Goong

Title:  Goong
Manhwaga:  So-Hee Park
Length:  27 Volumes (Completed)
English Translation?  Yes.  16 Volumes so far by Yen Press (omnibus starting from volume 9)
Demo/Genre:  Shoujo/Slice-of-Life/Romance/Comedy/Drama

How did I hear about it?  It was recommended by an otaku friend.

The story takes place in a fictional version of modern-day South Korea in which the royal family still exists.  Chae-Kyung is just your average high school girl.  However, she happens to attend the same high school as Shin, the Crown Prince.  A few awkward encounters between the two leave them with a low opinion of each other.  When Shin receives pressure from his parents to marry, he is informed that if he cannot find someone suitable, they have a long-since arranged marriage to fall back on.  When the only girl in his life turns down the caged life of royalty, he is slated to marry...Chae-Kyung.  Yeah, who saw that one coming?  It turns out that her grandfather was a close friend of the late former King and was the only person to treat him as a man and not a royal.  To thank him for his friendship, he arranged the marriage of their grandchildren.  Chae-Kyung and Shin begin their tumultuous relationship as man and wife, but can they truly learn to love each other?

At first, I rejected the artstyle.  Then, as I read, it grew on me until I found it to be beautiful.  I absolutely love it now.  Also, her SD drawings are absolutely RIDICULOUS, but in a funny way.  Seriously, it's so outrageous that it's hilarious.  If you don't like the art at first, give it a bit.  You might be like me and just need it to grow on you.

I really liked Chae-Kyung.  She's spunky, independent, and willful.  Most importantly, she doesn't put up with Shin's shit.  At the start, Shin is an asshole.  There's no sense mincing words.  He's an outright asshole.  Usually, that doesn't fly with me in manga (Black Bird, anyone?).  However, I feel that it's a compliment to the manhwaga that she created an asshole that I wanted to get to know better.  I felt that there was more to him, and I wanted to stick around to watch him grow.  I'm really glad that I did.  His cold and selfish exterior slowly melts away until he becomes someone worthy of Chae-Kyung's love, yet it never feels like he becomes someone else.  His growth and development feel like a natural reaction to his circumstances, so it doesn't feel out of character at all.  I loved watching Shin mature throughout the series.  I said before that Chae-Kyung doesn't put up with him, but then I turned around and pointed out that she loved him, indicating that she felt that way even before he "became worthy" of her.  I wasn't necessarily contradicting myself.  After she realizes how she has come to feel about him, she even tells someone (one of her only confidants) that her love for him isn't because of who he is, but what he is.  She's been placed in a completely different world, cut off from her friends and family, and he is the only constant in her life right now, and the only person she can rely on.  Had it have been someone else, she would have fallen for them, too.  Just because she loved him on some level, she didn't sacrifice her dignity.  When he picked a fight, she stood her ground and bared her teeth (figuratively and literally.  She bit him once, haha).  That being said, I don't doubt her love for him in the slightest.  I believe it may have started that way, but as Shin came to love her as well (and manned up, so to speak), I believe she genuinely fell in love with him.  I cannot express how much I love Chae-Kyung and Shin.  IMO, they were very well-written characters, and they made this series for me.

There was a turning point in the plot, and I've read that many readers didn't like what was happening so much.  Many say that it slowed the series down and frustrated them.  For me, I actually really loved it.  Though, I'll admit that my love for this plot point is heavily influenced by an outside source.  You see, there was a conspiracy between James Blunt and my iTunes that resulted in me loving this manhwa immensely and being so moved by what happened that I actually cried.  I friggin' CRIED.  And it's all James Blunt's fault.  And my iTunes.  They worked together on that one.  James Blunt wrote a very appropriate song, and my iTunes just happened to land on it at just the right time.  Shuffle, my ASS.  It's a CONSPIRACY, I tell ya.  Anyway, outside source be damned, I loved the drama.  Every time I hear that song, I think of Chae-Kyung and Shin, and my heart aches.  Who cares how I came to love something?  It just matters that I do.  Oh, and I can't tell you what song.  If you haven't read the series, it would be an uber-spoiler.  I don't think that it would be hard to figure out though (the plot or the spoiler).  Still, I shall retain my silence.

I doubt the pic is a spoiler.  If you can't read the premise and figure out that our two protagonists will eventually fall in love, then you clearly haven't read much shoujo... O_o  I had to choose it because it was one of the most beautiful pages I've encountered.  See, this is my sappy side.  It's small, but it does exist.

In summation... Goong is laugh out loud funny, yet very moving and beautiful.  The lead characters are spectacularly written, though the supporting cast is a bit lacking.  Though the series has completed its run in South Korea, the scanlations are a little behind, so I haven't been able to finish the series yet.  I can't wait to see how it ends!  Yen Press is releasing the manga in the US, but don't be fooled by the volume numbers!  Starting with Vol. 9, they packed 2 volumes into each one.  So though they've released twelve physical volumes of Goong, it actually covers volumes 1-16 of the original release.  Does that make sense?  Anyway, I am in the process of collecting it right now, and I have four volumes so far.