13th Boy 5

SanEun Lee – Yen Press – 2010 – 6+ volumes

And what better to follow up a volume of hard yaoi than 13th Boy, a sweet love story?

On one hand, I was a little disappointed that the pace of the series slowed here, and that there was less madcap strangeness afoot. On the other hand, this volume addresses some of the relationship and character issues that have been developing, and there are some major changes that happen. Less of what I like, but probably still one of the best volumes of a series that I am very, very fond of.

One of my favorite things in this series is the relationship between Hee-So and Whie-Young. The magic element in this series, while sort of ridiculous in context, lends an air of innocence to the childhood memories of Hee-So, and to her life in general, really. It also makes the prickly Whie-Young’s soft spot even more apparent, both in the past and present. The fact that he was the first boyfriend of boy-crazy Hee-So, all that time ago, is also pretty fatalistic in the same way. Anyway, in this volume, Hee-So finally realizes that it was Whie-Young that did all the magical things for her back in childhood, that he was the one that gave her Beatrice, and that he was also the one that brought Sae-Bom’s Toe-Toe to life. She confronts him about it, and about her feelings and his. It’s a great scene, but lacks a little bit considering my wish for Whie-Young to be the primary love interest. There’s something missing on both sides of the conversation, and it’s unusual because of it. Like it’s game changing, but not really.

Later, Hee-So drags Won-Jun and Whie-Young to Sae-Bom’s house to celebrate Sae-Bom’s birthday. Typically, Sae-Bom spends the day alone with Toe-Toe since it was the first day they met, but now that Hee-So realizes that Toe-Toe is like her Beatrice but dead, she decides that’s too depressing and tries to liven things up for her. And hook up with Won-Jun on the side, of course.

Beatrice comes along, too, in human form. Beatrice calls himself Edward, though, because Beatrice is an unlikely name for a boy. I love that the story addresses this bizarre anomaly.

The sad story of Toe-Toe is recounted later on, too. For a magical, foul-mouthed bunny, he sure does have a compelling past. And present. It also makes you feel bad for Whie-Young. He will literally do anything and everything within his considerable power for Hee-So. And she… doesn’t really look his way.

There’s another great scene at the end of the book, too (I’m sorry, I’m really trying not to spoil things, but there is a lot of wonderful stuff here). Straight out of the girliest girls’ comic you’ve ever read. Joy on both sides. Except there’s something a little off about this conversation, too, though the feeling is there on both sides. To a ridiculous extent.

I love this series, and every volume makes me love it a little more. It’s offbeat and the absolute perfect mix of all the girliest things I can think of, including fatalism, magic, best friends, boyfriends, love triangles, cute childhood flashbacks, talking stuffed animals, and even a strong heroine that’s not afraid to say what’s on her mind in any situation.