Full House Vol. #03

By Eduardo M. Chavez     July 25, 2005
Release Date: January 01, 2005



Creative Talent
Writer/Artist:Soo Yon Won
Translated by:Mayuki
Adapted by:

What They Say
Trouble in ParadiseJust when things were becoming more civil between Alley and Ryder, she catches him in a bold-faced deception that only strengthens the animosity between them. Now, their business agreement may come to an end... and if it does, Alley will lose ownership of Full House forever!

The Review
Packaging:
Packaged in a tall B6, Full House is presented in left to right format. On the cover, an interesting image with Ryder and someone looks like Elle with short hair hanging out under a beach umbrella by the sea. The image is full of yellows and shades of gray on top of delicate inking. Very nice cover. (Though I still wonder why they do not have covers with longhaired versions of Elle.) The opposite cover has a panel image Elle in black and mustard next to the short volume description.

Inside, the printing is pretty good. I did not notice issues with alignment or screen tone; actually, this looked like one of their better printings. As this series does not have chapters, there are no chapter headers or even much of a volume header, but CPM tried to compensate by adding a character introduction at the start of the volume and a short manhwa artist biography at the end. They also added ads for Comic Party, Couple and Duck Prince.

Artwork:
I am not sure why by Won's art reminds me a lot of Kamio Yoko's (Boys over Flowers) works. The characters have crazy hair, overdone eyes and crazy style. The designs are pretty nice. While a little on the long side, they all have sharp lines, good facial expressions and fun costumes. Backgrounds are okay but at times, I wonder if there was any research done on English architecture at all. Indoor scenes are fine, albeit almost ridiculously chic. Outdoor scenes just look like a mish-mash of different metropolitan cities nothing looking like the UK I have seen in person. Fortunately, Won's layout makes up for the stale backgrounds. Like the main character, Won's layout has a scatter-brained feel to it, with a variety of panel sizes and strange perspective. Occasionally it feels pretty hyper but that really worked as the characters were often in a panicky and confused mood.

SFX/Text:
Mayuki's translation is sounds really good. Some translations can be flat and void of emotion and personality, but this work sounds good and distinctly gives each character a unique voice. No grammatical errors or typos, so overall a good production.

SFX are subbed with a variation of equally sized FX and small text. CPM does subbing better than most studios out there and it shows in this series. Won-sensei uses a variety of techniques and sizes for SFX and asides, CPM overall handles them all equally well. I will say with the scattered layout readers might miss some asides if they go through this manga quickly.

Contents: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers)
Alley has had it. All she wanted was to keep her claim to Full House, and if that meant dealing with the current owner Ryder Baye should would do it. But now he has gone too far. She knew he was an actor but she never once thought he would use that to try to manipulate her feelings. Why would he do it? Does he think she would fall for him like a character in one of his movies? Doesn't he know that she would not trust him after something like that? Alley knows the game she would never fall for anything like that.

However, this game only starts with Ryder and Alley. The two Full House occupants are not aware that there are others that are playing them right now. Everyone they know is scheming around them. The motives are simple - they all want break the pair up. However, the reasons they wish to do so are completely selfish and almost laughable when considering how poorly Ryder and Alley get along.
If they could wait this out at this pace the fake fiancées should be "single again" and back on the market within a few weeks. Hell, if you lock them up in Full House together they might break up in a matter f days and take the building down with them.

If these two only knew about all of what was going on, they'd put up the walls so fast they'd "pretend" so much they'd be inseparable. Instead, these two only play together when they have to be in front of cameras together or meeting the family. How much of a sham is this?

Comments
So much drama and so little is happening. The pacing of this series a little disappoints me and as much as I love drama, I love progress just as much. I need to see something happening and nothing ever does.

Actually, Won-sensei seems to be quite happy just dragging this story along as long as there seems to be some resemblance of sexual tension between the two lead characters. There is no doubt that these two could use a tumble or two, but the more I get to know them I almost feel they should just give up on each other. Unfortunately, Won has decided to use their distrust of each other to extend this story. Therefore, what would have been tight episodes for a live drama TV show are long dragged out moments where each character is as annoying as the next and no one ever wants to deal with each other. There is no chemistry instead there are sparks. These two could end up fighting, kiss and then lock themselves up in their rooms freaked out over themselves. It is as if their egos are blown out of proportion and it is preventing them from fulfilling their needs. I found it frustrating and tired.

Ryder has figured out Alley's secret. So if he cared what is holding him back? His attitude is twisted and nothing like what he was initially perceived to be.

Alley is not humble or tolerant. Instead she is exactly what she believed Ryder to be - a stuck up snob looking down on others never looking past people's exteriors unless she is found in a defensive position.

Hard to relate to either. Hard to want to enjoy spending time with either. Hard to read about these two fighting with each other for volume after volume, chapter after chapter and page after page. I am almost glad this title is on hiatus, because I might have a better attitude towards it after being away from it for a year or so.