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Reviews

Review: Angel Diary (Vol. 07)


Author: Lee YunHee
Manhwa-ga: Kara
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: October 2008

Synopsis: “Dong-Young confronts Bi-Wal and lets slip a confession of love! But with her engagement to the King of Hell, does this budding relationship stand a chance? As the guardians argue about what to do, Queen Hong appears with an even more earth-shattering revelation!”

The time for fun and games is over and the subject on the table is peace. Keeping the peace between heaven and hell is nothing to laugh about, but the four guardians have had trouble weighing out their morals. Do they send the princess back home to marry a man she has never met, or do they keep hiding her on earth and risk losing everything? The longer they take in making their decision the more complicated the situation is becoming. Only time will tell, and who knows, maybe in this crazy world everything will work out for the better.

At the end of book six, Dong-Young insisted on talking to Bi-Wal about something very important, only to be cold-shouldered by Mr. Tall-dark-and-handsome-himself. It was very traumatic and I won’t lie to you, I almost threw the book at the wall. There was definitely a loud exclamation of “JERKFACE!” much too late at night. After waiting what felt like forever, I finally got my hands on number seven.

It’s answer time! Several of the answers given to us in this volume are things you probably expected to read eventually, but wow, if they spill all of this right now, what do they have left to tell us? On a side note, apparently no one from heaven has ever seen their own Queen’s face. It’s some kind of heavenly mandate that the queen not wander around in public showing off how hellishly beautiful she is, or something… I’m not sure if this is cultural, or the King doesn’t want everyone to know that his Queen is from hell, but it doesn’t appear as if the reason for it matters. Still bothers me though.

The manhwa doctor must have read my diagnosis (“oh gods we’re already on book six and haven’t explained anything -syndrome”) and prescribed something to the writer/artist team. Compared to the last book, this one has a considerably slower pace and I’m glad to report that the onslaught of information has finally ebbed. To reward us for reading volume six four or five times to just keep it all straight, we’ve been taken from questioning the present to reliving the past in a couple of super cute flashbacks. If you weren’t already in love with Bi-Wal and Dong-Young’s designs, you will not be able to resist them as children!

The flow of the story has also leveled out, one event leading into the next and far less jumping back and forth between multiple plot lines. The side characters have been pushed far to the side and we are no longer concerned with what they’re doing, which is both sad and relieving. Adding to the awesome, the chaotic paneling of volume six is also no more. The team really pulled it all together and if it stays like this I’ll thoroughly enjoy the next few books. I can’t believe Angel Diary is almost over!

Review written December 7, 2008 by Marsha Reid.
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

Marsha Reid

About the Author:

Marsha Reid is a self-proclaimed manhwa nut – "It’s my not so guilty pleasure and my one true love." She has a group called Anime@ Large, which has become much like a full time job to go along with her full time job at a local theater. Marsha likes fluffy animals (even though she's allergic), manga/manhwa, anime, and make Lolita costumes in her spare time.



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One Response

  1. […] Lissa Pattillo checks out vol. 2 of Blank Slate and guest reviewer Marsha Reid takes a look at vol. 7 of Angel Diary at Kuriousity. Julie reads vol. 4 of Parasyte and Make More Love and Peace at the Manga Maniac […]

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