Myung-Ee and her childhood friend, Yu-Da, are “earth rabbits,” and must be on guard against the members of the fox tribe who want to eat them. Yu-Da is particularly special—as the rare “black rabbit,” his liver has the potential to restore the foxes’ queen. For that purpose, he was kidnapped by the foxes as a child and magically kept docile while they wait for his liver to mature.
Volume seven picks up just after Yu-Da reveals that he broke the spell placed on him some time ago and has just been playing along. Sa-Eun, the fox assigned to guard Yu-Da, feels betrayed since he genuinely felt friendship for his charge. They have an angsty fight until Myung-Ee intervenes with a powerful blast of energy that sends Yu-Da reeling. The rest of the volume is devoted to Sa-Eun confessing his feelings to Myung-Ee, introducing the sleepy leader of the foxes, and Myung-Ee’s attempts to get Yu-Da to come back to the rabbits’ side.
My problem with Moon Boy has always been that it’s inconsistent. Moments of head-scratching “Huh?!” are present in this seventh volume, like when Yu-Da, who’s been a pretty snarky badass for most of the volume, suddenly breaks into tears at the idea that Myung-Ee might really like him. (Causing Myung-Ee to realize that perhaps someone who’s been kidnapped and mind-wiped and held prisoner for many years might have trouble trusting people.) Later, Ha-Eun, a powerful figure with a mysterious agenda, bursts into tears after randomly taking Yu-Da to see a skeletal guy in a dungeon. I get that the creator wants the characters to be multi-layered, but these moments just come out of nowhere.
Despite my complaints, Moon Boy is a quick read and it has certainly improved over earlier volumes now that the story’s gotten more serious. Plus, there are only two volumes left, so I can’t really stop now!
Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.
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