With Shin off on an extended visit to England, Chae-Kyung is left alone in the palace with no allies except Prince Yul, whose interactions with her are half manipulative, half sincere. Her maids are concerned because she’s losing weight and refusing their herbal remedies; Chae-Kyung is more concerned about Shin’s coldness than her health, since he hasn’t returned any of her … [Read more...] about Goong: The Royal Palace 5 by Park SoHee: B+
Comics
CUT by Toko Kawai: A
“Life is kind of a pain,” thinks Chiaki Sakaguchi at the outset of this exceptional one-shot. Chiaki is bored with school; it seems so trivial compared to the painful secret guilt he carries over his father’s death. In an attempt to dull that pain, Chiaki seeks out new pain, getting involved in an abusive incestuous relationship with his stepfather and resorting to cutting … [Read more...] about CUT by Toko Kawai: A
Otomen 2 by Aya Kanno: B
This volume presents three episodic tales, two of which focus on Asuka’s challenge to be true to himself despite the expectations of others. In the first of these stories, he acquires an apprentice who wants to use him as a reference on how to be cool and masculine, requiring Asuka to suppress his girly tendencies, and in the other, his mother attempts to set him up in an … [Read more...] about Otomen 2 by Aya Kanno: B
Beauty Pop 10 by Kiyoko Arai: B-
Narumi’s father has goaded him into entering the Scissors Project into the All-Japan Beauty Tournament in order to prove he’s serious about forming his own salon with his schoolmates rather than inherit the family salon. In this final volume, the outcome of both the tournament and the love triangle between Narumi, his friend Ochiai, and protagonist Kiri, is revealed. I was … [Read more...] about Beauty Pop 10 by Kiyoko Arai: B-
Beauty Pop 9 by Kiyoko Arai: B
From the back cover: After kissing Kiri accidentally, Narumi struggles to keep his composure during the All-Japan Beauty Tournament. With everything on the line, can the Scissors Project even make it through the preliminaries? Review: Sometimes the overall feel of a volume is so cute that I can't help but like it, even though it also contains myriad things at which I roll my … [Read more...] about Beauty Pop 9 by Kiyoko Arai: B