Manga Review: Saver Volume 1

[Floating_Sakura]

Title: Saver volume 1
Author: Eun-Young Lee
Publisher: Tokyopop, 2006
Price: USD 9.99/CAD 12.99/GBP 6.99
Genre: Shoujo, Drama


Saver tells the story of Lena, an imposing and charismatic but emotionally withdrawn teenager. Most of the volume establishes Lena's background as the daughter of a single mother, develops her budding romance with Hyun-Min, and expands on the social challenges of being captain of the high-school Kumdo (the Korean equivalent of Japanese kendo) team, and the consequences of increasing animosity, expressed through violence, from her father's wife. However, from the prologue onward, there is a hidden hint of something deeper going on in an alternate universe that will have profound consequences on these intrigues that Lena suffers through.

The storytelling is a curious mixture of gripping and mediocre. On the one hand, the characterization is minimal and schematic to the point of one-dimensionality; the plot is melodramatic and implausible; the flow of action, both visually and verbally communicated, is choppy, episodic, and disorienting, to such a point that it's often difficult to figure out who's who, what's going on, and whether it was important. On the other hand, the characters manage to be compelling despite their oversimplification; the fast-paced plot and dramatic styling give it a feeling of great motion, as if great things are happening; and the small glimpses of the alternate universe and hints of future interaction between the universes lend the story a dramatic tension that maintains suspense throughout the first volume. As stringently picky and critical as I am about technique, I found myself enjoying this book in spite of myself, in the same way that I enjoyed fantasy novels before I discovered comic books.

This first book is definitely an introduction, a beginning. It sets up the plot, hinting at some central conflicts, but it does not yet set a decided direction. Having read it, I am interested in which direction it will go, but I reserve judgment on whether it's worth holding my breath over the series as a whole: that will depend on the second book, especially on whether the author can maintain the same level of suspense, or replace it with something better. At this point, I would recommend Saver to someone interested in a fantasy adventure, dramatically heavy, with a bad-ass female lead.

Reviewed by: anitra
Proofed by: RainyFrog
Edited by: Firedog

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