Warning: Minor spoilers for Viral Hit episode #12!!
Summary
The season finale of thecriminally underrated adapted manhwaViral Hitis indicative of a truth about a more nuanced role that mysteries can play in storytelling. Mysteries are not always a good narrative device for creators to employ because they compel viewers to keep watching to learn the truth, but because the resulting ambiguity creates a more profound interpretation of a possible underlining theme than what the story is actually hiding. RegardingViral Hit, theanime’s exploration of live-streaming and publishing clips on video platforms, in this case called NewTube,helps reinforce a compelling reading that’s a result of a major mysterythat remains unsolved by episode #12.
The mystery surrounds the unknown identity of a martial artist calling himself Samdak who wears a rooster mask on his misspelled NewTube channel “How to Fignt”.The content Samdak publishes is absolute goldsince it has helped the incredibly weak Hobin win numerous fights against characters with different types of fighting styles despite having no prior skills or any experience in the field. However, the channel had gotten 0 views before Hobin.
The anime has dropped some possible hints about whom this Samdak could be, including the MMA rising rookie Munseong Kim, but that’s not why viewers should be interested in Samdak. It’s the fact thatHobin is the only one who has viewed Samdak’s channel despite its effectiveness, and the amount of time thatViral Hithas put into exploring the ins-and-outs of the live-streaming industry helps viewers come to this realization.
Viral Hit’s First Season Proved Why So Many Mystery Series Struggle to Deliver
Produced by Okuruto Noboru; based on the original series by Taejun Pak & Kim Junghyun
The driving force of the story is Hobin’s desire to earn money on NewTube to pay for his mother’s hospital bills, and to get there, viewers are taken on a learning journey as Hobin is toldhow he can get paid and what type of content to publishon the video-streaming platform. There’s also an instance where Hobin and his editing crew use their combined knowledge of the industry to help uncover a trick that an opposing NewTube group is using to expose them as frauds. These are obviously straightforward ways in whichViral Hitshares these glimpses into the world of video streaming for viewers.
The message is that the content is not the only factor that results in success, but that it also requires effective marketing and good presentation…
It’s therefore not too far off base to assume thatthe mystery surrounding Samdak’s channel isViral Hit’s way of doing this indirectly.The message is that the content is not the only factor that results in success, but that italso requires effective marketing and good presentation. The fact that Samdak misspelled the word “fight” as “fignt” is proof of that. The only reason why Hobin stumbled upon that page is becausehe misspelled “fight” exactly like that in the search fieldwhen browsing a specific online search engine.
Of course, this ridiculous mistake on Samdak’s part and the lack of viewership of his channel serve asViral Hit’s own version of a shonen tropein Japanese anime popularized byMy Hero AcademiaandBlack Clover. Hobin has exclusive access to his own private source of power, which makes him special and somewhat unbeatable, despite being naturally unspectacular on his own. He’s therefore somewhat of a shonen hero despite him coming from a Korean product. However, the fact that Viral Hit is also an exploration of the live-streaming industry is why viewers can read into it this way.
There’s also another explanation as to why Samdak may have misspelled his channel name. He may have realized that what he’s teaching is incredibly effective and that, in the wrong hands, could result in horrible consequences. The fact that he wears a rooster mask could be his way of separating himself from the channel in real life should that ever happen. Luckily, none of this has been proven, helping reinforce the idea that his mistake was unintentional and therefore allowing it to be used as a means to relate an important truth about the industry. That is the real reason why it’s a good thing thatthis must-watch of the seasonViral Hithas yet to solve this big mystery.
