Please don’t take this the wrong way but Pyo Guwon makes faces only a Mr Bean Animated Series sexyman would. I see Pyo Guwon with his wide smile and half-lidded eyes and think, “there’s a man who tinkles his fingers and says ‘don’t mind if I do’ when offered a biscuit”. His character design says so much that I couldn’t ever begin to consider he was meant to be even a little bit sexy. Very fun to look at, though.
The world that The Hounds of Sisyphus throws us into is compelling. There is just the right amount of uneasiness planted by the shifting uncertainty that you have to keep reading no matter what happens.
Whilst there is still very little we know about this apocalyptic world, it is incredibly put together. The chaos and suffering in the world contrasted with the peace and accord within Stillwater Town never seem at odds with each other and that just makes the circumstances around this community of survivors so interesting.
How did they all get here? How did this town form? What was it like adjusting to this environment, the rules, and the de facto hierarchy?
Jinwoo is our insight into the town though he occupies an incredibly unique position. Pyo Guwon, the leader of the town, is charming enough that it is difficult to tell whether he’s the gregarious type or he’s just immediately taken with Jinwoo. What we gradually discover is that the survivors in the town exist in some skewed version of egalitarianism all serving some purpose they are best suited to. Jinwoo himself is a teacher and Guwon fits the position of leader in a way that I don’t think anybody else could replicate.
Guwon is an oddball though. He’s almost childishly innocent and naive. His views are very black and white as they’re revealed and he has strict definitions of fairness. He is very cute in his behaviour. I don’t want to accuse Guwon of being born sexy yesterday, but that’s only because I don’t think he could defend himself against allegations like that. Altogether his contrasts and clashing features really make him an interesting character. His interactions with Jinwoo are all rather revealing and we slowly get to learn more about the town.
Unlike Guwon, the rest of the people we meet in the town are… well, I was about to use the word ‘odd’ for them too but I mean it in a totally different way to Guwon. The other survivors are standoffish and abrupt. The doctor/vet is friendly enough but even he seems to serve a purpose of making Guwon look like an even nicer guy.
As Jinwoo gets closer to Guwon, he gradually learns more about what it means to live in this town. The world within this town is so logically consistent that I spent so much time craving more knowledge about why things are the way they are. Well. As the season moves on, you certainly gain more knowledge.
I’m sorry if this is a spoiler but my favourite piece of knowledge was discovering that the title actually means something. I thought it was just a cool sounding title all along. And now you mean to tell me that ‘The Hounds of Sisyphus’ is about something? What a world we live in!
Really like what 945 did here and I hope they rest well before delivering the next season to us. Whatever comes next, I’m sure I will be intrigued and gobsmacked every step of the way again. Until then I think I’ll have to reread season 1 a few more times just to see what hints have been lying in plain sight all along…
Hush Nili 
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