Manhwa Monday

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday! This morning’s big news is the official launch of the Magician app from new webtoon publisher, iSee Toon, available now for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Here’s an excerpt from the announcement that appeared on the company’s blog early this morning:

“[Magician] App is released. (Direct Link)
You could search [Magician] at iPhone App Store. With this App, you could read until Vol. 2 for free, purchase until Vol. 5. You could purchase additional volumes $0.99 each. We will update this App for better experience of users.”

Though iSee Toon’s blog needs some urgent help from a native English speaker, I think you get the gist.

The app requires iOS 4.1, which means that iPad users (like me, this morning) who race to the App Store to pick up Magician will be bitterly disappointed. Perhaps we’ll be able to pick it up after the upcoming release of iOS 4.2? We live in hope.

iSee Toon has picked up a bit of buzz lately, including a mention in the official KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency) blog, which quotes company spokesperson Kim Jin Sung, and an enthusiastic shout-out from Daniella Orihuela-Gruber, who worked on Magician‘s English adaptation.

This week in reviews, a couple of back volumes of popular Yen Press manhwa are getting some attention. First, at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie checks out volume seven of Goong. Then, at Manga Village, Justin Colussy-Estes takes a look at volume nine of One Thousand and One Nights, observing that even with no knowledge of the series early volumes, its stories-within-the-story still make the read well worthwhile. “I highly recommend you find a volume of this rich, exciting, consuming epic series and get lost in all the stories it has to offer.”

In new (and upcoming) Yen Press releases, at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson runs through the October issue of the new, digital Yen Plus, which includes new chapters of Time and Again, Jack Frost, and Aron’s Absurd Armada. I also take a look at the upcoming fourth volume of Time and Again in last week’s Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.

And reviews continue to pile up for the first volume of Japanese-produced, Korean-created March Story (Viz Media), with takes from Bill Sherman at Blogcritics.org and Chris Zimmerman at CBS4. (Thanks to Brigid Alverson for both those links!)

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday! As we’re thrust, brutally, into November on this chilly Monday morning, it seems like the appropriate time to step back from frantic news-seeking and take a moment to ponder the month ahead in manhwa.

Yen Press goes it alone this month, at least in the print market, with final volumes of three manhwa series, Legend, Moon Boy, and the aptly-named Very! Very! Sweet. Other Yen Press releases this month include new volumes of Raiders, Japanese-produced Black God, and Manhwa Bookshelf favorite Time and Again.

With so many of Yen’s manhwa series wrapping up this month, our real question of course is, “Will there be new licenses to replace them?” We remain cautiously hopeful.

In the digital realm, NETCOMICS’ update schedule remains empty at the moment, but we do have high hopes. Though they don’t seem to have followed through with their promise of a Dokebi Bride revival last week, perhaps we’ll see something shortly? Meanwhile, webtoon publisher iSeeToon reports that their Magician iOS app is still on track.

For a bit of levity, here’s a link to some humorous speculation on the part of the National Catholic Reporter, in which managing editor Dennis Coday asks (regarding the upcoming Priest movie, among others), “Is the Catholic church a sure-fire money-maker for comic book movies?”

Critics continue to weigh in on the first volume of Japanese-produced, Korean-created March Story (Viz Media), with reviews this past week from Bill Sherman, Julie Opipari, and Kate Dacey. And at Manga Village, Lori Henderson discusses volumes two and three of Time and Again (Yen Press). I include the series in my list of favorite ghost-hunting comics over at Manga Bookshelf as well.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

Much of our news this week comes from the Twitter account of NETCOMICS, who reported last week (among other things) on an upcoming project (not yet licensed nor in consideration for such, in case you’re about to ask) by E. Hae, author of Not So Bad and Roureville. See illustration on the right. Such a tease!

In other news from NETCOMICS, they’re just about to reopen the world of Dokebi Bride, a series languishing on indefinite hiatus in Korea that still has a volume’s worth of untranslated material available for western readers. Also, fan favorite Full House continues at long last.

It’s great timing for Full House, which I chose just two weeks ago as Manga Bookshelf’s pick of the week.

NETCOMICS also put in a plug for their parent company, ECOMIX who just joined Twitter. Korean language skills required for both of those links.

In other news, via Brigid Alverson at MangaBlog, Strategypage.com reports that South Korean manhwa has begun to seep into North Korea via bootleg CDs.

In the category of Things I Like To Rant About, the NY Times asks the question, “What is manga?” and manages to dismiss 100 years of Korean comics history by referring to manhwa as a “manga variant.” So what does Korea have to do to earn a little cultural identity around here, huh?

Somewhat related to this subject, I suppose, last week marked the release of March Story, a Japanese manga series written and drawn by Korean creators Hyung Min Kim and Kyung Il Yang, published in English by Viz Media on their Signature imprint. My own copy is on its way, but a few reviewers have already spoken, notably Manga Curmudgeon David Welsh, Comic Attack’s Kristin Bomba, and Comic Book Bin’s Leroy Douresseaux.

Elsewhere, Angela Eastman takes a look at volume two of Sugarholic (Yen Press) at Mania.com, and at Okazu, Erica Friedman takes a swipe at publishers’ clumsy translations of gay sex terms as she reviews volume six of Click (NETCOMICS).

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

There’s little to report in the manhwa blogosphere this week, a state of affairs I’ll address in just a moment, but first, let’s take a look at this week’s duo of reviews. First, at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson checks out the September issue of Yen Plus (Yen Press), now available online for the low, low price of $2.99 a month.

Three manhwa titles currently run in the online magazine, JiUn Yun’s Time and Again, JinHo Ko’s Jack Frost, and MiSun Kim’s Aron’s Absurd Armada, a Korean webtoon just recently added to Yen’s catalogue. Of these, Lori considers Time and Again the only must-read, though Aron’s is beginning to please. A few tidbits from her review:

“First up is Jack Frost, a title I haven’t been impressed with over the last three volumes … This chapter follows the routine that Jack Frost seems to have set up. Talking heads, panty shot, fight; lather, rinse, repeat. It would be nice to see that routine shaken up a bit. Many less panty shot and more plot? …

“I think Aron’s Absurd Armada is starting to grow on me. This month featured Ronnie, the girl they rescued last issue … It’s a good quick read …

Time and Again is one of the titles that made subscribing worth it. In this month’s chapter, we get to see into Baek-On’s past … This was the best chapter of the magazine, behind Nightschool. It was rather heartbreaking to finally see the truth.”

On the subject of Yen Press, Charles Webb takes a look at volume three of Jack Frost over at Manga Life.

Aaaaand that’s it for manhwa news this week, which brings me to the whining portion of this post. There’s been a dearth of manhwa-related activity online recently, and with the relatively sparse release schedule we’ve seen from most of the publishers who bring us manhwa, this can hardly be a surprise. It’s been nearly a year since I began the Manhwa Monday feature at Manga Bookshelf, and though we’ve seen quite a few series come to conclusion during that time, the loss has been balanced by very few new releases.

Even Yen Press, whose acquisition of Ice Kunion’s original catalogue has made them the most consistent publisher of (print) manhwa in English, has only begun three new series in 2010–One Fine Day, Laon and now Aron’s Absurd Armada (yet to reach print). Aside from There’s Something About Sunyool, NETCOMICS has been nearly dormant. DramaQueen’s brief revival with volume one of The Summit has seen no further activity to my knowledge. Udon’s series, Apple notwithstanding, remain on hiatus. Dark Horse has begun nothing new. Tokyopop??? And with the exception of Fanfare/Potent Mon’s Korea As Viewed By 12 Creators, the mid-season poll conducted here in June is still an accurate representation of new releases this year.

So what gives? Is the manhwa slowdown just an inevitable symptom of the industry’s woes overall, or is there something else at work?

I know that this blog’s readership consists mainly of manga fans, a group that has not been entirely welcoming of manhwa as a whole. Yet every week, as I search for content for this column, I slog through Google alerts filled with reviews and discussion of scanlated manhwa, so clearly it’s being read and enjoyed. Is it just that nobody’s buying?

So, in an entirely unscientific fashion, I invite–nay, plead with you, dear readers, to respond with a comment to this post if you actually buy manhwa (and if you don’t, feel free to tell me why). And while you’re there, why don’t you take the opportunity to talk about some series you’d like to see licensed!

That has been the end of my whining for the week.

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday!

With so little manhwa currently available in English, fans have long realized that one of the best ways to preview some of what we’re missing is by checking out the plethora of Korean dramas available for streaming at sites like Crunchyroll and DramaFever, many of which are based on popular manhwa.

While the vast majority of manhwa currently published in English fall into just one or two primary genres, the range of K-dramas available to English-speakers is much, much broader, offering us a more balanced representation of what’s actually available in Korea.

For this reason, many manhwa fans not only keep up on currently running K-dramas, but also those in production. One example is the upcoming series, Daemul (대물), based on the manhwa by In-Kwon Park, about a woman who becomes South Korea’s first female president and her relationship with a male escort.

K-drama blog Dramabeans has been reporting on the series’ progress from the start, and though excitement was high early on, new promo photos have begun to indicate that the drama may not quite maintain the reportedly dark tone of the manhwa series.

When Daemul was first announced, I was pretty excited about it, particularly the more I read up on its source material. It seems the manhwa is pretty dark and flirts with racy topics … It seemed like a mature, adult story that could be quite interesting … Add political intrigue, conspiracy plots, and a thriller vibe, and we’ve got some interesting dynamics in play.

Before the drama airs, I can’t say for sure what the tone will be like, but the fact that it evokes none of that abovementioned stuff leads me to wonder just how whitewashed the story has become.

Even if the drama does prove to be a watered-down adaptation, as a manhwa fan, I just find myself wishing that someone would license a manhwa like this over here. I guess we’ll wait and see.

In other news, ANN reports that the South Korean government has released a piece of manhwa propaganda in an attempt to quell distrust among the nation’s youth. For more, check out the Bloomberg report.

Aspiring webtoon publisher iSeeToon has reported in their blog that they are delaying their launch until October.

At ComicBitsOnline, Terry Hooper laments the increasingly stunted efforts to bring manhwa and manhua to the UK.

This week in reviews, Michelle Smith takes a look at recent volumes of Sarasah (Yen Press) in last week’s Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf. And at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson checks out the final two volumes of You’re So Cool (Yen Press).

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday! After several weeks with very few manhwa reviews to share, things are finally picking up!

My pick for this week is David Welsh’s look at volume one of There’s Something About Sunyool (NETCOMICS) at The Manga Curmudgeon. Though NETCOMICS hasn’t offered any new chapters of this series since the end of June, there’s still some buzz around the series’ debut print volume, which will hopefully lead to many more! Here are some tidbits from David’s review:

The title of Youngran Lee’s There’s Something About Sunyool (Netcomics) is accurate, though it takes a while to figure out what that something is and if you’d like to see more of it. By the time I’d finished the first volume, she had gone from blandly quirky to confidently madcap, and I was very much in her corner.

… I always feel a certain resistance to arranged-marriage comedy, particularly when it isn’t a period piece, but Youngran Lee approaches it with such a bemused smirk that it’s hard to get too bogged down in my western perceptions … I’m looking forward to seeing her refuse to suffer new fools and roll with life’s nastier punches as the series progresses.

Read David’s full review here, and check out the comic at NETCOMICS.com.

At RocketBomber, Matt Blind posts the latest manga ratings, including his new manhwa breakout. Volume six of Bride of the Water God (Dark Horse) has the best showing this week, by far, coming in at #48 in the rankings overall.

This week brings a couple of new reviews of Sirial’s One Fine Day (Yen Press), with Danica Davidson weighing on on volume two at The Graphic Novel Reporter and Chris Zimmerman checking out the very new volume three at Comic Book Bin. Here’s a quick quote from the latter: “One Fine Day is closer to a slice of life tale than it is a fantasy, though there is a healthy intermingling of the two. Despite its length and overall lack of any real development of a plot to speak of, the series delivers on its promise of adorable characters experiencing what it means to live. Those in search of uplifting moments as a means to brighten their day need look no further.”

Zimmerman also reviews volume three of Laon (Yen Press) this week, offering up one of the most positive reviews of the series I’ve seen so far. “Laon doesn’t fall into any one classification. While it remains firmly steeped in the paranormal, it can just as easily switch to horror or action. While some might find this to be jarring, the fact that the series can branch into so many genres adds to its appeal, keeping the audience guessing while it continues to tell a unique story.”

Finally, at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson has little positive to say about the latest volume of Jack Frost (Yen Press). “I was hoping for an improvement with this volume, but unfortunately was denied … After two volumes, nothing has changed or improved in Jack Frost. It’s still a barely average title with no discernible direction.”

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!

Welcome to another Manhwa Monday! We’ve got a couple pieces of news and some reviews to look at today.

First, soon-to-be webtoon publisher, iSeeToon has some updates on their licenses, including mention of a new series they are going to try to obtain for release, Unusual Romance… between Serial Killers.

It so happens that I’ve seen some of that series (in Korean), and though the subject matter is certainly dark, it’s pretty compelling stuff, even if you don’t read the language. Check out the iSeeToon blog for more.

Continuing from last week, Matt Blind has posted another round of sales rankings, including a full list of manhwa rankings for the week ending August 22nd. Angel Diary (Yen Press) is still on top for manhwa this week, though U Don’t Know Me (NETCOMICS) has moved up a notch to second place (go Yeri Na!), with the latest volume of Jack Frost (Yen Press) coming up in third.

Speaking of Jack Frost, Otaku no Video has posted a new video review of volume one–kind of a fun way to look at the series.

In other reviews, Michelle Smith goes all out, with a review of volumes 1-5 (the full series) of Sugarholic (Yen Press) at Soliloquy in Blue. She also talks about volume 8 of Moon Boy (Yen Press) in the most recent edition of Off the Shelf, here at Manga Bookshelf. And at Anime Salvation, mouseycou shares a short recommendation for Angel Diary.

That’s all for this week!

Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!