meganbmoore | manhwa: Angel Diary Vol 1-2

Dong-Young is a princess of Heaven who has been betrothed to the King of Hell. Not wanting to marry him, she flees to Earth. Several years later, she’s living disguised as a boy and attending high school, her biggest concern Bi-Wal, a classmate who is always hitting on her, but who also seems to repel the ghosts who always try to possess Dong-Young. Tired of waiting for her to turn up, Heaven orders the four guardians of heaven to find her and bring her home. Two guardians-Ah-Hin, the White Tiger, and her brother, Ee-Jung, the Red Phoenix-are actually her friends, and helping her hide. The other two-Woo-Hyun, the Blue Dragon, and Doh-Hyun, the Black Turtle-attend the same school, but don’t know Dong-Young’s secret.

Bi-Wal obviously knows that Dong-Young is actually a girl from the start, but would rather have her freak out thinking that he thinks he’s hitting on a boy than let her know that he knows. He also knows a lot more about what’s going on than he lets on, including who Dong-Young is, and is probably either the King of Hell himself, or is sent by him. Like most Mysterious Supernatural Shoujo Heroes, he likes to secretly rescue Dong-Young from supernatural forces, sometimes with a sword, and lurk staring in shadows and from nearby rooftops.

The manhwa isn’t amazingly original, but it’s very cute, and I’m curious to see where it goes. I’m especially fond of a scene where Dong-Young tries to explain her situation away as her father only had daughters, so he raised her as a boy, and it shows an image of Rose of Versailles, which I’ve been watching the last few days. I also suspect the genderbending is going to go a step or two beyond crossdressing, given a flashback sequence where two of the characters appear to be of opposite genders as children as they are as “teenagers.” (Dong-Young and the four guardians are in their 170s, which seems to equate to 16-17.)

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

This definitely sounds like something I would enjoy. I shall have to check it out :D

It's really quite fun.

Hee, I may need to check this one out...is there a fair bit of supernatural action going on, or is it more focused on the relationships?

(And how are you liking BeruBara so far?)

I think it sometimes forgets that it describes itself as a romance set in high school with supernatural goings on. The eventual romance is always there, and will no doubt eventually be the focus, but right now it's more supernatural hijinks with "ZOMG! Bi-Wal is totally dark and mysterious and up to something!" and "ZOMG! Schoolgirls think it's slash and fangirl them but it's really het!" (the fangirls are adorable...almost as adorable as the yuri fangirls in I Hate You More Than Anything) bits mixed in. A secondary pairing looks like it's emerging in Vol 2, but it may just be an excuse to result in everyone learning who each other is.

It's kind of fun fluff of the eventually angsty variety to be the (so far) less cracky companion of things like Clamp, Kaori Yuki and Higuri You while covering similar territory. (If you've read Demon Diary, it's by the same team, though not "like" it-based on my admittedly faded memories-outside of the supernatural bits.)

(I'm only on ep 4, but enjoying it. I...I may be addicted to the ridiculous flashes of lightning and the shoujo sparkles.)

That sounds right up my alley, then -- typical high-school romances don't do much for me, but lots of actiony hijinks with romance on the side could work quite nicely, and my obsession for gender-bending plot elements is hardly a secret. (Haven't read DD yet either. So much manga, so little time.) The bit with the yaoi fangirls sounds a bit like a recurring gag in Flower of Life -- have you read that one? One of the teachers is very a very boyish-looking young woman -- stylishly cut short hair, not much in the way of curves, and a wardrobe heavy on tailored trousers and button-down shirts. She's constantly being mistaken for an effeminate gay man, which leads to occasional hysterical commentary from observers when she's out on a date, seen kissing her boyfriend, and so forth.

(Hee! 70's shojo anime was NOT SHY about piling on the Dramatic Emphasis! The sparkles do get toned down a bit as the series goes on, but they never totally go away...I think there was a mandatory Minimum Sparkle Quota back in the day.)

I think Angel Diary planning and reception goes something like this.

Manhwaga: *has ghosts possess Dong-Young, hijinks ensue*
Fangirls: "Wait! Isn't this supposed to be a romance?"
Manhwaga: *has Bi-Wal show up with a sword, beat spirit, and carry Dong-Young off to safety*
Fangirls: "EEEEEE!"
Manhwaga: *randomly has flashback of female supporting cast member being male as a child*

I think I've heard of Flower of Life, but don't know much about it.

AD is sounding more and more appealing... XD

FOL is one of Fumi Yoshinaga's non-BL series (well, unless you count all the people who think that teacher is half of a gay couple) -- I've probably mentioned it before. It's a quiet little high-school slice of life piece, largely focused on a handful of kids who are members of this school's manga club; the plots generally aren't terribly dramatic, they involve things like the gang trying to throw a Christmas party and getting tripped up over putting off the prep to the last minute, or putting on the class play, or going out shopping. Not at all my usual sort of thing, but Yoshinaga-sensei just has a ridiculous track record in taking tropes that normally don't work for me and making them utterly irresistible. I think part of why I like it so much is how sweet-natured it all is -- there's some relatively heavy stuff going on (one kid is a cancer survivor who's missed a year of school because of his treatment, his sister is a hikikomori shut-in, another boy is teased by his classmates for being chubby), but it's all handled with a very light touch, and things generally all wind up working out OK in the end. The closest we get to any sort of heavy angst is the boyish teacher, who at the start of the series is having an affair with a colleague; she knows it's wrong (he's married and a father) and bad for her, but is having trouble working up enough spine and self-esteem to break it off for good. (And even that subplot, which normally would rub me the wrong way, works here because she's angsting over the "this is wrong and I should stop it" angle, rather than the "this is Tru Wuv and he needs to leave his wife for me!" side; plus her lover comes across as a charming, manipulative bastard with no conscience whatsoever, all of which makes it easier to have a little sympathy for her.)

shaenon has a good intro to it here (http://shaenon.livejournal.com/48099.html) -- I'd pretty much agree with everything she writes about it. It's sweet and funny and amusingly nerdy, and enjoyable even to folks like me who don't normally like "happy high school days" stories.

Is that one licensed?

Yep, three of four total volumes are already out in English. I have no idea if/when DMP is gonna bring out the last volume, but the stories are all so episodic that it's not like Vol. 3 leaves you on a horrid cliffhanger or anything.

manhwa: Angel Diary Vol 1-2

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject