Author: Woo Soo Jung
Manhwa-ga: Kara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008

Synopsis: “Even after learning No-Ah’s true intentions, Eun-Gyo agrees to help him search for the Seven Blade Sword – as long as he promises to keep her safe. When the trio stumbles out of the lush forest into a barren desert, No-Ah suspects another blade of the sword is the cause. But before they have a chance to investigate, they are caught in the middle of a power struggle at the village temple.”

The trio’s travel on the search for the Seven Blade Sword, runs them into a follower traveller with a strange story to tell. The group of them are captured and imprisoned, trapped in a place where legend of a magic flute could be another clue to the sword pieces they’re looking for.

Too bad standing in their way is a really attractive monk with flowy hair and slick fighting moves (no complaints from me). Locked in prison with them is the temple’s head monk, who’s endured hours of torture at the hands of his friend, the flowy monk in previous statement, who wants him to reveal the location of the magic flute, said to give its proper wielder the power to rule the world.

The story’s pretty standard and I don’t have many comments on it, partially in light on not spoiling some of the more entertaining moments. I did like some twists that surprised me and there were some good comedic moments between the more energetic cast.

I continue to enjoy Kara’s artwork which is undeniably cute. The character designs are distinctive and I really like their attractive line work. Occasionally though, there are some things about the style that trip me up, in this third volume’s case it would be the head monk who suffers from big eyes that just don’t fit very well on his head, and certainly not under his even bigger forehead. Other characters pull off the big-eyes in Kara’s style with much more balance and focus, thank goodness, while others maintain their cool, thinner eyes in complimenting contrast.

Yen Press’s job on this volume of Legend garners no complaints from me. I didn’t come across any real issues in the inside, minus some awkwardly off-centered text in bubbles at times. The book is one of Yen Press’s larger cut sizes, so the pages are nice and big. Included in the front of the book is a full-colour fold out spread image, which readers may or may not wish to chance taking out for use as a mini poster.

Overall, those who’ve enjoyed Legend up to this volume shouldn’t be disappointed as the story continues. It’s a light read, a fairly easy to follow balance of action, drama and comedy set in a nice fantasy setting, all complimented by a really nice, albeit of course subject to stylistic-tastes, art style (I’d keep reading it to stare at the lovely ink work). Girl in another world teaming up with pretty boys to search for things isn’t anything new but it’s nice to see it done in a different way and so far Legend has managed that.

Review written November 7, 2008 by Lissa Pattillo.
Book provided by Yen Press

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About the Author: Lissa Pattillo

Lissa Pattillo is the owner and editor of Kuriousity.ca. Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia she takes great joy in collecting all manners of manga genres, regretting that there's never enough time in the day to review or share them all. Along with reviews, Lissa is responsible for all the news postings to the website and works full time as a web and graphic designer.