Customer Reviews

Very! Very! Sweet, Vol. 1 (v. 1)

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

 

 

Whenever I hear the plot of one of Ji-Sang Shin and Geo's stories, it sounds incredibly boring. But, somehow, these two can turn a seemingly boring plot into something amazing. As always, the art is magnificent, the characters are great,--even if they look a lot like Chocolat characters, from the rich, bratty main male character to the three pigtails (on occasion) of the plain, yet quirky, female lead,--and it's hilarious. Although there are a lot of cultural jokes, there are translation notes at the end to help you understand what's going on. Unfortunately, I didn't notice them until I'd finished reading, because there doesn't seem to be any indication within the story that you can reference the back, so I suggest reading them first (it won't spoil the story if you read them first).

If you are tired of waiting for volume 8 of Chocolat to be released, try this excellent new series by JiSang Shin and Geo. Though there are some physical similarities between the main characters in this series and those of Chocolat, they have distinct and different personalities. Japanese native Tsuyoshi, a rich brat, is sent by his grandfather to Korea to reconnect with his roots. Be-Ri Kang is a frugal do-it-yourselfer who is secretly sweet on her sister's boyfriend, who lives with them as a tenant. When Tsuyoshi and Be-Ri Kang first meet, the sparks (or rather spit) fly in the wrong way. With lots of hot bishounen and laugh out loud moments, not to mention Be-Ri's (talking?!) cat, this mahnwa is so much fun!

For a manhwa, Very! Very! Sweet has a tame plot. Manhwa seems, to me at least, to veer off on insane flights of fancy more so than manga. Well, maybe not more, but the situations always seem even weirder. One of the series I am reading, the heroine's sidekick is a cactus that can talk, has a girl's name (Beatrice), and changes into a boy once a month. Huh?! How did someone make that up? And, more importantly, why? Anyway, that was a long way of saying that this series doesn't do that.

This is fairly typical shoujo fare. It was pretty cute and kept me engaged fairly well. Unlike a lot of manga series, this one did not seem to carry on unnecessarily. The ending did not quite flush out all of the story elements I would have liked to see wrapped up, which was somewhat irritating. Most notable were the two cats, Gu-Nyang and Doki. They're pretty cute, although I do not care much for the art style used for Gu-Nyang. Still, I adore cats, and the authors seem to have captured cat behavior really well.

If you really like shoujo, then this one is worth reading, but I only recommend it to hardcore fans. There is better stuff out there.