Bride of the Water God
Posted on | April 9, 2009 | 8 Comments
Bride of the Water God Volume 1 by Mi-Kyung Yun
Does exquisitely pretty art compensate for lack of plot? Bride of the Water God tells the story of Soah, a young girl from a drought stricken village. At an early age she’s set aside as a candidate for sacrifice to the Water God Habaek. When she’s sacrificed she’s rescued instead of drowning and transported to Suguk, the land of the gods. Suguk is filled with floating islands, fish shaped hot air balloons, and an exceptionally attractive pantheon of gods.
Soah wanders aimlessly through a beautiful palace and meets her husband. Habaek appears in the form of a petulant child. At night his other form is that of a mature man, but when Soah sees a handsome fellow who looks suspiciously like her husband he introduces himself as Mui and Soah assumes that he’s Habaek’s cousin.
There isn’t much narrative urgency to the events that unfold in Bride of the Water God. The relationship between Soah and Habaek is burdened by constraints. Soah’s mother-in-law is rumored to be a vengeful goddess. Unforeseen dangers lurk in the land of the gods. This mahwa would seem dangerously inert, but it is made much more interesting by the detailed art. The world of Suguk is filled with vivid backgrounds and attractive gods wearing intricate costumes. While I wish there was a clearer narrative direction, I’ll likely check out the next couple volumes of this series to see if a plot that’s worthy of the art eventually develops.
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8 Responses to “Bride of the Water God”
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April 10th, 2009 @ 7:57 am
That’s a little disappointing to hear. I have been wanting to pick it up for awhile but held myself back.
April 11th, 2009 @ 6:35 am
Really liked this at first, liked the art a lot, which was also much praised by almost every other review I read of it. However, the storyline (besides reminding me of meruperi) was way way too slow slow slow…I haven’t finished it and not sure if I will since I’ve kinda forgotten what I read in the first volumes.
April 15th, 2009 @ 6:09 am
[...] Manga) Michelle Smith on Battlestar Galactica: Echoes of New Caprica (Manga Recon) Tangognat on vol. 1 of Bride of the Water God (Tangognat) Lori Henderson on vol. 1 of Dinosaur Hour (Comics Village) Greg McElhatton on A [...]
April 15th, 2009 @ 9:33 am
For me the answere is yes, the art does compensate. And even though the plot moves slowly, especially in the beginning (and later in the series when flashbacks take over), it’s enough to keep me engaged and interested. But yes, I can see how other people might get impatient.
June 18th, 2009 @ 12:08 am
[...] History of the West Wing is worth a look. I felt that this book was much less satisfying than Bride of the Water God, another example of pretty art and patchy storytelling. Tags: yen press [...]
July 12th, 2009 @ 8:00 pm
I rather liked this story, everything sort of begins to unfurl at the end.
For all those readers who said it had a poor storyline and etc, keep in mind, it’s a comic, no need to criticize it as much as you would a college thesis.
/roll eyes.
June 14th, 2010 @ 1:33 am
I read it up to chapter 80 . Art : 5/5 . Plot 4/5 . Plot evolving : 4/5 .
September 1st, 2011 @ 11:19 pm
Although the art was the first thing that attracted me to pick up the book. I love the plot/story line. I’m very disappointed whoever made the summary up above, sounded like the person don’t know what he/she is talking about.