3 Life's Lessons I learned from Larva- A Korean Animated Series

Mickey and Minnie Mouse.
Tom and Jerry.
Jack And Jill.

These are several duo cartoon characters that have become part of the childhood of every human alive today. The reason for popularity of these cartoon characters is because they cater not only to kids but also to adult. South Korea has also created their own version of duo cartoon characters and they call it LARVA. Meet these two awesome and funny slugs, the devious Red and the big and tacky Yellow.

Photo credit to Pedro Parkero
Like Tom and Jerry, the scenes between the red and yellow slug is dialogue-less which is good so they can be able to reach a wider audience other than Koreans. I first watched this animation show when I was riding on a bus. The red and yellow slugs on the TV monitor captured my attention. There is no dialogue, just pure music, albeit the expression and the gesture are quite enough to make me laugh. The scene was too hilarious that I deliberately laughed causing a little bit of havoc to other passengers. Who would think that an adult would laugh like that to a kiddie cartoon show? From that time, I became an instant fan of Larva and I always watch the show on Youtube before I hit the sack.

Larva I may say is not only for Kids. I can sense that the creator behind this animated show is targeting adult audiences too. I want to share what I learned from the show in an adult perspective.

1. Mishaps are part of life, have fun with it.

Not a single episode of larva would pass without mishaps. In fact, the show is all about the misadventures of the two slugs. It’s like, for every action they make, you expect that something wrong will happen, and that is where the fun begins. Without these misadventures, the whole concept of the show would be boring I think. The unfortunate accidents are the spices of the show and that what excites me to watch it. I want to see how they can be able to recuperate with the bad luck. But what really makes me amaze with the two is that, they are just like having fun dealing with the problems. Even if their lives are always at stake, I can’t help but just laugh at them.

I maybe appear masochist if I am going to advice everyone to just enjoy the problems. What else can we do? It’s part of life. If you feel very depressed and tired looking for solutions for your problems, I’ll tell you, you couldn’t solve it. Why not just take it easy? Just do what you can and enjoy every action you make, every ideas you think, and savor every moment with your troubles. You will be surprised that all of these problems will just go away.

2. True friends will hurt you upfront, deal with it

Since this is a series of the two comical bugs, you can see them sometimes rummaging food in the garden, climbing over a potted plants, racing in an unknown forest, and dealing with other nature bugs and animals. The two main characters are always in competition with each other causing them to hurt each other hence the misadventures commence. Red Larva will hit Yellow larva, and vise versa.

But what is good about them is that despite the killing, the jealousy, the envy, and all the hatred that they show to each other upfront, they remain partners and friends. True friends should hide nothing from you. If they dislike you for something you did, they must tell you and not the other people. If friendship is tested with a lot of troubles and misunderstanding, it will last long.

3. Vengeance causes trouble, stay calm.

Yellow larva will hit red larva and the red larva will do the same. It’s funny how these two bugs hurt each other. The gestures suggest that it’s fun to poke at somebody and hit back but it also teaches as a lesson that there is a corresponding consequences for retribution.

Take for example this one scene where red larva is about to turn into a butterfly. So he confined himself into a cocoon and waited for few days to become butterfly. But here comes the yellow larva, amazed with the white round ball hanging which happens to be the cocoon of the red larva. He was not aware that his friend red larva is inside the cocoon and he mistaken it as a punching bag. So he punched and punched the ball until it was destroyed. He was surprised that a pre mature butterfly appears from the white cotton ball. Butterflies are beautiful, but if premature, you could imagine how gruesome it is. So the red larva is very angry with the yellow larva for postponing his metamorphosis. The next day, the red larva saw a big cocoon, he assumed it contains the yellow larva. He took the opportunity to revenge, so he punched and punched and punched, but what came out of a cocoon is not a premature yellow butterfly but a monster bug. The yellow larva came out of nowhere, then it dawned on them that the red larva hit something scary, and they run and run and run. You see, the intention is to revenge, but see what happened, both of them are now in trouble.

Korea is well known for dramas and reality shows, but people don’t know that Korea can offer good animation series like Larva. It’s a good show for kids and for kids at heart because it does not only make viewers happy, it can also be a good source of life’s valuable lessons.

Comments

  1. I guess all cartoons even the most hilarious ones can give lesson not only to kids but to adults too! Very much the same when it comes to anime.

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  2. I haven't watched any Korean animation/cartoons. I'm interested to know how skilled they are in terms of designing their characters and voicing their expressions.

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  3. This is the reason why I pay attention even to cartoons. There is always something to be learned especially in humor.

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  4. i always love Korea and their clothes but i am not into their stories but this one a must watch!

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  5. Cartoons give us the best lessons we need to learn in life. Even if the main audience are kids.

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  6. Just seeing the red and yellow slug makes me imagine the countless scenes they are trying to outsmart each other.

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  7. I guess me and my son should see this animated series. It seems very interesting.

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  8. What a very educational show! This is the type of cartoon kids must watch.

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  9. That was actually pretty interesting to read. I started to enjoy your own interpretation of life while basing it from the animation. I should probably see this for myself too. It's been a long time since I had a good laugh from just watching cartoons. :)

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  10. Nice thought of yours to live by. Yes, being calm is a good virtue one must have in dealing with life's surprises.

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  11. I know this Larva animation. My son Ashley loves to watch it and I suddenly loved it as well when I heard him laugh out loud on it. The animation was really good and entertaining and you were right it also have some thoughts that can teach us about how to handle life.

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