Marley - Dokebi Bride, vol. 01-04 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

Sunbi is the granddaughter of a powerful shaman, although she's never really learned to exercise her own powers. But when her grandmother dies, she moves into the big city with her father, stepmother and stepsister. But this doesn't mean she's left the spirit world behind.

I had a very hard time getting into the first volume a year or so ago because the art style put me off; the spirits and monsters are appropriately scary, but there's stiffness to the human figures that I found annoying. But after trying a reread, I was fascinated by the world in the first volume, particularly of Sunbi and her grandmother's connection to their village. This may be why I wasn't as enthusiastic about latter volumes, which are set in the city. Also, though this may just be because my brain is on vacation, I could not for the life of me figure out a plot arc. Sunbi has to deal with the spirit world influence even as she's trying to do mundane things like stay awake in class. And then the whole "bride" part of the title came in, only more as comedic relief, and I was even more confused.

I do like the exploration of Sunbi's mother and how she died, and when the manhwa focuses on that, it's wonderful and creepy and strange. But I'm not overly fond of the new dokebi hanging out with Sunbi, and I still can't figure out what's going on, so I'm not sure if I'll keep reading.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

This is probably my favorite manhwa, but I do agree it isn't for everyone. I'm somewhat neutral on the city parts. On the one hand, I like the modern world/traditional world clash, but a lot of the city characters aren't overly interesting. There does seem to be a bit more of a central plot a little bit later, but I think it will remain largely stand-alone.

Vague spoilers for future volumes regarding the things you pointed out regarding likes/dislikes. Pretty much right after this, Sunbi starts encountering more of Korea's supernatural world, both urban and in the country. There's the seedy side of life, more nostalgic "old timey" places clinging to the past, and small town life. There's also another priestess who shakes things up and challenges Sunbi's beliefs and security, and more recently someone who is Up To Something, which seems to be bringing in a more central plot. At some point, Sunbi also deals with her issues with her mother, and we get a better look into her life.