'Sweet Home': Seo Yi-kyung as ex-special forces officer and other key differences between webcomic and show
'Sweet Home', a Netflix Korean drama inspired by the Naver Webtoon comic of the same name of authors Kim Kan-Bi and Hwang Young-chan has been made into an engaging 10-episode series which dropped on December 18. Starring 'Love Alarm' fame Song Kang, '!8 Again' star Lee Do-hyun, Lee Jin-wook and Lee Si-young, the show is centered on the transformation of humans into monsters. This transformation is for now considered to be a result of human desire combined with natural evolution that is supposed to take place. However, can that be true? Of course, the question to this was not answered until Episode 10, leading us to believe that there might very well be a Season 2.
There were multiple main character deaths that propelled the show forward even as the mystery of how this particular evolution or transformation really came about. So you might think that the answer may lie in the original webcomic. However, that is not true. It was reported that the writers of the manhwa had requested the director Lee Eung-bok to change the plotline and provide a fresh perspective to the story that they had produced on Naver Webtoon. So not only is the story different but there have also been differences in relationship dynamics, the inclusion of characters, and also the endgame for certain characters. So here are key five differences between the comic and the show.
1. Introduction of Seo Yi-kyung
Seo Yi-kyung, portrayed by actor Lee Si-young, is a former special forces officer and a former firefighter as well. She visited the Green Home to look for her fiance who has been missing and gets trapped with the neighbors. She is one of the main characters who help Cha Hyun-su, along with Eun-hyuk and Sang-wook, survive through the monsters attacking incessantly. However, this character is a new addition to the plot that was never present in the comic. In fact, the plotline about her fiance being connected to this monstrous evolution will serve as a key connecting factor if the show gets picked for a second season. Her continued search for her fiance can be the leading perspective in the upcoming season.
2. Difference in Sang-wook, Eun-hyuk's character background
In the show, Sang-wook is a mobster who is on the hunt for a man who had abused a child and plausibly sexually assaulted her too. He was sentenced merely for two years because of clean record and Sang-wook wants to correct the same. In the webtoon, however, this man is a former cop.
Eun-hyuk, who is a medical student dropout living with his stepsister in the show is originally an otaku in the webtoon and just a high school student. In the show, however, he is the one who brings the neighbors together and bands them together despite differences in opinions and manages to hold on for as many days as they could. At the end of the show, he is also going through the transformation and unlike Hyun-soo, he believes that he may not be able to resist the change so instead, he ends up abandoning his sister to ensure her safety. Eun-yu realizes this pretty late.
3. Different character dynamics between Ji-su, Hyun-soo and Eun-yu
In the comics, the one that has a crush on Hyun-soo and vice versa is Ji-su and Eun-yu is just someone who is interested in him on a very platonic level yet. In fact, the one scene that the show portrays of Ji-su playing this tune that Hyun-soo says reminds him of home is how their relationship progresses in the comic. Their romantic interest in each other also paints this image differently than in the show. So when she thanks Hyun-soo for helping her come up with a title for the song, in the show, she sees a friend. In the manwha, she sees a potential boyfriend. That is of course if monsters weren't literally running around killing everything in their path.
4. The death of the huge monster outside Green Home
This was something that many fans had found interesting because it serves as another hint regarding the show's future. So in the webtoon, the monster dies after getting crushed by Yi-kyung who arrives back at Green Home in a fire truck. She stops the monster from killing the members of Green Home who had attempted to step out for food. However, in the comic, the monster is killed by the police bus and just in case the show gets picked up for Season 2, we are not going to comment on the police bus plotline. But it is an important twist in the series. Now, by changing it in the show, it is clear that the showmakers hope for another season. This in addition to the inclusion of Kim Sung-cheol as another new villain has us believing that the chances of there being an all-new season are higher. After all, Sung-cheol's character kidnapped Hyun-soo at the end of the season and we don't know where they are headed.
5. The conflict within Hyun-soo as he resists the demon
The transformation from human to demon is based on one's desire. The more horrendous your desire, the more horrible monster you will be. A killer in any form is a killer and as Shakespeare had said, "a rose by any other name would smell as sweet". So the reason why Hyun-soo doesn't transform into a demon completely is that he is able to resist the demon fuelled by his inner desire. He doesn't give in to the need to give in to his desires and is able to withstand the change. The conflict between Hyun-soo and his inner demon is a lot more beautifully and poignantly sketched in the comic than in the show. Unless of course, they plan on adding more nuance to this in the upcoming season.