Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

Michelle Smith

You Will Drown in Love by Hinako Takanaga: B+

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Part companion volume to You Will Fall in Love and part sequel, You Will Drown in Love gives Reiichiro’s perspective of events as he reconnects with his long-lost best friend, Haru, and learns of Haru’s relationship with his younger brother, Tsukasa. After Haru rejects his confession of love, Reiichiro talks it over with his employee, Jinnai, who’s been giving him advice on a variety of topics ever since Reiichiro came on board as the manager of the fabric store where they both work. When Jinnai tells Reiichiro he loves him, both men must overcome some of their own bad habits if they’re going to be able to make a relationship work.

You Will Drown in Love is the kind of sequel that enriches rather than cheapens the original. Although Jinnai does not appear at all in You Will Fall in Love, by dovetailing the two storylines together, his friendship with Reiichiro is allowed to grow while the events of the first book play out and develop into love when Reiichiro’s involvement in the tale of Haru and Tsukasa comes to a close. As a result, he didn’t feel like an afterthought, but rather as someone whose opinions informed Reiichiro’s actions in the earlier work.

Like the first story, this is one of the more romantic boys’ love stories I’ve read, free from outside obstacles to the relationship or angst that makes no sense. The problems Reiichiro and Jinnai face arise because of their natures—Reiichiro is both naïve and sensitive while Jinnai uses humor as a defense—and are far more difficult to conquer than a mere lusty rival. My one real complaint is that Reiichiro’s naïveté is overdone to the point of unbelievability—what grown man would utter a sentence like, “Guys don’t normally kiss each other, right?” I do, however, adore his final line of the volume, which I will not spoil.

With its emphasis on communication and trust, this boys’ love romance is a cut above the rest.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Crimson Hero 10 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

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The six members of the Crimson Field High School girls’ volleyball team have come a long way and are now participating in the Newcomers’ Tournament, an important stepping stone to their ultimate goal, the Spring Tournament. They win their first two rounds handily, but are faced with a tough opponent for the third round. Meanwhile, Nobara and Yushin are still keeping their feelings for each other a secret.

Even though I am far from athletic myself, there is something about sports manga that I adore. Crimson Hero does particularly well at giving each teammate a moment to shine and in recent volumes, each of the supporting girls has improved her skills in some way or another. The matches are also a lot of fun and easy to follow. Frankly, I wish there were more of them.

I’m a little frustrated on the romance front, though. Nobara has liked Yushin for a long time, and was firm about this even when she realized that another boy, Haibuki, had feelings for her. Now, when Yushin has finally reciprocated, Nobara’s suddenly starting to be affected by Haibuki, thinking things like, “These days your smile messes with my heart.” I was really hoping this series wouldn’t go down this road; the fact that it seems poised to do so is disappointing.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica by Emily Salzfass et al.: C+

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The beginning of Battlestar Galactica’s third season found the majority of what’s left of humanity living on New Caprica, a planet that had seemed like their salvation until the Cylons arrived and the occupation began. Some people joined resistance groups while others collaborated with the enemy to protect themselves and their families. Eventually, they were rescued, though no one lived happily ever after. With the exception of one story taking place during the occupation, the focus of Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica is the effect the experiences of New Caprica have upon the survivors even after the planet is left behind.

“Teacher’s Pet,” story by Emily Salzfass and art by Chrissy Delk, takes place during the occupation. Former president Laura Roslin is working as a teacher and many of her lessons serve as a celebration of the history and culture of the now-destroyed colonies. The Cylons get wind of her curriculum and aren’t at all happy, but Roslin refuses to back down, even as she confronts the possibility that one of her students may be the informant.

Though the climactic moments are a little muddled, “Teacher’s Pet” is the best in the volume. Its tone is appropriately grim and there are moments where character voices seem spot on. One line from Roslin, “I’m a big girl; I can handle risk,” perfectly evokes her calm yet steely resolve. The art is not as successful as the writing, however. Characters are usually recognizable even though they don’t look like much like the actors that portray them (the Eights bear no resemblance to Grace Park, for example) but there was one random schlubby guy that I kept seeing in the resistance meetings that I couldn’t identify. I kept wondering who he was until he finally made an expression I recognized. Who was this mystery man? Chief Tyrol. Hardly a minor character.

“Shelf Life,” story by Richard Hatch (the actor who plays the story’s protagonist) and art by Christopher Schons, is set immediately after the colonists have been rescued from New Caprica. Vice President Tom Zarek is temporarily in control of the government and seeks to exact punishment on collaborators by creating small cells of trusted individuals who will try and execute them. These events do play out in the television series, but here we see more of Zarek’s perspective as well as how his decisions impact his oldest friend.

Some of the dialogue is a little cheesy (“When will we humans ever grow up?”) but the story isn’t bad. I appreciate that some small details from the show are included, such as Chief Tyrol’s tendency to be the last to cast his vote during the trials. Like “Teacher’s Pet,” however, the artist fails to capture many of the actors’ likenesses. For some time I thought they’d got the members of Galactica’s cell (The Circle) wrong because I couldn’t tell two female characters apart. Too, every scene has the same sort of dingy grey look to it, even those taking place on Colonial One (the President’s ship), which has a cleaner and brighter interior than a battlestar.

I found “Visitation,” story by Mike Wellman and art by Anthony Wu, to be the weakest of the three stories. While on New Caprica, Kara “Starbuck” Thrace was held captive by a Cylon and made to believe that her ovaries had been used to create a daughter. She becomes attached to the girl only to run into her actual mother after the evacuation from the planet. Now she encounters the girl again, living in unsavory conditions, and absconds with her.

My objection to the story isn’t that the events are implausible—the show certainly went to the “Starbuck is mentally unstable, does something crazy, and treats those who care about her like crap” well often enough—but because it’s simply a retread of the kind of thing we’ve seen before on the show quite a few times already. “Visitation” also had the strangest art of the lot. I understand an artist wanting to pursue their individual style and all that, but when I’m staring in puzzlement at an unidentifiable, weird-looking, block-headed dude who is then addressed as Helo, played by the undeniably hunky Tahmoh Penikett, then there is a problem.

The bottom line: If you’re a BSG fan who’s missing the show already, you could do worse. I found it kind of nice to revisit these characters at an arguably simpler time.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Goong: The Royal Palace 4 by Park SoHee: A-

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A promise between their grandfathers leads to the wedding of regular girl Chae-Kyung to the crown prince, Shin. Their relationship was antagonistic at first, but Chae-Kyung eventually realizes she’s fallen for the mercurial prince while formerly friendless Shin gets a taste of what it feels like to have someone always by his side.

In this volume, the thawing of relations between the married couple continues while unforeseen political enemies grow in power. By wrangling to have a posthumous honor bestowed upon her late husband, Shin’s aunt earns a place for herself in the palace with the power to make Chae-Kyung’s life miserable. Both the romantic and political aspects to the story are interesting, and I’m continually impressed with Park SoHee’s ability to make a simple conversation between two people such a riveting thing.

Particularly worthy of praise is the development of Shin’s cousin, Yul. When initially introduced, Yul was a sympathetic character, a former royal grandson who lost his title, his home, and his fiancée to Shin upon the death of his father. The gradual revelation of his sly manipulation of Chae-Kyung has been well done, throwing new light on all of their prior, seemingly innocent, interactions.

One minor flaw the series possesses is the unattractive artwork that crops up during comedic moments. Most of the time the art is very pretty, though, and it’s true that these ugly episodes are occurring less frequently as the series progresses. I also wasn’t keen on the gag occurring at the end of the volume.

With its engaging characters, (generally) attractive art, and political intrigue, Goong has me pretty well hooked. How long ‘til volume five?

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Crimson Hero 9 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B+

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From the back cover:
Just when Nobara is set to play with the Eagles against the men’s team at Central Sokai University, Yushin shows up on campus! Has he come to make a play for Nobara?

Review:
At last! I love seeing good things happen for characters I like, and this volume is immensely satisfying in several important ways. Nobara gets her first taste of victory when the beach volleyball team manages to beat the elite college team, though I am kind of getting annoyed with all of these games that go all the way to the very final point. I guess that’s supposed to show how hard the struggle was? There’s also some awesome stuff between Nobara and Yushin.

But the very best stuff actually happens when Nobara returns to Crimson Field. In her absence, one of her teammates, Kanako, a relative newcomer to volleyball, has been training really hard. She’s proud of her new skills and shows them to Nobara, who is appropriately impressed. Alas, the coach is more interested in what Nobara has learned to do and is dismissive of Kanako, who’d been receiving personal attention up ’til that point and whose goal was to become better than Nobara.

Nobara realizes later, upon seeing the tattered state of Kanako’s equipment, just how hard she’d been working and refuses to accept Kanako’s resignation from the team. There’s this great scene where they meet up in a café or something. Kanako says, “I’m not going to lose to you!” To which Nobara replies, “I’m not going to lose to you, either!” Then they both break out in tears. There’s one panel of the two of them sobbing away with the sound effect “Waaaaah” going across it. It’s wonderful, funny, and in character, too. I think I read that sequence over, like, four times.

And, as if all that weren’t enough, the Newcomers’ Tournament (which has some bearing on the attendees for the Spring Tournament somehow) begins and the Crimson Field girls handily win their first game. It’s a feel good volume all around.

Crimson Hero 8 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B-

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From the back cover:
Coach Shima sends Nobara to train with the men’s team at Central Sokai University. However, these college guys have no intention of letting a girl join their practice—unless Nobara can find a way to gain their respect.

Review:
It took me this long to start to get tired of reading this series, which is probably a compliment. And really, this volume is pretty decent. Nobara is training with a beach volleyball team and learning to see her skills—like her amazing jumping ability—objectively. Her teammates are rather silly, but overall these chapters are pretty fun. In fact, they’re very shounen, with lines like, “I’ve got to become stronger!” and “There’s got to be an attack only I can do!”

Alas, there are also some lame, kind of retconny moments. Nobara having a particular childhood hero has never been mentioned before, but suddenly we are told she had one and turns out to be, of course, Ryo, the guy she’s been sent to train with. Worse, though, is that Nobara goes practically bonkers during a typhoon and rushes out to the beach to physically hold onto one of the posts holding up the net so that it won’t get destroyed because she must become stronger and all of that. She later explains that she often goes nuts during storms on account of the childhood trauma of being locked in a storage room during one. Normally Nobara is not the type of heroine to have a “too stupid to live” moment of such magnitude. It was pretty crapulent.

Anyway, it is at least clear that Nobara is improving. I look forward to seeing how her new skills will translate on the court.

Crimson Hero 7 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

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From the back cover:
Nobara’s drive to get the girls’ volleyball team ready to qualify for the next Spring Tournament has tensions running high. Have Nobara’s dreams finally outgrown those of her teammates?

Review:
Yay, volleyball once again takes precedence over romance! This volume begins with the girls team in shambles, reeling from yet another defeat, and Ayako telling Nobara that they’re not like her and never really believed they could make it to the Spring Tournament (Nobara’s big dream). After a brief stint at a special training camp makes Nobara realize that it’s her own team that she wants to play with, she returns and the team gets itself together. Training begins in earnest, with the new coach leading the girls through intensive drills.

The problem is that Nobara’s simply enjoying playing so much that she’s not trying her hardest in the practice games. I love that the other girls are worried about her talents going to waste and are working hard to try to challenge her. Finally, at the end of the volume, Nobara realizes that she isn’t pushing herself, and departs to go study with some surfer guy who I can only assume is a volleyball guru of some sort.

With things mostly stable on the girls’ team, it’s up to the boys to provide the drama. Alas, I found this segment of the volume pretty boring. Basically, now that the third years have retired to focus on their college entrance exams, the second years are feeling overshadowed by the new crop of talented first years and quit in a huff. Yushin is ultimately the hero. No big surprise there.

This volume is better than the last, but still isn’t as exciting as it could be. Hopefully there’ll be another fun game before too long.

Crimson Hero 6 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B-

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From the back cover:
Haibuki, jealous of Nobara’s crush on his teammate, Yushin, finds it hard to concentrate on volleyball, and both boys end up benched during a game. Now their coach has ordered Nobara to stay away from both of them!

Review:
There are some cute moments in this volume, but mostly it’s kind of disappointing, the middle pair of chapters especially. In the first of these, the training camp is done so everyone’s participating in a “night of fright” test of courage kind of thing. I actually giggled at Yushin’s nonreaction to a gorilla-headed guy bursting from some shrubbery (“Woah.”), only to groan some moments later when Nobara fell victim to the dreaded “girl on test of courage falls off hitherto unnoticed cliff and requires rescue by love interest(s)” plot. Seriously, so lame.

The next chapter after that is a major downer, as the girls acquire a coach who is apparently trying to motivate them by making them think they’re morons for having high aspirations or something. Also, there’s a lot of talk going around the volleyball scene about Nobara’s talent and how she’ll never achieve anything being stuck on a mediocre team. This is kind of painful to read, since I want the team to be succeeding already, but it’s true that they still can’t quite manage to keep it together and win a game. I do appreciate the consistent characterization of Ayako, who has always been the one who had the most trouble believing that the team really does have a chance to become something great.

At some point during all of this, the boys fail to win nationals but rank in the top eight. I would’ve liked to’ve seen some of that, but we really just see them walk on a court and are then told the results.

Anyway, I really want to see the girls start winning soon. I guess perhaps Takanashi figured that the audience would be expecting this win—and I was—so decided to subvert the standard pattern and give them further obstacles to surmount. I’m just already impatient for some feel-good triumph!

Crimson Hero 5 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

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From the back cover:
Out walking in the rain, Nobara and Yushin are mistaken for a couple by passersby. Nobara wants to tell Yushin that she is in love with him, but he already has a girlfriend—Satomi. Yushin, worried that Satomi might get the wrong idea about his relationship with Nobara, leaves Nobara behind to walk home by himself—and comes across Satomi kissing another boy in the street.

Review:
My first reaction upon reading the back cover blurb is, “Well, that’s convenient.” It actually plays out better than I thought it would, though. It’s not a simple decision for Yushin to switch to Nobara now that Satomi is out of the way, since he feels he’s partly in the wrong for not spending enough time with her.

And, yeah, the romance stuff isn’t bad, but it has really taken over all of a sudden. There is some volleyball action—a new member joins the team and the girls also get to attend a ritzy training camp along with the boys’ team—but nearly everything works its way back to Nobara and her feelings for Yushin by the end. As much as I like them together, I like either of them being sporty and determined more than awkward and red-faced.

There are a few things to like, though, about how it’s handled. One is that Nobara makes a promise to herself that she won’t let her feelings for Yushin enter her mind when she’s on the court, and the second that she tells him it’s fine if he wants to focus all his energy on volleyball, because she intends to do the same. Just because she likes him doesn’t mean she’s going to become clingy. And even the Haibuki situation is interesting. He, at first, seemed like a likable enough, if quiet, guy, but has recently proven himself to be short-tempered and creepy.

So, no, not my favorite volume, but there are tournaments coming up, so hopefully the series will soon return to what it does best.

Crimson Hero 4 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B+

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From the back cover:
Nobara, still confused by why she cried when she saw Yushin with his girlfriend, is trying to focus her energies on her team’s first official volleyball game against one of the top three teams in Tokyo—Tabesho High. The night before the game, Yushin gives Nobara a necklace for luck, but then brings his girlfriend with him to watch the game the next day! Nobara will have to put aside her frazzled emotions to concentrate on the match at hand.

Review:
There is just something awesomely addictive about sports manga. I am eating this up with a spoon!

So, in this volume, the girls get to actually play in a tournament. Heart strings are tugged by allowing everyone on the team—even the utter newbie—to contribute a save in a critical moment. I think I actually got a little verklempt. The match actually kind of plays out very similarly to the challenge with the boys’ team, but the overall outcome is different. It’s all quite awesome.

I also love seeing the boys triumphantly clench their fists at a girls’ match. I wish more men were so enthusiastic about womens’ sports in this country (not that I am at all a sports buff in reality).

There actually isn’t much to say about this volume beyond that. It’s still tremendous fun and I’m plowing on to volume five in a matter of moments.

Crimson Hero 3 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B+

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From the back cover:
Former star setter Tomoyo joins the ranks, and now the six players are an official team at Crimson Field High School! However, Nobara is so focused on training that she fails to notice her team is falling apart under the pressure. Not only that, but Nobara must now find the money to pay for her uniform and club dues. Will Nobara be able to swallow her pride and ask her mother for help? Or will she have to give up on her dream after coming so far?

Review:
I was enjoying that Crimson Hero was all about girls striving and doing things purely for themselves to see what they could accomplish. I thought it didn’t need any romance. But then, the romance, she burgeoned, and I find that I kind of love it.

Ever since Yushin heard Nobara’s story and witnessed her passionate love of volleyball in action he, like his dormmates, has become more supportive of her. Lately, when she has had problems, he’s been the one she talked them over with, because she sort of instinctively knew he’d understand her. In this volume, he accompanies her during a very silly, melodramatic rescue of her younger sister (who’s attending an omiai with a cretin), and after Nobara returns from dealing with her parents, she has a good cry against his chest. Nobara’s so clueless about love that she doesn’t realize that she’s got any kind of feelings for Yushin beyond friendship. That is, until she sees him together with his girlfriend.

I’m not quite sure why I love this so very much, but I do. I think it’s because Nobara’s feelings are based on friendship and are directed toward a boy who is very good for her, as opposed to one who’s just princely or popular. I also like that Yushin and Haibuki, while probably classifiable into the “hothead and cool guy” stereotypes that often occupy romantic triangles in shojo manga, don’t really fit so easily into those roles. Haibuki can be a bit of an ass, but he can also be a nice guy. Yushin’s not really a hothead, though he is honest and direct.

Oh yes, and there’s a practice game, too. It was pretty short, though. I’d have preferred more of that and less sister rescuing, but at least the latter provided an opportunity for Souka to see how phenomenal Nobara really is.

Crimson Hero 2 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B+

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From the back cover:
Nobara is issued a challenge from the boys’ volleyball team: if her team can score one point against them in a match, the girls will win. But, if the girls lose, Nobara will have to give up on having a girls’ volleyball team at Crimson Field forever. With everything on the line for the girls, the boys are playing to win, and even Haibuki seems determined to crush Nobara by aiming at her on the court.

Review:
This volume is a lot of fun. First, there’s the three-on-three challenge between the girls and the boys, which goes exactly as one might expect, but is nonetheless very entertaining and features Haibuki sneakily alerting the broadcast club so that a bunch of students will turn out and lend their support to the underdog girls’ team. I also like that the formerly assy boys living in the dorm begin showing much more support for Nobara’s endeavors after her showing at the game.

Next, there’s Nobara’s search for team members which reminds me a lot of Hikaru no Go in terms of the acquisition of a couple of enthusiastic newcomers who help fulfill the numbers requirement without really providing much by way of talent. These newbies bring the club’s membership up to five, leaving Nobara one person short of officially qualifying as a team.

Enter Tomoyo Osaka, who was a star player in junior high until an injury sidelined her before an important game. She was convinced that her team needed her in order to win, but it turns out they found a replacement pretty quickly. Since then, she’s stayed away from the sport and adamantly maintains she has no intention of playing, but of course we and Nobara know better, and our protagonist exerts her hero skills again as she finally breaks through to what Tomoyo’s real objections are. This whole section was perfectly paced; Tomoyo’s sour attitude and backstory angst would’ve gotten irritating if it’d continued for too long, but here it wraps up in just enough time for Nobara’s success in getting through to her at last to feel well-earned.

About the only complaint I could make is that all of this scrambling and struggling—the entire series, even—could’ve been averted if only Nobara had made sure that she was going to be attending a school with a strong girls’ volleyball team. You’d think that if she’s so passionate about it, she’d put forth that extra effort.

In any case, Crimson Hero is definitely fun and I am eager to read the next volume. Which is handy, ‘cos I have about eight of them sitting here.

Crimson Hero 1 by Mitsuba Takanashi: B

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From the back cover:
All that matters to 15-year-old Nobara Sumiyoshi is volleyball—she’s an awesome player with big-time ambitions. But sometimes it seems like a girl just can’t get a break in the competitive world of high school volleyball.

Nobara’s family wants her to inherit the role of “young mistress,” serving rich patrons at her family’s old-fashioned Japanese restaurant. No thanks! When Nobara transfers to Crimson Field High School, known for its top-notch volleyball team, it turns out that her mother will stoop to dirty tricks to keep her off the court. With assistance from her feisty Aunt Momoko, who’s got some connections at Crimson Field, Nobara decides to start playing offense.

Review:
Seriously, are there any bad Shojo Beat manga? I suppose I wasn’t very keen on Time Stranger Kyoko or I.O.N, but I think I’ve liked all the others that I’ve read.

From childhood, Nobara’s parents tried to mold her into a “young mistress” of grace and refinement who would be suitable to take over their traditional family restaurant. She continually disappointed them, and was always being unfavorably compared to her lady-like younger sister, Souka. It was only through volleyball that she found something at which she excelled and, through it, she eventually learned to like herself as she was.

Fast forward to high school. Nobara has enrolled at Crimson Field High School purely on the strength of its volleyball program, but when she arrives, she finds that her mother has exercised her PTA clout to get the girls’ team disbanded. In a fury, Nobara runs away from home and her aunt, the school nurse, sets her up with a job as the interim house mother for the school’s volleyball dorm, currently occupied by four rather assy boys. Nobara makes many mistakes, but eventually the fact that she’s trying so hard purely for the opportunity to play volleyball starts to win over a couple of the guys.

I think this may actually be my first shoujo sports manga, but so far I’m enjoying it a lot. I love Nobara’s androgynous character design, and also that she tries to be tough but sometimes experiences insecurities. Most of her vulnerability comes from having her dream continually thwarted by her family, so when someone actually speaks up for her—as dorm resident Yushin does when her mom shows up at the dorm to collect her—it’s actually a pretty emotional thing.

Towards the end of the volume, Nobara begins to make contact with the girls who used to be on the volleyball team, as she’s been told that if she can assemble enough players, the school will reinstate the team. Her passion and refusal to submit to insults from the boys’ team inspires the dispirited remnants of the team, making one realize just what the title really means. I find I’m really looking forward to the formation of the team and actually seeing the girls work hard in pursuit of success.

On the negative side, there are a couple of cheesy plot elements, like the fact that Nobara has met one of the boys before in elementary school and that, as a result of juggling all of her responsibilities, she (of course) contracts a fever and requires nursing. A more minor, yet still annoying, quibble is that Nobara seems to be the only student at her school who does not wear a uniform. How is she not getting in trouble? Too, there doesn’t appear to be any standardization in the sailor fuku the other girls are wearing, so it’s just entirely confusing

Lastly, I think Nobara and Haruna from High School Debut should meet. They would probably get along well.

Crimson Hero is still being serialized in Japan and its fifteenth volume is due out there later this month. Viz publishes the series in English; they’ve released through volume ten. I think this series is the only one of the original batch of titles featured in the Shojo Beat magazine to still be included in its line-up. This results in rather lengthy delays between volumes.

Click 2 by Youngran Lee: B-

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From the back cover:
Poor Joonha has moved to the big city and is now living incognito, as a girl, at a new school. But that doesn’t mean his (her?) troubles are over. First, Taehyun, the obnoxious class playboy, coerces Joonha into a “friendship” that royally ticks off Yoomi, Taehyun’s ex. That’s before the reappearance of Heewon, the lovesick stunner who’s followed Joonha all the way from their old school—and whose feelings apparently stay the same whether Joonha is a boy or a girl!

Review:
I liked this one much more than the first volume, to the point where I’m tempted to give it a B. There’s just too much lingering sexism (albeit an incredibly diluted amount compared to volume one) for me to justify doing so. There does look to be some progress on this front, though. First, Joonha, being severely humbled, is not actively being arrogant and cruel to girls. She does still, however, have this notion that being a girl means that there’s no reason to do well in school anymore or to have ambitions of any kind, so she’s been slacking off in a major way. When her new friend, Taehyun, gets wind of this attitude his response is one of disbelief at this antiquated notion. He encourages Joonha to live life to its fullest, whatever her gender may happen to be, and she ends up turning out a bravura performance on her next round of class exams and makes plans to join Taehyun as his business partner.

There’s all sorts of other drama going on, too, including the girl Joonha spurned in junior high emerging on the scene and beating up the leader of Joonha’s new gang of admirers, Taehyun’s serious-minded lackey falling in love/obsession with her, an angsty family background for Taehyun, and the return of Joonha’s childhood friend Jinhoo (now a famous concert pianist) after a concert tour.

Despite the persistent problem of no truly likable characters, but I can’t deny that it’s getting pretty addictive at this point. The volume serves up a couple of nice cliffhangers in the final chapter, too.

Goong: The Royal Palace 3 by Park SoHee: B+

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From the back cover:
Chae-Kyung and Shin return to their separate quarters at the palace, but the crown princess can’t shake the feelings aroused by her new husband. Try as she might, there’s no denying it—she’s completely fallen for him! When Chae-Kyung lets a confession slip, she braces herself for the prince’s rejection. Instead, he doesn’t even acknowledge her! Though the suspense is killing Chae-Kyung, does she really want to know what Shin has to say?

Review:
This series kind of reminds me of Newton’s third law of physics. No, really. This law states, “For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.” In volume two, the relationship between Shin and Chae-Kyung was on a pretty even, if antagonistic, course. In this volume, matters first swing one way, as they seem to be getting closer. In one particularly nice conversation, Shin admits that he’s jealous of the closeness of Chae-Kyung’s family and also says that he feels closer to her than anyone. The pendulum then heads back in the opposite direction, with Shin behaving rather cruelly to both Chae-Kyung and his former girlfriend. Because of Shin’s nastiness, I just couldn’t like this volume as much as its predecessor.

I was kind of disappointed with how the cliffhanger from volume two was resolved, but I guess it’s too soon for that kind of thing to go anywhere squee-inducing. It’s kind of frustrating seeing all these covers and splash pages of the main couple being affectionate, because it’s probably going to take a long time for the story to actually get to that point. As the back cover blurb points out, Chae-Kyung does (after some annoying pseudo-confessions done in jest) end up telling Shin how she feels about him. Alas, it’s this that seems to spur him into cruelty, as he threatens to answer the question of whether he still loves his ex in front of both the ex and Chae-Kyung, not to mention a bunch of witnesses at Yul’s birthday party. Chae-Kyung reacts impulsively to her strong desire not to hear the answer, and though she makes a pretty big mistake, I was sympathetic to her sudden fear to know.

This volume also introduces new levels of political intrigue, which I always appreciate. Yul’s late father was the original crown prince, and his mother is now spearheading a campaign to get him posthumously declared King. This will give her a rank called daebi, which will allow her to move into the castle and have a say in how things are done. Her main goal, however, is to restore Yul to his place as the rightful crown prince. Meanwhile, there’s also some romance drama among the older generation, as it’s hinted that Shin’s parents have never loved each other, and his mother is made miserable by knowing that his father was once, and might still be, in love with Yul’s mother. Lastly, Shin concludes the volume by announcing that he intends to relinquish his crown prince duties in a few years.

Oh, teh drama!