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*:Man (Manga/Manwha/Manhwa) ia Reviews in order of title J to O:*
(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.
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J to O
:Review Guide:
(English Title (usually rough translation) / Korean Title - (Author - Man-ga/wha/hwa) - Appropriate reading age/type of story - Volumes read, publishing date.)
(Review)
(Note(s))
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Journey to Heaven / Chun-heng-gi (Kara -artist- / Lee, Yoonheh -writer- - 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.
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Kaguya-Hime or Starlet Princess or Moon Princess / Wohlgwahngchunnyuh (Shimizu, Reiko - Manga) - 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.
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K2 Kill me Kiss me / K2 Kill me Kiss me (Lee, Young Yuu - Manhwa) - Teen/Soonjung - Volumes 1-5 (Completed), 2000-2002. View K2 page here. Published by Issue Comics. Reviewed in spring, 2003.
First Volume: Secondary school student Teyon Ihm dreams of being married to rising model star Kun, who is a student in her cousin's class. In order to get close to him, she hatches a plan to crossdress for a week as her male cousin Junghu Ihm. During the switch, Teyon discovers obstacles, such as dressing for gym and Gahun Kim, the punk/gangster guy that seems to take a specific liking in picking on / pounding her (as Junghu). Strangely, though, Gahun seems to find irrationally warm feelings to guy he's been pounding (Teyon as Junghu), while Kun himself wonders who the "female" student on he sees on the street (Junghu) is. Junghu, in the meantime, dressed in a skirt as Teyon, finds that playing a female is...
Man, I love / am obsessed with this story. The art is supremely good, and you'll find yourself staring at the pages breathlessly. I stumbled across the first volume at a used book store and started reading/translating it. Anyhow, there's fights, gahng-pei (gangsters), crossdressing, and very odd situations. Something to note is, in the later volumes, the story changes its focus to Junghu and new characters. Also, there are hints of and blatant homerserxuality, even with two guys that are openly...uh, together. If you go to www.candy33.co.kr and look up K2, you'll find a lot of positive reviews for it, but if you end up disliking the story after reading it, it might be because it's a bit strange (as one reviewer noted: Eesahngheh -odd-).
Note(s): A lot of Misohnyun (pronounced meesohnyuhn, it means handsome boy(s)).
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The Legend of Nereid / The Legend of Nereid (Hwang, Midi - Manhwa) - 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.
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Let Die (or it can be pronounced Let Dah-ee) / Let Dah-ee (Won, Sooyeun - Manhwa) - 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.
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Monday Man (Kim Yoon Lee (artist) / Jo Eun Ha (author) - Manhwa) - 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.
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Moonchild / Dahl-yeh Ah-ee (Shimizu, Reiko - Manga) - 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 crashes. 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. It's from there on that Art brings the boy to his house to live with 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.
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.
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Moon Princess (look at Kaguya-Hime)
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