Crazy Girl Shin Bia-Ah

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This is my first and maybe only review. I just had to write something though, because this has become my favorite manga (manhwa) ever! An epic story that, while ultimately a love story for the ages, combines so much humor, action, and political intrigue. The only thing I was not fond of is the art style, but everything else was so amazing and touching to me. This sweeping tale has plenty of romance for shojo fans, and any other genre you could want sprinkled throughout. The drama is hard to swallow at times, as you get so attached to these fascinating and charming characters, but ... every plot line has a satisfactory ending and, to me, everything felt resolved in the perfect way.

I just finished Crazy Girl Shin Bia, and want to write a review while the memory of it is still vivid, since I seriously doubt it will leave me an everlasting remembrance...

But more than a review, here are a few remarks on what striked me the most.

STORY : 6

(-) The start is a little slow and somewhat misleading compared to the rest of the story. The two first chapters could have been more developed, in a more useful manner.
The rest of the story is quite expected, especially the love plot which is sooooo un-surprising. Danger keeps appearing and gives it all a boring feeling.

(+) ... The political plot and some twists of fate are nonetheless interesting. Although we couldn't call it "psychological", this manga shows some realistic court intrigues.

ARTWORK : 6

(+) I appreciated some architectural views, and the use of rich patterns on the costumes. Clothes and hair are quite a success.

(-) What the hell with these strange arms and legs angles?... And also some distorted perspective... You can also feel that the mangaka doesn't really feel at ease when it comes to drawing something different from palaces and pretty costumes ; drawing a military camp, or a crowd of soldiers for example...
What's more, the fights scenes are tasteless, sometimes incomprehensible.

CHARACTERS : 5

(-) This is no spoiler: just start a few chapters and you will know right away who the heroin is going to love in the end and what it means... Considering this fact, the manga loses a lot of its interest from the beginning.

The heroin : I don't know if I like her ; somewhat wild, independant, confident and resolved to make herself respected, she is so often reduced to a mere bag of potatoe carried around by men (seriously, in how many scenes does a guy suddenly seize her and either throws her over his shoulder, or just laughs while she's half-heartedly protesting?) Come on Bia! You're supposed to be all tough and brutal!
And what about her supposed greed? Disappears quite fast, as some other traits of her personality.

(+) However, when she's herself the most is when she's tearing off the lady-likeness of her role... Giving some funny scenes. (although my cynical deeper self wants to say : but isn't it even more cliché since in her general attitude, she is far from contradicting the female stereotypes ?...)

(+) the most interesting character is, for me, Prince Mu Yeong. An interesting personality, with multiple facettes, even if his role in the story isn't surprising. He's not completely evil, but not completely good, he expresses some contradictory feelings without losing credibility and appeals to the reader in spite of his deeds.

ENJOYEMENT : 5

It's not that I don't like a story to end in a good way...

Honestly, I thought I would drop this manga before the end, but as I don't do that often, I wanted to give it a chance to surprise me before the end. I read it very quick and, most sadly, I am now happy that I can move on to another. I felt bored too often, thought the end was bland, even laughable (what kind of royal figure jumps above the walls of the palace to go and slice some thieves, but comes back just in time for dinner?)

I won't re-read this manga and I don't recommend it either, if, like me, you are searching for a complex plot, including some suspense in the love intrigue and realistic characters.

But if you are a fan of the historical genre, you may like it.

OVERALL : 5

Let's summarize my pros and cons :

PROS
-Political intrigues
-Architecture and costumes
-Un-ladylike heroin
-Best character : prince Mu-Yeong

CONS :
-Slow and somewhat disconnected start
-Plot is not surprising at all (especially the love plot)
-Some weaknesses in the artwork (action poses, perspectives, crowds...)
-Disappointing evolution of the main character
-Some cliches and too-good-to-be-true develoments
-Too much "Let's carry the young lady and show our manly attributes, cause that's what our female readers want" WRONG!

I first read this manwha around the age of 13-15 and I hated it back then. I decided to pick it up again ten years later and I still detest it as much as I did back then. The plot is driven by foolish headaching decisions made by the heroine. I understand she is supposed to be "crazy" but I didn't realize she was supposed to be unlikeable too. Its hard to enjoy a story when you detest its protagonist. Shin Bia barely has any character development until maybe the last ten chapters of the story. Even then she is still annoying. There is barely ... any romance and the whole story just felt like a cookite cutter attempt at a historical isekai romance. What a waste of time that I will never get back.