Can an Earth Rabbit be more clever than a Fox and save her friend?
Creative Staff
Writer/Artist: Lee YoungYou
Translation: HyeYoung Im
Adaptation: Arthur Dela Cruz
What They Say
Myung-Ee confronts the student council about their intentions toward Yu-Da, despite further proof of his unusually cruel and malicious dark side. As the school festival rolls around, the gender-bending fun courtesy of Master Yang is cut short when Yu-Da is kidnapped and Myung-Ee and Sa-Eun find themselves on the same side and face-to-face with members of the Soon-La Army...on the attack!
The Review!
The school festival is fast approaching, and Myung-Ee and the other kendo club members are putting on a play. Recruiting Yu-Da to play Cinderella, Myung-Ee has taken the role of the Prince in their unconventional retelling of the age-old fairy tale. What they aren’t expecting is for Yu-Da to be magically whisked away during the performance, the victim of a well-planned kidnapping. Can Sa-Eun and Myung-Ee put aside their differences long enough to rescue Yu-Da?
I really want to like this series, but the plot is so garbled, it is a bit like sloughing through a swamp. You know that there is firmer ground somewhere out there, but there is a lot murky water to wade through before finding it. I find the basic premise interesting and original; battling tribes of Rabbits and Foxes vie for control of the Black Rabbit. Consuming the Black Rabbit’s liver gives eternal life, but it can only be eaten after Yu-Da reaches adulthood. Eating it anytime before that leads to a painful death, because the liver is poisonous before Yu-Da fully matures. Maybe that was Peter Pan’s problem, too, and the real reason he didn’t want to grow up.
Yu-Da is a coveted prize for the Fox tribe, because only his liver can revive their queen, who is locked away in her palace on the Moon. To them, Yu-Da is merely a sacrificial lamb, something that will ensure the survival of their tribe. Myung-Ee confronts the Foxes about their grim plans for Yu-Da, wondering how they can kill him after he’s lived with them for the past five years. It’s scenes like this that make the book intriguing; it’s clear that not everyone views Yu-Da as a tool for their survival, but there’s not much that can be done to alter the path of their duty.
Yu-Da is getting a little more interesting, as a darker side of him is revealed with more and more frequency. He is not the helpless pawn that everyone thinks he is, but whether or not he will be able to save himself from his gruesome fate is still up in the air. Having been the reason for the slaughter of so many Rabbits at the fangs and claws of the Foxes, one can only wonder about what it’s done to his real personality, which, so far, isn’t very agreeable. He is fascinating, a contradiction of the person Myung-Ee believes he is, and right now he is my favorite character in the book. I look forward to his scenes, as more of who he really is is exposed, one panel at a time.
In Summary:
Moon Boy is oozing with potential, but Lee YoungYou keeps getting distracted and wandering off in needless circles. Attempts to add comedy usually fall flat, and the inconsequential activities detract from the overall story. A lot of patience is required when reading this series. A good quarter of this volume drifts off into yammering, irritating territory that just makes you want to chuck the book at a wall. Then things get back on track, and you can’t put it down. The inconsistency hurts the overall impression of the series, though it is encouraging to see that art has improved since the first volume. Here’s hoping that the storytelling does, too.
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