Manga Reviews
I love manga, who could ever think that there are so many different ways to tell a story within a few panels? Well, I'm just going to write about a few of my favorite manga.
Gokinjo Monogatari (Neighborhood Story)Yazawa Ai
This is the prequel to Paradise Kiss by Yazawa Ai which has more of the funny and touching characters and story. Kouda Mikako, an aspiring fashion designer who wants to start her own brand of clothing, has always lived next door to her childhood friend, Yamaguchi Tsutomu. However, recently Tsutomu has been getting a lot of attention from girls because of his resemblence to the singer Nakagawa Ken from the group Mambo. This makes annoys Mikako, but she's not sure why. I have to say that I absolutely love Yazawa Ai's art style, she can make a character look absolutely comical or fill them with so much sadness with the way she draws their eyes (I think that Yazawa Ai draws the most expressful eyes). Currently being scanlated by Shoujo Magic.
Nana Yazawa Ai
Currently running in the magazine Cookie, this is Yazawa Ai's newest manga aimed at a more mature audience. The story centers around two girls, both named Nana from different backgrounds with very different personalities who meet and end up living together. The characters are very complex and lovable, right now this is my current Yazawa Ai favorite. Like it's predecessors, Nana is filled with the same art style and humor as Gokinjo Monogatari, Paradise Kiss, and Kagen no Tsuki. The first 5 chapters scanlated by manga screener, and chapter 6-7 by Lavendar Tinted, and the rest is currently being done by Sugar-Oasis.
Kagen no Tsuki (Quarter Moon) Yazawa Ai
One of Yazawa Ai's shorter series, Volume 2 of Kagen no Tsuki was in the top 10 of sales during its first month of sales (I think that was the stat). It's a supernatural story of romance involving ghosts. Mochizuki Mizuki hates her life, her parents don't pay attention to her, and her flirtatious boyfriend has just crossed the line by cheating on her with her best friend. In the sadness, she comes across a guitarist on the street from England named Adam. She falls in love with him and plans to run away with him, but she's hit by a car. She then finds herself on the side of one fence where she meets a little girl named Hotaru looking for her cat. When Hotaru awakens, we find out she's in the hospital because she was hit by a car looking for her cat Lulu. On her way home from school one day, Hotaru comes across an abondoned house where she finds Mizuki - but something is strange - Mizuki doesn't remember who she is and she can't seem to get out of the house! The story then revolves around Hotaru and her friends trying to figure out Mizuki's identity and how to free her from the house. Extremely beautiful, it's obvious why this manga made it to the top 10 list (I believe it was #2), currently being scanlated by Storm in Heaven.
My Love Patzzi
A twist on the Korean story that is similar to Cinderella where the girl who appears to be the victim is actually very coniving, and the girl who is rude and tough is actually the poor victim. Two guys like the same girl, the mean friends tries to ruin the protagonist, but in the end, everything turns out quite nicely.
My Sassy Girl movie
My Sassy Girl was an extremely popular movie in Korea. I personally found it hilarious and very touching, the characters are also extremely likable. Unlike dramas, this movie doesn't have a bad guy - it's actually more about people and how they mature and love. The movie starts off with the lead male character reminiscing about the past - which brings us to the story of how he met this girl (who remains nameless throughout the movie) and his sincere desire to help her out. Lots of laughs in this one, but it still remains serious to its core. I think this is a movie that has a very good balance between drama and comedy which is very difficult to pull off successfully, and the guy's face is just hilarious at times.
Prince's First Love
Another one of the newer series, one that I have only seen one episode of, but it's pretty entertaining. The story follows a girl who works at a sandwhich shop who's trying to become a GO (which I still can't figure out what is, but I'm guessing that it has to do with translating). She then wins a trip to a ski resort in Japan and buts-heads with the "prince" of the resort who is played by the same guy in My Sassy Girl.
Stairway to Heaven
Staring the Choi Ji Woo who is also in Winter Sonata and The Truth, this is one of the more recent drama series. It attempts to create a winner out of many of the reused themes in Korean dramas that have proven succesful, and in a way it seems somewhat unrealistic at times (well, more unrealistic than most dramas already are). Stairway to Heaven starts off with childhood friend Jungsuh and Songjoo. Jungsuh lived a happy life until her father remarries the famous actress Tae Mirah and she moves in with her wicked daughter and her new older brother. Things turn for the worst as Jungsuh is forced to stay in Korea while Songjoo goes abroad alone as her new stepmother and stepsister take her letters from Songjoo in an attempt to make him fall in love with the stepsister, Yoori. If that wasn't bad enough, Jungsuh's kindness makes her stepbrother fall in love with her. Once again, we fast forward to the future and Jungsuh and Songjoo are about to be reunited once more, but things go terribly wrong as Yoori runs her sister over with a car and pulls off a plot to make it appear as if she's dead. Jungsuh, who has then lost all of her memory, is taken away by her stepbrother to live a new life. This is an interesting series, but I felt that the characters seemed to behave a little out of their roles at times, and is it me, or did Songjoo change a lot from when he was young? Oh well, it's still a pretty good series to watch, partially because of the suspense.
Winter Sonata (aka Winter Love Song and Endless Love 2)
This is the "Winter" story that was directed by the same person who did Autumn Tale. The show starts us off in the classic "stranger comes to town and stirs things up" setting. Joonsang transfers to a school looking for his father who he thinks is the man in a photo with his mother. A rivalry then ensues between Joonsang and who he assumes is his half-brother, San-Hyuk over San Hyuk's long time friend, Yujin. Later on, Joonsang sees the same picture in Yujins family album, but it shows his mother and two men, and she has her arm wrapped around Yujin's father's arm. After asserting to himself the truth, Joonsang decides to leave for America with his mother, but remembers a promise he made with Yujin to meet on New Years, but in his rush to meet her, he gets into a car accident. Yujin and all their friends are heart broken. The story then fast-forwards to the future where San-Hyuk and Yujin are engaged, but suddenly their old friend Chelin appears with a guy she met in France that looks just like Joonsang, but he says his name is Min-Hyuk. This throws Yujin's heart into confusion as she realizes she still loves Joonsang, and she finds herself looking for him in Min-Hyuk who she must work with as an interior designer. Another emotional drama with beautiful scenes of winter and music. I also highly recommend this one for anyone who is interested in watching Korean dramas.
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