About the Mangaka

Nothing found on YoungYou Lee. If you have any info please drop me a line through the contact me page.

About the Manga

I only heard of this series recently, and my first encounter with it was in Yen+ Issue which had a taster chapter.

The chapter was enough to get me interested in the series, and I went to get volume one. However like a lot of IceK titles, it’s out of print, so I’m having to wait for the reprints due out November.

I don’t really like reviewing titles that are part way through, since it’s difficult to get a good image. Sadly this was especially the case here, I found the volume very hard to follow and enjoy.

Lee’s art, which I initially liked in the taster chapter, felt really bad in this volume. The art is generic of the genre, but at the same time it has a odd feeling to it. The more I got into the volume the more off putting the art became.

That’s not to say the art is totally horrible, because it isn’t. There are a few times when the art is awesome, but these are few and far between.

I’m guessing it’s because this is volume four, and the only volume I’ve read,  but the story that Lee has written is weak. While it’s fairly easy to pick up, and understand what probably came before, the story that’s unveiled in this volume just doesn’t have any depth to it.

Myung-Ee is a terrible heroin, her personality has no depth, and even though I’ve not read the previous volumes it was easy to see how she was going to respond. After a chapter I wanted nothing more than to kill her myself, at least her death would make the story a bit more lively!!

Yu-Da is an even worse male lead, if that’s even possible. While Myung-Ee has no depth, Yu-Da is just an empty shell. While it’s true that this was Lee’s aim, since this is supposed to be part of the story, but when he was supposed to have depth, personality, and be intimidating, he wasn’t.

Several times when he was meant to be scaring me, I felt like laughing because it was done so cheesy and clumsily.

For the first time I have to pick a complaint with Yen’s editing team on this volumes. While I’m sure the choice of wording was deliberate, to show that the speakers were speaking childishly, the way they handled it grated. The fact that it happens so often in the volume also made it hard to follow and enjoy.

I don’t believe in over westernising, or editing the scripts for manga, but in cases like this, I do think it’s necessary. Without it you can’t really get into the story anymore. Oddly this volume has no guttering problems, for which I’m thankful.

They also add the double page poster, which is just so damned cute!!

So, can I say this is a terrible series? No I can’t, at least not yet. Once I get my hands on volumes one through three and can read the story though, then I can make a judgement. Since reading it from the beginning may make it easier to read, follow and get into. However, as it stands now, I can’t recommend it, though equally it’s not bad enough to be thrown in the Junk Pile right away

Where to Buy

As always, we have the usual suspects:

• Brits – Book Depository and Waterstones
• Yanks – Amazon.com
• Canadians – Amazon.ca