Hikaru went missing in the mountains. And then… Hikaru came back.
But the Hikaru that came back is not the same lifelong friend that Yoshiki has always had at his side. This Hikaru admits that he is… something else, something that has never been human before. It has Hikaru’s memories, but is feeling everything in Hikaru’s body for the first time. And in a moment of stress, he/it loses some of Hikaru’s form, and Yoshiki can see things he should not be able to see.
But Yoshiki has missed his dear friend so badly, that maybe this other Hikaru is enough. Maybe.
The cicadas chirps fill the air, the summer heat makes the boys sweat on their walks to school, and Yoshiki gets warnings that something dark is taking over the town, from others who have seen the forms the darkness can take…
This is broad-daylight-spooky. I can’t wait to read the next two volumes!
Winter Wolf by soonmu, cheong yong, rubyche published by Tappytoon (2 seasons; 61 chapters, complete) Undated
I’ve read the first season (through chapter 36) of this spooky mansion romance. Because, as a former redhead, I feel obligated to read manhwa about other redheads. (You know, for the cartoon sisterhood.)
The revolution arrived, and Lysithea is on the losing side. Her family members and others in the nobility have been executed or will be once they are found. She is paying smugglers to get her out of the country by sea, so she can live abroad with a foreign aunt. But while she is exhausted from being in hiding and on the run, her horse takes off, and she finds herself traveling on foot through the snow to an abandoned mansion, where her next ‘broker’ (smugglers are fussy about their professional nicknames) awaits her.
Her broker is expecting her, but her next step required the horse she just lost, plus getting to port before the ice does. Also, the abandoned mansion they are sheltering in has a reputation for being haunted. Her broker insists that the moaning and cries for help she hears at night are just her imagination. As her lack of sleep wears down her sanity, she fears she may need an escape from her own escape plans…
This story has classic horror movie tropes delivered well, and a heroine who is both brave enough to investigate things that go bump in the night and exhausted enough to periodically choose to just stay in bed and pretend not to hear the moaning – I respect her deeply for BOTH of these attitudes. There are very few characters in the story, and they are all suspicious! There is plenty of suspense at the end of the first season. (The fact that there are two seasons is something of a spoiler, I suppose. But: you’ll live.)
Teenager Takiko Okuda’s mother is dying of TB, her father only cares about his career, and her love for an older man is unrequited. Both luckily and unluckily for her, her father’s research led him to translate and transcribe a prophesy that can take Takiko into another time and place, the Universe of the Four Gods, where she has the power to save a country and its people.
In the ancient country of Bei Ja, Takiko manifests as the Priestess of Genbu, whose duty is to find and assemble the Celestial Warriors and summon the god Genbu to save the country. This isn’t an easy task: the arrival of either the priestess or the warriors is a sign of disaster to locals. As a result, they are dreaded, shunned – and worse. But our heroine is determined to save this harsh world at any cost, and works hard to persuade the reluctant warriors to assemble and save the country.
Kind and determined women with long weapons – my favorite kind of women!
With supportive allies who have faith in her, kind strangers, a dragon, and her first and favorite warrior to love at her side, Takiko will give everything to be useful to her comrades in arms and to save her troubled, adopted homeworld.
Author and Artist Yuu Watase’s monochrome art style (known to me from the comedy Absolute Boyfriend) is enjoyable (the hair on these characters!), and her work on the regional costumes as the characters travel show a zeal that grounds the mythical (western China-like) continent in its vastness, with its differing cultures and customs. I appreciate great, lovingly-drawn costumes!
The story is serious; the characters are troubled by past traumas and ongoing family dramas; the nation seems doomed; and the stakes are high for all involved. Young people risking – and giving up – their lives for others is touching, and (if the grown-ups were running the world properly) should not be necessary – there are some serious adult mismanagement of the world going on here. The message that how you chose to live matters, and that a life of service can be profoundly meaningful comes through well in this story.
This story took Watase a decade to complete, as the artist (X-gender with she/her pronouns) had many other publishing commitments as a prolific manga artist. I enjoy her notes in between volumes (reproduced in the Viz English editions) about the toll long hours take on her health, and the interruptions to her progress. The story feels continuous and uninterrupted in all the best ways – it is quite an accomplishment!
I enjoyed this as a standalone story, knowing it is a prequel to an even longer work by Watase that was published in the 1990s, Fushigi Yûgi. There is a sequel to FY:GK coming in the future, once Watase recovers from the toll of all of this drawing called Fushigi Yûgi: Byakko Senki. I will wait patiently for it to be complete!
The King and Me by W.Y. published by Tappytoon (74 chapters so far, ongoing) 2022 (?) – present
My subscription page notes that I’m trending into gay male fantasy/adventure stories (known in the industry as “Boys’ Love”), and it’s time for me to write about one!
Li visits an archeology site at Ebiz, and winds up bleeding in an ancient ruin, being set upon by grave robbers, and then rescued by a statue that his blood brought to life. His handsome stone rescuer seems to know and want to communicate with Li, whose interest grows until the man crumbles to dust before him. Somehow, Li finds himself back in time in the ancient (Egyptian-style) city of Ebiz at its peak, where he suspects that the stone man is the handsome but also casually murderous King Mehemis.
If Li can survive the tyrant king’s challenges and earn his trust, perhaps he can get to know why his stone man seemed so sweet toward him in the distant future. Mehemis, meanwhile, has political fights to win, a power-hungry religion to suppress, dangerous rival relatives, and a mysterious army of the dead to defeat, so there is plenty to do!
You’re waiting for me to write that ‘they had me at beautiful men with eyeliner,’ but that merely drew me in: this is a fun adventure story! Li has skills (archery competitions paid off!) and modern scientific concepts; Mehemis has abs forever and yet somehow is convinced that he is disguised while wearing a wig; and Mehemis’ most loyal male servants are an attractive gay couple that offer loyalty, friendship, emotional support, a model of a happy relationship, and even fantastic tactical competence when our boys need it. (Women are visible in the story, but are not central characters.) The drawing style is charming (Li’s sweet facial expressions while looking up at Mehemis are ADORABLE), the costumes are flattering, the hair is long and flowing, the eyeliner colors are specific to the characters, and there are plenty of humorous chibi comedy asides to address awkward moments in the Li-Mehemis romantic tension.
Don’t Be Too Nice by Yoo Saera, Ryuhwa published by Tappytoon (20 chapters so far) 2024 – ongoing
Cover (Phone browser version) for Don’t Be Too Nice by Yoo Saera, Ryuhwa
My favorite new comic charmed me so quickly, I was caught off guard – it becomes eventful immediately, in an engaging way.
We meet former mage and knight Rustica Genas after she has fallen on hard times. She was a promising teenage battle leader close to power, but after years of progress-free war, she wanted the Caleta Empire to change its approach. The impenetrable Great Barrier spewing monsters remained unchanged, and countless people had been consumed by it – including her beloved parents. Her unwanted advice on a new approach to her Emperor leaves her fired, magically disabled, and miserable.
Her efforts to fade into obscurity in a small town far from the capital seem to be working after four years, but a drunken, one night stand saddles her with an angel-faced, excessively friendly, former child-soldier. Once he disappears (in a magical manner), there is big news. The Great Barrier contains an opening (!), there are countries on the other side of it (!!), and the Emperor wants her to be a diplomat, even with her current weaknesses (!!!).
What the hell?
Rustica (Rue to her friends) rolls with it… and on the other side of the Great Barrier, things take a turn for the fantastic. Well, awkward first, and THEN fantastic.
The story moves FAST, and we get to see what life is like through Rue’s eyes in an unknown, highly developed empire that rivals her own. Life as a diplomat from an “enemy” nation isn’t easy, and her team is completely certain she is being bullied by the emperor on this new side. But the revelations about how the rest of the world sees her home empire come fast, and revelations about how she lost her abilities change Rue’s world view.
I picked this up and wouldn’t put it down until I’d read all available episodes. I love the pacing! I adore the ‘enemy’ emperor! I love the humor panels! (I need to also have the word ‘pitiful’ hovering beside me at various points during the day.) The story is action-packed and developing quickly. I’m eager for more.
Not Your Typical Reincarnation Story by Lemon Frog , A-jin published by Webtoon (55 chapters, ongoing) 2023 – present
Dislcosure: it is a reincarnation story, if you were wondering. But it’s an interesting one.
Suna Choi gets murdered in the contemporary/real world, and wakes up as a villainess in a novel she read before she died. While Edith Rigelhof as a villainess is glamorous, seductive, and famous redhead, Suna realizes that Edith is also completely doomed. No one is on her side. She has no friends, no support, and is unlikely to survive the well-intentioned character’s shoddy investigations into things she is accused of. As so many contemporary heroines do, Suna decides she will take control of the story by turning Edith’s life around, and will live to have a happy ending.
In these respects, this story DOES have much in common with other reincarnation manhwa.
Yet… Suna/Edith can’t tell the other characters how badly Edith is abused at home. She can’t reveal any of her secrets or plans, or she loses consciousness. Also, she learns in flashbacks to a place between her world and that of the novel that she is the 13th Edith to try to fix this narrative! (I would likely have called this novel Edith the Thirteenth.)
Worse: she isn’t just in a fully written book: she is in a hellish afterlife in which the author of the novel can (and will) intervene to make the story turn out the way THEY want. They are determined to kill off Edith, and give the blonde princess the best of everything.
Can Suna/Edith beat the author and survive? Or will the author/deity of this world keep pressing the other characters to hate / blame / attempt to kill Edith, despite her best efforts?
I appreciate that Suna, who was so broke and miserable in her modern life, really APPRECIATES the good things in her new life. Also, unlike countless other stories, she gets to enjoy her hot husband – she isn’t a child, she is having a grown up relationship! What Edith wants for him is better than what the author wants, and he is willing to become a better person to pitch in, as he should. Also: she gets to go to the gay fashion designer for her gowns, and I wish this for all good characters!
I’m rooting for abuse survivor Edith the 13th and her hot husband to defeat the author/deity who is conspiring against them.
A Martial Master Wakes Up as a Concubine by LICO, koyanghee published by Webtoon (44 chapters, ongoing) 2023 – present
If you hear me cackling after dinner for no apparent reason, it is likely because I’m reading this comedy comic.
Nyeonbi Cheon is a famous villainess who somehow winds up romantically entangled with a famous hero. After her boo kills her (!?!), she wakes up in the body of an imperial concubine who appears to have died simultaneously. She has no memory of this concubine’s past, but instead has her own villainy-filled memories, plus a desire to avenge her death against her unexpectedly cruel former love.
If there is anything a famous, powerful, crude villainess struggles to pull off, it is the manners required of an imperial concubine. Poetry? Tea making? Polite chit chat? Oh, goodness no – these are critical failures! The backstabbing and rivalries are familiar enough concepts, but Cheon isn’t allowed to murder her way out of them. (Or is she…?)
Whether it is chatting with the guy who brings her rice cakes, telling the emperor how much she wants to see his package (which makes him want to… not let that happen), or faking the aftermath of a fight to preserve her secret past identity, no one messes ordinary activities up more obliviously to social graces than she does! I really do laugh out loud – this is so silly in a fun way.
My In-Laws are Obsessed with Me by seungu, Han Yoon seol published by Webtoon (100+ chapters, ongoing) 2022 – present
This comic has a cheerful prologue to reassure you that things WILL GET BETTER . Because you need that reassurance so you don’t panic and flee after the first full episode!
Pereshati is getting murdered as the story opens. She tries to convince herself that her clear murder memory is all a dream when she wakes up in what appears to be the past. That can’t be right – time travel is impossible! However, she soon realizes the events leading to her murder are playing out EXACTLY as they were before, and she wants to make it stop.
Her rash new plan seems to be going well… right up until she is being buried alive. But somehow, waking up as the dirt hits seals the deal she was trying to make with a scary Grand Duke. After this, she can seek revenge against her murderers from a position of power and try to not get murdered again!
This story suggests that a “curse” might just be a technology we don’t understand; that intimacy is difficult with people who are literally poisonous; that you shouldn’t rule out your daughter-in-law’s accusations that someone might be committing terrible crimes using [the family secret]; that it’s good to make your husband blush now and then; and that being kind can make your in-laws very CLINGY.
I reread the series up until the present chapter, and realized its long serialization made me forget key details. I enjoy the story even more for having refreshed my memory.
Pereshati looking shocked is hilarious; I like her outfits; I like her facial expressions (and the jokes about the Duke’s facial expressions)… She seems like a rather nice, normal person going through some extremely terrible things, and trying to remain kind while doing so. The Duke also seems rather… like a normal person? (Dukes in other stories are merciless killers who draw their sword several times a day to dish out punishments; this one is somewhere between chill and chilly.)
Cute, fun, with good collars, with accurate-feeling scenes of awkwardness… I’m looking forward to more.
A Not So Fairy Tale by hyobin published by Webtoon (44 chapters, ongoing) 2023 – present
This contemporary Korean comic tells the traditional story of the Fairy and the Woodcutter in a modern zombie-fighting context!
A thousand years ago, a goddess came to earth, and (under instruction from a suspicious deer) a human man stole her clothes (her keys to heaven) and demanded that she have his children, only to die without returning them, leaving her trapped on earth with humans. (See Wikipedia’s summary of the variations of this folktale.) In the contemporary Korea of this comic, she is still here – and she is PISSED. Zombies (called Fiends) are killing people, and Moran Cheon, as she is now known, is a famous actress who SECRETLY can kill zombies with her bare hands. She can also leap from tall buildings, is inhumanly strong, and is unnaturally beautiful.
She wants to go back to to the celestial realm, is angry at that evil deer, and has been waiting impatiently for that damned woodcutter to be reincarnated so she can get her situation sorted out.
The characters are good-looking, and drawn in an atypical style that I enjoy.
There is more to the fiend situation than anyone knows, and the detective who is investigating isn’t dazzled by the goddess at all – a sure sign that HE IS THE PROBLEM – I mean, the reincarnation she has been waiting for. The goddess has struggled with with loneliness, resentment, a fox-spirit child she raised as her only other potentially immortal companion, and the risk that she will miss the chance to return to the heavens forever.
This story has: a celebrity, zombie-fighting, immortal actress; a handsome cop who may have hidden memories of his past lives; luxury condominiums; corporate cover-ups; secret crime-fighting identities; unnatural healing abilities; characters who lack human ethics; monsters posing as normal people (until they are ready to eat you); eternal villains and their adversaries; and the fox drawn in…vulnerable moments.
This comic is refreshing – contemporary urban settings, a new type of monster, a non-traditional interpretation of a folktale, lovely art – and is the least predictable of the stories I’m reading. I’m looking forward to future chapters.
