Lee Joung-A - Chronicles of the Grim Peddler, vol. 01 (Eng. trans.)

[oyceter]

I actually bought this in Taiwan and read half of it, but I finished it here in English. (Taiwan flips manhwa! I feel cheated.)

I bought this purely on the basis of the cover and the face that it was about fairy tales. The cover doesn't lie: the art inside is just as gorgeous, if not moreso, with beautiful Art Nouveau lines and lots of stylization. Sadly, you can't seem to preview the art or see more of the interior at the official website.

I think the premise is that the Grim Peddler (nameless) sparks fairy tales into being or narrates them or somehow controls the flow of the story, and he does this by providing seeds that grow into people. Sleeping Beauty is one of these seeds, given to a desperate queen who wants a child. He lives with a young black-haired man who is occasionally a cat (also nameless), and said man/cat tends to get shoved into stories by the Peddler to make things go as they should. Unsurprisingly, each of the retold fairy tales is very different from the ones we're used to. The ones in this volume include Sleeping Beauty, Hansel and Gretel, the Little Mermaid, and an original fairy tale, which is sadly the most incomprehensible.

I don't think the manhwaga is doing anything particularly revisionist with any of the retellings, but I was rather amused by the twist on Hansel and Gretel. Also, did I mention the art was gorgeous? I'm guessing the rest of the series will be just as incomprehensible, but I may end up getting it anyway just for the pretty.

Comments

[meganbmoore.livejournal.com]

Ohhh...is this licensed? *is weak to anything that reeks of mythology/fairy tales/fables retold*

[octopedingenue]

Yes it is! Also licensed is Evyione, which is gender-swapped Little Mermaid and which you should read NOW NOW NOW DO NOT PASS GO DO NOT COLLECT TWO HUNDRED DOLLARS.

oyceter, thanks for reviewing this one! I gave it a pass in browsing because it looked like a less charismatic, more baby-crazed version of Petshop of Horrors, but now I'll check it out just for the pretty.

[oyceter]

Heee! Despite the premise, it actually doesn't feel very baby-crazed at all, although it is sort of incomprehensible. But pretty!

[oyceter]

It is indeed licensed, although I think not all Borders carry it (I found it in one, but not in another).

original but incomprehensible fairy tale

[(Anonymous)]

yea the last one rly was incomprehensible, i mean the ending, id like to noe wut rly happened tho... supposingly, the girl Joy ended up with Sesse?! even tho hes her uncle, and the little boy on the last pages were their son? o_o

[(Anonymous)]

This manwha has some of the best twists in fairytale that i have red in a long time, the last fairy tale you have to read like 3 times, you can understand, there is just a really big twist which confused me at first

[oyceter]

Hey, would you mind signing comments? I like getting to know my commenters ;).

I am... not sure if the volume does end up making sense in the end, and I think I've read too many fairy tale takes, because although some of the twists were interesting, none of them rewrote the tales in ways that made me sit up.

[(Anonymous)]

how could you not under stand it. I admit it dose get a little catchy but it explains it pretty well in the end.

Yours truly
Akatsuki

[(Anonymous)]

you know, I read the whole book over and over again, because the twist is quite far from the original grim tales but that's what I like about it. Plus the art is magnificent and beautiful as you have notice I would be happy to get a copy. I also am very pleased with this article and seeing how others think in stuff like this. please write another article on the second volume

Yours truly
Akatsuki

[oyceter]

Heh, I would, except I haven't read it!