Customer Reviews

Dokebi Bride Vol. 1 (v. 1)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The illustrations are fun, friendly, intricate, and very beautiful. Sunbi, the hero of the story, will resonate with anyone who's ever felt alone against the world. Aloneness does seem to be her destiny, but if you're like me you'll be soon hoping that somehow she finds human love to help carry the burden she will bear...or at least pick up her shattered pieces as she survives another crucible. The novel would make an excellent film, as mere reading prompted other senses...I heard sad music ("The Shape of my Heart") as Sunbi's life begins to unfold. More than any graphic novel I've ever known, the first volume telegraphed the storms of trouble which will follow in the volumes to come.

Okay, so we call these Manhwa rather than manga.
But whatever the category it falls into, this is the best graphic novel I have ever read in my entire book-reading life!
I would recommend this book to everyone from even elementary school kids (there's a few parts with ugly Dokebis but there's no violence) to mature readers. Adults will find this book more engaging than any other graphic novel they are used to.
Plus, they will learn about a completely new culture: Korean culture. This is a fresh new title everyone should check out.
This book has completely changed my conception of manga.

Dokebi Bride is a teen manhwa series where shamans rule supreme. However, that doesn't mean shamans don't have their fair share of life-and-death problems. Sunbi is a teenager who's inherited shamanic powers from the women in her family, including her grandmother and her mother. Unfortunately, her mother was not able to cope with these powers and died when Sunbi was young. Some people say the cause of death was "demon possession."

Sunbi is raised by her grandmother while her father remarries and moves on with his life. Sunbi's grandmother is a very wise and calm woman, admired by many. As a young child, Sunbi can see and talk to spirits, being taught how to handle each one by her beloved grandmother.

But then the grandmother dies and Sunbi is sent to live with her father in the city. Here she fails to get along with her stepmother and stepsister and has an even worse time at school. She's standoffish, so everyone thinks she's a snob. When she tries to explain to them she sees things other people don't, they believe she's insane. They also believe her mother was insane.

Sunbi sees spirits all the time and some of them are terrifying. A gruesome spirit is sitting at her school desk, but she still has to sit there because no one else knows what the problem is. She's haunted by nightmares and visions. Will she meet the same awful end as her mother? Without her grandmother, how can she control the spirits?

Dokebi Bride has many morbid and chilling elements to it. Nonetheless, it's really not a horror book. It also has cute and humorous moments. Dokebi are goblin-like creatures of Korean mythology, and one brutish but well-meaning Dokebi falls in love with Sunbi. She rebuffs him. It doesn't change things, and this Dokebi brings some lighter moods into the story. Despite the fact that he doesn't come into the story right away, we can thank him for the title. He insists Sunbi is his bride, though she's ready to make it clear that's only true in his imagination.

Different types of readers might be drawn to Dokebi Bride. For starters, there are manhwa and graphic novel fans. But people who are interested in shamanism, particularly Korean shamanism, might also want to take a look. There's a mystical and occult side to Dokebi Bride that will catch the interest of some readers too. Marley additionally gives a foreword to each volume, and some of her own opinions on shamans are very interesting. Sunbi's feeling of being an outcast can also be cathartic to teen readers, though this is a series that can interest adults as well.

-- Danica Davidson

A story of young Korean girl, Sunbi, who can see spirits that other cannot and living with society that does not accept it. As she grows older, she learns more about shamans and Dokebis from her grandma. She also becomes more isolated from society as she is the subject of ridicule from her classmates. The story is interesting adding a mixture of fantansy in a modern day of life in Korea. It is simple to follow each page as it leads to the next without being lost. The artwork is clear and concise as characters are distinguishable from each other, especially the beautifully drawn Sunbi. The Dokebis are spirits that may look scary, but are actually quite comical. Just check it out on netcomics.com

Sunbi was never treated right in the village she grew up in South Korea because she came from a family of shamans. This is pretty ironic because her grandmother, Okboon, was the reason the village prospered at one time and allows it to survive even to this day. You see, Okboon could see and communicate with spirits and was able to talk these gods into helping the village. Okboon raised Sunbi after her mother went crazy and died and her father abandoned her as he moved on with his life in the city. Now Okboon is dead and Sunbi moves in with her father and his new wife and step-daughter, who aren't too happy about her intruding on their lives. What Sunbi will have to figure out is whether she truly belongs there or is her destiny tied to the village she left behind? And what will she do with the power she has inherited from her grandmother, the power to see and talk to spirits in an age when such beings are becoming obsolete and fading into legend?

Dokebi Bride has a nice mood of strangeness, beauty, and passion for nature that make a great combination. I was impressed by the author's storytelling skills here in which most of the book was a flashback that still kept my interest and gave a lot of depth to the plot and Sunbi's character that would have been lacking if told chronologically. Marley gets you to care a lot about everyone involved here, from Sunbi to her grandmother to the gods and the village. The art is great and unique. This first volume gets me excited about the next installment.

Sunbi, the granddaughter and main character has been blessed(?) with special abilities to interact with dokebis. Whether it pays to be able to communicate or the possibility that these demons will haunt her as was the case of her grandmother(?) it deserves a read, as this story seems to intensify and fly me back to a land of dragons and spirits. The storyline is captivating and drawings, awesome.