Jin-seok Jeon

I love the Arabian Nights, I love fairy tales, I love storytelling, I love manhwa. JinSeok Jeon's version of the Arabian Nights is very pretty to look it, and I want very much to like it, except that the humourless feminist in me basically snarls: "But the whole point of the original story is that the sultan hates women, and yet a smart and resourceful woman is able to change his mind and spare other women from a horrible fate." Switching Scheherazade into a male takes the heart and soul out of the story for me, alas, and ruins the poignancy of someone fighting for the right to be heard and respected and loved for who she is. As much as I like gaying up famous legends (and I do! I do!), the story of Scheherazade is one that I would prefer to be left in the hands of a female protagonist. Or, you know, an actual member of the social group being persecuted by the sultan, rather than someone playacting as one.… (meer)

After being betrayed by his wife, the formerly kind sultan now hates and distrusts women. He sleeps with a different girl from his harem (every night?) and kills her afterward. In an attempt to save his sister from this fate, Sehara dresses as a girl and takes her place, only (of course) to be found out by the Sultan and locked up. While imprisoned, Sehara hears the story of how the sultan's hatred of women came to be, and when the sultan comes to execute him, he asks to tell a story before he dies...

I'm not a fan of manga that tell bunches of short stories about random characters (usually that walk into the main characters' lives for a chapter, though of course that doesn't apply in this case) rather than developing the story of the main characters, but I am always on the lookout for BL with concerns outside of pure romance and sex, and there was just so much heartfelt praise for this series I had to at least give it a try.

Ultimately, the manhwa does not seem to do anything terribly wrong, yet I'm not very interested in reading more, likely just because of my disinterest in stories of this type and other choices the author makes that are not exactly bad, but still not to my taste.

The first half of the volume is comprised of the actions and back stories of the main characters, while the last half is Sehara's story, in this case Turandot. I do not know much about Turandot, but as far as I can tell it seems nothing more than a nicely done manhwa version, not really adding or reimagining much, but remaining entertaining simply on the strength of the original story and the art.

This was mostly what I expected from the story telling sections, so really my disappointment comes more from the fact that the parts of the manhwa concerning the main characters did not turn out to give much attention to the sorts of things in I find interest in. These parts were (almost like the story telling sections, only there I expected it) more about actions and events (who betrayed who, who saved who's life, who tried to kill who) than subtleties of characters' personalities or interactions. Others have complimented the very human characters in the series, so I was looking forward to getting to know them. But while I don't really disagree with the assertion that they feel human, I'm just more interested in watching a character in the present and trying to figure out his or her motivations from their attitude and behavior than I am about hearing dramatic back stories that supposedly spell everything you need to know out.

On the other hand, the art for this series is absolutely striking. Some manhwa have a look more pointy than I'd like, but this has a more rounded and realistic style. The costumes are also beautiful and detailed without being unnecessarily outlandish. I'm not one to read a manga just for the art, but I can certainly pity not liking it more because of it.

One Thousand and One Nights is a very well done manga, and if I was rating for quality alone rather than also adding my personal feelings, it would likely get a higher score. For anyone not as bothered by the multi-story concept or the character-development-by-grand-events-rather-than-simple-interactions, I'd recommend it. But personally it held rather little interest for me once I realized the path it was taking. And much as I like a good excuse for yaoi, one can't help but wonder if the changing of Shaharazad into a male takes some of the poignancy out of a tale originally about the many faces of—and potential for goodness in—women.… (meer)