Moon Boy 2 by Lee YoungYou: C+

From the back cover:
Myung-Ee decides to rescue Yu-Da from the fox tribe! She begins by journeying to Junghyun mountain to join the Soon-La army. But first she must pass a test of pain and endurance. Meanwhile, more secrets are revealed about the “kind and gentle” Yu-Dai…

Review:
This volume is pretty boring overall, but had just enough stuff going on that I have some interest in continuing. Partly, I have this wish that all the stupid “comedy” bits will be dispensed with at some point as the story grows more serious, but that’s probably futile.

Anyways, more is explained about the Soon-La army, then Myung-Ee heads to the training academy. As an “earth rabbit,” more like a human that other rabbits, her long ears do not sprout when she gets there, but she still manages to be super awesome and conjure a sword in a matter of minutes where other students have taken a year to do the same. That part is standard fantasy fare, so it’s okay, but the instructor is a crossdresser, so that had to be milked for all that it was worth and then some.

The other big plot revolves around the mystery fox girl (Seo-Wha) from the last volume, who has an obsessive love for one of the foxes guarding Yu-Da. She’s a pain in the ass to everyone the entire volume, yet the only worthwhile thing she actually does is cause Yu-Da to show that there’s some other, powerful, personality sharing his body that Yu-Da is probably not aware of.

Moon Boy is a quick read, but I’d like it better if the story itself were more streamlined. None of the characters are well-developed, yet more are still being added. Plus, the art is not my cup of tea. Still, it sometimes surprises me, as with one very nice panel of Myung-Ee and Seo-Wha as black silhouettes against the lights of a city at night. Overall, I don’t hate this series, but neither would I particularly recommend it.