Mar 24, 2013
Before I begin reviewing this I'd like to let you know that,despite it being a completed manga I didn't get the chance to find all chapters.I've read so far only the available 20 and I'm still not sure if somewhere there one is missing(cause around the last two available chapters the flow of story is somewhat interrupted and doesn't not make sense,making me think a chapter must have been skipped/not added)
Thankfully this does have a story,it begins with a family of four one of which is an angel,who run away from heaven to marry a human soul abandoning the dark lord which she was supposed
...
to marry.The family consists of the mother(angel),the father and their twin girls,only one of which has inherited some of their mother's characteristics and maybe nature.The story is shaped by their father's suicide after their bedridden mother passes away.One the twins,Snow White,then decide to visit Hell in order to acquire her father's soul and bring it back to his body,which is able to be retained in a good state for around 50 days due to an ingredient she used,which had been given to her by her mother when she had first fallen ill aware of her fate and that of her husband.
That's the setting of the first chapter.Snow white decides to embark on this adventure to bring back her dead father but without been accompanied by her sister and thus begins the Advent of Snow White in Hell...
There are actually a lot of details in setting the story but also shaping Hell or how I'd like to think of it better,an alternate world.In my opinion that's by far the most interesting part of all the manga...and the designs of the characters.
Moving on to the characters,the twins have no similarities at all,they're like darkness and light,mainly cause that's what they represent.Still though,it makes me wonder how come there's not any sisterly love especially considering they're twins.I have always heard how twins have a special bond,a different one than normal siblings but in this case the don't even have a slight bond between them.Sure there's some sort of attachment from Snow White's side but Uri(or whatever she's called,snow's sister) only seems to despise her for some reason that is NEVER shown(at least on any of the 20 chapters I've read).Snow White(I got no idea why she's called that although there are a few indications here and there...) is the stereotypical shoujo protagonist,why do they all follow the same archetype?Tsukino Usagi comes to my mind...
Let's see...careless?tick
bad grades/not especially intelligent?tick
naive?tick
nice?tick
crying?tick
a klutz?tick
too cheerful?tick
useless most of the time?tick
need rescuing?that too
And you can add more.I don't understand why innocence and kindness in most manga out there is portrayed this way.Can't a person think for themselves,be independent and still value kindness?This character is someone we've seen a lot of times and we will see many more
Then it's Uri...she differs a whole lot from Snow.She gets good grades,naturally intelligent,beautiful,has guys flocking around her,messes around,smokes etc.She's the equivalent of a bad boy,a bad girl.She sounds kinda promising and way more interesting than Snow right?Heck no,every effort was put into making her totally flat as soon as she steps foot in hell.She falls in love with the Devil King and loses even that rebellious flair she had.Just when I expected her to show some sort of depth she'd always be completely shallow and lack depth.How she ended up like that I dunno,when mean characters usually are more interesting and can easily get a backstory.
Then there's San,a rather mysterious guy.Cocky and strong he calls the main character stupid,but regardless follows her through her journey to rescue her father.He's also a potential love interest(oops SPOILER).Some chapters late he is faced with a huge dilemma which is resolved rather quickly and offers no twists at all or character development.The romance between San and Snow is rather fast paced as they confess to each other in a matter of days...ok.I know this is romance driven but still,it could be handled with more delicacy and creativity.
Han Geum Ho is also added to Snow's and San's party soon after to help them along.He's a pervert who likes spending all of his time drinking with the girls.Not a lot of serious,light-hearted and chill most of the time.Other than that you don't get much emotion throughout the rest of the chapters(not sure if he does develop after ch.20).He was the previous King Yuuma,one of the 8 sub-kings of hell but he was replaced by another stronger one than him.He adds to the comedy and his personality compliments that of Snow.
The rest of the characters are somewhat secondary and so far appear only a few times.
As far as the art is concerned it isn't outstanding.It doesn't stand out among others although it gets its job done.The characters so far are distinguishable due to the variety of designs they come with.The way the bodies are drawn is the same ass what you'll find in any other shoujo manga for the most part.The environment isn't particularly plain,it's quite well done and adds to that otherworldly feeling,but don't expect too much surrealism even if it is hell.
It's fairly enjoyable due to its comedy.Snow and her party are mostly the source of it and she of course the most since she's the goofiest of them all and has many of those funny moments.It doesn't have many surprises and some of the events that should be powerful or intense are already expected long ago and done in a somewhat clumsy manner.The romance is sorta fast-paced for my tastes and even more so if you compare it to the journey's progress.Generally I feel it rushes a lot to do things and tension that is needed to give significance to certain events is not built up.Although I can imagine that this could be turned easily in an animated series with a few improvements and some more action to balance out the fast pace of the manga.It's not too bad,but there are so many things that need exploring which I have no idea if it occurs on later chapters and the characters are rather stereotypical which for me makes it lose a lot of points.
I would rate it 5.5 or 6 as it is now,and if the characters made more sense along with the romance and relationships then it could go up to 7.
Reviewer’s Rating: 6
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