Review: "Villain to Kill"

Weekly review of a new webcomic!

Hello, everyone!

We are beginning October by reviewing a webcomic that runs a little less angsty—but just as action-heavy—as some of the previous titles I’ve covered. If you’re a fan of superheroes, this story might be right up your alley.

I’ll be reviewing up to Episode 14 of Villain to Kill with no spoilers beyond that point. You can find Villain to Kill for free on Webtoons.

Premise: 4 out of 5

In a modern world where heroes and villains are normalized in society, Cassian Lee is a top flame psyker(their title for heroes) who works under Lampas, an international hero organization. His life changes—and ends—in a single night, when he witnesses two colleagues kill his mentor Jeff. They get him right after. (Yup, some more reincarnation.)

Cassian Lee is reborn courtesy of a little gasball named Moros, who is actually a mighty soul that had been living in Jeff’s necklace. Cassian learns that he has reincarnated into the body of Gangu Gwon, a high school senior in Korea who died at the very same moment as he did. Gangu Gwon is a destined villain, one with strong enough potential to bring around the apocalypse.

Since no time is rewound or passes between Cassian’s first death and Cassian’s new life, Villain to Kill kicks off quickly. Cassian now just has to navigate how to get revenge on Lampas, while learning that good and bad isn’t as simple as black and white. I’m curious to see how Cassian will rethink morality while navigating his new murderous urges.

Plot: 4 out of 5

Cassian Lee is not pleased to find himself in the body of a high schooler when he had been a top psyker just the day before. Even more enraging, he discovers that Lampas has released a public statement that he was the traitor behind Jeff’s death, causing him to be eliminated for the greater good. He needs to get stronger before he can swear revenge on Lampas, and the only way he can do that is by gaining experience in one of the Vilzones, sanctioned parts of the city where villains can roam free.

Although I enjoyed reading about the personal growth that Cassian had to go through in order to fully accept the help of villains—the ones who are kind enough to offer him guidance, and not the ones who immediately try to kill him on the spot—it happened almost a little too quickly. 

The villains are written as genuinely kind and quirky, making it easier for the readers to find them likable as regular people, but at the same time, it eliminates the opportunity to go into the complexities of the good and bad within people(but I guess we might see how evil these villains can be later in the story…). Given that Cassian had spent the greater half of his life hating and killing villains, I expected more obvious turmoil on his part. Even Moros commented on how Cassian’s emotional intelligence was quite high, as if the first episode didn’t begin with him losing his temper. It feels predictable that Cassian will inevitably befriend villains who will change his view, given how accepting he was of this major change. 

World-building: 3.5 out of 5

The story takes place in South Korea. It feels real and familiar—minus the parts of the cities that are run by villains. A well-known comparison I could give is the Earth from Marvel, or My Hero Academia. There are normal people and citizens without powers, but then there are heroes and villains who are acknowledged by the government.

Every hero/psyker is required to register with Lampas. Those who defer are known as outers, and it’s still unclear what society’s view on these individuals are. And of course, members of the general public have a strong dislike for villains who commit crime with their powers and their urges.  

Powers vary by hero and by villain, but all users are limited to one special skill. Dual-users are unheard of, except… well, never mind, I did say no spoilers beyond Episode 14. Cassian Lee, top psyker, was a flame mage, but Cassian Lee, as villain Gangu Gwon, is a shadow user.

Moros comes in handy to both the audience and to Cassian because he can conveniently pull up these LITRG-esque game boards to read the statistics of all magical people. His only catch is that he can do it just three times in a day, or he’ll require a massive power nap. Relying on “magical points” and “tiers” is equivalent to tracking the levels of somebody in a game—the more magical points a user has and the higher the tier, the stronger they are. This trope is common in webcomics, but seeing a shadowy eyeball pull up the board is more fun than just having it come out of nowhere.

Characters: 3.5 out of 5

As someone who is adamant about bringing justice, Cassian has never hesitated to punish villains for the crimes they have committed. 

He is introduced as a charmer with a rebellious streak, qualities that are promising for a fascinating main character. However for scoring, I consider not only the assets of a character’s personality, but just how much dimension they show. 

Although I’m only reviewing up to Episode 14, Cassian has already faced challenges that would, to put it mildly, bring out a lot of emotion and range in people: watching your mentor die, dying yourself, and becoming reborn as a highschooler. In the beginning, he shows a hot-headedness that gets him scolded. We meet him as a fiery, conceited psyker confident in his abilities. However, the moment he settles into his new body, he loses all of that, becoming calm and almost boring. One can argue that dying may have been the humbling experience he needed, but since anger is the emotion that triggers his villain-side, I would have liked to see him struggle with this shortcoming a bit more.

The secondary and supporting characters are proving to be fan favorites, judging by the comments from every update. Driver is a quirky and charming villain. As the boss of one of Seoul’s vilzones, it’s clear he has a hidden ace up his sleeve that extends beyond just his fun personality traits. Whereas Driver’s lightheartedness contrasts with Cassian, his classmate Uchan also takes things a little too seriously as an aspiring psyker. Cassian’s interactions with the characters around him are always slightly comical—and just a bit endearing.

Art: 4 out of 5

Something that caught my eye immediately when it came to the art was the consistent coloring. Though utilizing in a color scheme in webcomics is not exactly uncommon, I noticed that Villain to Kill always feels kind of…blue. There is an overall cool color tone to the episodes, and there are usually moments of blue in the character designs or the background. The episodes feel more cohesive because of the consistent color, and you can’t miss the things that the artist chooses to make pop. Uchan, for example, is designed to be a bright red—the opposite of Cassian. It makes you more curious as to what role he will play.

The action scenes and movements of the characters are sometime stiff, but the eccentric character designs largely make up for this. The villains we’ve already met have distinct looks: suave, or flashy, or both. Although their attacks and movements could have a bit more flare, it’s easy to shift our eyes to focus on their look instead of their actions. 

Conclusion: 3.8 out of 5

As I mentioned in the beginning, I would recommend Villain to Kill to any reader who enjoys a good superhero story. The world and the plot are fairly flushed out enough by Episode 14, and then it’s up to the reader if they’d like to keep following Cassian’s journey. I would not be surprised if action fantasy webcomic fans derived from the same fans who read a lot of superhero stories in their youth—it is a part of why I enjoy it. The simpleness of superheroes versus villains in Villain to Kill may invoke just the right amount of nostalgia.