Yen Press Update Okay a quick note. I have no idea what’s going on with Yen this month, titles that aren’t due for release till the 30th were released early, and titles due for release at the beginning of the month haven’t been released yet.
Many thanks to Yen Press for providing a review copy
Note: The first four volumes of Chocolat were released under the Ice Kunion label, however Yen Press are re-releasing volumes 1-4. these will be available from 04/09/2008
About the Mangaka
This time around I was able to find something out about them 
JiSang Shin and Geo are actually a couple (as in they live together), and they collaborated on the project, with Geo doing the art, and Shin doing the story.
About the Manga
Volume six of this Chocolat was both better than five, but at the same time, worse as well.
Geo’s art is at times better, and I have to admit compared with the previous volumes he’s improved well. However this just makes the bad bits more apparent. Several times I found myself wincing over a particularly bad piece of art.
When I reviewed volume five, Miki had this to say about Kum-ji:
Miki, July 5, 2008:
[...]And I do think Kum-Ji is “ugly” in Geo’s standards, with her hair, her clothes, ect. She’s pretty, in a plainer sense (which I think is acceptable, considering even though E-Soh and E-wan and she says she’s ugly, they fell in love with her, right?) So I’m okay with Kum-Ji. [...]
I don’t agree really, sure she ends up pretty ugly in volumes five and six, but I always thought she was pretty, and had the whole cute thing going on. I suppose though, if you’re comparing her with the likes of Barbie (who the hell would call their daughter Barbie lol) then she is pretty normal, even then though I don’t think she’s ugly.
Geo’s art is stunning usually, but I do hope he works more on his bad points, improving his good points while ignoring the bad, will just make the bad stick out more, and bring down the series.
Sadly, JiSang is still trying to force the story. This is more evident in this volume, elements that should have been allowed to flow normally, were forced out. As a result the interactions between the parties involved feel strained, and shallow.
E-Wan and Kum-Ji is a prime example of this, several of their interactions in this volume were so badly done it pretty much destroyed the volume. This is a shame, since the interactions should have been good ones, the chance was perfect for some great development, but it lacked the feel it needed due to being forced.
The other aspect I’m finding a bit annoying right now is trying to get to grips with who likes who. E-Wan is a pain in the rear to keep track of. While it’s pretty obvious he likes Kum-Ji, his attitude and actions really annoyed the hell out of me. Especially in the latter half of the volume.
By the end of the volume my thought was simple, beat them both up, shave both heads and spay paint their heads. Maybe a bit of embarrassment would make them see sense, though I doubt it.
Yen did a good job on the release, the cover art is interesting, but the insert colour art is just amazing, and I’m once again glad of the fact that Yen don’t bleach the colour from their releases.
The guttering in this release isn’t so bad, though there were a few pretty bad pages that require the bending of the spine. I still don’t see why they can’t give a little extra space by reducing the size of the art a few millimetres, which would prevent almost all of the guttering problems. Given the extra size of Yen’s Korean releases, there’s no real need 
Needless to say, this doesn’t make the grade for my Essential Read list, though I do think it’s an average one. If you’ve got some spare cash then give it a try
Where to Buy
Here’s the usual suspects:
- Brits head on over to the Book Depository or Waterstones
- Yanks can go to Amazon.com
- Canadians over to Amazon.ca
October 6, 2008 @ 18:41.
It’s okay if you don’t think she’s ugly. It’s part of the aesthetic of shoujo that everyone has to be cute, though, so it’s also partially a genre flaw. I was mainly saying that with the effort Geo puts into everybody else, Kum-ji is plainer in comparison. She’s still cute, just not AS lavished upon.
And whether intended or not, I get the feel that it’s less with how ugly Kumji looks, but maybe more of a joke. Maybe all that’s really wrong with her is that she doesn’t have ultra-trendy clothes and has thick hair. Maybe she isn’t really ugly to anyone. Maybe she IS pretty and the guys see that (even if not super-ultra glamorous and grown like Barbie), but likes teasing her. She just minds because she’s a “normal” girl.
I’m not very articulate, but that’s what I meant when I said she might be plainer and more normal, but she’s still cute, to the reader and maybe the manhwa world. This is backed up by E-Wan and E-Soh commenting on, but don’t really care, which hints that perhaps she isn’t really ugly.