Manga Review: 12 Days

[Floating_Sakura]

Title: 12 Days
Artist: June Kim
Publisher: Tokyopop
Price: $9.99US/ $12.99 CAD/ £6.99 UK

12 Days tells the unusual story of Jackie, who is holding a ritual for her dead lover, Noah. In 12 days, she plans on drinking all of Noah's ashes, mixed with water, wine, smoothie, or other liquids in order to forget Noah quickly. The story progresses in a mostly lineal chronology where we witness the progress of Jackie's ritual to Noah. Through various flashbacks, we learn of Jackie and Noah's story.

The art style for 12 Days is the most eye-catching element of the story -- it has a very pop illustrational style that gives it more degrees of realism. The story has a calm, melancholy and lyrical tone, which makes 12 Days a unique art literature. To match the literary storyboards, June Kim has chosen a very non comic-like font, which I think gives the desired effect that he was hoping for.

I have a couple of problems with 12 Days though, especially with the font. I like the font type, but the problem I have is not with the type but the size. The font size throughout remains huge, which looks fine on the bigger bubbles, but on the smaller bubbles and panels, the text really draws attention away from the artwork. The other problem I have with 12 Days is the confusing chronology. Sure, the story takes on a mostly lineal progression, but the occasional flashbacks don't seem obvious enough to me sometimes, especially the first time I read the volume. After gripping the story better and knowing the characters better, the flashback appears obvious to me the second time I read it.

Overall, I do enjoy 12 Days a lot and I definitely want to recommend it to anyone who is looking for something different, something that breaks the traditional comic or manga style, with a serious plot.

Reviewed by: Floating_Sakura
Proofed by: Natarle
Edited by: Firedog

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