A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

( babble here )

A Feast for Crows by George R.R. Martin

( babble here )

manga: Dokebi Bride Vol 1

This book offers a better description of what a dokebi is than LAND OF SILVER RAIN did: “The dokebi is a mythical creature that appears in many old korean myths.  Although usually frightening, it could also represent a humorous sprite or goblin with grotesque looks.  Most dokebis are depicted with a horn growing from the top of the head.  They are usually clad in animal hides, usually tiger or leopard hides, and carry a magical, spiked club.  Although these creatures love mischief and playing mean tricks on bad people, they also reward good people with wealth and blessings.”

I stumbled across DOKEBI BRIDE when (rather fruitlessly) looking for information about dokebis after reading vol 1 of LAND OF SILVER RAIN.  This book, however, is as different from Silver Rain(I was going to use “LoSH” but that makes me think of “Legion of Super Heroes”) as can be.  Silver Rain is an innocent, fairytale romance book and the dokebis there, and their world, are very much of a “fairy land” variety(and they’re all pretty.)  It’s bright and cheerful and energetic.

In contrast, DOKEBI BRIDE is very quiet, almost solemn yet also whimsical, in a way that makes me think of MUSHISHI or KINO NO TABI/KINO’S JOURNEY.  It’s based on and is about korean shamanic tradition in the modern world.  Our lead character, Sunbi, is a young woman from a shaman family who grew up in a small seaside village with her grandmother.  Her grandmother was a powerful shaman who, in her youth, had strong ties to the local spirits.  In time, though, the spirits started to pull away, and by the time she died, all that was left of the village spirits were the guardian general bound to her soul and the water dragon who was once responsible for the village’s prosperity, but grew too tired to continue.  After her grandmother’s death, Sunbi moves in with her father in Seoul, where she learns that, true to form for such stories, she’s been saddled with the stepmother from hell.  Her stepsister seems to be much better, but Sunbi’s near total lack of social skills(she was, we soon learn, also an outcast among the other children in the village, who looked at her like a freak because of her family and the fact that she claimed to be able o see spirits) may have ruined all her chances for friendship there.

Most of the book, however, flashes back to Sunbi’s childhood, when she first became aware of dokebis and other spirits.  Her first spirit was the dragon, who was wakened from his sleep by a rude, modern, glory hungry shaman.  The dragon was in the middle of informing the terrified woman(who was freaking out in front of a crowd of people who couldn’t see it, and thus thought she was having a nervous breakdown) that he didn’t overly appreciate that when he heard Sunbi calling him over like he was a cute puppy she saw across the street.  Before he can decide whether to be insulted or amused, he recognized Sunbi’s grandmother as the “real” shaman he knew, he tells her that he’s too old and tired to help the village anymore, and is essentially only there until he’s the last of his friends has left, after which, Sunbi and her grandmother ask the sea dokebis to help them with the catch.  The book ends with dragon paying homage to Sunbi’s grandmother at her grave and then flying off into the clouds and Sunbi, realizing what it means, crying.

Aside from the dragon(which is very impressive) I’m largely neutral about the art…it’s not in the normal style for books that are released over here and is neither amazing nor bad, but it very much suits the book, which is told very simply and straightforwardly, and has a sort of quiet elegance and no illusions of or attempts at pretension(which is good, as I seem to have lost tolerance for that lately.)  Anyway, all in all, while probably not the thing for some of my flist, and excellent book so far.

manga: Dokebi Bride Vol 1

This book offers a better description of what a dokebi is than LAND OF SILVER RAIN did: “The dokebi is a mythical creature that appears in many old korean myths.  Although usually frightening, it could also represent a humorous sprite or goblin with grotesque looks.  Most dokebis are depicted with a horn growing from the top of the head.  They are usually clad in animal hides, usually tiger or leopard hides, and carry a magical, spiked club.  Although these creatures love mischief and playing mean tricks on bad people, they also reward good people with wealth and blessings.”

I stumbled across DOKEBI BRIDE when (rather fruitlessly) looking for information about dokebis after reading vol 1 of LAND OF SILVER RAIN.  This book, however, is as different from Silver Rain(I was going to use “LoSH” but that makes me think of “Legion of Super Heroes”) as can be.  Silver Rain is an innocent, fairytale romance book and the dokebis there, and their world, are very much of a “fairy land” variety(and they’re all pretty.)  It’s bright and cheerful and energetic.

In contrast, DOKEBI BRIDE is very quiet, almost solemn yet also whimsical, in a way that makes me think of MUSHISHI or KINO NO TABI/KINO’S JOURNEY.  It’s based on and is about korean shamanic tradition in the modern world.  Our lead character, Sunbi, is a young woman from a shaman family who grew up in a small seaside village with her grandmother.  Her grandmother was a powerful shaman who, in her youth, had strong ties to the local spirits.  In time, though, the spirits started to pull away, and by the time she died, all that was left of the village spirits were the guardian general bound to her soul and the water dragon who was once responsible for the village’s prosperity, but grew too tired to continue.  After her grandmother’s death, Sunbi moves in with her father in Seoul, where she learns that, true to form for such stories, she’s been saddled with the stepmother from hell.  Her stepsister seems to be much better, but Sunbi’s near total lack of social skills(she was, we soon learn, also an outcast among the other children in the village, who looked at her like a freak because of her family and the fact that she claimed to be able o see spirits) may have ruined all her chances for friendship there.

Most of the book, however, flashes back to Sunbi’s childhood, when she first became aware of dokebis and other spirits.  Her first spirit was the dragon, who was wakened from his sleep by a rude, modern, glory hungry shaman.  The dragon was in the middle of informing the terrified woman(who was freaking out in front of a crowd of people who couldn’t see it, and thus thought she was having a nervous breakdown) that he didn’t overly appreciate that when he heard Sunbi calling him over like he was a cute puppy she saw across the street.  Before he can decide whether to be insulted or amused, he recognized Sunbi’s grandmother as the “real” shaman he knew, he tells her that he’s too old and tired to help the village anymore, and is essentially only there until he’s the last of his friends has left, after which, Sunbi and her grandmother ask the sea dokebis to help them with the catch.  The book ends with dragon paying homage to Sunbi’s grandmother at her grave and then flying off into the clouds and Sunbi, realizing what it means, crying.

Aside from the dragon(which is very impressive) I’m largely neutral about the art…it’s not in the normal style for books that are released over here and is neither amazing nor bad, but it very much suits the book, which is told very simply and straightforwardly, and has a sort of quiet elegance and no illusions of or attempts at pretension(which is good, as I seem to have lost tolerance for that lately.)  Anyway, all in all, while probably not the thing for some of my flist, and excellent book so far.

cdrama: The Little Fairy/Fairy From the Wonderland

Just finished the first ep(and about 10 minutes) of this one.  It's a wuxia drama with Huge Ge and Ariel Lin about the 7th daughter of the King of Heaven, who's exiled to earth for being naughty all falls in love with a mortal there, and has to decide if she wants to stay on earth and give up her mortality, or leave him and stay immortal.

The combined power of the cute of Ariel Lin and Hu Ge could almost kill a person.

And I swear, Hu Ge is either a great actor or he likes Ariel Lin in RL, because that was just about to most convincing "besotted stare" ever.

 

cdrama: The Little Fairy/Fairy From the Wonderland

Just finished the first ep(and about 10 minutes) of this one.  It's a wuxia drama with Huge Ge and Ariel Lin about the 7th daughter of the King of Heaven, who's exiled to earth for being naughty all falls in love with a mortal there, and has to decide if she wants to stay on earth and give up her mortality, or leave him and stay immortal.

The combined power of the cute of Ariel Lin and Hu Ge could almost kill a person.

And I swear, Hu Ge is either a great actor or he likes Ariel Lin in RL, because that was just about to most convincing "besotted stare" ever.

 

Manga: Emma Vol 1

Emma is a romance about Emma, a maid in Victorian England who mutually falls in love with William, the heir to a rich family(fortunately for her, she works for his former governess, not his father.)  While the series is visually perfect in depicting 1880s London, the class distinctions and interactions between the classes actually have very little resemblance to the proper mindsets of the time.  This becomes very obvious in the first few pages, when Emma and William meet when Emma accidentally opens the door of her mistress's house and smacks William right in the face then apologizes to him as an equal instead of as a servant of the times, and later teases him when her mistress gives him a hard time about standing so close to the door. 

While it keeps some vestiges of Victorian class society intact, the class distinctions here are closer to modern rich boy/poor girl differences than to actual distinction of the times, though many social and political issues of the times are evident here, though in small doses.  While the interactions between the classes are more modern, most of the speech and the actual depiction of Victorian London itself(especially the costuming and background art) are fairly spot on.  While part of its sales pitch is about the series being about a forbidden love between two classes, that aspect hasn't actually factored in very much, though it looks like it will in the next volume, as William's father has appeared and made it very clear that he expects William to make a socially beneficial marriage, and already has a bride in mind.

All that said, while fairly simple and straightforward so far, the story itself, and the characters, are very enjoyable, if not charming, so far, and I liked it a lot.  And let's face it, a strictly socially accurate story about a rich man pursuing a maid in Victorian England would likely lead to some rather uncomfortable situations that would be out of place in what appears to be a sweet and charming romance.

Number of manga

 

 

meganbmoore needs to get the rest of the volumes of so she can binge=3(as opposed to the "0" of not even 10 days ago...)

Manga: Emma Vol 1

Emma is a romance about Emma, a maid in Victorian England who mutually falls in love with William, the heir to a rich family(fortunately for her, she works for his former governess, not his father.)  While the series is visually perfect in depicting 1880s London, the class distinctions and interactions between the classes actually have very little resemblance to the proper mindsets of the time.  This becomes very obvious in the first few pages, when Emma and William meet when Emma accidentally opens the door of her mistress's house and smacks William right in the face then apologizes to him as an equal instead of as a servant of the times, and later teases him when her mistress gives him a hard time about standing so close to the door. 

While it keeps some vestiges of Victorian class society intact, the class distinctions here are closer to modern rich boy/poor girl differences than to actual distinction of the times, though many social and political issues of the times are evident here, though in small doses.  While the interactions between the classes are more modern, most of the speech and the actual depiction of Victorian London itself(especially the costuming and background art) are fairly spot on.  While part of its sales pitch is about the series being about a forbidden love between two classes, that aspect hasn't actually factored in very much, though it looks like it will in the next volume, as William's father has appeared and made it very clear that he expects William to make a socially beneficial marriage, and already has a bride in mind.

All that said, while fairly simple and straightforward so far, the story itself, and the characters, are very enjoyable, if not charming, so far, and I liked it a lot.  And let's face it, a strictly socially accurate story about a rich man pursuing a maid in Victorian England would likely lead to some rather uncomfortable situations that would be out of place in what appears to be a sweet and charming romance.

Number of manga

 

 

meganbmoore needs to get the rest of the volumes of so she can binge=3(as opposed to the "0" of not even 10 days ago...)