manhwa: Chronicles of the Grim Peddler Vol 1

The Grim Peddler is an androgynous being (male looking in a suit, female looking while lounging around at home, but I’m guessing it’s a he) who kicks off fairy tales and guides them along the right path, though they often go astray. He has no name, and lives with a cat who is sometimes a boy. Given Asia and catboys and mysterious, androgynous men, I’m actually rather surprised that they seem to be utterly devoid of anything resembling subtext so far.

The stories aren’t particularly revisionist or revolutionary, but the various twists are pretty interesting. I’m particularly fond of The Little Mermaid. I also love the very nouveau influenced art, and a lot of the characters designs, while technically straightforward and not overly original, are pretty spiffy.

manhwa: Evyione: Ocean Fantasy Vol 1

Evyione is an amazingly pretty genderflipped retelling of The Little Mermaid. Set in a fictional 18th century European kingdom, Evyione is a princess whose 18th birthday party is on a ship at sea. She’s washed overboard during a storm, and rescued by a merman who is the king of the sea. He takes her to shore but hides when a man named Fidelis stumbles across them. Fidelis was planning to commit suicide by walking into the sea, but escorts Evyione home instead, while the merman goes to make the traditional bargain with the sea witch. There are hints about Fidelis’s Mysterious True Identity And No Doubt Angsty Past and a past marking who loved a human only for it to come to an Angsty End, but that’s about it so far, aside from a potential third suitor in the form of Owain, Evyione’s sweet and devoted cousin.

Reading this actually made me think a lot of Bride of the Water God. Both are a bit thin on plot, but so incredibly pretty that even those of us who tend to put art second to plot and character can’t help but forgive it. Both series also seem to sometimes realize that they don’t have quite enough story for the page count, and so they compensate with a random fanservice shot of the male lead. In Bride of the Water God, it tends to be a disheveled shot of the hero that make you go “Wait! Have we determined yet if the kid or the adult is the natural form?” Here it’s a naked, artfully posed merman with long hair either floating in the water around him, or draped all over his body.

This also probably has the questionable honor of being the first thing to make me go “I wonder if tripping over a hot, naked guy while wandering lost in a crypt is a common fantasy?”

manhwa: Legend Vol 4

So, what on Earth happened to Eun-Gyo in this volume? Granted, I read the first three volumes altogether, but I don’t remember anywhere near this level of mooning over No-Ah in them. I seem to remember that she actually, you know, had a few other thoughts in her head. I still like her, though.

( spoilers are happier )