Sadie Hawkins Sunday Review #3: Our Happy Hours

Watashitachi no Shiawase na Jikan
Alternate Title: Our Happy Hours

Author: Gong Ji-young
Illustrators: Sahara Mizu, Sumomo Yumeka
Volumes: 1
Source: Mangafox
Chosen by: Lynn

Description from Goodreads:
"I have something I don't want to lose"

"So much so that these terrible feelings have grown."

A pianist who attempted suicide 3 times, Juri, is taken to help her aunt at a prison where murderers who killed indiscriminately are sentenced to death. There, she meets a man named Yuu who took the lives of 3 people. A mother's antagonism--a brother's death... Together they embrace the violent rebellion in their hearts caused by the large, deep scars they carry. However, before long, they both embrace an earnest hope in their hearts. "I want to live"...

An adaptation of novel by South Korea's most popular female novelist, Gong Ji-Young.

Review:

You guys, I am so excited that Lynn put some manhwa on my to-read list for Sadie Hawkins Sunday. I love reading manga and manhwa, but I do not do it enough, because I mostly live from review copy to review copy. Also, this is totally a story I probably would have skipped left to my own devices, both because I'm not a fan of the cover art and because it sounds so depressing, and I'm still getting used to the idea I love depressing stories. Thanks, Lynn, for getting me to read something out of the usual, especially since I loved it!

Manhwa, for those who do not know, is the Korean equivalent of manga. Both manga and manhwa have a reputation for being melodramatic and crazy, which is perhaps rightly earned. I expected Our Happy Hours to fall into that category, but it is surprisingly melodrama-free. The subject is treated with the appropriate gravity, but nothing needless is added to up the emotional ante unnecessarily. The plot's not drawn out or over-complicated.

Juri tries to commit suicide for the third time. A former pianist, she now refuses to play and hates her mother, once a famous pianist. All Juri wants is to die, out of this life with untrustworthy people and nothing to live for. Her Aunt, the only good person in her life, is a nun, who works with death row inmates, trying to bring a bit of joy into their dreary lives while they went for the sentence to be carried out. She asks Juri to come speak with one of the inmates.

Unsurprisingly, Juri does not want to do so, but, given that she can do that or spend time in a mental institution, she agrees. Speaking with Yuu, a convicted murderer doomed to die, she opens up and is able to overcome her own mental blocks. She finds beauty in the world and connection. Though they come from completely opposite backgrounds (her: wealthy; him: a poor orphan, who had to prostitute himself), they have a lot in common and bond slowly. Their story is touching and tragic. Oh, the feels that I did not expect!

The writing, or at least the translation, was much stronger than usual, perhaps due to the fact that this is an adaptation of a novel. The art works quite well with the story, very shadowy. The conclusion does run a bit to the cheesy side, but everything else was perfect. Dark, emotional, and full of feels.

Rating: 4.5/5

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Up Next:
The next Sadie Hawkins Sunday book will be Modelland by Tyra Banks. Thanks for that, Stephanie Sinclair! :-p

Want to tell me what to read? Fill out THIS FORM with a book suggestion! For more details, check this post.

I'm a Fool - Stay

Very! Very! Sweet

Authors: JiSang Shin, Geo
Volumes: 8
Publisher: Yen Press

Brief Summary:
This series centers around a half-Japanese, half-Korean boy who has been sent to Korea to learn about that side of himself. Right away, he meets his neighbor Be-Ri. They do not hit it off at first, but end up becoming close simply for proximity's sake. The plot focuses on the romances of these two, their friends and family.

Review:
For a manhwa, Very! Very! Sweet has a tame plot. Manhwa seems, to me at least, to veer off on insane flights of fancy more so than manga. Well, maybe not more, but the situations always seem even weirder. One of the series I am reading, the heroine's sidekick is a cactus that can talk, has a girl's name (Beatrice), and changes into a boy once a month. Huh?! How did someone make that up? And, more importantly, why? Anyway, that was a long way of saying that this series doesn't do that.

This is fairly typical shoujo fare. It was pretty cute and kept me engaged fairly well. Unlike a lot of manga series, this one did not seem to carry on unnecessarily. The ending did not quite flush out all of the story elements I would have liked to see wrapped up, which was somewhat irritating. Most notable were the two cats, Gu-Nyang and Doki. They're pretty cute, although I do not care much for the art style used for Gu-Nyang. Still, I adore cats, and the authors seem to have captured cat behavior really well.

If you really like shoujo, then this one is worth reading, but I only recommend it to hardcore fans. There is better stuff out there.

"I’m even sorry that these words are so late
But I’m waiting here for you shamelessly
Will you by chance come back tomorrow?"

I Hate Everything About You - Three Days Grace

Sugarholic

Author: Gong GooGoo
Volumes: 5

Brief Summary:
This manhwa series follows a country girl, Jae-Gyu Sin, a 20 year old. After her mother and grandmother kick her out of the nest, she goes to the city to live with her older brother. She keeps bumping into and embarrassing a tall guy with curly hair, Whie-Hwan, who, through weird circumstances, she ends up working for as a pretend girlfriend. Meanwhile, her childhood friend, who has been in love with her for years and is now a pop star, is trying to win her affection, but she thinks he wants to revenge himself on her for her many childhood pranks.

Review:
Holy cow but this is one absurd story. I have read a lot of manga and manhwa (which is the Korean version of manga by the way and is read from front to back like American graphic novels) and have read many with crazier plots. Still, this one was not redeemed by being charming or anything. I really should have stopped after volume one...but it had some sort of dark power that kept me turning the pages, like I couldn't help but watch the car crash of badness.

Things that really bothered me about this series:

1. The art: manhwa has, in general, a very distinct look, which differs from manga. I prefer the Japanese style art, although some manhwa are gorgeous. This is not one of those. The characters are supposed to be attractive, but really are not. They are odd and misshapen with incredibly absurd hair. The thing that bothered me most though were the clothes. They were always insanely wrinkled, probably in an attempt to look natural that failed epically.
2. GooGoo? Really? There had to be a better way to convert that to English characters.
3. The main character nearly getting raped twice.
4. The obnoxious character who serves not purpose but to attempt rape on the main character, but who still shows up from time to time.
5. Jae-Gyu is insanely blind to her feelings and those of others. Beyond the point that is particularly natural or funny.
6. Jae-Gyu's best friend, who gets dropped from the plot and exists only so that guys can ask her how to contact Jae-Gyu.
7. The ending, which skips the romantic reconciliation blahdiblah and goes straight to the our future will be so glorious. The End.

I definitely do not recommend this, but I had to review just to get a good rant off my chest. Does it happen to others? This occasional inability to stop reading truly awful books?

"I hate everything about you
Why do I love you"