Man (Manga/Manwha/Manhwa) ia Reviews

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

(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 male characters. Shonen and action comics are usually directed at male readers in that usually the better looking characters are female characters.

S to Z

: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))

(Shimizu, Reiko - Manga) - Kaguya-Hime or Starlet Princess or Moon Princess / Wohlgwahngchunnyuh - Teen/Shoujo - Volumes 1-2, 1994. Published by Wink Comics. Reviewed in spring, 2003. - View Images Page

After 10 years of living in a foster home with little to none knowledge of what occurred prior, boyish Akira finds herself kidnapped by Midori and Yui, two old friends from the orphanage she grew up in. What she discovers from them is a horrific account of a mystical woman, and the fact that her and others from the orphanage are set to die at age 16.

The panel flow and art simply is entrancing. Originally, I saw a website dedicated to Moonchild, another series made by Miss Shimizu, and looked all over the comic book stores for it. Way later I found its title was completely different and couldn't find the series. So instead, I read this series, and got hooked. Though...I think I'll rent the rest of the series, since so far, there's 21 volumes out. X_X. One warning is that the content is a bit mature, with violence and lesbianism, so I wouldn't recommend this to young adolescents.

Note(s): You'll get hooked to the story or art, or both.

(Shimizu, Reiko - Manga) Moonchild / Dahl-yeh Ah-ee - Shoujo - Volume 1, Originally published in 1988, it was republished in 2003 in Korea under Sugar Books. Reviewed in fall, 2003. View Images Page.

One rainy night, a young boy picks up a cat from a trash can and asks if it'd like to come to his home. It's during that that a dancer named Art is driving during the rain. Suddenly, Art veers out of the way of the young boy, and crashs. At the hospital, Art finds himself with a head injury and the boy from before. It seems somehow that the boy went through a shock during the car accident, lost his memory, and thought that Art was his relative. him, though reminds that he's simply the boy's new guardian, as to relative, and names him Jimmy. It's from there that weird things like telekinesis occur, and a man named Shona, who's a mermaid-person, comes from the moon to find his destined love. On Earth, Shona discovers there are other people from the moon, and falls for one named Noel, though finding that he's destined to be with the child of a sailor and a mer-person named "Benjamin". It's during that time, that Art discovers Jimmy, who later admits that some strange people in a vision that look like him called him "Benjamin". Also meanwhile, Holly, a famous dancer who broke up with Art a long time ago to pursue her career rekindles interest and jealousy in Art and his new-found ward, Jimmy. It's finally that during a full moon that Jimmy's true form appears, in that he turns into a fully-grown woman, only his mind is still intact as a young boy. From there, the story gets weirder. It's from there on that Art brings the boy to his house to live with

First of all, one thing to note is that this series was published into shorter volumes here in South Korea a very long time ago, but is being republished into long volume versions. The art and panel flow of this, considering it was from the late 80s, early 90s, is beautiful. I fully expect this series to be complicated with plot twists, like Kaguya-Hime (Reiko Shimizu's newer work), with sheer radiance. This was a wacky, fun story to read so far, and I'm eagerly awaiting the next volume.

Note(s): It starts as so innocent a story, and yet it's too beautiful/shocking to be one.

(Shin, Jeeoh) - Chocolat - (look at Shin, Jeesahng)

(Shin, Jeesahng & Shin Jeeoh - Manhwa) - Chocolat / Sho-kohl-lah - Teen/Soonjung - 1-3 (our of 4 out so far), 2002-? Published by Bijou Comics. Reviewed in spring, 2003 - View Images Page

Gumgi Hwang has always been in love with D.D.L. (a pop group consisting of three guys) member Jeanyeul Ryu, and was always an obsessive fan, going to every gathering she could of the singers and fanatically collecting every possible merhandise she could of the group. Though, later on, she somehow became a Yo-i (another pop group) official fanclub member. It's when she's allowed backstage to wait to meet a Yo-i member, that she begins arguing and literally fighting with a guy that wants to use the elevator she was blocking. It's as the elevator door opened with them together fighting that she then finds out that the guy was Yo-i member, Esoh. After a very embarrassing discovery that she had little to none knowledge of the actual members of Yo-i (consisting of 3 guys and a girl, named Esoh, Ewan, Unsung, and Oohui), Gumgi then finds out that her aunt, Yoojung, is a staff and co-manager of the Yo-i group. Later on, with more meetings with the Yo-i members and finally meeting Jeanyeul face to face, Gumgi finds herself somehow adored by Esoh, but her heart seems to be stuck on Jeanyeul.

The first volume was definitely the best of all three I read so far, in that there was more humor, drama, and the story was just beginning in unravelling. It was in volume two that the story was pretty good also, but the third volume seemed to drop off in storyline. One criticism to note was how after the first volume, the main character Gumgi seemed to be somewhat irritating, since she seemed to have become the only main female protagonist (think Miaka of Fushigi Yuugi). Regardless, all three volumes were very entertaining, and the art was very, VERY well-done, with the pop groups drawn supremely beautifully/handsomely. I still hope to read the next volumes(s) of this story, because I'm really curious as to what'll happen in the end.

Note(s) - The Jeanyeul look-alike guy in the story is hilarious and cute.

(Shin, Jeesahng & Shin Jeeoh - Manhwa) - Sandwich/Sandwich - Teen/Soonjung - 1-3 (completed), 2001-2002. Published by Issue Books. Reviewed in fall, 2003 - View Images Page

Teyeon Na has always been the best-behaved of his brothers, his eldest, Teyman, and elder, Teysu. He's been known to always obey his parents and elder brothers' words, to which one day he enters a store to buy cigarettes for Teyman; Teyeon is underage. It's there he stumbles upon a girl who's shoplifting. Upbraiding her for stealing, he's given a kiss from the girl, and a nut from the chocolate she stole in his mouth, to which the girl notes he's now an associate in her crime. Later on, Teyeon and his friend Shinhye discover Teyeon's current elder girlfriend hanging out with Teyman. Meanwhile, Teyman is telling Shinhye to stay away from Teyeon. As relationships entangle, Teyeon discovers eventually that love is in the air, just not for Teyeon.

The story can be redeemed by its ending. As melodramatic as the first two volumes were, the ending is a surprise catch. The drawing wasn't first-rate, but the story was pretty good. One thing to note is that the authors of this story were the same for Chocolat, so this story was somewhat of a predecessor (in art, but not plot-wise).

(Shin, Mi Young and Jo, Eun Ha - Manhwa) - R2D2/R2D2 - Teen/Soonjung - 1-4 (completed) 2002-2003. Published by Issue Books. Reviewed in summer, 2003.

The story starts out with a set of odd characters who are nearing the end of their high school days, from the rich kid who needs to pass the college entrance exams, Jekal-V (who's first name sounds like gahlbee, a meat form of food) to the tough girl, Joo-Gumgi, who's looking out for her poor friend P-Bada to the rich girl Ma-Rony. Eventually, though, the story revolves around a strange, angelic or demonic, sort of person named Ha-Yan, a love triangle between him, Ma-Rony, and P-Bada, and a love story that entangles between Jekal-V and his new tutor, Song-Tommy.

It's hard to say objectively whether this series is good or not. For me, the first volume was slow, but absorbing with less words and more actions drawn (since I can't read much Korean at the present). The second volume brought the story to full speed, though, with a question on who Ha-Yan really was (an angel or demon?). Though, what grasped at me was the ending of the story, which tugged at me personally. In short, I liked the story, whether or not it ended too quickly or contritely. Besides the story, though, the art is wonderfully done.

Note(s) : If this story evolved more, it would've been a classic if it already isn't. (Something like the Awakening, by Chopin.)

(Shiozu, Shuri - Manga) Ghost! / Ghost! - Teen/Shoujo - Volume 1, out of 4 so far. Publlished by Sam Yang Comics, and Tokyopop. Reviewed in fall, 2003. View image.

Mitsuo Shiozu one day finds a girl who turns out to be a ghost and finds that ghosts can somehow possess his body, leaving him to be a ghost while they use it. While this awakening of information happens, he finds a guy named Hasunuma to attach to him well. One day, after Hasunuma states clearly to the other guys, who think Hasunuma and Mitsuo are a couple, that they're not homosexuals. Hasunuma himself states to Mitsuo that their form of contact is more of friendship. It's during that day that a woman comes to Mitsuo and tries convincing a guy in their school, Ichi, to continue playing soccer and not to grieve over her death, while in Mitsuo's body.

What's fun about this volume is specifically the actions of the beautiful ghost woman who's connected with Ichi somehow. The panel flow was good, and the story seems to be more in multiple stories of individual ghosts and the people they left behind.

Note(s): The back cover's pretty funny. Mitsuo and Hasunuma are drawn as a couple, with Mitsuo in chibi-form, complaining over the picture.

(Suh, Hyunjoo - Manhwa) - Don't Touch Me. / Gun-di-ree-gee-mah! - Teen/Soonjung - 1-2 (Of 2 out so far), 2003-?. Reviewed in summer, 2003.

A beautiful girl named Kang Midang one day moves back to Seoul to start her new life at her childhood love's (Myoung Won, who's for years now worn a mask over his mouth and nose everywhere he's went) high school. But instead of waiting for him to make the first move, she instantly goes to his home early morning, leads him to a park, and kisses him, unknowingly with a witness who attends Myoung Won's school. It's from then on that a twisted high school organization called the "Dongmeng", headed by a tough girl named Dangdang Kim, steps in to make Midang's school attendance more of a burden, if not heck. (In volume 2, you find out more about why Dongmeng was created and why it doesn't allow anyone (at all) to mess with Myoung Won romantically, hence the manhwa's title.) Meanwhile, Myoung Won tells his friend Soda, a guy who literally was predicted to be too weak to live past age 20, to take care of Midang since they're in the same class/grade. But, does Midang really need any protecting?

When I rented the story, I rented the two volumes on the same day, so I had to read both. The first volume was at first particularly annoying to read, mainly since I didn't like the main protagonist (Midang) because her character was basically portrayed as a narcissistic, bullying type, literally being pointed out as the only good looking female character. It was later when the character Soda in the manhwa noted how terrible Midang's personality was that I realized that it was the author's intention to make such a character, and how it fit the story that was to unravel. In volume 2, it took Midang's exact personality type to deal with the situations and circumstances dealt by the Dongmeng gang/organization and there was evident character growth of the protagonist (Midang), something that I found refreshing in a soonjung type of manhwa. Though, I think the story dropped off towards the end of volume 2, and could've had it's denouement then. Still, it was an interesting read.

Note(s): Survive the beginning of volume 1 and you might like it.

(Won, Sooyeun - Manhwa) - Let Die (or it can be pronounced Let Dah-ee) / Let Dah-ee - Adult/older teens/Soonjung/boy's love - Volume 1 (of 10 published so far), 1996-? Reviewed in summer, 2003.

Note: (Volume 1 major spoilers): Let Die, which I first thought meant "let die, as in let one die", revolves around a handsome high school student named Jehui Yoo and a gang leader named Die. Anyhow, Jehui's first encounter with Die is when he stops a group of gang members of Die's from hurting a girl they kidnapped. From then on, Die and his gang trail Jehui and pound him, until one time, Die notes "You're mine.". In the meantime, Jehui begins hanging around more with his good female friend's older sister, Unhyung. It's somehow, that Die finally offers Jehui to join his gang, which is a tough decision, because Jehui has the option of either leaving the bar they're at or leaving Die forever with Unhyung. The thing is, something, maybe his fear and strange attraction to Die causes him to join Die's gang. Later, Die visits Jehui's home while Jehui's only parent is away for the night. When Die's shirt is off, Jehui notices the many scars on Die, and Die begins listing how he received each, until Jehui cuts him off and embraces him. From then on, they find they somehow like each other romantically, but a terrible event that happened to Jehui's girlfriend forces them apart, which was allowed by Die's indifference. It's finally that Die forces to heal the rift between him and Jehui by giving him his switchblade for Jehui to use on him. The volume ends with Jehui in thought and tears.

There's no doubt in my mind that the story is one of the most compelling and shocking ones I've read in a long time. I found this volume as more of a novel than a comic. The art of this volume, considering it's from 1996, is pretty good. There was a LOT of writing to read, but the story was so good that I ended up reading all of it nonetheless. Overall, it was supremely well thought-out, written, and drawn. The story flowed smoothly and I ended up reading it in one sitting, and compared to other comics, this volume was very long (over 200 pages). The downside to it and reason why I've decided not to continue the story is because I think it's a terrible influence. There is violence and horrible events that occur, and honestly, I'm still a bit shaken by the actions of Die's gang and a few female characters in the story.

Note(s): It's an addictive story, but if you are sensitive to violence, homosexuality, and rape, stay away from it. Though, those elements are slightly toned down, since this series isn't labelled as above age 18.

(Yu, Hyun - Manhwa) Fairies Landing. / Sohn-nyeoh-gang-reem - Teen - 1 (out of 13 so far), Published by Young Comics and Tokyopop Reviewed in fall, 2003. View images.

[This story is sort of based on an old Korean legend of an angel who came from heaven whose clothes were hidden by a man who she later married, because she couldn't return to heaven without the clothes.]

Gahl-Ryang Jeh, or Ryang for short, is a typical 18 year old guy that one day gets caught as an accomplice to some guy who has the ears of a cat/wolf's actions. Called a fellow byoun-teh, Ryang gets led to a bathing place by the cat/wolf-eared guy, where he finds 3 fairies. The cat/wolf-eared guy tries to take their clothing, but is caught, and Ryang hold's one cloth unwittingly having it torn when one of the fairies tries to grab it back. With the fairy, who's identified as Fanta, unable to return to heaven/the land of the fairies, she lives with Ryang and his older brother and his sister-in-law. It's then told that Ryang and Fanta's meeting was fated to bring Ryang 108 bad relationships.

Ryang and Fanta have pretty good interaction in this volume, one example of which is when they're buying Fanta's clothes. While Fanta pouts that she wants model-like clothing, Ryang buys her cheap sportswear instead. It's instances like these that make this volume fun to read.

Note(s): That many bad relationships...I wouldn't want to be Ryang

(Yuki, Kaori - Manga) Forgotten Juliet - Kaori Yuki's Story Collection 1 / Eechoujeen Juliet - Behkjahk kaeen series 1 - Teen/Shoujo - Volume 1, date unknown. Published by Wink Comics. Reviewed in spring, 2003. - View Images Page

Forgotten Juliet : Ariel unearths a secret about the recently departed Suzette. As he finds out about a mysterious character named Cain, a love story gone wrong unfolds.

The characters are well-distinguished and developed in the stories. One thing that stood out when choosing this volume to read was the art. It was after I read and enjoyed the story that I found that Kaori Yuki was also the author of Angel Sanctuary.

Note(s): A pretty good volume for rainy day reading.

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