwatani Tenho.
posted by No-sword at 4:07 AM on February 21, 2010
posted by No-sword at 4:07 AM on February 21, 2010
the one with the weird orange monster pushing people off of high places
The monster knows the kid will become suicidal when he realizes his father is lying to him about the Gameboy.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:56 AM on February 21, 2010
The monster knows the kid will become suicidal when he realizes his father is lying to him about the Gameboy.
posted by Johnny Wallflower at 4:56 AM on February 21, 2010
Thanks! I love these comics, but I hadn't bothered to find out who wrote them.
I read the orange monster one as the spectre of suicide lurking in even the happiest of households, rather than its presence there being related to the specific events you see. He seems to be just waiting.
posted by lucidium at 6:23 AM on February 21, 2010
I read the orange monster one as the spectre of suicide lurking in even the happiest of households, rather than its presence there being related to the specific events you see. He seems to be just waiting.
posted by lucidium at 6:23 AM on February 21, 2010
This one I've seen for years. Never knew where it was from. Thanks!
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:50 AM on February 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Rory Marinich at 7:50 AM on February 21, 2010 [1 favorite]
the one with the weird orange monster pushing people off of high places
The monster knows the kid will become suicidal when he realizes his father is lying to him about the Gameboy.
Hmmm. I got from it that the father is suicidal because he's the same grey colour as all the people who jump/get monster pushed, and is thus promising outrageous things like a DS in exchange for a meatball to his kid because he knows he'll never have to deliver.
posted by Sparx at 1:28 PM on February 21, 2010
The monster knows the kid will become suicidal when he realizes his father is lying to him about the Gameboy.
Hmmm. I got from it that the father is suicidal because he's the same grey colour as all the people who jump/get monster pushed, and is thus promising outrageous things like a DS in exchange for a meatball to his kid because he knows he'll never have to deliver.
posted by Sparx at 1:28 PM on February 21, 2010
Lucidium's right -- the message I got was that the 'will buy you a gameboy to make up for it' mentality leads to a twisted moral order and thus unhappiness and thus suicide.
Also, the Hyundai sign in the fifth panel is referring to this.
posted by suedehead at 2:23 PM on February 21, 2010
Also, the Hyundai sign in the fifth panel is referring to this.
posted by suedehead at 2:23 PM on February 21, 2010
Hmmm. I thought that the Dad promised the kid a Game Boy because he knew the monster would soon push him (the boy), and thus it didn't matter that A) he took his meatball and B) he doesn't have to deliver on his promise.
"Open to interperetation" is good stuff.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:45 PM on February 21, 2010
"Open to interperetation" is good stuff.
posted by Mister Moofoo at 4:45 PM on February 21, 2010
I'm pretty sure this isn't the right interpretation but its the one I want to believe because it's the funniest: someone in one of the comments suggested that the mom and dad can both see the orange guy and know what's about to happen to the kid, and don't care.
posted by Xezlec at 5:02 PM on February 21, 2010
posted by Xezlec at 5:02 PM on February 21, 2010
Johnny Wallflower has it.
I'm not sure why you think that interpretation makes sense. If you look at the other characters who were pushed, they were all suicidal and were colored gray, so the orange monster is supposed to be some kind of suicide enabler or accelerator. In the family scene, the father is the gray color, meaning he's feeling suicidal. That's why he can make the outrageous promise to the boy -- he know he won't have to keep them.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 9:14 AM on February 22, 2010
I'm not sure why you think that interpretation makes sense. If you look at the other characters who were pushed, they were all suicidal and were colored gray, so the orange monster is supposed to be some kind of suicide enabler or accelerator. In the family scene, the father is the gray color, meaning he's feeling suicidal. That's why he can make the outrageous promise to the boy -- he know he won't have to keep them.
posted by Kraftmatic Adjustable Cheese at 9:14 AM on February 22, 2010
The 'orange monster' isn't a real monster -- it's just a metaphor. In a way, it's a brilliant way for the artist to express what's needed without using a single descriptive word. And the color of the face(s) is just a red herring -- it's not relevant.
This kind of "light fibbing" to children is very common in Korea -- there's even a folktale involving a tiger and a dried persimmon built around this trope. The promised gift is way disproportionate to the supposed offense -- an expensive game for a 'meatball'. Korea is also a country of hyperboles -- the prevailing mentality is "all or nothing".
The cartoon is really a jab at this mentality, and the "joke" is on all the parents who promise outrageous things for their kids -- all or nothing -- and fill their heads with impossible expectations. That is why the others in the cartoon commit suicide -- the school girl who can't get straight A's, the company exec who can't bring home the fat paycheck, the young mom who can't deal with the trials of motherhood. This boy will face a lifetime of disappointments, pumped up expectations and broken promises.
Dark humor, yes. But not really. Again, the joke is on the parents.
posted by war wrath of wraith at 11:10 PM on February 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
This kind of "light fibbing" to children is very common in Korea -- there's even a folktale involving a tiger and a dried persimmon built around this trope. The promised gift is way disproportionate to the supposed offense -- an expensive game for a 'meatball'. Korea is also a country of hyperboles -- the prevailing mentality is "all or nothing".
The cartoon is really a jab at this mentality, and the "joke" is on all the parents who promise outrageous things for their kids -- all or nothing -- and fill their heads with impossible expectations. That is why the others in the cartoon commit suicide -- the school girl who can't get straight A's, the company exec who can't bring home the fat paycheck, the young mom who can't deal with the trials of motherhood. This boy will face a lifetime of disappointments, pumped up expectations and broken promises.
Dark humor, yes. But not really. Again, the joke is on the parents.
posted by war wrath of wraith at 11:10 PM on February 22, 2010 [2 favorites]
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posted by flatluigi at 10:50 PM on February 20, 2010