So so.

사일런트 뫼비우스 1
아사미야 키아 지음 / 서울미디어코믹스(서울문화사) / 1998년 10월

Each of these stories has promise, but I believe each falls short of truly fleshing out the characters and making the reader care about what happens to them. Just when one of the women seems about to come into her own, Asamiya undercuts her development with some whining from the heroine or lousy one-liners from the villain at hand. Rather than taking the time to really explore their inner feelings, the author keeps thrusting them into the half-hearted action. The only exception to this is a three page sequence between Yuki and her nemesis, the fellow ESPer Annie.

There are some real clunkers of dialogue here as well, but I don't know whether to fault the author or the translator. In a key scene where Grospoliner reveals to Katsumi that she is the descendent of spirits like the ones assaulting Tokyo, where her entire sense of who she really is gets thrown into question, she replies: 'Your story gives me mixed emotions.' Is that supposed to be sarcasm, or understatement, or just plain old-fashioned bad writing? Such cheesy lines might be more forgivable if the action or comedy were more enthralling.

Amazing!

몬스터 1
우라사와 나오키 지음, 박연 옮김 / 세주문화 / 1996년 6월

Each of the volumes has a subtitle, and two paragraphs of English text (one on the front and one on the back) that set the mood for that volume. For an English reader they may, perhaps, give too much away, but the reader discovers many delicious and different ways to read these introductory paragraphs as you enter the story. The first volume starts with the subtitle 'Herr Doktor Tenma.' The text on the cover reads:

Dusseldorf, West Germany in 1986. One day Dr. Kenzo Tenma ignored his boss's order and executed a humanitarian rescue of a man's child. That's how this horrible story begins!!

The story begins with several surgeons leaving the operation room after a six hour long operation. The other surgeons congratulate Dr. Kenzo Tenma on a job masterfully done. As they walk down the halls of the hospital Tenma notices a mother and her child beside some other man. The mother is weeping uncontrollably and her son is asking her over and over again where their father is, and what is wrong with him. Tenma asks a nurse what the problem is and she tells him that the patient, whom Dr. Baker operated on, did not live. Tenma, already numb from the long operation he worked on can only look on with sadness.

Later, Tenma is sound asleep in his apartment but is awakened by a kiss from his fiancee Eva. She chides him for forgetting his promise to take her out. He claims that he did not forget it. On the news there is a brief clip about the Ribert family coming to Dusseldorf with their two young children. After this news clip is one that makes Eva exclaim and shake him awake again claiming that it is about him.

Cute!

카드캡터 체리 10
CLAMP / 서울미디어코믹스(서울문화사) / 2001년 2월

Sakura Kinomoto is a grade school student who one day discovers an unusual book called 'The Clow' in her father's library. Inside are magical cards called 'Clow Cards' and Sakura reads the one on top. Unfortunately, it was 'The Windy' card and it blows the pile away in a gust of wind all over town! In order to prevent a great catastrophe now that the cards are released, Sakura must find and collect them all as soon as possible! From this moment on, Sakura is known as a 'Card Captor'

Beautiful art and a great story!

무한의 주인 3
히로아키 사무라 지음 / 세주문화 / 2000년 5월

The story of the manga centers around Manji, an outcast samurai who is one of the best swordsman and one who could not die or get injured due to the bloodworms in his body given by a nun. Yet the tragic story started when he tries to change his way of life by killing one thousand evil doers to atone to the 1000 he slained. Then came Rin is search of a capable samurai to be her guard and hand of revenge. Rin's family was destroyed by Anotsu over the feud of Rin's father and Anotsu's father about the secrets of Mutenichi-Ryu.

With a number of capable allies with him, Anotsu easily dispose of Rin's parents and left her due to his believe in not hurting the young. Seeing and experiencing all this, Rin trained hard in her father's style but at last, she's still a girl, not skillful enought to take on Anotsu and his army. Thus she came across, Manji and thus formed an alliance which might turned out either fine or worse. With Manji's abilities and skill and Rin's contacts of her dead parents, would she fulfill her quest?

Fantastic and beautiful!

성전 1
CLAMP 지음 / 서울미디어코믹스(서울문화사) / 1996년 11월

RG Veda is the first work of CLAMP. 300 years before the actual story begins a 'Holy War' takes place where the Tentai (king chosen by the Gods) Ashura-Ou was killed by the treacherous Taishaku-Ten. Ashura-Ou was the god-king of the Ashura-clan the strongest god race of that time. Shashi the queen of Ashura-Ou betrayed him and later married to Taishaku-Ten while still bearing the child of Ashura-Ou in her womb. Shashi wanted to get rid of this baby girl (Ashura) and even planned to kill her, but never succeeded in doing so. Another son this time from Taishaku-Ten was also born and was given the name Ten-Ou.

The story begins with a prophecy by Kuyou (a star seeress). Six warriors knows as the six points of the star were to oppose and overthrow the power of Taishaku-Ten and end his rule. The six stars are Ashura, Yasha, Ryuu, Karura, Souma and Kendappa. It is from here that we follow our heroes as they encounter the mysterious Kujaku and as they battle against the demon princess Aizen and the forces of Taishaku-Ten until they succeed to enter Taishaku-Ten's castle where Ashura meets her half brother Ten-Ou and the shadow of Ashura-Ou. Here the six stars are united and prepare for the attack on Taishaku-Ten...