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citrus_seasalt 's review for:
The Fox Maidens
by Robin Ha
While I had a couple issues with the pacing, and the kind of tropey Mulan-esque feminist warrior story in the beginning, I enjoyed the consistent twists, exploration of trauma, blood splatter, and the ever-expanding story. (Kai’s story continued at points when I thought it would end, and I don’t mean that in a negative way.) I also liked how Gumiho was characterized as both a monster and a savior, and the different ways Kai lived within her identity as a fox spirit, especially while coping with her own grief. I also liked that we got to see Kai’s lover throughout different points of the story, she had a tense side plot and I liked eventually seeing her and Kai’s stories converge. Points added for the rainbow colored on the pages when Kai saved/resurrected her lmfaoo
The integration of different Korean terminology was casual(although it was kind of jarring to look from the words to their explanations at the bottom of the page), and contributed to the setting! (I would’ve liked to see the prayers written in their actual characters though, and not just incredibly simplified.) The definitions throughout and their placing definitely reminded me of the translator notes given in various manga. The characters were also pretty grounded in the setting, from the historical clothing in their designs, to their motivations within a deeply patriarchal and classist society.
This story is so cruel to its main characters that it genuinely surprised me??? But as someone who grew up reading YA fantasy comic series like Bone, the darkness and the emotions—but the definitively teenage audience(I think it shows sometimes in the writing style)—was strangely nostalgic. Perhaps that’s also why I didn’t mind the simplistic art style. (I thought the chapter title cards were beautiful, but not many other pages stuck out to me aside from the panels of murder or landscapes.)
I think my middle school self would’ve loved this to pieces. A grittier story with depth, and sapphic romance sprinkled throughout—but only brought to fruition in a dramatic ending? Absolutely.
The integration of different Korean terminology was casual(although it was kind of jarring to look from the words to their explanations at the bottom of the page), and contributed to the setting! (I would’ve liked to see the prayers written in their actual characters though, and not just incredibly simplified.) The definitions throughout and their placing definitely reminded me of the translator notes given in various manga. The characters were also pretty grounded in the setting, from the historical clothing in their designs, to their motivations within a deeply patriarchal and classist society.
This story is so cruel to its main characters that it genuinely surprised me??? But as someone who grew up reading YA fantasy comic series like Bone, the darkness and the emotions—but the definitively teenage audience(I think it shows sometimes in the writing style)—was strangely nostalgic. Perhaps that’s also why I didn’t mind the simplistic art style. (I thought the chapter title cards were beautiful, but not many other pages stuck out to me aside from the panels of murder or landscapes.)
I think my middle school self would’ve loved this to pieces. A grittier story with depth, and sapphic romance sprinkled throughout—but only brought to fruition in a dramatic ending? Absolutely.