The Four of Them Review

Characters (from left to right/top to bottom): Gabby, Martina, Grillo, and Mariel

Rating: 4.5/5

Synopsis: The webtoon The Four of Them primarily focuses on young adolescents Grillo, Gaby, Martina, and Mariel as they wend their way through the anfractuous pitfalls and overall awkwardness and drama of being a teen.

My Thoughts: This webtoon is a visual textbook definition of what high school years are like for many teens, a hormonal labyrinth of conflicting emotions, sensual desires, interpersonal drama. However, this isn’t treated in the ludicrously thespian way like the typical high school drama series you might see on The CW. Neither is an overidealized version depiction straight out of a Disney Channel program. Instead, what we have here is a three-dimensional cast of characters with diverse personalities, orientations, and interests who are just trying to get by. Some notable ordinary teenage problems covered include things like coming out of the closet, figuring out where you in the closet, having feelings for someone in the closet, and why am I repeatedly referring to the closet. In all seriousness though, the comic does excel in a multitude of aspects. Here are a few highlights worth mentioning:

1.  LGBTQA+ Representation – The beforementioned protagonists are straight, gay (or bi perhaps), asexual, and lesbian. While their sexual orientation is an integral part of their identity and does significantly come into play during many of the character arcs (particularly Gaby and Mariel), it’s definitely not their sole hallmark. In the case of Gaby, he’s the more introverted, somewhat crabby yet honest individual who you can safely tell a secret to. Meanwhile, Mariel is a shy and caring girl who is still trying to find her footing in the world though now that I’ve deeply mulled over it, her personality could be developed more beyond her intrapersonal struggles. The character I find most interesting, however, is Martina who is the third openly asexual person I can recall seeing in any form of media after Kim from the webtoon Boo It’s Sex and Todd from Netflix’s BoJack Horseman. She’s the social butterfly who knows and talks with just about everyone at the school (not unlike me when I was in an international high school in The Netherlands). Ironically enough, despite her disinterest in dating, she happens to enjoy and be in the know of all the relationship gossip around the school and is one of Gaby’s only friends besides Grillo.
2. Racial/Cultural Diversity – The story, being set in Argentina, contains a heterogeneous cast of various racial complexions and subtle cultural traditions specific to the setting which I somehow didn’t notice until the author mentioned some of them in her Q&A chapter. Perhaps it’s due to me being so used to these traditions having lived in Francophone Africa which shares quite a few of those characteristics like cheek kissing as a greeting for example.

My only quibble is that sometimes the writing contains a few grammatical errors resulting in really odd sounding dialogue such as “My sister do the same when she’s mad” and  “You are friends since kindergarten”. Also, Grillo’s sister’s teasing, show-offish demeanor was pretty annoying at the beginning though her character improved and grew into me as she became more empathetic and caring.

Final Thoughts: The Four of Them is a fun, heartwarming webtoon about adolescence worth reading if you’re into that type of coming-of-age series or are an awkward teen yourself still trying to find your place in the world. I'm looking forward to season 3 which is to be released this September. Now if don't mind, I'll be reflecting upon these wild years of my life.

Webtoon Link: https://www.webtoons.com/en/drama/the-four-of-them/list?title_no=1524&page=1