Manhwa-ga: Kang EunYoung
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: November 2008

Synopsis: “Weighed down by the connection between his family and Da-Eh’s, Sun-Nam plans to get the truth out into the open. When Da-Eh and Da-Hwa show up to meet their boyfriend and half-brother respectively, they’re both shocked to find they’re waiting for the same person! Already frustrated with matters of the heart, Da-Eh blames her younger brother for complicating things further. But her anger quickly dissolves into sorrow when an unthinkable tragedy occurs.”

The love triangle is relentlessly trying to shed one of its corners in this fifth volume of Hissing, but it just can’t seem to shake either of the heartthrobs off. Everytime one of them starts to move further away from Da-Eh, they get pulled right back in by her smack-talking, sentimental attitude. Being boys with lovely faces, I guess it’s their destiny to be attracted to the only girl who doesn’t appear to care about how they look. With all this going on, one can’t help but wonder how on earth she’s going to meet the deadline for that manhwa contest!

It’s time to break the silence, Sun-Nam has decided to face the beast head on and intends to put everything out on the table. Finally! If this “secret” got drawn out any longer, I think I might have just died. There’s so much more they could be concerned with, like how to continue dating even though technically they’re related to each other. The complexities behind whether or not they are related are way to deep for me to get into, but if you’ve made it this far you probably already know all the details.

The blank speech bubbles were pleasingly not confusing this time around, all in the right places where the character is shocked. I think I rather like them, it gives me a sense of being so completely lost in their thoughts that what’s going on around them has been totally shut out. The art is also improving, either that or I’ve figured out how to tell Ta-Jun and Sun-Nam apart! I’d like to think it’s the first.

Warning! Don’t pick up this volume if you intend to read it on the bus and are an overly sensitive person. It starts off on its normal, almost interesting path of predictable turns and truths but then bam! We’re spiraling down a horrible story of love and loss. I could tell from the pattern of events that something horrible would happen, as the foreshadowing in this series is less subtle then it should be, but when it all goes down… wow, just wow. If you can think back in your life to that one moment where everything just exploded, it’ll probably feel a lot like this.

While you’re reading you may get the feeling like, what the heck is going on? Or my favorite: why are they doing that? Parts of this volume seemed to be very forced, like they’re only happening to close up plot holes, and not because they actually fit into the story. I don’t think the mahnwa-ga has a clear plan for where the story is headed, because situations keep cropping up and then just fizzle out for no apparent reason. I find this more then slightly annoying. But for now, I’m giving Kang EunYoung the benefit of the doubt and I’m going to keep reading.

Review written December 7, 2008 by Marsha Reid.
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Follow

Share on Tumblr

About the Author: Marsha Reid

Marsha Reid is a self-proclaimed manhwa nut – "It’s my not so guilty pleasure and my one true love." She has a group called Anime@ Large, which has become much like a full time job to go along with her full time job at a local theater. Marsha likes fluffy animals (even though she's allergic), manga/manhwa, anime, and make Lolita costumes in her spare time.