The Spring 2025 K-Comics Guide

Ex-Love Review

What's It About? 

College student Giju has a good reputation in school and a terrible one in romance. She always seems to pick guys who take advantage of her generosity. After a fight with her boyfriend turns violent, Giju wishes there was a way for her to see the “red flags”—and with the help of a magic ring, her wish comes true. Now she can see ratings and reviews from people's romantic partners. But will this new power simplify dating, or complicate it even more?

Ex-Love Review has a story by Pyeonggang and art by La Hee. Localization produced by NAVER WEBTOON Ltd. Published by WEBTOON. (April 2, 2025). Rated Young Adult.

CONTENT WARNING: Physical Assault

Is It Worth Reading?

Dee
Rating:

Based on the premise, I thought I was getting a rom-com with some light commentary about not judging books by their covers. Instead, I got a drama with some heavy commentary about how abusers cover their tracks and society is far more likely to demonize women than men for any failures in a relationship. Content warnings ahoy!

Ex-Love Review goes hard in its first arc. Giju's newfound ability to see reviews left by people's exes gives her a whole new outlook, especially about her current boyfriend. Despite being well-liked by their peers, it turns out he's a serial abuser, frequently hitting his girlfriends and lying to his friends about them. Meanwhile, Giju has a reputation for being a “doormat,” and there are multiple (false) rumors from her exes about her “obsessive” behavior. It's a sharp depiction of how people with more power tend to control narratives because those with less power are afraid of retaliation.

In addition to Giju seeing red flags, her magic ring also grants voices to the voiceless. Each review displays the person's name, allowing Giju to contact the other women and corroborate their stories. It builds to a dramatic confrontation with their abusive ex that almost backfires until they provide video evidence. Justice may be served, but the rumor mill still paints Giju as a villain, serving as an incisive critique on how society tends to treat survivors. It's too real to feel either entertaining or satisfying, but it's honest and raw, and I can respect it for that.

After that opening arc, though, Ex-Love Review settles into more of a rom-com structure as Giju gets to know Haiel Yeon, a respected upperclassman with a ton of reviews and an atrocious 0.5-star average rating. I'd say we're building to a story about how an ex's perspective is only one side of the story, except there are also hints that Yeon is a stalker. My kingdom for one decent dude in Giju's life.

All-in-all, I found Ex-Love Review engaging, even valuable, but also a bit off-putting. I couldn't shake the feeling I was going to have to watch Giju go through a few more spins of the Bad Boyfriend cycle before she reaches her happy ending, and I like her too much for that. There's a strong, dramatic tug to this story, but if I keep reading, I'll be doing so while peeking nervously between my fingers, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

MrAJCosplay
Rating:

I feel like this comic has a little bit of everything. We have a unique premise revolving around a power that I think a lot of people in the real world wish they had. We have a relatable main character who is learning to overcome her bad judgment, and the artwork is expressive with a fantastic sense of comedic timing. Combine all this with a little bit of foreshadowing for sexy spicy times and I think you've got one of my favorite comics in the entire guide.

Ex-Love follows a young woman who has forever been taken advantage of, but now she's given the ability to truly judge people for who they are. We all know what red flags are. Sometimes we discover them too late, but what happens if you could give people a score after you break up with them like you would a book on Amazon or a restaurant on Yelp. I can already see all of the pros and cons of that type of situation. While the first batch of chapters of this story focus more on developing this power and utilizing the pros, the possibilities seem endless.

As a certified pushover myself, I found our main character's situation very relatable. It's a bit more extreme compared to other peoples, but I do genuinely want to see her succeed and her plans coming together felt legitimately rewarding. We have a complete mini arc dealing with a specific boyfriend and by the time we get to the end, things played out in a way that felt appropriate yet dramatic. If you're somebody who wants a solid drama series with a dash of a supernatural edge, then I think I can fully recommend this to a lot of people.