Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun from Infinity Studios... my review

[slerch666]

AS A DISCLAIMER, I also posted this same review on Infinity Studio's message boards. Hope no one minds that I'm sharing it here as well.

Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun is a Manwha released in the English language for the North American market by Infinity Studios LLC. Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun is the prequel series to NOW and was illustrated/written by Sung-Woo-Park of NOW fame.

Content

The story goes that in the kingdom of Goguryeo, a martial artist named O’Rhang Yhun’ is assigned a task by his master who is lying upon his deathbed. This task is to deliver a message to his eldest brother (explained in the title’s footnotes, this isn’t O’Rhang’s blood brother, but an elder member of the clan) whom the master wishes to have return from fighting in enemy territory. Unfortunately just as O’Rhang is to depart for his mission, his master dies and the 2nd eldest brands him a traitor who is defecting to the enemy’s side. The 2nd eldest sets the Goguryeo army upon O’Rhang.

Left for dead in the wilderness, O’Rhang, who believes himself to be dying, sees a vision of a beautiful woman descending upon him. Believing it to be an angel coming to collect his soul, he fades into darkness only to reawaken sometime later in a run down village besieged by bandits.

Who was the beautiful woman? Will O’Rhang accomplish his mssion? And just what are the evil machinations of Pa Goon Sung? Come explore the beginning of what seems to be a wonderfully told and beautifully illustrated story of romance, action and sinister plots!

Presentation/Packaging

Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun is presented in a larger than normal size format. The pages are wider and taller than “regular” Manga/Manwha. This makes for the text to be a bit larger along with the artwork, which is a very nice change. The paper is also of a higher brightness than most other company’s Manga/Manwha, but slightly less so than other titles by Infinity Studios.

I’m not sure if it is a side effect of the larger format or if this was as the original artwork was given to Infinity Studios, but there seems to be a screen door type effect on a lot of the artwork. I’m not a printing expert, so there may be a technical term for this that I am unaware of. It doesn’t really distract from the story being told, but it was a little awkward at first.

The book also has a fantastic high quality slip cover on high quality glossy paper. On the front is O’Rhang and on the reverse is a Chinese style dragon. When the slip cover is removed, the cover contains a line art drawing, different from the artwork on the slip cover, of O’Rhang while the back has a line art version of the Chinese dragon. Very nice.

Also included is a fold out mini poster on embossed paper. This isn’t usually something I’ve come to expect in my English language releases, since most English language companies releasing Manga/Manwha tend to drop extras like this, sometimes even dropping the inclusion of the 2-3 color pages the Japanese/Korean books had in them. This was yet another pleasant and high quality surprise.

For an MSRP of $10.95, only slightly more expensive than the average price of a Manga/Manwha trade paperback, you are given a lot of extras that one would expect to pay $15 or more for. I don’t think anyone can argue they didn’t get their money’s worth on this one.

Text

The text is clear and legible. The sound effects are translated mostly just under their original Korean language versions.

The character names retain their Korean phonetic spellings, and while this may cause some trouble for English language speakers at first, I honestly wouldn’t want it presented in any other fashion.

Included in the back of the book in an appendix is quite a bit of background information on many of the things presented in this volume, with some history thrown in for good measure. They also included a translation of Sung-Woo-Park’s notes in the back of the book.

Another really nice addition was the inclusion of the translations of the special attacks every time they are used, along with very nice margin notes to describe things as you are reading. The notes are never inserted over any of the artwork, they always appear in the margins between panels, another thing I greatly appreciate.

Artwork

As is expected from Sung-Woo-Park, the artwork is finely detailed and the faces have nice range of expression. All of the characters seem to be at the same level of detail, as opposed to say, a secondary character being treated to a lesser amount of detail than a main character. No name characters are about as detailed as one would expect from a no name character.

Final Thoughts

Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun volume 1 is nearly perfect. The artwork is high quality and the presentation is of the highest quality. The only complaint is the screen door effect on some of the artwork.

Ha-Rhang Whur was my favorite character, as not only is she highly attractive, but she kicks major butt to boot!

For $10.95 you get what I would say is the nicest Manga/Manwha release, in terms of quality of extras and the amount of extras, we’ve ever received in North America. Infinity Studios never fails to impress me with their releases.

I am really looking forward to future volumes and Fall of ’06 can’t come soon enough for the second volume of Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun!



EDIT- I'm really glad Sung-Woo-Park has Infinity Studios backing most of his releases in North America, as they give his releases the attention to detail they deserve.

EDIT 2- sorry for posting in the wrong forum. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[slerch666]

For those interested in reading more of Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun, Infinity Studios has the first 100 or so pages available to read online.

The main online book page is here. Unfortunately they don't seem to have it setup so I can link you right to the ChunRhang Yhur Jhun book.

If you like what you see, or want to blind buy, TRSI has the book for $6, which is pretty damn cheap.

And before anyone asks "do you work for IS" the answer is NO. I'm a big fan of Sung-Woo-Park and want to try and help drum up sales for a title I am personally rather excited to see released, and one which I believe action fans, say fans of things like Dragon Ball and Rurouni Kenshin (minus the humor) would also enjoy.

[Vertical_Ed]

Could not disagree with you more. This was a huge disappointment from the writing, to the art and yes even some of the packaging (which was shocking after experiencing see the cover, the dust jacket and the foldout).

What you described in the content is really all there was to the whole volume. And that last sentense was perfect because I had to really dig deep to find out what was happening with all the poorly drawn action and the ridiculous number of sinister plots (too many to keep up with and too many to figure out why and from who).

The rest of the manga was literally fight scenes and posturing. O'Rhang does not seem much like a hero, actually he is more like a grunt who just happens to be given second life by a real martial art master. Unfortunately Park-sensei (and neither does your review) does not really give Ha-Rhang much page time. She is really there for her looks (????) and for how comical her fighting style is. She doesn't bring anything else to the story and that is a shame considering how she seems to have a strong sense of honor and duty and is much more adept at fighting than any other character (and there are tons) introduced so far.

The art for Chun Rhang was easily the most shocking element. I became a fan of manhwa through Park's works. And his art in particular is a favorite of mine. I completely understand why he now does work for Japanese publishers because his designs are very clean and sharp.
But looking at Chun Rhang, all I could see was derivative designs that used way too much inking. Park's lines have significantly gone thinner and more angular giving his characters a very strong look. But here they are round and thick. They look like standard shonen fare, out of titles like Change Man or the rougher parts of Zippy Ziggy. So if you are considering this title because of the cover, the contents are nothing like that. Park has always been bad with action. It takes him time to get that right. NOW is fine, but it took him volumes to get the gun action in Peigenz right. So what you see here is page after page of dust and characters yelling out their attacks. You never see punches or kicks land like in say TOUGH. But you sure do see swords flying in a dust cloud or people completely trashed when the fight is over.

The packaging is the strongest part. The dust jacket is stunning! Georgeous color and relatively new art from Seoul Munhwasa. The opposite cover with the dragon was beautiful as well. Take the dust jacket off and there is a different cover. Very simple but this is what manga is like in Asia and I have to applaude Infinity for doing this. This book is printed in a nice and big A5 book so the extra $1 is definitely worth the alignment and trim. There is a full color fold out with current art as well. Great paper. If IS is not losing money on this then they must have had a great deal on the printing. Nice extras at the end describing the history of when this title was set and showing sketch art for the main characters. However the print itself was so-so. Much like Blood Alone, it is hard to tell at times because of all the inking but the blacks are not solid. Mine was a little spotty and the tone did have some fine moire effects (nothing major but still not up to the level of the rest of the presentation).

Gah... I almost wrote a whole review myself... Maybe I should just send this in tonight. But this is far from perfect and as a Park Sung-Woo fan I was completely disappointed. (and at the same time I was actually impressed to see how much he had developed as an artist since).

[slerch666]

Well, it is nice to get an opposing point of view. I may be too easy to please, you may be too hard too please or maybe a little of both or maybe something completely different.

I won't disagree that the action consisted of a lot of "yell out special attacks," but I do disagree that it detracted from the presentation. I don't know, having only read the first 4 volumes of NOW, which at first I found difficult to follow, Chun Rhang Yhur Jhun seemed a bit easier to read and follow. I don't think it is quite as good as NOW, but this did come before it.

So is IS trying to cover up a crappy title with pretty presentation? I don't think so, as I actually enjoyed it quite a bit. And presenting the title in what they describe as the "limited edition" packaging the title saw in Korea, I definitely applaud them for their work.

So you noticed the moire (I called it screen door because I'm not a hardcore, gotta know all the technical stuff kind of fan, not that there is anythign wrong with being that way) as well. Out of curiosity, have you possibly seen the original Korean version? I'm just wondering if the same thing existed in the original or if this was something IS did.

My review didn't give Ha-Rhang much time because as you stated, she doesn't have much of a part in this first book. I hope that changes in future volumes. What she does consists of <span style='color:#dddddd;background:#dddddd'>her appearing to save O'Rhang, getting fooled into attacking the Joo-Rhim-O-Gwe, several fight panels where she kicks lots of ass, some "off screen" time followed by being attacked by... I can't recall the guys name that O'Rhang fends off and joins up with O'Rhang at the end.</span>

The only problem I have with Manwha tend to be the names. I'm used to Japanese names but getting Korean phonetic spellings isn't something I've yet grown accustomed to. That of course is no fault of IS or anyone other than myself. I just have a difficult time remembering all the names of all the characters.

I also have to agree that we are given a LOT of "main/secondary" characters in a short amount of time. I'd say we've easily been introduced to 10 or so characters that will play parts in future volumes. Of course, NOW was sort of the same way as well, though if I remember correctly they were a little better spaced and not crammed 10 to a volume.

I stand by my original point of view that Dragonball and Kenshin fans will likely find something to enjoy in this title. For me the action seems to take a similar stance in terms of how it is presented as DB/Kenshin are. I don't know if I'd say Chun Rhang Yhur Jun is better than either, but it IS good... IMO at least.

Thanks for the reply and an objective view. And no, I'm not being sarcastic or anything.

And for what it is worth, this was my first Manga review ever. I've got several DVD reviews under my belt, but never bothered with a Manga since it just seems a little more difficult for me to review a single volume, while my DVD reviews tend to be a "complete DVD series" review. Since it could be quite some time before this on is finished, I didn't have much choice in writing a review for the single volume. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I want this title to sell (and no, I didn't give it a good review because I want it to sell, my review is my real view of it), so we can get IS to release the title faster, and possibly drum up sales on other stalled series like Hurrah Sailor (which isn't great, but was a fun read) and Na Na Na Na.

EDIT- one other question, what was on the fold out poster you received? I'm trying to figure out if they put several posters in the first book, or if in their press release they meant there would be a total of 10 different fold out posters spread over the entire release. FWIW mine was of Ha-Rhang on a cliff with the moon in the background.

[Jarred]

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slerch666 said:
I want this title to sell (and no, I didn't give it a good review because I want it to sell, my review is my real view of it), so we can get IS to release the title faster, and possibly drum up sales on other stalled series like Hurrah Sailor (which isn't great, but was a fun read) and Na Na Na Na.


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I just want IS to actually COMMIT to doing something, anything, or just give it up! They've stalled ALL their titles. They need to stop dressing up these vol 1's with pretty covers and throwing them like darts at the manga board. It's horribly frustrating. (I personally enjoyed Fighting Guidance)

I really don't see Chun Rang or any other title of theirs becoming some breakout hit that will all of a sudden save the company. And worst of all, they keep announcing new #1's!! GAH!! [img]/images/graemlins/cry00000.gif[/img]

[slerch666]

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Jarred said:
I just want IS to actually COMMIT to doing something, anything, or just give it up! They've stalled ALL their titles. They need to stop dressing up these vol 1's with pretty covers and throwing them like darts at the manga board. It's horribly frustrating. (I personally enjoyed Fighting Guidance)

I really don't see Chun Rang or any other title of theirs becoming some breakout hit that will all of a sudden save the company. And worst of all, they keep announcing new #1's!! GAH!! [img]/images/graemlins/cry00000.gif[/img]

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I agree with the vol.1 curse, but visiting their message board has given me some understanding as to what is happening to them. Being a smaller start up company puts them at the mercy of the biggest retailers on the block, Borders and Barnes and Noble if they want the big boys to stock the titles. The problem with IS's releases is that they AREN'T break out sellers and because of this, B&amp;N and Borders won't commit to stocking a vol. 2 release of those titles, because they know titles from TokyoPop and Viz, which are established brands WILL sell if they put it on their shelf. So IS, who can't get a commitment for shelf space from the big boys, has to rely on people buying their vol.1 from these 2 retailers. It sounds like it doesn't matter HOW the title sells elsewhere, as all of their releases revolve around what Barnes and Noble and Borders want, not what the customer or even IS want.

For me it is a blessing that Park-Sung-Woo's titles are licensed, the curse is that IS is a smaller company it is taking a LLLLLOOOOONNNNGGGGGG time to get his titles out. Last I heard Peigenz was in licensing limbo because Comics One licensed it (even though IS had some connection to it) and the original licensor says they only had a publishing agreement with CO... *sigh* Of course, that could just be BS for them to cover up the fact that it was a poor seller and it is a convenient way for them to stop releasing it. I don't know.

[Jarred]

I understand the problems IS is having, I just still don't agree with how they are handling things. Releasing vol 1's without vol 2's causes consumers to have ZERO confidence in your company. I have none, that's why I no longer buy IS titles. I also can't imagine relationships with the original license holders are very good if they don't see IS selling their titles. That's why I'm confused why IS keeps putting out stuff. At some point don't these JP/Korean companies see the troubles IS has with putting out vol 2+'s and figure, "No thanks, we'll try someone else"??

Go! Comi and Seven Seas are two small publishers who have had #2's show up on shelves, partly in thanks to their exclusive deals. Maybe it's time for IS to start doing some creative marketing and PR, rather than slapping on EXPENSIVE dust jackets and throwing the manga on the Borders/BN flypaper.

DrMaster is another company who I see have a hard time getting all their books on the shelves at B/BN but yet they still put out volumes of their series through Diamond or sell them online. Sure, not all of them will sell well, but they aren't jumping ship with 90+% of their catalog, which gives me confidence and keeps me buying their titles.

[Vertical_Ed]

[ QUOTE ]
slerch666 said:
Thanks for the reply and an objective view. And no, I'm not being sarcastic or anything.

And for what it is worth, this was my first Manga review ever. I've got several DVD reviews under my belt, but never bothered with a Manga since it just seems a little more difficult for me to review a single volume, while my DVD reviews tend to be a "complete DVD series" review. Since it could be quite some time before this on is finished, I didn't have much choice in writing a review for the single volume. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

I want this title to sell (and no, I didn't give it a good review because I want it to sell, my review is my real view of it), so we can get IS to release the title faster, and possibly drum up sales on other stalled series like Hurrah Sailor (which isn't great, but was a fun read) and Na Na Na Na.

[/ QUOTE ]

Hey don't worry about it. I was not being critical about your review, I just saw the same manga from a different perspective.

Do I think IS is dolling up this title... Not really. I have seen images of the Seoul Manhwasa reprint and mentioned it in my audio review so I was very happy to see IS bring out the best for this title. At the same time, I hope potential readers will not be disappointed by Park's older designs.

Do I want this title to sell? Absolutetly, if this title sells maybe they can support one of their other titles. I honestly want every "licensed" title to succeed and as a Park SW fan I seriously want to see more of his work out here.

Do I think this is a great title? No. Not right now. I hope it improves, but I cannot share my opinion without being truthful to my feelings towards this title. That doesn't mean I want this to fail, I just don't like this title and that actually disappoints me because IS has high hopes for this. (and now I think too high)

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EDIT- one other question, what was on the fold out poster you received? I'm trying to figure out if they put several posters in the first book, or if in their press release they meant there would be a total of 10 different fold out posters spread over the entire release. FWIW mine was of Ha-Rhang on a cliff with the moon in the background.

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Heh [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img] Let me get back to you when I get home. I believe it is the same as yours but I want to be 100% certain.

[slerch666]

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Jarred said:
I understand the problems IS is having, I just still don't agree with how they are handling things. Releasing vol 1's without vol 2's causes consumers to have ZERO confidence in your company. I have none, that's why I no longer buy IS titles. I also can't imagine relationships with the original license holders are very good if they don't see IS selling their titles.

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Are you sure the licensers even care? I mean, I'm under the impression, but could be wrong, that a company approaches the JPN/KOR license holders and asks for what they want. They then pay the price, in full, and get the materials. If this is the case, the JPN/KOR companies already have all the money they are going to make off of the North American release, so why would they care if IS doesn't release anything past vol.1?

Now if the license goes that IS or whatever company pays X amount up front, then X percentage of profits, then yes, I can see why none of them would want IS to handle their titles.

I also don't agree with how B&amp;N + Borders seem to have IS by the testicles. I mean, come on, there are more retailers out there than these 2. TokyoPop got its start in comic shops, why can't IS? Hell, TRSI carries their titles, but seems to have difficulty obtaining the Comics One branded books for whatever reason. I ordered Peigenz 2-4 from TRSI and had to wait over 2 months for them to ship.

I like IS as a company, I don't like their "swinging by 2 retailers balls" attitude. I was hoping that eventually they'd just decide to stop waiting for these 2 and ship their titles. NOW vol.1 and 6 having firm dates gives me a little confidence for that title, but again, will we be in the same boat once vol.1 is on shelves? And does IS think these 2 retailers will magically stock vol.6 of NOW when only vol.1 is available (unless they have left overs from Comics One, in which case I can't imagine them having any confidence in NOW vol.1 OR 6 selling...

[slerch666]

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osaka said:
Hey don't worry about it. I was not being critical about your review, I just saw the same manga from a different perspective.

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I didn't think you were being critical of my review. Sorry I gave that impression. And actually, if you were critical of it and cited things I could change I'd appreciate that too. It isn't like I'm a professional writer for a living or something, and as long as I get constructive criticism I don't mind being "picked on." [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

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At the same time, I hope potential readers will not be disappointed by Park's older designs.

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They are a little simpler than his designs for something like NOW, but over all you can certainly tell it is a Park book, without doubt. I really like his female designs especially. Giving Ha-Rhang bare feet was a nice touch, though I think his reasoning for it was a bit off. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
Do I want this title to sell? Absolutetly, if this title sells maybe they can support one of their other titles. I honestly want every "licensed" title to succeed and as a Park SW fan I seriously want to see more of his work out here.

[/ QUOTE ]
I don't want you to have the impression that I want you to pull your punches, change your opinion or anything else to try and sell a title. I put how I felt about it down in writing, you put how you felt about it in writing, we were both honest to how we felt about it, so it is all good. Do I wish everyone enjoyed the title and it sold more copies than Kenshin? Sure, but that would never happen. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

[ QUOTE ]
Do I think this is a great title? No. Not right now. I hope it improves, but I cannot share my opinion without being truthful to my feelings towards this title. That doesn't mean I want this to fail, I just don't like this title and that actually disappoints me because IS has high hopes for this. (and now I think too high)

[/ QUOTE ]
IS does have high hopes for it, but IMO, since I like the title so far, it doesn't seem like they've completely lost their sanity. I think part of what they are hoping for is that this will lead to sales of NOW at least. Of course, the issue I have with that is the fact that from what I remember... they didn't even ADVERTISE NOW in the book! That makes no sense, though given the original release date to B&amp;N and Borders was back some ways, and the fact that it was only recently that they nailed down solid dates, they probably went with their safety net.

Since they also have Shinobuden, I posted in their forums that they should try and cross promote with TRSI on the Anime. That makes perfect sense to me, and I can't imagine either company, being smaller in terms of releases, passing up the chance for some free advertising. Maybe TRSI could put eps 1 of the Anime on a sampler disc and IS could put it w/ the vol.1 of the Manga and IS could print up a chapter 1 sampler for TRSI to package with the Anime? Will Shinobuden be the title that makes IS their money... I seriously doubt it, but it has the potential to sell if done right.

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Heh [img]/images/graemlins/sdsmiley.gif[/img] Let me get back to you when I get home. I believe it is the same as yours but I want to be 100% certain.

[/ QUOTE ]
I was just wondering because the way IS worded the press release it sounded like there were 10 mini posters randomly put in vol.1. That would be absolutely insane in terms of costs and I wanted to make sure there weren't other posters out there. [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Thanks!