Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a review copy
Disclaimer: I have not read any of the previous four volumes. As such this review is based solely on this one volume, without any knowledge or understanding of what has happened in previous volumes. Please keep that in mind while reading.
About the Mangaka
Not a lot of info available on Lee Eun, and what is available seems to be conflicting. According to Wikipedia Lee is a film director, though there is no mention of this in the brief biography available at the front of this volume.
Her other manhwa include: Monica, The Eye of the Dragon and The Rebellion of the 36°Cs
About the Manga
I’ll admit it, this volume both annoyed and freaked me out. The cover art is just amazing I wish there had been a colour panel in the actual volume without the added stuff to spoil the picture.
I’m not sure how these all tie together, but I’m guessing that this is more a series of short stories, rather than an ongoing one.
However the first story in this volume, which obviously carried on from the previous one, gave me the creeps in a huge way. In some ways it freaked me more than Higurashi (anime version) did.
What is good is the way the story, art, and flow are melded perfectly to achieve the creep factor. Reading it through it kind of reminded me of the Adams Family Values show I used to watch, only without the comedy aspects.
‘Son’ is a creepy character on so many levels it’s unbelievable. The art really doesn’t appeal to me, he’s drawn in such a way that he’s no longer good looking and is really freaky looking. though I think that was Lee’s intent from the very beginning.
The art, with the above point, is typical Korean style. I like the characters from the first story and as I said, they remind me of the Adams Family,
The second story is what annoyed me 
It’s self contained (or seems that way) but it’s very frustrating to read.
The art is okay, and in a normal manhwa would probably be considered to be fairly good. However the over use of text speak really made it a chore to read. Some of them are common and recognizable, but others are Korean in origin, so I found myself practically looking at the bottom of every page every other panel for the translation.
No idea what Lee was trying to gain from this style of writing, but it annoyed me so much I had to force myself to read the entire thing. This is a shame really, since the story itself had potential, but because of the text speech it became lost. It also effects the flow of the story, as you find yourself having to go back and re-read parts to try and make sense of it.
Yen do their usual good job with this, the translation in the first story was smooth and flowed well. As for the second, they did the best they could to keep it as close to the original, while making it readable and understandable.
Sadly this is another I won’t be adding to the essential read list, I may change my mind on that after I read the first four volumes, but for now, sorry.
Where to Buy
This volume isn’t released until the 5th August 2008
For the Brits: Little Brown, Waterstones, Book Depository
For the Yanks and Canadians: Amazon.com and Amazon.ca
