When thinking about high school, many people think about memories with classmates, fundraisers, and the search for long lasting friendships. High school is an ideal place where students can leave their worries behind from middle school, and are easily accepted and welcomed. It’s the chance to make an impact and belong.  But for Nari, the premise of being in high school is a challenge in itself. 

The premise of Odd Girl Out explores the various relationships that friendship can have on one another, looking at how crucial friendships are necessary for living and enjoying life. Even as of today, people would not be who they are without friends. Friends influence people’s lifestyle, their interests, and how much they belong in a community. And friendship is something that the characters from Odd Girl out seek. In Odd Girl out, the several stories revolves around 4 main girls; Nari, a girl who isn’t good enough to have pretty friends, Seonji who’s classmates treat her unkindly, Mirae who was cyber bullied as a kid,  and finally Yuna Lim, an aloof character who pushed away all her friends. The four of them come together to meet by chance, and impact each other more than they thought they would. 

In the beginning of the story, Nari believes that she can not be friends with Seonji, Mirae, and Yuna because they are elegant, and beautiful in comparison to her. In her head, she thinks that they only hang out with her because they want to use her or pity her. She’s so adamant on not being their friends that she tries to ignore them, and avoid them at every step. She always bumps into them no matter how hard she tries, and as time passes forward, Nari realizes that these 3 girls mean so much to her than she had initially thought. 

Although Nari is the main character of this story, the author manages to include a focus on all 4 girls throughout season 1, unveiling their pasts that they wish to forget and finding comfort while sharing these experiences with one another. There’s a lot of complexity in the storytelling of this webtoon, from season 1 and season 2 and it is something that can be admired. 

One of my favorite parts of the story happens when Yuna returns abroad to Nari, Seonji, and Mirae. In this scene all the characters are crying, and it’s extremely touching because they haven’t seen their friend in so long. Nari who would often get advice from Yuna finally has her back, and at this point readers can see how much of an impact Yuna had on them for being gone for a long period of time.  Readers too had missed Yuna, and although the characters of the story were moving on, and dealing with school, they had never forgotten Yuna. Their experiences show how time can be ever evolving, but friendships last, and continue to last if people wish them to. 

The author in particular does an amazing job when it comes to building up characters, and developing their character growth. Throughout the story, and in particular from season 1, the build up to revealing a character’s past is also well thought out, from showing hints  leading up to the full revolution of their backstory. 

White the story feels dramatic, it doesn’t feel unrealistic because the characters have humane personality traits. People who read this story can find  a character that they can relate themselves to. Whether it be relating with Seungha who struggles from academic validation, Mirae a gifted and  burned out student, or even Yuna who is often misunderstood.  Odd Girl Out is a webtoon that has impressed me, through its dynamics and complex character building. It is worth being read, and you’ll find modern and societal issues from this story that are connected with reality today.