2 screenshot limit

I didn’t realize that this was the 2nd installment of the series so I’m sure that I’m going to write down an inane statement that was explained in the first book.

This was one of my typical blind-buys from the Strand. I think I’ve seen this book reviewed by other manga/comics blogs, so maybe that’s what prompted me to actually pick it up and bring it home. I didn’t know anything about the story and so the actual content of the book was a curious surprise.

Ehwa, the teenage lead character of this series, lives with her mother, a widow. They manage her tavern, so somehow they manage to support themselves — but in actuality, they spend a lot of their free time thinking, talking, and dreaming about men. The effect is actually cute at first, since both Ehwa and her mother speak about love and sex and relationships in terms of flowers and butterflies and all pretty things.

For a coming-of-age story, I think this book brings to the table an refreshing and open discussion of sexuality. Mother and daughter are open in their desires (the mother is actually dating a travelling salesman, of sorts) and the mother generally wants what’s best for her daughter, including encouraging Ehwa to find the best relationship for love.

However, I hesitate to recommend this book wholeheartedly only because it does make the two central female characters so, um, boy-crazy (for lack of a better term). It felt that there was nothing important in their respective lives. I understand that the story is a product of the time and place that it’s set in, but I’m sitting here and reading and getting confused. Here’s two seemingly independent and spunky women who could do so much, yet all they want is to get laid?

I am curious if anything changes in the 3rd volume of this series. I’m not crazy about this manhwa, but maybe there will be something the third volume that will redeem it for me.

This entry was posted on Thursday, August 27th, 2009 at 1:55 pm and is filed under manga & manhwa, other publishers. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.