Kids Are All Right - Reviews

Not many people read this nor might be interested in it due to its slice of life genre, and art but trust me this is golden.

When you first start this short panel webtoon you are greeted with a small simplistic child name Dai.

While reading through the story you learn about his struggles, his growth, his mistakes and understand his feelings. not only that but you explore the stories about the people around such as his friends, his class mates, family members and more. While reading it i was easily able to connect and feel empathy for all the characters and i cried reading their struggles. As a kid i also lived in a "broken family" and many things happened but as a kid i was too young to understand.

This comic although it is 55 chapters, its a very short and easy read. I tried reading it once back when i was younger and didnt understand the message it was trying to send so i quickly found it boring. Im so glad i gave it another go.

STORY

Easily a 10/10 for me. it sends deep messages and hits a soft spot for those relating this comic to their childhood. it explores not only his classmate's struggles and the difference with high class and low class but also how some children have tiger parents, abusive family members, parentless, dealing with death, dealing with poverty, not being able to connect and understand parents. Dai learns about whats right and whats wrong, his differences with his friends and tries his best to help them. It's a heart-warming but sad story so prepare some tissues.

ART

Clearly as you can tell the art isnt the best but it gives you a sense of story since this is coming from a child's perspective its drawn the same way you would expect a child to write down what they did in their journal.

CHARACTERS

Characters were an important part of developing connections and learning experiances for Dai. sometimes they didnt bring much personality to the story except "oh im the bully older brother" or " im the controlling gossip mom" but alot of these characters were easy to relate to and so i got easily emotionally attached.

OVERALL

amazing

Children make friendships and play with each other and stuff while more serious life circumstances are going on in the periphery. The children are often aware of the negative events and tensions going on around them, but they don't always fully understand them. Poverty and judgmentalism based on social class are recurring themes. The idea that you can cause harm through neglect or through a lack of awareness and sensitivitity, and that people are more complex than just "good people" and "bad people," is also a recurring theme. There are a few children who have to cope with the deaths of loved ones. There is some fear of abandonment or of being rejected by their parents if they don't meet their standards. There are quite a few friends that Dai has, but feir best friend and the one who fe interacts with the most consistently is the spiky-haired Minho. I also appreciated the dynamic between Dai and Sia, and the way that Sia likes Dai but is awkward about expressing it. Most of the characters have distinct enough personalities, that feel pretty realistic.

The art is very simplistic. It is primarily in black and white, with very few graytones or shading, drawn in scribbly outlines. Very rarely, an individual part of a panel will be colored in--like with blushing using an ugly dab of red. Because the facial features are so minimalist, early on I would mistake Dai's hairline for feir face. The main kids are mainly distinguished from each other by having different hair scrawls, and for the most part that works to make them recognizable.