Jul 3, 2023
I recently finished this South Korean manhwa, and it has stuck with me these past few days. So I’mma write about it and maybe see if anyone else will find it memorable to them as well. It’s currently on both Lezhin and it’s only 35 chapters!
First off, no one ends up happy, I don’t think. Some things are left up to interpretation, and a side character probably ends up happy but may follow the same route as his father. I usually gravitate away from those sad and open ended stories, but I liked this one to some degree. Why? Well I got sucked into the
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artwork, the historical accuracy, and some things it had to say about being assigned gender roles.
The artwork is certain unique in the world of manhwa (from the little I read, to be honest… so maybe I missed some but to me it is different), but at the same time it feels like a typical Victorian era style of art. Very fitting and immersive since the story takes place in the early Victorian era. I shared photos to give examples.
Speaking of Victorian Era, it takes place in America, with a sprinkling of traveling to France. Besides the main story of the half Asian child with a widower drunk father, readers can learn a few things from back then. Not sure everything in the story was entirely accurate, but there are a few chapters with author’s notes that are interesting. I learned something about, while more sexually repressed as a whole, men were at the same time more open about their male friendships and physical affection. She, the author, admitted some of her friends thought two of the male leads were gay for each other, but that wasn’t her original intention (but she found she wasn’t against it either XD). But men in the Victorian era could be found linking elbows and hugging and such, just out of friendship. That it is a more modern sensibility to be closed off. That’s just one historical aspect that popped up.
And finally being a woman in that time. Especially a non white girl from a broken family. What is “Pandora’s Choice”? I guess it’s how can she move forward and be happy with limited resources and avenues. Again, not a very happy story, and I think part of why I like it is because it does show a very bleak Victorian setting, when mostly we, or I, have a very romanticized view of it nowadays. I wouldn’t say it was eye opening, but maybe appreciated, even if a downer.
I think my favorite character was the doctor guy, as he seemed the only one impressed, and in a positive way, with Pandora’s smarts.
Reviewer’s Rating: 8
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