Mi-Kyung Yun

In exchange for much needed rain, an impoverished village sacrifices a young woman, Soah, to the Water God Habaek. Instead of drowning, Soah is rescued by the Water God and finds herself as a welcome guest in Habaek’s kingdom. There are several twists surrounding Habaek, but not much is explained about Habaek or his friends.

I thought the artwork was gorgeous and that the setting was interesting. The few pages that were printed in color were stunning, and the black and white pages were just as beautiful with flowing lines and the way the shading was used. I found the very beginning of the story easy enough to understand and follow, but I soon grew confused about what was going on in the story. I had confusion about all the different characters and memorizing who was who as they all had similar looks. I also had a difficult time keeping up with who was talking when multiple characters where part of a scene. There was no indication given about who was talking, the speech bubbles were often off to the side or there was no one in the panel to show who was speaking. Also, the changes between scenes or character interactions lacked smooth transitions lending to the confusion.

I also had many questions about the characters and plot as I continued reading the story. Why is Soah kept in the dark about her situation, especially why she survived and did not drown as expected? Why does Habaek keep Soah in the dark about his situation of being a child by day and a man by night? Why does Habaek not give the village rain when Soah is first sacrificed? Why does Soah not question anything about herself, Habaek, the other gods, or her predicament in general?

I am sure if I was to read further in the series, these questions and more will be answered, but I do not know if I am intrigued enough to continue reading the series.
… (meer)