Manga Review: Mana

[Jason]

Title: Mana
Manhwaga: Vin Lee
Originally Serialized In: Wink (Seoul Cultural)
Status in Korea: Ongoing
Current Length: 3 Volumes
Genre: Shoujo
Scanlated by: Entropy

Zion, sweet and timid high-school student, as well as self-proclaimed wimp, is approached by two strangers who ask her if she believes in Confucianist moral doctrines. Unable to extricate herself from the conversation, she finds herself at a temple performing sacrificial rites to ancestral gods. As a result of that ill-fated meeting, Zion is followed home by a ghost named Miro. Miro isn't your traditional run-of-of-the-mill ghost, either. He's so hot that he looks effeminate, and sports a glam-rock style that would put Axel Rose to shame. Zion has led a quiet life as the daughter of a pastor and is ill equipped to deal with someone of Miro’s wild and ebullient character and this is just the beginning of her problems. Not only is she doomed to be haunted by Miro, but she has also somehow been given the ability to commune with the dead.

Flash forward to a year later and Zion has been utterly transformed. Now a college student, she is bold and brash, sporting a goth chick style with lots of makeup and leather. She has the face of angel and the sensibilities of a truck driver. The shy girl from a year ago is all but gone. She's also an exorcist for hire—an occupation that alienates her from most of her classmates. But that's okay, since Zion doesn't need anyone. That is, until she meets Hyeon-Seo. I don’t want to give the whole story away, but let’s just say that falling in love puts things into a whole other perspective for Zion, most often with hilarious results.

The reason I was so interested in this title is because I've read a few series by Vin Lee, most notably One, which is complete at eleven volumes and released by Tokyopop. She's very well known in her native Korea for both One and Crazy Love Story, but I believe that this is her best work to date. It's funny, the art is great, and as the title would suggest, it weaves a spell around you. Mana is, without a doubt, the most addictive manhwa I’ve read in a long time, probably since Sugar Addiction, and I’m clamoring for more.

Entropy, as always, does a superior job of editing and translating. The scans are clean and even, plus the translation flows well. They’re currently well into the second volume. The series is three volumes long and ongoing in Korea.

Mana’s not going to change lives, or bring world peace, but it’s infinitely amusing and I highly recommend it.

Reviewer: Ailen Lujo
Proofer/Editor: Lissa Pattillo