Pig Bride 4
Posted: July 27, 2010 Filed under: Pig Bride 1 Comment »KookHwa Huh / SuJin Kim – Yen Press – 2010 – 5 volumes
The last volume had a pretty nasty cliffhanger, so this jumps right into the middle of the action, with Ji-Oh tied to a tree and poisoned and Si-Joon forced to figure out the difference between the real Mu-Yeon and an imposter.
This scene is pretty over-the-top action-wise, and I was surprised by the direction it took. Si-Joon’s deduction was the biggest shock since he seems more like the type of character that would luck out of a situation like that, and the climax to this confrontation results in Mu-Yeon’s mask breaking. That’s not to say that Si-Joon solving the situation in a legitimate way is a bad thing. On the contrary, it gives him a lot of depth that somewhat simple and selfish characters like him usually lack. He’s interesting in a lot of ways… he is selfish and rich, but he doesn’t use his status against others, and his selfishness is very innocent. He also possesses a surprising self-awareness on occasion, something else that characters like him usually lack.
Now, the mask breaking is significant, but we still don’t really see the aftermath in this volume. Most of the characters still don’t know what she looks like (not as big a cop-out as it sounds since the reader does get a very good look at her), and the breaking of the mask signals a huge drop in her confidence. In fact, she is so ashamed of what she’s done that she flees Si-Joon, who works his way into a funk until Ji-Oh suggests they find Mu-Yeon. Things get weird, and… well, the book ends in a very strange place story-wise. I’m sure the next volume will bring about a happy ending, but I’m not quite clear on how things will be explained, or why Mu-Yeon is doing what she’s doing. Unless it’s a status thing. That would make sense.
As a side note, the last couple pages are ridiculously romantic, even as wordless as they are. Si-Joon is not the romantic type, especially when it comes to Mu-Yeon, but his face says a lot on those pages. Wonderful stuff.
[...] This week in reviews, Julie at Manga Mania Cafe checks out volume three of Jack Frost (Yen Press). Meanwhile, at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie takes a look at volume three of Sugarholic and volume four of Pig Bride. [...]