Sep 23, 2011
So, I really, REALLY disliked the only other work I read by Hwang Mi Ri, He Dedicated to Roses. But my friend said I didn't understand her work because I didn't read any of her other works. So I caved and I picked another one to read... this manhwa. But can I just say that Hwang Mi Ri's titles make me want to vomit? Ugh. Hate.
But just so you know a little about the mindset from which this review stems, I don't normally want to read romance stuff-- I just do what people say in the hopes that one day I too will become popular--
...
and so normally I go for romance things that also include fighting... which is why I chose He Dedicated to Roses. This is better and honestly? It surprised me that this was better than He Dedicated to Roses. After all, that one is more like something that I'd want to read than this one is and I wrote a pretty scathing review of that manhwa right after I finished it. (This is pretty long, because I like to say words and stuff. Sorry.)
Story: 4. Decent.
To explain the story, I feel like I sort of have to explain the characters. So here's a short summary of the two leads.
So this is about a guy who wants a motorcycle, but his dad won't buy one. So then his cousin (apparently) is like, "Oh, well... why don't you become a prostitute?" Well, he doesn't REALLY say that, but I mean... the dude IS selling his body. That's prostitution, am I right? But yeah, so the male lead is like, "OH SNAP, GREAT IDEA" and starts charging 5000 won, which is $5 US, for a kiss. Seems pretty expensive, but what would I know? (All of this takes place in the first two pages of the first chapter, so I don't know if this is really a spoiler.) The guy is Un Soo Hyun and he's called the "Kiss Prince". And he has addicting kisses that apparently work like Unbreakable Gobstobbers. You know, the Willy Wonka candy that changes flavor after you suck on them for a while? That's this guy. Only he's not a candy. Pretty sure that's not how kissing works. But whatever. It's a manhwa and stranger things have happened.
The female lead is Min Soo Yung. She has this super annoying friend who spends most of her time trying to get Soo Yung to pay $5 for a kiss/make her accept her feelings and confess or something. Great friendship, right? Surprisingly, Soo Yung is actually level-headed, as far as lead females go. kind of expected her to be just as stupid as the main female from He Dedicated to Roses. In a way she has the same "What is this thing that you call 'liking someone'? I have never done such a thing in my life and never will" attitude that I swear every female lead in every romance manga/manhwa has had.
So I suppose the whole plot is pretty much "How long will it take for these two to get together," which is *pretty* weak. I've read Fruits Basket, which I considered to be this same kind of thing but with a love triangle, and I've got to say... for something that's sounds like it could be full of exciting cliffhangers, romance novels with this plot are all usually pretty lacking. So I guess I'm saying that this really isn't very different from most romance manga/manhwas even if the set-up for it is something new... although I don't think it's all that new. Whatever, the point is that the story isn't something so novel that you HAVE to read this. I read all the chapters on Mangafox (8 chapters at the time of this review) and I got pretty bored about halfway through the third chapter (or the second... or the first? They're like 57 pages long each). So, meh. I guess I'm saying that the story is alright, if a little bland.
Art: 6. Fair.
Okay... I'll admit it. I didn't find fault with the art in the chapters I read. Argh, my insides are churning just from me saying that!
Look, her art style for fighting is REALLY, REALLY bad (this being based completely off of HDR). But as far as regular people walking around and being regular, it's pretty good.Well... it is NOW, anyway. I didn't notice any of the melting weird faces I saw in HDR, so I guess she improved slightly. Some of her characters are samey looking, but... whatever, I'll give her that one. I'm just so impressed with how... NORMAL this manhwa looks in comparison to HDR. Also, her style of drawing is more mature than Japanese counterparts (or at least the other romance mangas I've read) whose style is to draw characters as if they're elementary school students. So I suppose the art is alright.
Character: 4. Decent.
Both of these characters are forgettable. The leads, I mean... they're forgettable. There are more than two characters, it's just that a good portion of them don't have names that are repeated in such a way that I would commit them to memory. EVEN THE MAIN CHARACTERS don't repeat their names often enough that I remembered them. Weak.
Furthermore, I don't actually feel for the characters. If something bad happens, I'm like, "Well, yeah, c'mon, are you serious? Of course that would happen; Why don't you try not being stupid?" This *is* a romance manhwa so I assume I'm supposed to feel something for the characters. Maybe anger when one of the leads gets shunned? Or embarrassment when one gets into an awkward situation? But I didn't really feel anything other than "Well, I guess I'll turn the page then."
Also sometimes they say some weird stuff that I don't really understand. I guess you could chalk that up to translation issues (I doubt this) or maybe it's just that their dialogue is completely contrived (I'd bet on this) so just be aware that this is not Pulitzer Prize work. Haha, not like it really could be, but I'm just saying this manhwa won't blow you out of the water with it's dialogue.
Despite all of this, they aren't BAD characters. Neither of them are unrelate-able and for the most part I'd say that the things that they do are sensible, although sometimes kind of stupid, given their backgrounds.
Enjoyment: 4. Decent.
Romance is not for me. However, I DID read 8 chapters and I wasn't like, "Man, I'm just about ready to punch a hole in my monitor" while I was doing it. So, I suppose that this manhwa was sort of enjoyable. Not outstanding, but... just... okay. I'd say it's mediocre, but for some reason that's higher than decent on the rating system here. So I'll just go with bland. It's not boring and it's not exciting. It's nothing new, but you can't really read it and be like, "I've read this story HUNDREDS of times already." It's just bland.
Overall: 4. Decent.
Reviewer’s Rating: 4
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