Orange Marmalade

Konnichiwa~

Today I’ll be reviewing a webtoon called Orange Marmalade by Seok Woo. The series is ongoing in Korea with 105 chapters, 104 of which have been scanlated. Its actually a weekly series, a new chapter coming out in Korea and one being translated every week. Though the author has taken several breaks since the series began in 2011, which can be very frustrating. But lately the series has been pretty steady in releasing. Anyway, lets begin:

The story takes place in a  society where vampire exist, but they live like normal humans do. They go to school, they get jobs, they get married, and they have kids. The only thing that makes them different from humans is that they’re hematophagous, meaning that they drink blood. They don’t drink human blood though, they drink pigs' blood. They don’t drink human blood and they aren’t any different from humans, but they’re treated like outcasts. If someone discovers you’re a vampire, you’re attacked and abused, you either have to flee or be sent away. Because of this, vampires in this world do their best in pretending to be human and that’s exactly what Ma Ri Baek is doing. Ma Ri and her family have already been driven away from several neighborhoods, so she hopes that they can finally settle down. Believing all humans will fear and hate her, she distances herself form the rest of the school, gaining the reputation of being an ice queen. Then one day, half-sleep on the train, she’s attracted to the scent of Jae Min Jung’s blood and nips his neck. Now Jae Min hates being touched by girls and in general finds girls annoying, so he immediately confronts her at school. Ma Ri remains relatively calm, telling him sorry, lets just forget about it. But Jae Min can’t forget. Because of the incident, he noticed Ma Ri and he begin falling for her. But Ma Ri isn’t interested in dating a human that could betray her as soon as they realize she’s a vampire. She's also not interested in becoming friends with the energetic Soo Ri, but she’s determined to get close her no matter what Ma Ri says. How is this distrusting vampire going to react to these two pesters?

This is my favorite webtoon: Ma Ri undergoes a lot of character growth, she stops running away and try to enjoy life. You also see other characters like Soo Ri realize how ignorant and prejudice they’ve been, how

vampire really aren’t any different from humans. At times it feels like Ma Ri’s living during the Civil Rights movements, meeting those who are either accepting, tolerant, or “racist”. Her romance with Jae Min is really adorable, I love it when guys are very direct about their feelings. The misunderstandings and complications will keep you interested and sitting at the edge of your seat. But as much as I like this webtoon, there are many aspects about that frustrate me. The problems often repeat themselves; you’ve think Ma Ri has made progress or decided what to do, but she ends up doing the exact same thing for another 8 chapters. The character growth is as wonderful as it is terrible. She goes very slow and makes poor decision that don’t seem to match what she’s been thinking about or her experiences so far. Jae Min makes some pretty stupid descions as well, but I believe they are justified considering his past and trauma and the fact that he’s made reasonable progress after making the mistake. Other than this frustrating and slow pace at times, I think it’s a great webtoon worth reading. I especially love Si Hoo Han who brings a very interesting perspective when it comes to vampire discrimination. That’s all for today, bye-bye

~Nadeshiko-chan

Hiyokoi ~ Chick Love

Adorable, baby chick-like Hiyori and
her crush Yuushin

Konnichiwa~

Its Nadeshiko-chan, its a little late, but today I'll be reviewing the adorable Hiyokoi by Yukimaru Moe today. The manga is 10 volumes ongoing in Japan, and its been scanlatd to volume 10 chapter 40, so its pretty update. Its been awhile since I've reviewed a manga, anyway, lets begin:

The heroine of this kawaii little manga is Hiyori Nishiyama , a small, shy, and timid 15 year old girl. She’s going to high school for the first time in a year since an accident left her hospitalized and being the new kid isn’t easy for this socially challenged teen. On her first day she meets Yuushin Hirose, a tall, outgoing, popular boy who befriends her, though she has mixed feelings about the new friendship. But as time goes by Hiyori starts to admire him for his charismatic and friendly personality and, soon enough, she falls in love with him. Now one of the things I love about Hiyori is how honest she is. She is able to show weakness as she wanders out of her comfort zone, taking steps she was unable to do in the past. I usually hate crybaby heroines, but Hiyori is different, she's lovable and reasonable. Especially since even though she is painfully shy, she's trying her hardest to change and become someone more outgoing. Its also adorable how hard she works to get Yuushin to notice her. It does take a lot of hard work, but paradoxically, it also isn't too hard since Yuushin already has a soft-spot for Hiyori and truly admires her determination.  Reading about their developing relationship is wonderful, this author really understands character growth, which is why I think I love this manga so much. Plus if you're shy, you can really connect and relate to Hiyori. Even if you used to be shy, you can see feel that connection as Hiyori learns that the problems you run into when you do interact with others. But you also see the blessings. Basically, she's a young girl finally experiencing her life, she's not spending it running away or hiding anymore. 

The art, which is very shoujo; girly and cute, but please don’t think it’s the common pointy chin and big eyed girls and skinny, feminine looking boys. The arts very smooth, I especially love how the artist does the character’s hair, I guess that sound odd but I think it’s an important part of the character and the way Yukimaru Moe does it is just charming. The eyes and clothing are pleasing too. The way she draws her more comic scenes are also quite nice, though honestly I don’t think its always the best and the art value seems to slip a little every now and then. But overall the art suites this adorable heroine and plot.

When I first started reading this manga I thought there was an anime, but its just a one episode OVA. It goes over the first chapter of the manga and its so wonderful I felt like crying when I realized there weren't any more episodes. Maybe one day in the future. 

Anyway look forward to my Sky of Love Manga post! One of the best mangas ever! I love you Mika! 

Bye-Bye

~Nadeshiko-chan