Bride of the Water God 1
November 21, 2007
I fell asleep no less than 5 times while trying to read this. It was like trying to get through Astro Boy. Some things will just make me drop into comas while I read them.
It wasn’t actually as bad as that makes it sound, but it certainly wasn’t action-packed either. It was actually quite lovely as well as quiet and understated, which made it not a good read for when I was tired. The plot was sort of familiar without being immediately recognizable. The main character was sacrificed to the Water God by her village, and she finds herself in the land of the Gods, bride to what appears to be a small child. The main character gets to meet many of the other Gods that inhabit the land, and we find out that the Water God himself transforms into an adult at night. The bride doesn’t know this, and while she finds the daytime Water God somewhat inapproachable, she seems drawn to the nighttime version, who she thinks is a different person.
The problem I have with this series right now is that it’s a little too quiet. There’s a lot of characters floating around with not very much explanation, and the reader is also left somewhat in the dark about most of the emotions of the Bride and the Water God. There are snatches of back story which shed light on certain things, but emotions are never overtly stated. I kind of like the fact that it’s left up to the audience’s interpretation since it’s usually the sort of thing you’re beat over the head with, but I would like to have more to work with.
There’s some direction in the plot by the end of the volume, and we’re set to find out why the Water God transforms and who some of his other brides were. Despite the lack of definition in this volume, I liked it tremendously and I’m really looking forward to the next volume.
April 6, 2008 at 12:31 pm
I like this series a lot. Mainly because of the art. But it has a good athmosphere and style, although the actual plot is somewhat lacking. And the color pages are awesome!
April 7, 2008 at 1:05 am
There are definitely other series which have done the plot better, but it is quite gorgeous, and I love that Dark Horse left the color pages in. I’m surprised I didn’t mention the lovely art in my review.
April 7, 2008 at 3:04 pm
BTW, I’m deffinitely buying the 3rd volume. I just want to know how the story will continue.. ^_^ I’m not so sure about the other bigger-and-with-color-pages Dark Horse manhwa Shaman Warrior. The first volume really disappointed me. The art is OK but it’s only about fighting. Heard the story gets better in next volumes, though.