With just a handful of reviews to report this week, the big buzz among manhwa fans online is a new series from NETCOMICS, There’s Something About Sunyool by Youngran Lee, author of Click. Though Click has some fairly questionable qualities, a quick read through the three available chapters of Sunyool shows quite a bit of promise.
Born the illegitimate child of a big-time politician, Sunyool has been accepted officially into her father’s household as an adult and thrown straight into negotiations for arranged marriage. While the premise seems rife with cliché, the execution (so far) is anything but. What could easily be a typical rags-to-riches or fish-out-of-water story actually appears more likely to be a thoughtful, wry look at two young people from vastly different backgrounds learning to make a life together within the cold world of politics. Sunyool’s smart (occasionally cruel) sense of humor and self-awareness make her a very appealing female lead, while her pragmatic young husband is still a bit of a mystery.
It’s nice to see yet another promising title for adult women turn up at NETCOMICS, alongside favorites like Full House, Small-Minded Schoolgirls, and Please, Please Me. A bonus: Like 100% Perfect Girl, There’s Something about Sunyool is being released simultaneously in both South Korea and the US.
It’s been a slow week for manhwa reviews, but here’s what we’ve got: Manga Critic Kate Dacey reviews the first five volumes of Bride of the Water God (Dark Horse). Meanwhile, the author of WSU Printmaking has loving words for that series’ artwork. Rob at Panel Patter checks out volume seven of The Tarot Cafe (Tokyopop). At Pretty Cool Land, Angelica has a few words about Land of Silver Rain (NETCOMICS). Lastly, here at Manga Bookshelf, I review volume eight of Goong (Yen Press).
That’s it for this week!
Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!
Judi says
February 22, 2010 at 10:47 amThere’s Something About Sunyool, sounds very interesting. Click was one of the first Manwha I collected, so I’m intrigue with this. BTW, what was questionable about Click?
Melinda Beasi says
February 22, 2010 at 11:02 amI haven’t read enough of Click to have a strong opinion, but I’ve been warned away from it by reviews like this from Rob at Panel Patter and this from Erica at Okazu. Michelle Smith I think has enjoyed the series, at least to an extent, and probably I’ll eventually read it based on that, but it’s not at the top of my list.
Michelle Smith says
February 22, 2010 at 10:22 pmI consider Click as a sort of guilty pleasure. I don’t think I ever awarded it higher than a B-, but all the same I had to know what happened next.
Katherine Dacey says
February 22, 2010 at 2:27 pmThanks for the link, Melinda! I’m looking forward to your review of Bride of the Water God, and expect it to be no fewer than 2500 words! ;)
I visited the NETCOMICS site over the weekend and read the very brief preview of Sunyool. I wasn’t planning on continuing, but your comments make me think I should pay to read the three chapters that are available right now, so thanks!
Melinda Beasi says
February 22, 2010 at 7:10 pmI hope I have not steered you astray!
Jeff Buczek says
February 26, 2010 at 11:47 amThanks for this weekly column. Just getting into manhwa, so it’s very much appreciated! Decided my first two series will be Goong and Bride of Water God. Then I’ll get crazy after that.
Melinda Beasi says
February 26, 2010 at 3:59 pmJeff, I’m so pleased to hear that you find this column useful as a new manhwa reader! Thanks for letting me know!