I really wish I could remember what drew me to Gale of the God because I want to thank whatever it is that led me to check it out. Set in an alternate history in the kingdom of Hoseon (a tiger-worshipping version of Joseon), crown prince Lee Hyo brings Seo Doram to the palace to be his wife. And I totally get it. I’d want Doram to be my wife too.
The art style and the colours gorgeously fit the setting. Baek Sangeon really incorporates the traditional motifs into every single panel gorgeously. Unlike with dramas, most webtoons I’ve read set in Joseon are about nobles rather than royals so it really was a treat to see the opulence woven throughout every facet other setting.
The detail in the costuming is also brilliant. Combining the style of a consort’s dress with the masculine clothes really gave Doram so many incredible outfits.
Within the story, I really found Scholar Im to be a very interesting foil to Doram. They have both felt the effects of being kin with traitors, Doram’s family being put to death whereas Scholar Im hints his father had him punished in place of himself (though within the text the explanation was that he is missing fingers due to an accident). As soon as Doram sees Scholar Im, he notes their similar ages and I wonder just how many similarities he sees in that moment.
Of course, Scholar Im is incredibly difficult for Doram to try to befriend. I have my suspicions about his true identity. The text tells us a few things about him but I’m not letting that stop me from cultivating the crackpot theories that have likely been disproven by the narrative.
We can also see Scholar Im as a foil to the crown prince himself. He wasn’t born as the manifestation of the nation’s god but he holds a unique position in the story. He knows more than he lets on but with that he also knows far more than we’ve been allowed to know.
The religion and mysticism of Hoseon are interesting points of the world building which, I find to be beautifully done. The reinterpretation of Joseon traditions with the spin of being prayers and offerings to the black tiger give the work a really unique flavour. The existence of animal-based gods is somehow ubiquitous and ambiguous.
The royal family acknowledge the black tiger in their bloodline as a very real thing, the powers of these animal gods have effects upon the world, yet commoners still doubt the existence of the god at all. Doram, though a self-professed believer of the black tiger, doesn’t seem married to the belief that the manifestation of the god is near him. Though he asks Lee Hyo whether he is the black tiger the answer given seems to be given specifically to placate Doram.
How would Lee Hyo know for sure that Doram wouldn’t want him to be the tiger when he can’t read the princess’s thoughts? That’s something I can’t explain, I simply believe it to be true. For me, there is no truth more knowable than the fact that the crown prince adores Doram and knows what he wants at a core level.
In a shocking turn of events, I love Lee Hyo just as much as I love Seo Doram. Baek Sangeon mentioned wanting to write a top without any emotions but I’d disagree with that assessment if Lee Hyo. Surely the constant impulse to be effing annoying comes from some sort of emotion. His teasing if Doram is relentless but also incredibly affectionate. How could the creator of this webtoon set out to create a top with no emotions and end up drawing a top who is hideously in love?
My favourite Lee Hyo moments are when he is gifted a norigae made by Doram and then when he messes up and shows as much on his face. He is incredibly charming and it is easy to see him that way when he is so affectionate to Doram.
I like Gale of the God so much that it’s turned me into a willing hypocrite. There was another webtoon I was reading with the same age gap that I was calling weird and gross until that title ‘rectifie’ it (I’ll get around to posting about Regas, I promise!). This is conjecture but however old Doram is (having just come of age), Lee Hyo is 10 years older than him (having refused to get married for 10 years) and they met back when Doram was missing his front teeth (so, like 6, 7? 8???). Another aspect to bear in mind is the fact Lee Hyo was blind for all intents and purposes when he was young.
We’re told that they had this brief history from back then but Doram has no memory of the crown prince whatsoever. Does that mean that Doram underwent some incident so traumatic that he can’t remember Lee Hyo? (and by this I mean some incident other than his grandfather being branded a traitor and his family being put to death, naturally). Is it simply that he’s too distracted by Lee Hyo’s yellow tiger eyes to recognise him as the blind and probably sickly person he met back then? Or, more realistically but less narratively satisfying, was Doram simply at the age where he’s not going to remember every random person he meets, no matter how life-defining meeting a child as cute as him must have been — and yes, my prediction is that the first person Lee Hyo opened his eyes to was a plucky, toothless kid who must have offered plenty of heartwarming promises like, “I’ll marry you, hyung, and then protect you!”
Whether I’m right or wrong, I don’t even care. Whatever Baek Sangeon comes up with is going to make me want to kiss their brain. I really, really love Gale of the God more than you could understand. We have an estimate of season 2 coming out in December but I’ll happily wait much longer than that if I must. I have the excellent season 1 to reread over and over until then.
Hush Nili 
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