"Exchange Student" is a slice of life manhwa, where you will get the opportunity to see school life romance and impersonating. The trope is very simple the female lead exchanges her identity with the other person. It's an interesting story which caught my attention. I am completely hooked with the story.
Details
Author & Artist: Ultrafrog
Genre: Shoujo, drama, romance, school life
Chapters: 87
Status: Completed
Year of release: 2022
The story follows the life of a student who is about to give her entrance exam on the reputed university at Seoul. When she was about to enter the hall a phone call came where the protagonist heard that her mother got hospitalized in a serious condition.
Without any hesitation the protagonist ran to the hospital and missed her exam. Her name is Yongcheol, she has been studying very hard to get admitted to her favourite Hankuk university but her dreams shattered as her mother got sick. The expense has increased and to get her mother's treatment she has to work hard.
One day after work she was on the lake side trying to let go of her heavy emotions. Suddenly a jacket came flying on her face, she could not find the owner of the jacket but she found an ID card of the student Chaeyeon Lee, the jacket also belonged to the reputed University where Yongcheol wanted to study for a long time.
She decided to keep the jacket as she could not throw it, later for some circumstances she had to wear the jacket to make a bully back off and then a student from the same university noticed her, his name is Hyeonseong and he approached Yongcheol.
When he asked her name she claimed that she is Chaeyeon Lee. Later Hyeonseong invited Yongcheol to join their multimedia studies welcome party. She was pretending to be Chaeyeon and at first she felt guilty but later she was moving with the flow, this is the life she wanted for so long to study and make friends at her favourite university. The problem arises when the real Chaeyon Lee arrived....
In my opinion it is one of the best romance manhwa, I really like the Blondie guy he is definitely someone I can relate with. Because I always prefer to buy expensive gifts to the ones I love and I don't know how to show my care other ways. So, people often misunderstands my intention. To be honest I don't like to show off but I love to share my love with everyone.
Anyway, moving back to the manhwa! I think this is the first manhwa where I have seen a girl trying to take someone else's place on study purpose. Like how helpless can someone be, the protagonist is really strong she does not want her mom to feel bad about her so she also lies to her sick mother. But I think she should have told her mom the truth, because I believe parents should not pressurized their children for something they can not control.
It is not Yongcheol's fault that she could not get admitted, but as her mom can not take any kind of stress it is also a valid reason to hide from her. I understand the situation very well, I can truly feel myself being connected with the female lead even thought I have never been through these kind of situations.
The male leads are super handsome, I don't know yet who will be in the end game but I guess it will be the black hair guy Hyeonseong because that's what always happens. I will love it if it's the Blond hair guy.
I think the chemistry between Yongcheol and him is much more than with Hyeonseong. But I must say both of them are gentleman and I think both fits the criteria to be Yongcheol's boyfriend.
I think the author should create a K-drama out of this story because these type of stories are fun to watch when it's represented as K-drama. I have watched few dramas like this where the girl pretends to be a boy or someone else.
Most of the time I have liked watching the ones pretending to be a boy because it's really comedic and all moments are hilarious. So, I believe this manhwa has the potential to become a K-drama.
The character that I disliked the most is the purple hair girl who's name is Shina Gwon, like she literally is the most annoying character. I could not sympathize with her at all. I won't give spoilers, she's just like a vamp who only knows how to suck other people's blood.
On the other hand the art is charismatic, I got fascinated by it's mesmerizing atmosphere at each panel. I have enjoyed reading it very much because of the beautiful art. I think the visuals are better than what I expected, this manhwa is not that popular but I think it deserve praises.
The story is truly compelling I like each and every chapter. Whenever I am trying to stop reading the ending of the one chapter keeps me hanging like it creates a situation where I must read the next chapter, in that way this manhwa kept me hooked. There are so many characters sometimes I forget the names or get confused about who is who. I think they should have kept few characters only.
My personal ratings for this manhwa would be 8 out of 10, 2 missing because I have not completed it yet and I can't judge by reading half of it. I will give it a proper number after finishing the manhwa. As a reader I wish the blond guy will be the end game.
Let me know in the comment section what do you think about the story? Is it interesting if so will you start reading manhwa?
Credits:
Pictures are the screenshots of the chapters 1,2,3,4,5,6 from the manhwa, you can read it on webtoon for free.
Pictures are edited with Canva