Customer Reviews

One Thousand and One Nights, Vol. 1 (v. 1)

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4 star:		(1)
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I am not normally one to read shôjo or yaoi manga/manhwa, preferring books like "Lone Wolf and Cub", but when I saw a preview for this in a friend's Ice Kunion collection I thought the twist looked interesting and the art was very good. So I bought a copy, and was pleasantly surprised that the story held up to my expectations, too. The characacters are three dimensional wiithout being overly dramatic, the stopry flows beautifully, and as another reviewer mentioned, it is not all cute and silly, which is a good thing. There are some very adult themes going on (especially in volume 2) which may make some readers uncomfortable, but the pain of the charachters makes their plights more moving in my opinion. I await future volumes.

This manga is an interesting new take on 1001 Arabian Nights. I like that all of the characters are fleshed-out and human. The sultan's bitter actions are motivated; the storyteller's choices seem reasonable; the sultan's best friend is the voice of reason. The stage is set for many new stories to be told. There is a sufficient amount of mystery about the sultan and the storyteller to keep readers interested in their fate, and the stories told by the storyteller are interesting and well-balanced, as well as complex and bittersweet. The art is also gorgeous. I'd love to read the second volume, when it comes out. I hope that the authors will let us see the sultan and the storyteller change over time; although I enjoy the stories that are told by the young storyteller, I do want to know how the main characters are going to be affected by the stories.

One Thousand and One Nights is a story about Sehara, a man who disguises himself as a woman so he can save his sister, Dunya, from the crazy emperor who kills the women he sleeps with the next day. Sehara is found out to be a man from the beginning, and he starts to tell a tale about love...

The art in this book is unique and sets the tone of the story. It's not a book for kids though. They're some blood and stuff that's not suitable for young readers. Also, the story isn't all cute and happy, so that's another reason I like it...

I got the first two volumes of this series for my sister as a Christmas present. She was very happy with them, as was I. Sehara, Dunya, and the impulsive sultan are definitely characters I'll want to stay awake reading about. Pardon the cliche, but the creators did what their manga advertises on its back cover, i.e. give you a refreshing story to keep you awake for another One Thousand and One Nights.

The Sultan Shahryar has gone mad. Betrayed by his bride, he takes a girl from the harem into his bed each night and the next morning she is beheaded. When his beloved half-sister Dunyazade is slated to be taken to the Sultan, the femininely beautiful Sehara disguises himself as a girl and takes her place. Once in the Sultan's bedchamber, however, Sehara must buy his life by the tales he tells the Sultan. As Sehara's life becomes entwined with Shahryar's, though, the two men begin to see that there are deeper issues at work in the relationships around them and Sehara's tales become a way of healing the wounds of Shahryar, of the people of Baghdad, and of those who rally both for and against the Islamic realm.

Jeon and Han, paired up by their magazine publisher to craft a new version of the Shahrazad folktale, start out with a boys' love version of the tale, but soon move into something deeper and more subtle that examines the role of stories in explaining human relationships. Along the way, they also look at how our interactions with others shape us for good or ill and how strong emotions such as love or hate can tear a person up from the inside, leaving them unable to function in the world around them. Sehara's stories are drawn from all over the world and from multiple time periods. Jeon picks and chooses which tales will best illustrate the point he is trying to make, sometimes using a complete folktale or story and occasionally making up his own. His source material includes opera--Turandot, by Puccini and inspired by one of the tales in 1,001 Arabian Nights; historical figures--such as Cleopatra and Socrates; fairytales--"The Angel and the Woodsman," a Korean tale similar to the European fairy tale about a swan maiden or the Irish folktales about selkie; and ancient fiction--the Chinese story The Romance of the Three Kingdoms. He ends each volume with a special commentary where he discusses the history of some of his source material and also chats about his thoughts on political topics. For a story in which a female lead has been replaced by a man and where one of the evil characters is a cheating wife, Jeon's views are very feminist. He believes in strong women and many of his stories reflect that. He also allows his personal views on war to color some tales. In one story arc, Sehara tells crusaders from England the story of an American soldier fighting in the current Iraq war. It is a testament to the strength of Jeon's storytelling that this type of anachronism works so well.

Han's job is to illustrate Jeon's flights of fancy, and she does a beautiful job. Because this series is fairly clearly aimed at readers of boys' love, she makes sure that all of her men are beautiful in one way or another. Some, such as Sehara or Socrates' lover Alcibiades, are more feminine in appearance, while others, especially the Crusader King MacLeod, have a rougher look, but all are guaranteed to be easy on the eyes. But none of the boys' love elements are shoved into readers' faces, making this also a good choice for readers who want the dramatic storyline and aren't bothered by romances between men.

The settings are another challenge she faces. With both the main story and Sehara's stories to illustrate, Han's work must describe many times and locales, but she succeeds admirably. Even in stories that can be confusing to audiences unfamiliar with the source material--such as The Romance of the Three Kingdoms--the characters are distinct and clearly different from one another.

One Thousand and One Nights is full of situations that make it more appropriate for an older teen and adult audience. There are sexual scenes that are not graphic but that clearly show what is happening. There is also a good amount of violence and at least one rape. The challenge Jeon and Han face as this story winds down--two more volumes are still to be released in the United States--is crafting an ending that will stay true to the tone of Sehara and Shahryar's story while also satisfying readers. With a series of melancholy stories having already been told and with Shahryar's history as a murderer, a happy ending is not guaranteed. But Jeon is a strong enough writer to wrap his tale up in the way that is most fitting and Han will ensure that the illustrations are beautiful. Mature readers who haven't already picked this series up will want to look for it now, especially if they are fans of folklore.

-- Snow Wildsmith

From reading the first volume of this manhwa series, I see the making of a beautiful friendship with this series and myself. It has all my essentials: gorgeous artwork, an interesting storyline twist, and it plays around with multiple genres (fantasy, historical, action, shoujo, and light shounen-ai). It also creates engaging characters who are human in their nature and emotions. There is tragedy behind the sultan's insanity and compassion for Sehara situation in trying to protect his sister. I like where this is going and I look foward to seeing new volumes of this series.

I am so glad I bought this manga. ::big grin:: I haven't had a chance (yet) to read the original translated version of "The Book Of A Thousand Nights And A Night", but this manga had piqued my interest. The art is nice, and the characters are interesting.