Lezhin Comics

Why Did Men Stop Wearing High Heels?

By Sheena McNeil
February 5, 2018

I stumbled across Lezhin Comics thanks to a Facebook ad of all things. The ad was a multi-page (click through) sample teaser of a comic -- a naughty, mature comic -- which did a much better job of reeling me in as opposed to a single panel. The site isn't all "adult"; it actually has comics in the following divisions: romance, girls' love (GL), boys' love (BL), mature, action, mature female (which seems to have a bit less of the male gaze), SF / fantasy, and drama. I've checked out quite a few, and all seem quite character and story driven, including all the ones with lots of sex, which is a refreshing change. Most (maybe all) of the titles are by Korean creators, translated into English (including some footnotes on honorifics and such that don't easily translate), and so have art that will appeal to fans of manhwa and manga.

Lezhin is a pay site for these high-quality digital comics, but it has an interesting method that continues to allow me to sample quite a bit for free. Specifically, different titles will have free "episodes" during special promotions, and some series seem to eventually release most or all of the episodes for free at some later date. You can subscribe to a certain comic, but you can only save episodes by purchasing them (meaning if you read it free and it later locks back down, you have to pay to read that episode again ... but once you pay it's always open for you to read). The comics are in a single long page you scroll down, which is a format I've seen with other online comics, and I really like it. Plus, I assume it makes it easier for people to read on their phones (I read on my laptop). To pay, you purchase "coins" in bundles (keep an eye out for sales!), and use these coins to purchase (platform specific, so try to do all your purchases and reading on one device). There are also times when you can spend coin on certain comics on certain days and get those coins back after the special is over, to use on something else (within another window of time), so it really allows for a lot of flexibility for the reader. The series I'm going to discuss today is 62 episodes, a prologue, and an epilogue, and all but the last two episodes were free! I made my first "coin" purchase in order to read the last two episodes.

Why Did Men Stop Wearing High Heels? by Jimmy Kim is filed under "romance", but that's really for lack of a better place to put it on this site. It deals with two different, yet related fetishes with the main characters: a foot fetish and a shoe fetish, though neither is sexual in nature. There is a lesbian romance subplot, which gets dovetailed in quite nicely to the overarching theme of acceptance. The only unfortunate thing is the misleading title; this series does not address the fact that men wore heels before women did, nor why it swapped genders. It's a minor complaint, but I did spend the better part of the series wondering when it was going to get around to explaining that or even touching on it.

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The story mainly follows Kim Manseok, an average, boring salary man ... except for his secret fetish of loving high-end high heels. He runs a blog where he pretends to be a woman, showcasing photos of his feet in said shoes before he arranges them in his spare bedroom-turned-shoe-closet. He accidently stumbles across a run-down shoe store where he meets Chase Oh, a famous shoe designer, whose own (foot) fetish has resulted in his being disgraced. Chase blackmails Manseok into being his new muse by threatening to "out" him. Manseok struggles with balancing this new "job" with his regular one. He's also on the outs with his sister, Kim Mansook, who was traumatized regarding her own sexuality and his fetish. The cast is rounded out by Choi, the over-worked college student who has his own shoe-related reasons for being involved, as well as by small roles from Chase's former muse and employers, and two of Manseok's female coworkers, who both develop crushes on him. I was truly surprised by how much I loved this series. It was quite deep and dealt with things in a realistic way, while also heading towards a happy ending for all.

Manseok is adorable when he's wearing and admiring heels. The look of utter and complete satisfaction on his face and the change in his whole demeanor tell us that this is truly a love and a passion. The story provides us a believable backstory that is rooted in play and fun with a girlfriend discovering how nice his small feet are and how good they look in her heels. His fetish developed over time of wearing and enjoying them, followed by him trying to replace the loss of said girlfriend with more shoes. I like that it morphed from a fun act to a coping mechanism to a compulsion rather naturally, but what I love even more is that he takes it to heart learning about the shoes, the fashion, and the designers. His sister's reaction and subsequent disowning of him hurts but doesn't deter him. The setting is also fleshed out to convey that while his fetish, if discovered, would have bad results in general, it would (and later does) have worse results at his ultra-conservative work place. Even without his fetish being sexual, the crossdressing aspect (and pretending to be a woman blogger) is seen as disgusting by the general world around him. Much of the story actually focuses on Manseok accepting his own fetish and embracing it on a new level ... and dealing with shame, fear, and personal insecurities. One of the best parts about Manseok is how accepting he is of others -- how they want to dress, who they love, what they value. Interestingly, his main struggle outside himself is with Chase, and how Chase treats others, valuing their feet over anything else. This dynamic is explored quite thoroughly to the benefit of both characters by the end. As a side note, I'm not a high-end kind of person or a high heel kind of person, but I found myself awed by the amount of loving detail the creator put into accurately portraying heels.

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Chase Oh is an unusual character, in that, despite his horrible attitude and mindset, he's not a bad guy. Rather, his mindset, coupled with poor social skills, puts him on the outs with most people. Yes, we see some of him through the haze of muddled opinions from his two muses, but we also get to see him open up as the story unfolds. His gruff demeanor is dropped a few times as genuine concern for Manseok comes through. He often acts selfishly, but some of the actions become justified as we get a better sense of the whole picture. In fact, it's admirable that he's about the art and not the bottom line. He even tries to think practically about the heels in order to make them truly wearable, whereas others in the industry would make them dangerous to the women who wear them in order to sell more. In the end, I can't say he's a character I like, but he's a character I respect.

Choi is mostly a supporting character, but he's fascinating in his own right. His own shoe aspect is quite personal, relating to one of his sisters who has passed away. Her words about how heels make her feel are echoed in many other aspects of this comic as well as by other characters, pointing out that it's not really about the heels themselves. Choi inadvertently provides some comic relief due in part to his usually-serious face and demeanor. The other part is more situational, creating scenes due to his working multiple part time jobs and going to school (with Mansook, whom he has a crush on). He fills an important role between Chase and Manseok, making the relationship between all of them work on a friendship level, albeit an unusual one. Even though he's in a supporting role, this comic does a good job of making sure we get a real sense of Choi as a person with issues and interests of his own.

Manseok's two lady coworkers couldn't be more different from each other, yet each can be seen as complimenting some aspect of Manseok. Miss Song is reserved and a wallflower, much like Manseok is out in public. She sees a kindred spirit, and she overheard him standing up for her against office gossip with regard to her choices to not dress more feminine, which endears him to her early on. She accidently outs Manseok after accidently uncovering his secret. After all the drama settles, she realizes that she likes Manseok for who he is, despite his fetish.

On the other hand, there's Miss Suh, who always dresses in fancy clothes and heels with her hair done (arguably overdressed for her office, but not formal dressy); in fact, she's even turned down for a promotion based on how she's dressed! I really like that this comic tackles both ends of the spectrum of women getting criticized for how they dress. She's authoritative and unapologetic and smart. She and Manseok end up bonding over heels when he stands up for her choice to dress fancy against office gossip. They get close quickly once the bonding over shoes begins, and she fully supports his fetish, seeing not only no harm in it but another way for them to bond. It's wonderful to see the fancier of the two women be shown as emotional, fierce, professional, loyal, and supportive, especially when many stories would writer her off as stuck-up or worse.

The previous muse provides insight into Chase and the fashion industry. She's also used to point out Chase's first attempt at valuing a person over their feet (even though it backfired terribly). Through her interactions with Manseok, she also makes him make a decision about embracing not only his fetish, but his role as a muse. In all of that, she's a valuable character, but she's also fairly forgettable and we don't know much else about her. The two fashion big-wigs (a fashion designer and a CEO) provide more insight into the industry, specifically with how Chase did and didn't fit in. They create some complications that force the main characters to take action. So, again, small roles that add to the story.

Last, but not least, is Mansook. I love that the comic takes time to dovetail her story in with her brother's, properly telling her backstory, especially since it was her own crush on his girlfriend (the one who started his wearing heels) that lay at the root of many things. The cruel words by said girlfriend shamed Mansook and made her feel dirty about herself, so when she saw her brother wearing heels, she reacted badly. The story does a beautiful job of handling her transition into accepting herself as a lesbian and her brother with his fetish, through him. Chapter 34 has the two of them confronting the ex-girlfriend, and Chapter 35 is an emotional tear-jerker where Manseok says he knew she liked his girlfriend, that's not why they broke up, and that there's nothing wrong with her / he's not ashamed of her / he sees here as beautiful. All the feels!! Plus, this leads to Manseok realizing that he's accepted her all these years without fully accepting himself ... and she gets to shift into a role supporting him after he's outed!

The happy ending is perfect; it brought a smile to my lips. Only after all of the main characters have fully accepted themselves (and others, if applicable), including their non-conformist ways, are they rewarded. The new office environment, where Manseok is transferred to, is hilariously perfect, with everyone working there not only embracing their own passions and hobbies, but also sharing them freely with each other without fear of judgement.

I already mentioned that these episodes are done as a single vertical scrolling page. This creator uses that to play with the layouts and create pacing with white space and sometimes word balloons by themselves in that white space. The color palette is soft and almost pastel, which is fitting for a romance or rom-com, and here the most vibrant blends are saved for portraying the heels. Manseok is boring and non-memorable in appearance, colored in grays and browns, but that's by design. He becomes memorable through his actions and his shoe fetish. Whereas Chase stands out visually with his messy-wavy orange-red hair and colored jogging suits and usually-disheveled appearance, which are at odds with the high-end work he does. The line art, like the coloring, saves the best details for the shoes, but there are also some gorgeous florals often drawn in around the shoes. The characters are nicely drawn, with simple, manhwa-stylized line art that is quite expressive in expression and body language to maximize the comedic side of this read.

This comic surprised me in all the right ways with its heartwarming story and flawed characters. While you can certainly check out many series on Lezhin for free (including this one almost in its entirety!), this one would be worth paying for without a doubt. This is a story for all those who want something that looks at different kinds of characters and their real struggles in a personable way.

Why Did Men Stop Wearing High Heels? Comic