unOrdinary "Beginning Arc" (Prologue through Episodes 7) Webtoon Review

Major Spoilers are included in this Webtoon Review. Please read with caution.

After taking my well-deserved break from reading and reviewing The God of High School’s first five volumes, I decided to read the Webtoon series unOrdinary—written by uru-chan—for the time being until the author finishes the final volume of G.O.H. Last I checked, there were about 180 episodes of unOrdinary so far. I’m thinking it shouldn’t be too much of a challenge to catch up, give or take the weekly episodes that come out on Thursdays.

Before I start discussing my thoughts on the “Beginning Arc”, let me explain what the Webtoon is about first: The Webtoon series follows high schooler John Doe at Wellston Private High School, a prestigious school where every student has superpowers. Well, everyone except John Doe, who is a cripple—a derogatory term for someone without a superpower. Cool. With the exposition out of the way, we can begin the discussion.

“Prologue” acted like a short skit on what to expect in the series. We got information on a book called Unordinary, written by John Doe’s father. The book was about a superhero who helped the world of cripples, and the superhero ended up dying at the end. Then, we’re given a comedic scene on a triple chocolate cake and how John was unable to get the last piece at the end. It was an amusing way to introduce the reader into the series, and it foreshadowed the book’s significance for later in the series.

Episodes 1 through 3 showed John’s hallway trip to the bathroom and his encounter with a bully named Gavin. The fight was short and predictable, but it was entertaining to see how crippled John managed to defeat powered Gavin, though it was a predictable move. Maybe that was point considering how hotheaded Gavin was. This fight also showed us good insight into John’s character and his determination to not let superpowered people bully him around at this school.

Episodes 4 and 5 introduced a female character named Seraphina, a superpowered student and John’s best friend. She keeps John company at the infirmary—where he went after throwing Gavin through a window—but once Doctor Darren leaves to deal with another matter, they leave and encounter Gavin outside. This time however, Seraphina displays her superior powers and defeats Gavin easily. In the words of John, “Suck it.”

Episode 6 showed Doctor Darren—while dragging two more students into the infirmary—noticing that John and Seraphina left the infirmary against his medical advice. They ended up going to a Woaba Bobba, their hangout spot. They argue about how stupid John was about fighting Gavin while a television in the background talked about the most recent murder of a vigilante named X-Static.

Episode 7 was a flashback to John Doe’s first day at Wellston Private High School, and how the bullying started after he told his classmates that he didn’t have superpowers. It also showed how Seraphina and John weren’t immediate friends, as she allowed some bullies to keep picking on him and kept walking. This added to the mystery of how John and Seraphina actually became best friends later. It was a good contrast to how she saved John from Gavin in the present day. It was an effective conclusion to the “Beginning Arc”.

The artwork and character designs for unOrdinary were top-notch. The bright colors and digital vibe were well-detailed, and it made the reading experience more immerse. The story was given more life as a result. I feel like this series was designed for binge-reading based on the art style alone, but I’m not far enough into the series yet to have a solid opinion.

Overall, I’m really liking how the series takes its time to build up their main characters before diving into an actual plot. unOrdinary is essentially My Hero Academia but taken in a completely different direction. After The God of High School’s slight tendency to move at a breakneck pace, reading this series was a very nice change of pace. I’ll have a good time reading this, I can really feel it. As always, I’ll keep y’all posted on my progress through this Webtoon.