Bird Kiss Mini Review (manhwa)
November 2nd, 2007 by Lianne
PG-13 for mild violence and romantic hijinks; official series website
This little Korean title is a modern, high school retelling of the Frog Prince fairy tale…only with more hot boys and more bitchy girls. Overall, it’s pretty mediocre. Some girl likes the hot boy in school while ignoring the ugly boy who follows her around like a slave–and then, gasp!, that ugly boy turns out to be hot under his glasses and shaggy hair! Whereas that premise can make for some decent disposable shoujo entertainment, this series just isn’t done that well, with its largely unlikable cast and unsettling art. I’ve heard it gets better later on, but most medicore things do. Since this is a Mini Review, I’m stopping at my impression of Volume 1 unless more volumes fall into my hands–and since there are plenty of other manga out there more worthy of my money, I doubt that’s going to happen. I do, however, like the manhwaka’s visual depiction of the frog from the original fairy tale–he’s adorable and crazy-looking–and the decidely cute/girly pink covers.
Initial impression: Don’t bother unless you really need a shoujo fix. (Lianne)