Idol shopping Manga review

Type: Manhwa

Volumes: 12

Chapters: 48

Status: Finished

Published: Not available

Genres: Comedy, Romance, Drama, shoujo, school life

Authors: Hwang, Mi Ri (Story & Art)

Serialization: None

Ugh, Idol Shopping... i dont really know where to begin with this. This series seemed really interessting in the beggining because you were wondering, what happened, that everybody hates song's brother aul. But then when the mistery was solved it went downhill. In another half of the manhwa, the plot twist are just ridiculous as well as how they were solving the problems in the situation and you didn't really care like in the first half of the series. In the second half of the series the main focus is only romance. Also the story felt like mixed up different stories into one manhwa. 

Shopping Idol tells the story about protector of the weak and the enforcer of justice, Song Ih Kang a.k.a "Bully Take-Carer S".  Her "peaceful" life gets shaken by her brother's suicide attempt. Wanting to know why his brother tried to take his own life, she asks him about it, but he refuses to tell her why. The only thing he cares about is not going back to that school. Song wants to find out why the school treated her brother so badly and comes up with a plan - to impersonate him at his all boys private school.  Her parents, worried that he will get kicked out of his private school and lose his scholarship is he doesn't attend classes, encourage Song Ih's idea to pretend to be him while he recovers. Leaving her "job" as the" bully take-carer S", she goes to school for him to find out the truth and to beat up whoever did it. However, the school is filled with dark secrets...

The Characters: 

They all add something to the story, though some of them I wish didn't. There are some bad characters, by this I don't mean evil, even though they are. I liked the secondary characters more than 

the main ones. Keep in mind that this is all I could share without much spoilers.

But there are also nice/sweet though sometimes dumb-as-rock characters. Who can't figure out she's a girl. I'm sorry but I find it ridiculous that even after finding out she was a girl (it's not a spoiler because it's bound to happen in any manga) they don't notice when she's herself or her brother.

-Song Ih was a strong female at first. She beat up "bad guys" for money but still. Then she changed, but the roller coaster that she is she picked back up. She could have been better portrayed. her decisions were sloppy and sometimes it felt like the author came up with this stuff on a whim. She had this back and forth between guys that could give anyone whiplash. 

-A Ul's character lacked emotions. He was either in one side or the other. I get it he was in pain, but come on. Without spoiling all I have to say is that being her twin, he would have acted better. It wasn't believable, but then again this is a manga.

-Ga Yun, the male lead in this story is a little on the boring side and he is perfect, not because he's so great but because he really is perfect. He gets the best grades and is top of his class, best fighter, loved by his parents and girls and is even the male lead here. See, "perfect". The second half of the manga is better than the first because his character's metaphorical mask comes off and he finally shows a backbone. his best friend is the most interesting though.

-Hoan Se Ryun was in my opinion the best though a little annoying. He fell in love with the wrong person and fought to keep her (wonder who he fell for?). Though even at the end I felt bad for him because I don't think he realized that he kissed a guy. How did he not figure that out? And what does it say about the rest of the characters if this one is the best?

The art was not very impressive. The fighting scenes were sloppy and were all over the place. They were weak and failed to leave a lasting impact. Ga Yun's character artwork was slip-shod. In one panel, he's wearing glasses but in the next panel of the same page, he isn't. There was also this one scene where they even made him blond. And mostly the characters looked same to me or may be it was me who is confusing a lot. In the end I should stop reading Manhwa? Overall, a very average job indeed.

Even after finishing the entire manga, I still couldn't figure out why it's called Idol Shopping. There's only one idol (as in show biz), but he never took her shopping.

All in all, Idol Shopping is a manga that has a pretty good story, but fails to deliver due to extraordinarily dumb characters, a predictable plot and mediocre artwork.

Love in the mask Manga review

English: Love in the Mask

Type: Manhwa

Volumes: 32

Chapters: 134

Status: Finished

Published: Not available

Genres: Action, Comedy, Romance, Shoujo, Slice of Life, Gender Bender

Authors: Han, Yu-Rang (Story & Art)

Serialization: None

This manga is just too DEPRESSING!!

The first thing I did when reading this manga was cry. This manga was for me heart-wrenching and very depressing. This poor girl has had unfortunate upon unfortunate thrown upon her. Her little brother died in her arms then she had to become a heartless body guard. After 9 years of trying of what I can only describe as a half-hearted darkness she falls in love but she can't reveal it. Then to top it all off the has to spend another 9 years as a heartless gangster all the while having to pretend to be a boy.

I read this manga thinking it would be fun but instead I was tortured by this poor girl's life so much that i want to cry. Personally I like heavy mangas but this one is just too much heavier for me. I managed to complete it. But will I recommend it? I dont think so. Trust me its very very very depressing, you would't wanna read it and the characters..  sometimes get on your nerves.

Suh Hyun-bin. She’s had a rough start in life. Watched her little brother die in her arms without being able to do anything. Was later picked up by a wealthy man who needed a bodyguard for his granddaughter. It was either be a guy forever or be on the streets. She chose what anyone would have chosen. Used and abused by everyone for everything. Even Yae Ha, who is suppose to be her friend manipulates her for her own benefit. Hyun finally falls in love only to be taken away and taught a lesson on the reality that she isn’t suppose to feel anything for anyone.

Yun-ha Lee, a boy with a tragic past. Lost the girl he liked and his brother is in a coma. Only has his dad. Made his own gang and was willing to leave everything for the person he loves. Even though he is mean to Hyun and hate him protecting yae-ha he is still devoted and sincere. I am willing to overlook that he’s the one closest to Hyun and hasn’t figured out he’s a she. His character is the one that has given and given to Hyun expecting nothing in return but to see her smile

Yae-ha, I'm not sure if her character is suppose to be a manipulative, self absorb, rich girl or if that's just the way the mangaka wants her to be perceived. She has no redeeming qualities. Even her good qualities at the beginning were to satisfy her narcissistic personality. She’s spoiled and deserves a beating, maybe I‘ll make a poll to see how she should be beat…

The truth about her was told to her face by no other than Ji-Woong, “You don’t know anything about love or the act of loving another.”

Chi-ho, he’s a follower of Hyun, to the point that he stalked him to the bathroom and harassed the girl out of him. He loves her deeply. Even confessed when he thought she was a guy. He was the top in Lee’s gang before Hyun got there and took his spot as the better fighter.

Kang Ji-woong was the best addition to the manga. Abandoned when a child by the people he cared about. He gave up on love and hates when people love. But somehow Hyun got under his skin. He was the only character that automatically saw her as a girl. He got extra credit points just for that in my book. 

Art: The fighting scenes are good. They get cleaner as the manga progresses then reverts to it's former state. There’s no suave way of saying it so here goes, I like knowing how one person gets beat up and you don’t miss anything with this manga. Also, the characters expressions are not the best towards the middle, I’m not sure why I noticed. Just somewhere along the way their expressions were always sullen. It could also be that the mood of the manga shifted. 

My opinion on the characters are pretty consistent with my version of their description above. I have to note thought that though Hyun is the protagonist I feel that she would have better off she if she told someone of her circumstances instead of hiding it and suffering in silence. 

Then things just took a downward spiral. Don't get me wrong. It was great for a while, but soon things just got so dragged out to the point where it seemed as though these romantic conflicts wouldn't conclude. And then of course as we need the end soap opera-like occurrences begin to pop up

This is the first time I'm fully engaged in a manhwa, and the different style it has from manga is very obvious that it took me a while to get used to it. In the end, I still love the art. I didn't give it a 10 because there were times I didn't know which character was which.

After all is said and done this was one manga that was worth reading until the end if you start it but I am just letting you know forth that this is very sad manga.