Is it really AI? From what I've seen Koogi kinda have always used 3D models for her backgrounds and props. You can also see that on KS but who knows? The girl looks like she's getting pressed on the last chapters
first to clarify since people have been kind of booing me through dislikes -_-
I'm not saying koogi's art is ugly. the use of AI makes the entirety of the manhwa look unappealing, loud, cluttered, smudged, inconsistent, etc. I'm a fan of koogi's art since KS and love their art style! I'm just super disappointed that their newest work had to resort to even USING AI. i would love to give the benefit of the doubt that it's the fault of the company they're contracted under didn't want to hire new/more assistants with background designing to save money/labor and koogi had to resort to.. this.
yes, KS was made & published way before AI was popularized and used 3d models and backgrounds were drawn as far as I can remember. WTUP was published around 2025 but AI has been rising in popularity around 2023, so a lot of the AI here was mostly when AI wasn't trained enough with that many stolen art yet. Once you know how to spot signs of AI, you can see it a lot once you start to pay attention. AI today can sometimes be a little harder to spot because of millions of stolen art fed into it now.
I can tell when it's a 3d model because the lines are cleaner (a little TOO clean because sometimes the weight of the lines are different than the lines some authors uses) and have a more solid structure. it can look very computer like and some also have minimum use of polygons to save file space. i can also tell if I look closely if it was a real photograph edited to fit a comic illustration, or if it was a pre-made drawn asset from someone else on CSP.
it seems that they used AI for intricate architecture and have drawn over them with their characters in most of the settings.
if you pay attention in very obvious pages like:
page 237, the buildings on the left and right have WAY too much going on. on the right I can't tell where the "windows" are supposed to be and on the left, the lines break apart, merge together, looks messy, and I can't tell if some parts are part of the structure of the roof or windows. for a background like that, something simple and more comprehensive would have been better. heck, I would have preferred to see a 3d model instead.
the entire "Small World" boat ride on page 256. lines are broken, inconsistent, wobbly, the colors are more "fried" with some oversaturation and bleeding, flowers are inconsistent, overlapping/merged petals etc. and you can't make a clear distinction on what any shape on those dolls are.
the sign on 341. the sign is incomprehensible, doesn't spell anything at all, is smudged, and other points I've listed in my previous descriptions.
there are more signs of AI usage in a ton of other pages but I thought I'd point out these obvious ones.
hope this helps anyone to go back and actually see what I'm talking about. yes, you may think it's not that serious or even hypocritical of me to be criticizing this work while reading it here. im not going to debate on those ethics bc that isn't the point.
Going back yeah I think she might be using AI, I completely forgot about the smudge letters on that one sign but after that I really didnt noticed anything. Still, it's pretty sad knowing how her story is gonna go downhill bc of this if it gets really popular. Her story is good, the characters are good, she's a known? author and her storytelling and attention to detail is incredible. She shouldn't use AI, should've sticked with the 3D models instead, which she's using anyways. Idk it might be the new company and the lack of time. It's pretty disappointing, though
wth???? the AI is so obvious that it's being used for the bg art.. they seriously couldn't have hired another assistant? its so ugly and makes the rest of the art look like its pasted on something muddled. it makes me not wanna read it anymore..