Yohan and Yoonsung are incredibly sweet together, and the plot is getting really interesting - if a bit complicated.
I don't totally understand the timYohan and Yoonsung are incredibly sweet together, and the plot is getting really interesting - if a bit complicated.
I don't totally understand the timing on Donga meeting Yohan; he says Yohan saved his life after he'd been abandoned by Chunho, but the two of them have probably only spent something like twenty years together, and Chunho had definitely been in heaven with the Jade Emperor for longer than that. So there's still some muddiness in exactly what happened to Donga and how he found his way to a human boy with little spirital energy.
His grandmother, however, was such a powerful shaman that she became an important person in the underworld after she passed. Is that why Yohan has odd powers that surprise all the spirits and gods he meets? Still not entirely clear on what happened with his mother, but it sounds like she hated her mother's powers, tried to take on a spirit to save her son from that fate, but picked up an evil spirit (?) that drove her crazy.
If that's true, then it seems a little unfair for Yohan to hate her so much; shouldn't his grandmother have tried to expel that spirit instead of letting her fall apart?
Anyway, we're traveling through the underworld now because somehow Yoonsung has gotten caught up in Chunho's declining health as well, so they need the god of the underworld to figure out what's going on and restore him.
The red phoenix god accompanies Donga and Yohan - who accidentally slips through with them, despite that supposedly not being possible for a living human - and plots how to kill Donga, Yohan, and their reaper guide. He and the blue dragon spirit are very against the idea of letting "random" spirits into heaven and distrust this black magpie, Donga, who seems to have been draining their white tiger god's energy.
It's pretty obvious at this point that Donga is the lost crow triplet who'd fallen from the heavens ages ago and had been presumed dead all this time. I'm not sure how the Jade Emperor, for one, wasn't able to recognize him, but I guess maybe his energy feels pretty different because he's spent all of his life in the human domain.
The good news: Donga will be able to ascend to heaven with his love, Chunho. But what about Yohan? Their bond is just as important, in its own way, and Yohan will be devastated to lose his brother and his best friend.
Speaking of brothers...it's heartbreaking that Yoonsung was literally born just to save his older brother's life through (ultimately failed) bone marrow transplants. It is something parents do...and it doesn't mean they didn't love him for his own merit...but to hear that as a child, and to grow up and understand what it'd meant that you hadn't actually been wanted on your own, and that you'd failed your birth task...it's a wonder that Yoonsung grew up so self-assured and gentle.
Sidenote: I guess we've forgotten about him being a Christian etc and all that super cute stuff in the first volume about him refusing to acknowledge spirits. I guess he can't ignore all the deeply spiritual stuff going on in his life now.
I'm surprised to find that Yohan's grandmother is actually very kind, and very welcoming of her grandson's sexuality. She's happy he finally found love, and she'd known for most of his life that he'd ultimately find happiness with another man. It's a sweet little moment on the road to the underworld.
Only one volume left, with lots to wrap up! Let's see if it's done in a satisfying way....more
So that conclusion was...hm. Keeping it at four stars because it did make me cry, but there was a lot crammed into this volume, and some missing pieceSo that conclusion was...hm. Keeping it at four stars because it did make me cry, but there was a lot crammed into this volume, and some missing pieces I'd really thought would get resolved.
We did a little bit of a speed-run through all of the reveals: black crow Donga (although we don't see him taking on his heavenly duties or becoming close with his brothers), super powerful shaman Yohan who'd been unknowingly keeping Donga alive with his power, the villainous red fox and the tragedy that separated Donga and Chunho, the way Donga died and came back to life with the underworld king's help (to spite his heavenly brother), Yoonsung finally releasing his own sorrow and guilt over his brother's death, Chunho's power being restored, the red phoenix being in a relationship with the main reaper...
Like I said, a whole lot going on. The pacing was okay, since a lot of it had been built up for a while anyway, with this volume just serving as the payoff/confirmation for many of the threads.
The one thing that bugs me is that after six volumes, the title still doesn't actually apply.
So, in order to save Yoonsung, whose body has been separated from his soul for too long - weakened by Chunho's declining state and by his inability to separate from the memories of his brother - they have to retrieve some special flowers from the underworld. These are tended by Princess Bari, who I guess is a Korean legend - something other readers would've probably known from the beginning.
The flowers require great sacrifice, so the only way for Yohan to retrieve the flowers and save Yoonsung's life is for him to give up the thing that matters the most to him. The Princess Bari gave up ten years of her life for whatever bargain she made, which frankly seems pretty unfair considering Yohan's sacrifice: all of his spiritual powers, which includes the ability to see and speak with Donga.
The part I didn't entirely love here is that while it made sense for him to struggle with choosing between his best friend, the brother and platonic soulmate who'd been by his side since he was four years old - or the new love of his life, the boyfriend who would die without this sacrifice - Yohan didn't actually get to make the choice. He was still crying about it and trying to bargain for a different arrangement when Donga just shoved him into the flowers and out of the underworld.
Yohan would have made that choice himself, ultimately. Why wasn't he allowed the narrative freedom to do so? It felt cheap and unfair.
The emotional weight of the loss was still very much present, though, and all the scenes of Donga leaving him plum blossom branches to show he was there, and Yoonsung sharing messages while he could still see Donga and Chunho, was handled really well.
And I do love the epilogue, with Yohan and Yoonsung getting married - with Yoonsung's parents and a ton of other guests present! - and Donga and Chunho moving heaven and earth to make sure it all went off without a hitch...while getting hitched themselves.
But I'll be honest, I was expecting the epilogue to be some sort of a time jump, with Yohan becoming Prince Bari, tending the flowers in the underworld, and receiving regular visits from Donga. I feel like that is the ultimate end of the story, but I guess the complication there is the same issue Yohan ran into to begin with...what about his husband's human lifespan? Will Yoonsung be able to live in the underworld with Yohan, too, or will he have to pass on to wherever the other humans go?
I guess that was one step too far in plotting out the distant futures for these characters, so at least I can imagine a happy ending that lets all four of them be friends for something approximating eternity. At least they did get their respective happy endings in the human and heavenly worlds, and the plot was a pretty interesting and mostly well thought out one, with no real villains (other than that dang fox)....more
Making lots of progress in both the relationships.
Yohan and Yoonsung are still kind of the backseat couple, but they're very cute. We have confirmatiMaking lots of progress in both the relationships.
Yohan and Yoonsung are still kind of the backseat couple, but they're very cute. We have confirmation that Yohan's grandmother was a shaman, and while I don't know what the deal is with his mother, it's clear that he felt rejected and unwanted by his family. Maybe because of his limited powers?
I wonder if we'll find out why he's not much of a shaman but is able to see and speak with all the spirits, including the Jade Emperor, who seems surprised by a random human being able to talk with him so easily. Maybe there's some connection to how he and Donga became tied together, or even how Donga came back to life? Since it appears that he'd died, or been presumed died, centuries earlier.
The mystery illness in Yoonsung's office was a little bit pointless, but there were a few good elements from it, including some nice lectures on what it means to be a good boss (setting a good example and ensuring your employees aren't pressured to work when they're ill) and a little bit of backstory about his family. His parents were a bit distant, too, and he felt weighted with the responsibility of carrying on the family name for both himself and the beloved brother who'd died young.
Not expecting that Yohan will get to meet Yoonsung's family in this series, but it would be interesting.
Again, Donga and Chunho really are the driving force behind the story - we finally get a good amount of their backstory and the time lapses of them falling love. It's sweet and sorrowful and it appears that the Jade Emperor had been performing what he'd thought was a kindness by wiping Chunho's memories. Although now he's forcing Chunho back to heaven without explaining any of the reasons behind it...sounds like he needs a lesson of his own on how to be a good boss.
Are we ever going to find out who Prince Bari is, by the way? What is that title about, because I haven't seen it pop up yet....more
Finally getting into some really fascinating territory!
I'm relieved to find that the date at the end of volume 2 wasn't actually the turning point in Finally getting into some really fascinating territory!
I'm relieved to find that the date at the end of volume 2 wasn't actually the turning point in the Yohan/Yoonsung relationship. They're spending most of this volume trying to navigate the awkwardness that comes from emerging feelings and too little communication.
It turns out that bright, chatty, seemingly outgoing Yohan is actually a really insecure, shy person without much experience in any kinds of relationships, including friendships. I'm not sure what exactly what was going on with his family - was his grandmother a more powerful shaman? - but he felt isolated and unwanted from an early age, and this carried throughout school and into adulthood. His only friend was his spirit familiar, Donga, whom he obviously couldn't introduce to anyone else.
So when he starts feeling a connection with Yoonsung, he really has no idea what to do. Is it just friendship - something he's already not familiar with? Is it...something more, that he's afraid to name?
Yoonsung seems much more confident in his feelings for Yohan, but since he's not the most talkative person, he mostly lets Yohan stew and stir himself into a frenzy, and then does his best to bring things into the light...which results in him kissing Yohan and Yohan panicking again.
They're working on it, but it's taking a while.
Meanwhile, Chunho is trying to puzzle out what his connection with Donga is. He does remember Donga...as a stranger who abruptly slapped him the moment he came down from the heavens. The problem is, when he'd become the Jade Emperor's righthand general, the heavenly tiger, he'd completely lost all his memories of his much more mundane life on earth, as the river tiger who'd clearly been very close to Donga.
It'll take a while for Donga to share more information about that, but we're slowly getting there.
A more pressing problem: for some reason Yoonsung's office is boiling over with "grudges" that are infecting him and all his employees with a mystery illness. Chunho and Donga are working on unpacking the reasons behind it, but Chunho is a little too distracted by strange feelings for Donga that don't seem entirely new......more
Still in the 3.5 star range; the translation feels a little wobbly in places, so I suspect that with a bit more polish, I might be more thoroughly engStill in the 3.5 star range; the translation feels a little wobbly in places, so I suspect that with a bit more polish, I might be more thoroughly engrossed in this story. The depth and complications of all the backstories and multiple identities from different time periods, etc is reminding me a lot of danmei at the moment - which has more space to develop more complex narratives.
I'm a bit sad that the relationship between Yohan and Yoonsung is kind of thinly developed. Other than their sleeping arrangements and Yohan missing Yoonsung when he goes on a business trip, they don't get a lot of space to actually spend time together. We're not seeing that bond build, really.
The date at the end was cute, though, and I'm hopeful that they'll have more emotional development as the series goes on. There was some interesting stuff in this volume; it turned out to be less mystery of the week and more "oh, people can be gay?" realizations from Yoonsung and Yohan, especially. It had never occurred to Yohan that any of the people coming to him for relationship advice might've been talking about same-sex partners or crushes. A real gap for a supposed shaman!
The translation (I think) made some of this less impactful and a bit confusing. Why would the reaper refer to the person as "he" when it was very clear that everyone but Yohan knew the ill-fated crush was a girl? The pronouns should've been gender neutral at that point to lead up to the reveal, as readers found out alongside Yohan.
Otherwise, this storyline was really heartfelt and healing. A girl who'd grown up around a lot of intolerant people (classmates, friends, family members) was so afraid of revealing her sexuality that she hid it from everyone, including the best friend she eventually fell in love with. Then when that friend confessed to her, she thought she'd "tainted" her friend with her curse somehow - an idea implanted by her parents' hate and ignorance - and soaked herself in so much self-hatred she eventually got marked for an early death.
Donga and Chunho working together to bring these two into better communication pathways was nicely done, both for that storyline and for Donga's gradual acceptance of the tiger he'd been so angry about living with.
At this point, it's kind of seeming like the primary plotline is actually Donga/Chunho. We've already gotten some of their backstory, with their first meeting, and at the end of this volume, Chunho finally sees Donga in his truer adult form.
Again...translation weirdness? Plot messiness? Supposedly it's harder for Donga to maintain his child form, and he says he was hiding his true form so Chunho wouldn't recognize him, but Yohan also says it's been 5 or 6 years since he'd last seen Donga in that form, which...logistically just doesn't work. Something's messy in all those explanations.
Still, interesting developments, with much more on the horizon. I'm liking Chunho; he could've been an irritating character, but he seems like he has a genuinely good heart.
Oh, also interesting and cute: Donga has been by Yohan's side since Yohan was really small (and treated terribly by his mother). I'm expecting to get some more of the reasoning behind that, as well as why Donga is connected to Yohan whereas Chunho can move around however he pleases. Is Chunho just naturally stronger, or has Donga locked away some of his power? I guess a magpie is naturally more delicate than a tiger....more
3.5 stars? Could be 4, since it is interesting but I can't really tell where the story is going just yet.
While Yohan Kim is set up as a con artist wh3.5 stars? Could be 4, since it is interesting but I can't really tell where the story is going just yet.
While Yohan Kim is set up as a con artist who just uses social media posts to inform his highly successful shaman business, it's not entirely accurate. He does have a little bit of power; he can see spirits and has a magpie familiar, a spirit who's at least hundreds of years old and occasionally helps him out with readings if he wasn't able to gather enough information on his own.
Things get more complicated, though, when a quiet businessman with no social media business walks in for his appointment...with a tiger spirit of his own following along behind him.
So far the story leans pretty heavily on humor. Yoongsung Baek stubbornly insists he can't see the spirit, despite repeatedly sneaking glances at him while saying this, and clearly overhearing all the conversations that regular people remain completely unaware of, due to a barrier that separates ordinary people from the spirit world.
There's no explanation so far as to why Yohan can see spirits, how Donga started living with him, or why General Baekho chose to harass Yoongsung. Since it's a six volume series, I'm assuming there will be a lot of backstory unpacking later on.
For now, the focus is on forming a strange little family, with the General insisting on the four of them living together. He seems to have some divine mission (punishment?) from heaven, requiring him to help humans, possibly to fulfill a certain quota that will allow him to return. That could turn this into a bit of a mystery of the week series, considering the unresolved case we cut out in the middle of at the end of this volume, but we'll see.
Meanwhile, the General is forcing Yohan and Yoongsung to share a bedroom and a futon, which is resulting in a lot of blushing and nighttime cuddling. Pretty clear that one of his helpful missions is playing matchmaker.
There's possibly some history between the two spirits, too, although I'm wondering if any of that was a case of mistaken identity, with Donga reading the General's name as "river tiger" instead of the actual "heavenly tiger." He did get the General's age right, though - 1,000 years old - which means Donga is probably the same, just appearing in a younger form.
Who left Donga a thousand years earlier? What made that person forget their memories? Is the General that same person, and how long will it take them to make up, if so?
Lots of questions raised in this opening volume....more
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