Bride of the Water God

Title:  Bride of the Water God
Korean Title:  Habaek-eui Shinbu
Manhwaga:  Yun Mi-kyung
Length:  14 Volumes (Ongoing)
English Translation?  Yes, 10 volumes so far by Dark Horse Comics.
Demo/Genre:  Shoujo (or whatever the Korean equivalent of shoujo is)/Fantasy/Historical/Romance/Drama)

How did I find out about it?  Not sure...I think I just kept seeing the name pop up on mangareader and decided to click on it one day.

To end the long drought that has caused much suffering in a small village, a girl is sacrificed to be the bride of the Water God, Habaek (gee, I wonder where the title for the manga came from).  That girl is Soah, and though she hears that the Water God is a monstrous being, she is shocked to learn that he is a small child and that Water Country is a beautiful place.  As she becomes accustomed to life in Water Country, she meets a young man named Mui and falls for him, not realizing that Mui and Habaek are one and the same.  A curse placed upon him forces him to lose his powers and bear the appearance of a child during the day and return to his true form at night.  Living in the world of the gods, Soah learns that all is not peaceful and the power struggles threaten to envelop the new life she has adopted.

I want to begin by saying that the artwork is drop-dead gorgeous.  I don't think that I've ever read a more beautiful manga/manhwa.  I may not be overly fond of the style in which the faces are drawn, but everything else in this manhwa is laced with elegance.  The costumes, the backgrounds, and the environments are all intricately detailed.  This series is well worth the read if only to appreciate the art.

The story is slow.  No point mincing words.  I like the story, but I think if about 40-50 chapters had been cut and the story condensed, this manhwa could have been something spectacular.  None of the characters stood out as particularly "awesome" to me, though I did like Soah and Mui.  I was more enthralled by the style of the characters.  I love the manner of speech.  It's so regal and elegant.  Every move these characters make seems to be full of grace.  That, combined with the plot, yields a positive reaction from me.  While the plot is slow, I love the intrigue.  Who is pulling whose strings?  Exactly whose side is everybody on?  What are their true goals?  The fact that this series can keep me interested in the answers to these questions is good.

While it's not one of my favorites, I do think fondly of BotWG.  Will I be collecting it?  I'm not yet, but I think I really would like to someday.  I have some others on my "must have" list though that I need to nab before I move on to this one though.