It should be like a dream come true. Chae-Kyung grew up living a normal life, but now she finds herself as the betrothed to the Crown Prince of Korea. The only problem? The Crown Prince, Shin Lee is a royal jerk. Chae-Kyung is taken away from her family and her life as she knew it and thrown into the strange world of the Royal Palace, where she struggles against loneliness and her growing feelings for the Crown Prince amidst the political and romantic background of the Royal Palace. By Park SoHee Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Teen Genre: Romance/Drama Price: $10.99 Goong takes place in an alternate reality, where Korea still has a royal family, and the government is a constitutional monarchy, like the United Kingdom. Chae-Kyung is from the ordinary world, where she lived an ordinary life, and is suddenly thrown into the turmoil of learning the traditional and customs of the Korean royal family as well as deal with political and romantic intrigue. This is a title wrought with melodrama and a crisis of some sort at every corner. It’s a title that you know you shouldn’t want to read, but just can’t help getting drawn into. Starting…
This place may be a temple, but that scent in the air awakens a thousand and one memories in my mind. Written by Sun Jiaya; Art by Guo Guo Publisher: Yen Press Genre: Historical/romance/manhua Age rating: T/Teen Price: $12.99 The History of the West Wing is based on a classic Chinese play by Wang Shifu. It’s a simple love story, but one set in an earlier era among exalted people, which gives both the writer and the artist a chance to flex their muscles: the writer can play with the intense restrictions placed on male/female interaction among the upper class in China during the Tang Dynasty, and the artist can lavish every page with gorgeous paintings of period costumes and architecture. Normally when I consider a manga, or manhua in this case (since it’s from China), it’s the story that catches my attention first and foremost, but the prime attraction to The History of the West Wing is the art. Guo Guo’s art is full-colour — lush, delicate, and beautiful. There are a large number of full-page pinups in this volume, both interspersed through the story and in a chunk at the end, and while I’d normally resent this as…
Manga that share the same content matter with Sundome are normally considered erotica; While Sundome isn’t exactly a manga with sex in it, it’s definitely all about sex. More specifically, it’s a manga that, in the midst of a really twisted relationship, tries to discuss the concept of sexual arousal without sex. Basically, Sundome tries to explore what it is that turns you on, what arouses you. By Kazuto Okada Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Mature (18+) Genre: School Drama Price: $12.99 It does this through the interplay of Hideo Aiba, your regular boring dweeby kind of guy, and Kurumi Sahana, a girl who is far from ordinary. Everything about her turns on Hideo, and she notices as soon as she sits down next to him in class. In the first chapter of the book, she makes a deal with Hideo – I’ll be with you, but I’ll never have sex with you. In pure twisted fashion, Hideo says yes, and from this agreement, a relationship takes shape, as cruel and strange as that shape may be. Sundome explores the crevices and dirty nooks and crannies of the human mind, and as it does so, it intrigues me and infuriates…
Life couldn’t be better for Keiichi Maebara. Sure, he’s moved to a sleepy, little town where nothing happens and high school consists of a one-room schoolhouse — but his new friends and fellow students are all cute girls! When he happens upon a story about a grisly local murder, however, his contentment turns to uneasiness as he finds himself drawn into a web of silent intrigue that involves his newfound friends . . . and threatens his very existence. By: Ryukishi07 and Karin Suzuragi Publisher: Yen Press Age Rating: Teen + Genre: Horror Price: $10.99 A few months ago, the manga reviewers here at Manga Village were discussing our review grades. John Thomas awarded a grade of 10 to the first volume of Eden: It’s an Endless World! Now, I’ve read Eden, and John’s right, it’s a fantastic series–but I don’t know that I’d grade the first volume with a 10. Here’s the thing–this grading thing, it’s an imperfect beast. How do you compare the excellence of books miles apart from one another? And I’m not talking subject matter or genre–no, I’m talking about how various manga approach storytelling and format. For instance, the first volume of Drifting Classroom is…