Girls of the Wild's

Girls of the Wild's
Cover of Girls of the Wild's volume 1 featuring Queen
소녀 더 와일즈
Genre	Action
Author	Hun
Illustrator	Zhena (Kim Hye-jin)[1][2]
Publisher	Bohai
English publisher	LINE
Magazine	Naver
Original run	August 7, 2011 – October 2016
Collected volumes	1 (print)

Girls of the Wild's (Hangul: 소녀 더 와일즈) was a Korean manhwa webtoon series written by Hun and illustrated by Zhena (Kim Hye-jin). It was first published on Naver on August 7, 2011,^[3] and has been released in English by Line. The story follows a high school guy who enrolls as the sole male student at a former all-girls school of champion fighters, and struggles with dealing with his athletic schoolmates, as well as bullies and gangsters, while training in mixed martial arts. The print release of the first volume of Girls of the Wild's was released in November 9, 2012. 260 chapters of Girls of the Wild's have been released online, with the final chapter posted in October 2016.^[4]

Plot

Jaegu Song, a teenager struggling to take care of his two kindergarten-aged siblings, enrolls on scholarship to Wild's High, an all-girls private school that has become co-ed for the purposes of having their female students, who are renowned for being champions in martial arts, behave like maidens in society. As the sole male student, Jaegu is uncomfortable with the excessive attention from the girls. To make things worse, he has a run-in with the aloof Queen, who is the Wild's League tournament champion. He is befriended by Moonyoung Lee, a boxer who is Queen's best friend; and Daldal Choi, a cute and petite Taekwondo club captain. Although he refuses to follow any of Queen's demeaning tasks, he apologizes for his behavior, and Queen begins to develop romantic feelings for him.

Queen selects Jaegu to be her opponent in the upcoming tournament, but a conflict between Jaegu and Queen's rival Hyeshin Kim from Gura High results in Jaegu being placed in the preliminary rounds. When Jaegu is bullied by former middle school classmate Hangyeol Kim; the girls help train Jaegu to fight and their schools arrange for them to face each other. Jaegu overcomes his fears and knocks out Hangyeol. Hopae Kim, a successor in a mafia family who easily wins his preliminary matches, gets into a conflict with Queen which escalates to another sanctioned fight that also involves Jaegu and Moonyoung. With Queen away on family business, Daldal and Moonyoung recruit Jaegu to coach them for the second part of the tournament. Moonyoung and Daldal end up fighting each other in the round of 16. Although Queen returns for her match, she withdraws from the tournament to continue her work.

Middle-school boy Gangrok Choi joins the group after being rescued by Jaegu from bullying. Hoping to find an edge to use against their Wild's High rivals, Jaeoh joins Jaegu's car wash job while Hopae observes Jaegu more. With Moonyoung to face Hyeshin in the tournament finals, Jaegu meets Hyeshin's older brother Hyesong who is a shut-in and, with Hopae's help, gets Hyesong to overcome his fear of bullies and move on with his life.

Queen goes on an arranged date with Higyeong Lee, a young businessman who seems perfect in every way. Higyeong gets jealous of Queen's friendship with Jaegu. Daldal meets Myunghwan, a handsome older brother of a soccer-playing boy she knows. At a social event with Higyeong, Queen discovers she has been photographed in the bathroom. In order to retrieve the pictures she and Moonyoung visit a warehouse garage where they, along with Jaegu, Hyesong and Jakdu, agree to fight in matches against the owner Jonathan's top fighters. As Wild's High students wrap up final exams, Daldal confronts Queen regarding her feelings on Jaegu. Myunghwan comforts Daldal which raises the ire of a girl who likes Myunghwan. Higyeong and Jonathan send fighters to get revenge on Queen and Moonyoung. After Queen's grandfather cancels the dating arrangement with Higyeong, he meets Jaegu to question his motives with Queen. During a trip to a resort, Queen tells Jaegu that she likes him and Jaegu reciprocates. However, after returning home, he turns down both Daldal and Queen. Daldal starts avoiding Jaegu, but is abducted by a group of her fans, at which Jaegu and Daldal's family and friends rescue her. Moonyoung, Daldal, Jaegu, and Jungu join the city's "walk home safe" effort where Jaegu attempts to protect a middle school girl from her bullies, but the latter group brings in a larger gang to confront him. Jaegu eventually reunites with Queen when she visits Japan and promises to be with her always.

Characters

Jaegu Song (송재구)

The series' protagonist, the sole male student in Wild's High after it became a co-ed institution.^{Ch. 2} After his father died, his mother abandons him and his two twin kindergarten siblings Jaesom and Jaehyeong. This leads to his aversion to women.^{Ch. 3} After school, he works at a car wash.^{Ch. 4} He originally chose Wild's because it was close to home and he was given a scholarship.^{Ch. 10} After being forced to become stronger to help his family and to survive at the school, he picks up boxing and trains for the Wild's League preliminaries under the care of Queen, Moonyoung and Daldal,^{Ch. 27} and is able to defeat a bully who had harassed him since middle school. He coaches Moonyoung and Daldal.^{Ch. 59, 72} Despite the attention Queen and Daldal give him, Jaegu is oblivious to their affections. He initially accepts Queen's confession,^{Ch. 214} but after interacting with Daldal, he turns both girls down.^{Ch. 220–221} In the final chapter, he reunites with Queen in Japan and promises to be with her always.^{Ch. 260}

Ingui "Queen" Yoon (윤인귀)

Known primarily as Queen, Ingui is the heroine in the series, a second-year student and the Wild's League champion. She has long blonde hair and almost always has a cool and serious attitude.^{Ch. 1, 12} She is a mixed martial artist, proficient in nearly every form of martial arts, where she helps spar with each of the school clubs.^{Ch. 3, 8} She is the daughter of the financial corporation YK Line, where she was raised to be its successor until her younger brother was born.^{Ch. 4} Despite their initial bad impressions, she develops feelings for Jaegu, who does not fawn over her like everyone else.^{Ch. 5, 11, 22} In later chapters, she musters her courage to tell Jaegu that she likes him as more than just a friend.^{Ch. 214}

Moonyoung Lee (이문영)

Moonyoung is a second-year student and Queen's best friend. The president of Wild's High's boxing club, she has pink hair usually tied up in a bun and wears a red tracksuit. She has a rivalry with Daldal Choi, who makes fun of her weight or calls her a pig.^{Ch. 3, 5} She tries to get along with Jaegu in order to improve her maidenly status.^{Ch. 6, 11} She later coaches Jaegu on fighting. Her father Mungwang Lee owns a boxing club, and is a former welterweight boxing champion in Asia;^{Ch. 24, 97} her estranged mother was also a boxer. She later turns her affections towards the boyish Gangrok Choi.^{Ch. 96-103}

Daldal Choi (최달달)

Daldal is a second-year student and the captain of the Taekwondo club.^{Ch. 2, 5} She is described as "cute, adorable and sweet" with a petite figure and "cherry lips" that many boys want to kiss. She has short blonde hair and wears tiger ears-shaped hairclips as the author was into tigers when he came up with the character.^{Ch. 3} She has a friendly rivalry with Moonyoung who makes fun of her petite stature. She falls in love with Jaegu after initially seeing him as a chance to advance her feminine reputation, and because he was the first boy to refuse her kiss.^{Ch. 3, 6} Over the course of the series, she constantly flirts and shows affection towards Jaegu, who does not reciprocate. She has good cooking skills; her mother Jeongran Park is a celebrity chef in Korean cuisine who regularly appears on television.^{Ch. 24, 72} In later chapters, she develops feelings towards a soccer boy's older brother, but denies this conflicted feeling.

Supporting characters

• Hyeshin Kim (김혜신) – A red-haired Gura High student who is Queen's rival. She was the kickboxing champion for two years and was undefeated for ten years before losing to Queen in the match that serves as the prologue to the series.^{Ch. 1, 10}
• Charles Wilds – The president of the board at Wild's High. He approves of the institution going co-ed, with hopes that introducing boys to the school will help the girls develop their feminine sides.^{Ch. 2}
• Palbong Lee (이팔봉) – Palbong Lee is the current principal of Wild's High.^{Ch. 1} In the escalated confrontation with Hopae Kim, it is revealed he was a former Asian Pro-Boxing Champion for five years.^{Ch. 70}
• Goseul Lee (이고슬) – A first-year Wild's High student with teal-colored hair styled in twin tails and glasses. She specializes in Wushu with and without weapons.^{Ch. 8} She occasionally helps Jaegu cope with his fights and confrontations.^{Ch. 23-24}
• Minam Lee – A first-year Gura High student who won the light heavyweight newcomer title in boxing. He is typically seen wearing a nasal strip and a beanie cap.^{Ch. 14} Unlike Hangyeol, he has a sense of ethics, but also trusts his peers' words.^{Ch. 34-35, 49} He looks after schoolmate Hyeshin.^{Ch. 139}
• Ina – Wild's High's discipline administrator. She graduated from Wild's four years prior and is a member of an elite group of alumni called Wild's Guard, which quells conflicts between Wild's High's students as well as with outsiders.^{Ch. 16, 32, 62} Although she is very fierce and strict, at home, she dresses down and has a pet cat.^{Ch. 154}
• Hangyeol Kim – A red-haired bully who was Jaegu's classmate in middle school, he now attends Gura High. He calls Jaegu "Slave Song" and disparages him whenever he can.^{Ch. 17-19, 24} After several incidents with Jaegu, he participates in the Wild's League tournament where he continues to harass Jaegu until the latter stands up to him.^{Ch. 33, 50-53} Afterwards, In a later chapter, he realizes he might be jealous of Jaegu and his changed life.^{Ch. 80}
• Inseong Yoon – Queen's younger brother and successor of the YK family business.^{Ch. 18} He also knows a bit of martial arts and helps Jaegu prepare for the tournament.^{Ch. 39-41} He supports Jaegu and Queen's relationship, working closely with both of their butlers on schemes to bring the two together, such as having their company helicopter fly banners with Queen declaring her love for Jaegu.^{Ch. 41, 73, 90, 93, 176} When Jaegu is about to be evicted, he buys out the apartment (and the car wash that Jaegu works at), charging Jaegu only the cost of utilities.^{Ch. 137-138}
• Yeoljeong Jang – The boxing coach and Wild's League tournament coach at Gura High. He develops a crush on Wild's High discipline head Ina after the latter had thrown him.^{Ch. 33, 38, 154}
• Soomin Jeon – Wild's High medical doctor; she takes care of injuries incurred during the Wild's League tournament. She acts cheerful and sometimes ditzy, but when provoked she reverts to her tendencies to inflict pain. She is a former four-time champion in hapkido.^{Ch. 50, 68-71}
• Jaeoh Hwang – A first-year student from Dong Ah Sang High, he has white hair and a dark complexion. He does not have a specific fighting style. In the tournament he beats a judo expert but later loses to Minam.^{Ch. 42-47} He is often seen wearing a motorcycle suit. He tries to ally with Hopae on multiple occasions.^{Ch. 71, 86, 114} He then works at the car wash with Jaegu to try to exploit his weaknesses, but he learns Jaegu and his friends are not so bad after all.^{Ch. 102-104, 114, 144}
• Yeojoeung Kim – A Wild's High transfer student from Zhenglun Kwan's school of Chinese martial arts. She originally despises the Wild's League tournament's flashiness and what they deem as martial arts. She has short hair and wears black and red eyeliner, and has a cool composure.^{Ch. 130} In the exhibition match, she uses a spear.^{Ch. 54-58} She prefers to wear a training uniform over the regular school uniform, which attracts a lot of affection from girls who give her love notes.^{Ch. 76-77}
• Jungu Kim – A Wild's High transfer student from the same Chinese martial arts school as Yeojeoung. She has curly hair and rectangular-framed glasses. During the exhibition match, she uses a sword.^{Ch. 54-58} Afterwards, she tries to improve her feminine behavior by learning cooking from Daldal, although she tends to revert to her sword techniques when slicing food. Prior to cooking, she tried sewing and knitting.^{Ch. 75-80, 98} She later gains a crush on Hyesong.^{Ch. 117}
• Hopae Kim – A third-year student from Yushin High, he is a successor of the "Big Tuna" mafia family although most of the operations are conducted by his older brother.^{Ch. 59} He tries to avenge his mafia group from a prior defeat by Wild's High girls, by easily winning his preliminary round in the tournment, but an incident outside the match results in his diverting his attention to Queen and her friends.^{Ch. 60-72} When Jaegu asks Hopae to help Hyesong confront the latter's bullies, he becomes enamored with Hyeshin and Hyesong's pug,^{Ch. 115, 130} and begins to hang out with their family more often.^{Ch. 133, 212} His gangster power is restricted late on, and must live life as an ordinary high school student.^{Ch. 132} He has an assistant named Jakdu.^{Ch. 62}
• Gangrok Choi – A middle-school boy who was bullied regularly, but when Jaegu rescues him, he wants to be Jaegu's follower and to enroll in Wild's. Although not as physically strong as Jaegu, he trains in boxing with Moonyoung, who falls in love with him.^{Ch. 94-103}
• Hyesong Kim –Hyeshin's older brother.^{Ch. 111} A former kickboxer who had to deal with being bullied, he had dropped out of high school and shuts himself in for fear of endangering his family.^{Ch. 112, 113} After interacting with Jaegu and Hopae, as well as seeing the lives of the bullies he had to deal with, he is encouraged to move on with his life.^{Ch. 116-119},
• Higyeong Lee – A handsome 25-year-old heir and chairman of the MYG corporation, having worked his way up as a normal guy instead of using his family connections.^{Ch. 134} He is Queen's suitor by arrangement, and hopes that the relationship will boost his family's business. However, he has no personal interest in her, and is rather enamored of the not-so-refined Moonyoung. Although he is superior to Jaegu in all aspects, he gets jealous that Queen pays attention to Jaegu.^{Ch. 136-137, 141-142, 147}
• Myunghwan – A handsome university student who is friendly to Daldal. His younger brother plays soccer.^{Ch. 187}

Reception

Girls of the Wild's was selected for its international popularity as one of the Naver webtoons to be published on their foreign language service, LINE Webtoons.^[5] Clinton Stamatovich, a blogger at The Elkhart Truth, listed Girl's of the Wild's among six manhwa titles.^[6]

Works cited

• ^ "Ch." is shortened form for chapter and refers to a chapter number of the Girls of the Wild's manhwa

References

External links

• Girls of the Wild's official website on Naver (Korean)
• Girls of the Wild's official website on LINE Webtoon (English)
• Author Zhena's Blog (Korean)
• Girls of the Wild's Fan Cafe (Korean)