Qwan Vol 1

[meganbmoore]

Qwan is a manga I've looked at a few times before, but never gotten, deciding to wait until someone else read and commented on it to see if was was any good, which 

chomiji did recently here.

Qwan is set in ancient China and is about an odd looking young boy named Qwan who eats demons.  Accompanied by a small demon named Teikou who resembles a flying, headless hippo, he meets Chikei, a cheerful but crafty young vagrant who has no qualms about stealing and eating altar food.  After being used as bait, and then saved, by Qwan, Chikei realizes that there's money to be gained in becoming partners with Qwan and takes him in.  He finds demons and charges for Qwan's services...Qwan gets to eat and Chikei gets a full purse, and both are happy.  They also meet Daki, a young demon princess who Qwan learns the hard way that he can't eat(if I can find scanslations, or even raws, of that scene, I will so be posting them) and Shaga, a prostitute who seems to know who and what Qwan is.  Qwan, apparently does not know much about himself of his past, and needs to find a sutracalled The Essential Arts of Peace, which will tell him who and what he is.  There's also Aman, a young courtier who finds Qwan interesting, and Joukei, a court astrologer who sets out to find Qwan, apparently so Qwan can awaken to his destiny and save the dynasty.

This is an odd little book, but a very good and often charming one.  Qwan, Chikei and Daki are all very likable and charming in different ways, and Shaga, though not quite "charming," is very interesting and has a lot of potential, as do Aman and Joukei(who were only in a few pages each.)  I'm especially fond of the way Qwan fights and eats...he fights using the two giant, ball-shapped mallet things(I'm sure there's a nice and proper name for them, but i don't know what it is) and when he's ready to eat, he'll bow, say "I humbly accept this meal" and then open his mouth(which stays normal sized) and inhale, with the demons turning rather stringy and wispy(except, of course, when it's a cute little demon girl with the bad grace to not be inhaled, in which case, he'll chase her around asking why she won't die and keep trying to eat her, with rather interesting results.)

 

Comments

[chomiji]

I also like the bit where Qwan's asked where he comes from, and he thinks for a minute, and then, just like a little kid whose parents are too uptight to tell him the facts of life, points to the sky and says, with a happy smile, "Heaven!"

Except in his case ... it's not a fairy tale.

XD

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

That was my "I'm going to love this" moment. Qwan tryingt o eat Daky was my "this is going to crack me up" moment.