Man (Manga/Manwha/Manhwa) ia Reviews

*:Man (Manga/Manwha/Manhwa) ia Reviews in order of author A to K:*

(Note: Since I'm still a bit Korean illiterate, my reviews so far are more based on aesthetics and panel flow (from what I can translate). Also, while you may find yourself disagreeing a lot of times on the reviews, try to remember that these are simply my opinions. X_X.

Extra note: Soonjung and Shoujo are comics directed towards female readers in that they're more feminine with usually feminine-looking male characters. Shonen and action comics are usually directed at male readers in that usually the better looking characters are female characters.

A to K

:Review Guide:

((Author - Man-ga/wha/hwa) - English Title (usually rough translation) / Korean Title - Appropriate reading age - Volumes read, publishing date.)

(Story)

(Review)

(Note(s))

(Azuma, Mayumi - Manga ) Star Ocean Second Story / Star Ocean Second Story - General/Teen/General) - Volumes 1-6. Reviewed in spring, 2003. - View Images Page - Update: Volumes 1-7 (completed). Reviewed again in summer, 2003.

WHAT, YOU HAVEN'T PLAYED THE GAME??? Okay, okay. Claude C. Kenni, the son of a high-ranking general in the Earth Federation goes on a scouting mission with his father and other crewmates. There, Claude gets ported to another world and meets/saves from a monster a girl named Rena. They end up trekking and meeting travelling companions on the way to a continent (forgot the name, sorry). Apparently, people have been sent by ship only to not return from the continent. As the story develops, Claude, Rena, and the other associates find themselves in the midst of the possible destruction of the universe (well, the universe being taken over by really evil guys).

This series is intriguing, and definitely, supremely well-drawn. There's adventure, fighting, romance, comedy, and drama all in a few volumes. One thing to note is that this series has been reprinted 7 times in Korea due to the high interest in the series. Another thing to note, which is unfortunate for me, is I can't seem to find the rest of the series for purchase. Update: I finally got the last volume, but for one thing, I was surprised that it WAS the last volume. If you've played the game, the manga ends during half the storyline. If you haven't, you'll find that the ending was a bit rushed, and the gathering of characters a bit too unreal, even for fantasy standards. Still, I liked how the manga ended, leaving questions as to the fate of the protagonists if you haven't played the game. Also, the last volume had extra stories of the protagonists, so it wasn't too bad.

Note(s): I'm not telling which character was voted the best of all the Star Ocean 2 guys/girls/creatures. ^_^. Update: Hint that any true Star Ocean 2 fan should know: Possessed.

(Ha, Shi Hyun or self-titled Ha Si Hyun - Manhwa) - Comic / Comic - Soonjung - 1 of 8 so far, Published by Cake Books. Reviewed in late Fall, 2003.

Song HeWon is a regular student and starting artist in love with a man named JinOh. It's when her work is published, though, she finds that the art sucks compared to other artists. From there, she lands in a situation where Kang HyeSung is breaking up with a student at her school, dragging her into the breakup. Knowing somehow that HyeSung is a manhwa artist himself, she asks for him to be her teacher. Later, with the departure of JinOh, HeWon and HyeSung find themselves attached to each other. Meanwhile, HyeSung saves a beautiful girl named Kang RaHa, who's also HeWon's new friend and manhwa fan, from being forced to ride on the motorcycle of some student she dislikes. It's from then on that Kang RaHa makes it a point to get HyeSung, whatever means possible. Later on in the story, in a darkened piano room of the new combined girls and guys school of HeWon and HyeSung's, HeWon falls asleep underneath the piano only to wake up and see a guy taking off his clothes. Thinking he's a pervert, she screams, only to be discovered by him and calmly told to be quiet, to which she escapes his grasp and slams him into unconsciousness with a music stand, only to later see his face close up and find he looks handsome, only to add to the confusion (a handsome pervert?). Later on, is found out that the guy was Moon HuiRyeom, who was using the room to basically practice break dancing. and later HyeSung not revealing the information of it. With HyeSung losing HeWon's trust, they part ways and a love quadrilateral appears, where HyeSung still likes HeWon, but is with RaHa, who likes HyeSung, while HeWon and HuiRyeom like each other. What happens in the next volume will be up for HuiRyeom and HeWon later connect when HeWon stumbles upon RaHa kissing HyeSung grabs.

Criticism and comments...I don't know how to start off with this, except that on every cover, this is titled, "Comic: The Story of Young Citizen, New Generation", and brings out an atmosphere that it is. It's also pretty funny how a Matrix Reloaded scene is portrayed on a movie screen within the manhwa. It has plot twists, humor, drama, and of course, romance. The first few volumes were also very informative as to what it takes being a "comic" artist, what pens and guidebooks to use, and where to buy comics in general (24 pages are done a day by Ha Shi Hyun). The downside and reason why this won't be introduced to the Western world is its one offensive scene and cover which I wasn't aware of until I bought the whole bundle up to volume 7, being a Ha Shi Hyun fan, that has RaHa dress HyeSung at her birthday party into a Nazi uniform, and the cover which has him dressed in it. That issue can't be side-stepped, since it's pretty much offensive, despite the drama that still protrudes from the story at that point. If that was left out of the story and the cover changed, then the story would be an instant classic. It really is a good story otherwise, hence the long summary.

Note(s): Ha Shi Hyun rocks as a manhwa artist, but lacks in sensitivity to the past. I seriously hope there's a makeover of that scene and cover, since I'd love seeing Comic brought over to the West.

(Ha, Shihyun - Manhwa) - Pretty / Pretty - Teen/Soonjung, Volumes 1-6 (of 6 out so far). Creation date: 1988. Release date 1999-? - Published by Mink Comics. Reviewed in summer, 2003. - View Images Page.

There's a famous old story about a prince from that comes from the sky/heavens. One day, while camping with her uncle Hyogoon Shin, Kirin Shin stumbles across a handsome guy in the fields who she talks with and views the sky together with. It's later when she goes back to her uncle, the guy disappears, leaving her to wonder who he was and if she'd ever see him again. It's back in school that she daydreams about him, comparing him to the prince from the old story, only to discover him coming towards the school. Having rushed to him, she shouts asking for them to be a couple together, but unfortunately he's wearing earphones, so he can't hear. To both their unfortunate surprises, Kirin's mom appears immediately afterwards, and introduces Kirin to the guy, who turns out to be Jeyoung Eun, her "6-chun" (term for people whose parents are cousins or in other terms, her second cousin -I think that's the term-). Apparently, Jeyoung is her cousin from the US, who's come to attend high school and live with the Shin family. Joohwe, Kirin's best friend, falls for Jeyoung herself and entangles into this love affair possibly gone wrong. Also, a model, who later turns into a singer who's in their class named Yohan Chun confesses his interest in Kirin to her. Later, Kirin meets and rivals to host a tv show with Gyulhwa Kim, who also seems to be connected to Jeyoung in the past. As the story progresses through the volumes, a clause that might permit Kirin and Jeyoung to be together is revealed to Kirin, which Jeyoung has known all along, but a question that arises in the last released volume is: will they tell each other they know about it? And what will Gyulhwa and Yohan do to keep them apart?

It's obvious this story is meant to be a love story between Kirin and Jeyoung, because on the back cover of every volume is the exact words: "Kirin X Jeyoung" with a different picture each time of them in cartoon form together. But what makes this story involving and intriguing is the elements that keep them apart, such as the fact that they're known as cousins (though distant), where even when Kirin's best friend Joohwe asks suspiciously why the two seemed so close together. Also is the friction between Jeyoung and Yohan, which Yohan is oblivious to since he assumes Jeyoung as simply Kirin's cousin (at first). Though the manhwa was made in 1988, the art is absolutely fantastic, and would rival any story made in these current years. Seriously, I'd recommend this story to anyone who wants a solid romance or a start on reading manhwa in general. There's a bit of humor, a lot of romance, teenage angst, drama, and the covers are pretty awesome. One side-note to add though is that on the cover of volume 2, the necklace symbol on Yohan Chun is a Buddhist symbol (NOT a nazi symbol!), with the legs of the symbol pointing to the left, which distinguishes it from the nazi symbol, with the legs of the symbol pointing to the right. One reason to note that is because there's a vast misunderstanding of the symbol, in that the Buddhist symbol with its legs towards the left has been around far longer than the nazi symbol (think hundreds to possibly over a thousand years).

Note(s): If you judge a book by its cover, then you'll definitely love Pretty, because seriously, the covers and inside art are terrific.

( Hwang, Midi - Manhwa) The Legend of Nereid / The Legend of Nereid - Teen/Soonjung - Volume 1, date unknown. Reviewed in spring, 2003.

After struggling and literally fighting in a swimming race to retrieve a sword, Matia finds herself as the victor / chosen one of some sort, and subsequently the target of the queen and authorities.

I'm not sure why there are so many volumes of this story. What really irked me in the volume was how Matia swam naked and unabashedly waved over a complete stranger for no apparent reason. Considering she's hit puberty, one would think that's a (very) bad idea in any time, and this story's set in medieval times. The art of the story seems sort of mediocre, though the cover was pretty nice.

Note(s): It was kind of...boring, but maybe it was because I couldn't quite understand the story.

(Jung, Sang Hye - Manwha) - Waiter's Story / Waiter's Story - Teen/Soonjung - 2001-2002 - Published by Zooty Comics - Two volume story (completed). Reviewed in fall, 2003. View Images page.

One day in a bar, Sookat's telling Gareen that they need a new waiter for the pub. Gareen notes he's going out for groceries and on the way back discovers a young guy that's huddled against a tree. Giving him tons of food, Gareen thinks of hiring the young guy, who is revealed as Remony, for the pub. When the two get back to the bar, Sookat angrily dismisses Remony as too dirty, until he takes a shower. Once clean, Remony is hired and introduced to Gareen, Sookat, and Enessu. Stories unfold at the pub as a party occurs, a woman named Jace reveals to her lover Tommy that she's a transvestite male, Enessu's first love story reveals, a boy's love writer enters the pub, a girl named Maxi thinks she's uncared for only to be surprised by her worried father, a man talks of his travels with the man hired to kill him, etcetera. Eventually, the stories wrap up into a story of the pub itself from 5 years ago, in which Gareen notes of the original pub owner, his late father, and the meaning of being a waiter/bartender.

What was fun about this story was that it was a set of multiple stories. It didn't draw out into a lengthy, cumbersome series, and was straight to the point in the end. The side-story "Smile" was also intriguing, or at least disturbing, but I think it was more of a fan-service of Remony and Sookat for the fans.

Note(s) - The boy's love writer part of the story was hilarious. There was an actual written page of a story in the manwha about grouping together some of the 4 main characters.

(Kara -artist- (writer unknown) - (Demon Diary / Mahwahngeelgi - Manhwa) - Teen/Soonjung - 1-4 (out of 7, which is the last of the series), date unknown.) Reviewed in spring, 2003.

The story is about a nice, yet less-than-there (in wits/knowledge/etiquette) person that is discovered to be a the new future demon king by a knowledgable advisor. Bearing the name Raenef, the new demon king finds he has a lot to learn from his advisor and new mentor, Eclipse. As he begins to learn the proper acting of a demon king, he get challenged by a female knight named Ertis. Later, they all meet Kiris, an oddball priest who also has a mentor and serious past. They go through trials and adventures as slowly they all prepare to face the 4th Raenef, a past demon king that returns and poses a threat to Raenef's future.

I was first introduced to this months ago by the Tokyopop site and loving the banner that introduced the series. I found out later the complete story at another JAnimeS, a far superior scanlation / anime and manga/manhwa/manwha review site, though reading the spoilers was a bane to my interest in reading the whole series, since I knew what would happen at the end. Anyhow, in review of the volumes I read so far, I can honestly say that the art was drawn well (which led me to find another series drawn by the same artist). As for the story, it was also top-notch, and even with my broken Korean, I could find humor in the many situations during the volumes. One critical note is, in order to have interest in reading the whole series, it's best to have no knowledge (don't read spoilers!) of the series.

Note(s): A solid story with good art. The side-note from the author about Ertis was hilarious.

(Kara -artist- / Lee, Yoonheh -writer-) Journey to Heaven / Chun-heng-gi - Manhwa - Young teen/Soonjung - Volumes 1-3 (of 4 that are out so far?), 2002-? Published by Bijou comics. Reviewed in summer, 2003. View images page.

(Update: I didn't realize until volume 3 that Dongyoung was a girl. When rereasing volume 1, I found out also that Dongyoung was already mentioned as a girl, with Ahheen and Leejoung knowing so. Everyone else thinks Donyoung's a guy.) There are those that have lived long (over 100 years) lives, somehow reborn with the memories of their lives intact who are called sahbahngshin (? I'm not quite sure, but that's the word that was used many times in describing those that were identified. Sahbahngshin literally means the meeting of the E, W, N, and S.). One such person is a princess who escaped her palace to avoid an arranged marriage. It's in modern times, that that same person turns out to be a male student named Dongyoung, who finds himself always hit on by another, taller male student named Biwohl Jean. Dongyoung isn't the only sahbahngshin in his school, though. His good friend, Ahheen and her brother Leejoung are all somehow connected with him in his past life, and are sworn somehow to protect him from those that are trying to return him (the princess) to the queen (Hwanghoo). Later, they discover their classmates Oohyun and Dohyun are also sahgbahngshin, who have goals of sending wayward spirits back to the spirit realm and finding the princess themselves. As more and more spirits are discovered, and as more agents of Hwanghoo become closer to finding Dongyoung, Dongyoung is posed the question of whether to return or not; as noted by a dog-like spirit that protects him named Myaoh, "Can't you simply return, marry and live a content life, instead of always being in hiding?" But, is marriage the only importance of the return of the princess? That will probably be answered as more volumes come out.

I was led to this story by the fact that it was drawn by Kara, the artist of Demon Diary. The art is definitely done well, and the characters are all aesthetically great. I think in quality, the story also mirrors the art, since it's there are a lot of twists, surprises, humor, ill-fated? romance, drama, action, and fantasy. At first, I was detracted from the first volume because the cover reminded me of Card Captor Cherry, but upon reading it, I was relieved to find that the art and story was pretty unique. One thing I have to note is how I laughed like nuts when Dohyun asked Oohyun if he was okay, and the next panel showed Oohyun in complete shock with mouth hanging open, in a dead person's portrait (in Asia, when a person dies, their portrait has ribbon straps wrapped around the corners). Overall, it was a fun read, and I'm hoping to find the next volumes once they come out.

Note(s): Poor Oohyun.

(Kim, Yoon Kyeong (artist) and Son Hui Joon (author) - Manhwa) Yureka / Yoo-Reh-Kah - Teen/Action - 2000-? Published by Hacking Comics - Volumes 12 out of 12 so far. Reviewed in late fall, 2003. View Images page.

Yureka is based around people in real life and mmorpgs, especially the mmorpg called Lost Saga, where Roto, Boromiru, and Adohl hang out after school. The three get into adventures, usually forgetting them sometime later, like their bout with the Lovely Angels, a pair of thieves in the game who are in real life "Lovely Angels", a pop singer duo. Eventually Roto stumbles across in real life at his brothers' mmorpg store a woman in the picture taking room (where ALL parts of a human are imaged into digital form). That woman leaves behind a disk labelled Yureka that Roto eventually accidentally uses, finding himself playing as that woman in the Lost Saga, and find out about Boromiru and Adohl's trips without him. They eventually stumble across the warrior named Basara whose strength is incomprehensible. Later on, when Roto is back in his own form, he finds Yureka the npc, who he was playing before and later fights alongside her in the tournament of battles, where various characters fight versus each other in pairs. In the tournament, there's Ohrukashia and Rohu the witch and swordsman, Rafa the priest and her npc guardian John (who she sacrifices her game life for), Case and Judy the "Lovely Angels", and various other characters that play it out in the tournament. During which, Roto and Yureka somehow get Piriyang the item store npc out of her matrix confinement at the store to see the tournament, possibly with a hack from Yureka. Eventually, during Roto and Yureka's fight with Adaron and Alpha, a demon comes and interrupts the tournament, which is being broadcasted on tv in real life. Later a new quest to defeat the demon king that is bringing an onslaught onto the human towns emerges, with several characters brought into new classes. Orios eventually appears, in a sniper mmorpg where Roto and him shoot each other, ending the game, and helps with the quest in Lost Saga to defeat the demon king, which goes awry by various ways. The story is left off where a monster possibly even stronger than the demon king (which everyone was running away from) appears after Roto and Yureka's solving a puzzle which involves the appearance of monsters, and causes the game to go awry in real life.

This is one heck of a manhwa, one I found out about from JAnimeS. When the word in description "mmorpg" appeared, I knew I HAD to read this. Anyhow, I wasn't disappointed, considering this manhwa has multiple plot twists, humor, drama, and fun. There's the instance of Roto, who's in love with Piriyang the npc, who's in love with Adaron the player killing mugger. Another instance is Roto's character, which is that of being mean to most real life women (within the game, such as the Lovely Angels or Rafa), and being a genius who studies in the morning before school starts, unlike his real-life and in-game friends Boromiru and Adohl. Another instance to be brought up is the AI (artificial intelligence) of the npcs like Piriyang, John, and Yureka. Mind you, this is no Hack rip-off, due to the date of copyright and huge difference in story and format. For instance, players of mmorpgs play in their own bodies, which are digitally imaged, save for scars and amputations, which are replaced, hence the problem of the Lovely Angels being easily identified in-game by Roto, Boromiru, and Adohl. Also, mmorpg terms such as Player Kill, NPC, etcetera, are easily explained to those who haven't played mmorpgs, which is good (though I already knew those terms...) To sum it up: This manhwa rocks, and if it's ever translated into English, it won't be soon enough.

Note(s): Roto doesn't admit to schoolgirl fans of the television broadcast of Lost Saga's tournament that he's THE "Roto", which makes him even more of a mystery. Why he chooses in-game Piriyang the npc to a real-life girl makes the boundaries of AI limitless.

(Kim Yoon Lee (artist) / Jo Eun Ha (author) - Manhwa) - Monday Man - Soonjung - Volumes 2 of ?. Published in 1998, but registered in 1992 to White Comics. Reviewed in late fall, 2003.

A tomboy-ish girl moves in with her brother and later discovers the man of his dreams, called "Monday Man", who's a friend of her brothers. It's when applying for a part on the VJ show that Monday Man produces that the girl discovers she is recognized as more of a guy than a girl, making her take the decision to change her gender status to male, to which others, including her Monday Man, know her with the alias "Snicky" the new selected male VJ. Finding herself in an awkward situation (where now she has many female fans), Snicky is accepted by her brother and told to call him "Hyeong" (respective term for an elder male by a younger male) as to "Ohpah" (respective term for an elder male by a younger female). Later, she finds a deterrent from her possible chances to get together with Monday Man (besides her being a male in the first place) with a new female costar, who later ends up liking Snicky as more than a friend. What complicates things further is a new guy that knows that Snicky's a girl. Later on, at a costume dance, Snicky finally dresses as a fairy/angel and dances with Monday Man, who at first takes it lightly until Snicky kisses him and reveals that she's a female by placing Monday Man's hand upon her chest, thus ending volume 2.

I wish I had the rest of the series or could read it. It's nowhere to be found right now unfortunately, since it's very old. Anyhow, it's a good story, with a lot of humor and well-placed sentiments and interactions.

Note(s): The ending of volume 2 really leaves too many questions...I hope this series is rereleased. Did I mention I'm a Jo Eun Ha fan?

(Kusanagi, Toshiki - Manga) - Theory of Boy Evolution / Soh-nyuhn-jeen-hwa-ron / Japanese title : Shonen Shinka-Ron - Older Teen/Shoujo - 2000 - Published as Issue Comics Special - One volume story (completed). Reviewed in summer, 2003.

Rising star, Mizuki Asoh, a 16 year old singer and actor seems to be having the time of his life, except for one thing: he has a 14 year old son named Sana Fujisaki. Even stranger is how Sana looks exactly like Mizuki, sometimes filling in for him at public events. No, there's no cloning involved. Instead, Mizuki Asoh is actually 29 year old Naoki Fujisaki, and though with a young face and body, a single father to Sana. As the story unfolds, a romance between Sana and a female star named Shiho blossoms, while the origin of Naoki's pop career name Mizuki Asoh and his past is discovered.

Though this story has a sequel 4-volume series named Theory of Boy Evolution Plus, this manga in itself was awesome in its story execution, drawing, and its focus on its characters. That would primarily be a reason why the story was continued with the sequel. As for the mood of the novel, I'd say that the beginning was funny, and towards the end, where a lot of major facts were revealed, the story became very heavy and somehow twisted. Trying not to spoil the story, I'd have to note that there is a bit of teenage masochism depicted and a mature theme towards the end of the volume. I definitely would recommend this to only those over 16 or 17.

Note(s): How does Naoki stay so young???

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