2/10/2026 Webtoon Comment Sections Annoy Me

So I'm a manhwa reader, right. When I first started reading manhwa, I sought out good ones. Now I mostly read shitty ones on purpose - formulaic bullshit with brooding male leads and silly plot points and such. It's fun for like five seconds and then the novelty wears off.

Nowadays I read things from scan websites with no comment sections, which is very nice. I like forming my own opinions. Back when I did read comics with comment sections, the peanut gallery below every episode was the bane of my existence. Most comment sections on good manhwa discuss primarily the healthiness of the main relationship, which will fluctuate over the course of the story. Flags abound: "This was such a green flag move from the ML!" or "Uhm, ladies, just so you know, that level of jealousy is a RED FLAG." Naturally as I have uncovered my taste in romance I have grown annoyed by the constant evaluation of the wholesomeness of a fictional relationship. My annoyance is doubled, though, by the fact that webtoon commenters are often both annoying and wrong about what they're reading. 

Obviously there is misogyny. There is misogyny toward women who supposedly "get in the way" of the main romance, even if they are not written to be actively malicious or "slutty". "Bitch" is thrown around a lot. Like a lot. I have also seen excess judgement toward female leads who behave outside of the norm - which, like everything I'm about to talk about, is a valid opinion, but many female leads who I have liked for their emotional depth and/or neurodivergence are ripped to shreds in comment sections. These judgements are also often made way too soon, and without context. I get that it's hard to focus on the whole story when reading a serialized comic (which is why I prefer to read manhwa all the way though), but like. It's episode three. You're reading a story which will eventually recontextualize this action or make it seem trivial in the grand scheme of things. 

Speaking of that, I also see male leads judged similarly, albeit more rarely. Misunderstandings and other problems caused by natural lack of emotional intelligence as plot devices remain foreign to manhwa readers. I do get it. Sometimes those conflicts are thrown carelessly into a story because the story is stupidly written. But it seems that some readers are turned off by any misunderstanding at all, even if it will soon - again - be recontextualized or given deeper meaning. 

We are all bound to use the goomba fallacy at some point.

And this is all ironic because I have read comments on darker comics, ones structured entirely around a male lead's cruelty, which praise said man for his supposed green flags. I would understand it better if people acknowledged the shittiness of the romance they were reading, but they don't. They think the male lead's rough treatment of other women is justified (which is a whole other can of worms) and that consent requested halfway through a sex act is healthy. And it's like, maybe I'm falling victim to the goomba fallacy (see the photo), but where was this grace when a better male lead in a better manhwa made a mistake? Shit, dude, I don't judge you for being here - I'm also at the devil's sacrament! - but at least don't be annoying about the whole thing.

Now I want to talk about the second male lead. Romance aficionados have distinguished a phenomenon called "second male lead syndrome" in which readers of a love story end up rooting for a relationship between the female lead and the romantic rival of the male lead. I got vaxxed against this deadly disease as soon as I opened "True Beauty" in 2020. Fucking hate that webtoon.

Anyway. I have never rooted for a second male lead and a female lead to get together for two reasons.

1. Most of the time, second male leads in manhwa are either a) actively evil and/or obsessive people, whether that is acknowledged in the story or not; or b) just kind and friendly toward the female lead. Either way I have never seen a second male lead have actual chemistry with a female lead, even if they would be a healthier couple than the female and male lead together. I came here to feel things, and I feel nothing for this man. No matter how handsome he is supposed to be, to me, he is Just Lines.
2. To put it bluntly, I want to read the love story between the two people on the cover. I want to see the two people whose perspectives are predominantly featured in this comic fall in love. Even if the author subverted expectations in such an ingenious manner as to make the second male lead and female lead both a) have chemistry and b) be "endgame", I'd probably still be a smidge disappointed. I don't wanna go so far as to claim that every character is a "tool" for a story; this isn't a creation myth or a fable. I do think that no matter how much interiority a second male lead has, he will always be in some way a plot device by way of being a second male lead. He is here to cause conflict in the main love story. Sometimes shipping a female lead with a second male lead feels the same to me as shipping her with a set piece, if the manhwa is bad enough.

A male lead will make a mistake in episode two of a manhwa and the comments will be like "I'm already getting second ML syndrome..." GIRL BE PATIENT!! This shit will probably run between 50 and 250 episodes!! Give it some time!! Also, if you don't like this story - read something else!!! 

So yeah. I understand that a lot of these commenters are probably children or young adults. Perhaps, though, we should normalize journals. Or telling your grievances to your friends. This is what I do. It's very helpful because people don't have to see your opinion when they're trying to read a goddamn story.