Have you ever wanted me to get a little creepy? If so, Tales of Greed by Juin Kim and Taejun park webtoon company will freak you out.
Summary
Despite being a deadly sin, greed is a feeling everyone in the world experiences. Everyone wants something they can't have, often so much it bubbles up new depths from the surface of our psyches. So tell me, what do you think happens when several individuals manage to gain items that fulfill all their wishes? Will it lead to ruin or salvation?
Characters
Since this is an anthology series, I can't do specific characters. Only stories.
Overview
After the ending of both Ghost Theater and Teller, I was waiting for a story that could cure my anthology itch. And unfortunately, that itch hasn't been completely scratched, leaving me in a weird writhing pain. So even though I haven't seen the rest of Tajeun's catalog, I wouldn't be surprised if this ends up being my least favorite.
So far, Tales of Greed only features about 39 chapters split up into seven separate stories. I only really adored three of them out of them (I won't reveal which to give you a good surprise). While I appreciate the unpredictable nature of entries of incredibly varying lengths, tones, and realism, I feel like there is a big discrepancy.
Like legit, the whiplash reading these stories over a day got me weird. Especially since you can go from a tragic abrupt end to a 3 episode run and launch into a borderline epic 15 chapters long. I think the quality relation to length varies since I feel like the more in-depth relations create well-realized stories that make the most of their items.
Each magical phenomenon has a great relation to the host who uses them. They are creative enough that our protagonists can abuse them for self-gain but still have enough potential loopholes to bite them in the ass (Ex: a watch that can take you back in time or a bathroom that teleports you to another one). Doubly so when our mc's morality ranges are homicidal maniacs to ordinary joe's.
However, as said before said, conclusions and feeling earned also varies. Visually Tales of Greed is also the most similar to Lookism, just with less symbolism and over-the-top movements at play. However, we get some fittingly hardcore or sweet imagery when the story allows it. Along with the horror, there is at least some semblance of real-world themes like lookism, mental disorders, and bullying though other stories handle these themes better.
Epilogue
Unfortunately, I wasn't exactly feeling this one. I don't think Tales of Greed is a bad webtoon by any means, just more of a slog of stories that have potential if given more scenes. I did hear through the grapevine that we may get some more stories from them soon, but that remains to get seen now. This means all we have to do is move on as we shine the light back on manga.