Kwaidan

Kwaïdan

by Jung

In 12th Century Japan, amidst a savage conflict between two rival clans, Lady Orin pines for her warrior lover. Jealous of her beautiful sister, Lady Akane savagely mutilates Orin's face and begins a complicated web of revenge and redemption that spans two centuries. Jung's lush, expressive artwork and expert sense of timing brings to life this suspense-filled tale, packed with ghostly encounters, samurai swordplay, undead armies, beautiful landscapes, and strange demons. The lost spirits of two unlucky lovers may still find freedom, but their hope now rests on the supernatural birth of a granddaughter... and her ability to unravel the secrets of the restless ghosts that haunt her, the Kwaidan.

Genres: Graphic Novels, Fantasy, Comics, Manga, Horror, Historical Fiction, Bande Dessinée

144 pages, Paperback

First published March 17, 2004

Reviews

[Cait · Rating 1 out of 5]

In which spiritual growth equals "Oh, foolish ladies! Don't you know that there's more to life than having a beautiful face?"

Also, points off for selling a five-year-old to a brothel and having only the blind painter see how beautiful she is on the inside.

[RubiGiráldez RubiGiráldez · Rating 3 out of 5]

Me chifla bastante los comics BD que ilustran historias japonesas de corte feudal. En este caso, la obra podría haber surtido más efecto con los artífices pudiendo estar más en sintonía con la sensibilidad asiática de la propuesta. Pero Kwaidan me ha resultado un inocuo mejunje argumental, partiendo de una indecisión de si ser un continuista de las historias de corte fantasmagórico e inquietante que dan título al cómic o algo más entroncado con la katana y brujería que suele funcionar de forma más accesible para lectores occidentales. El arranque de la historia, al menos, parte de lo primero. Con una monumental tragedia de dos nobles enamorados al estar los maliciosos celos de una tercera en discordia. Que provocan unos eventos que acaban generando una maldición por la cual estas almas quedan ancladas en un limbo terrenal del que esperan librarse aunque deban pasar siglos. Una niña que parece ser el reflejo total de la desgraciada princesa del inicio, que también oculta un rostro desfigurado tras una máscara, se ve arrastrada al lugar en el que aún está anclada la princesa de antaño. En un lago de propiedades sobrenaturales que domina la maléfica hermana que necesita que ese espíritu permanezca en el lugar. Esta joven inicia un viaje para la que la trama, aunque sigue desplegando lo oculto y sobrenatural del folklore nipón. Lo hace con las formas de la pura aventura post "Mononoke Hime".

Kwaidan sigue contando con el aporte gráfico. No totalmente sorprendente, pero sí que hace más agradable una lectura que quizás quede a deber dependiendo de lo tanto que busques que no sea solo una lectura de reminiscencias gratuitas pero sin demasiado fondo.

[StrictlySequential · Rating 4 out of 5]

First Edition = February 2004 = Second Printing

Technical:
Jung is a South Korean man who was adopted by Belgians so this was written in French. It went three tomes all collected here together. Those were in "grand format" at 9" x 12.5" but Dark Horse books shrunk the book down to 6" x 9". BUNK. But at least they got it to English.

Plot & Art:
The art is wonderful but the plot is so far-fetched. But you absolutely will become tied to this fifteen year old girl and her blind lover. The duo is wonderful to read as characters and the supporting cast is solid as well. So other than the plot mechanics this is a good read for the guy's first work.

[Danni · Rating 3 out of 5]

And that makes three books finished for medieval-a-thon! I know the prompt "read a scary book" was for a chicken, but I'm changing it to a raven in order to fit the character I'm creating a little better. Also, this book wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it was going to be. Honestly, the story was interesting, but overall it felt very rushed and underdeveloped. I liked it, but I didn't end up loving it.

[Lori · Rating 3 out of 5]

This has been sitting on the library shelf for some time. I thought I would give it a read. This was pretty good, but not amazing. The art was spectacular though.

[PuniPoli]

Dec 2022… el guion no era muy interesante.. los dibujos si están bonitos

[Kirstin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Basically this is a Japanese ghost (kwaïdan) story. Two sisters are in love with the same man. The homelier, Akane, scars the pretty one, Orin, with burning oil, who then drowns herself out of what would seem to be preemptive self pity. The guy returns from war, learns she’s dead, and gouges out his eyes on the bank of the lake. The sister, too, eventually ends up at the lake, but we later learn it’s so she can achieve some sort of twisted immortality. Confused yet?

Well, it turns out that after several centuries, Orin is able to temporarily escape the lake and imparts a portion of her soul to an about-to-be-born child, whose mother is then murdered by Akane’s demon army. The baby, Setsuko, is born, but missing a face, a symbol of her fragmented soul. Tormented as a child, the masked girl ends up in a brothel but later leaves to follow a blind artist who is known for perfectly painting the face of a beautiful woman he has never met. The two of them embark on a journey to the lake, where they hope to unravel the mystery of what has brought them together.

There’s an army of demon children. There’s a friendly ghost (named Toshiro, not Casper). There are creepy golem-type creatures that serve Akane and act as Orin’s prisoner.

It was good, but not great. But if you know of someone you’d recommend The Woman Warrior to, this is probably a good companion to that novel.

[Laurie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is by a husband-wife team, both born in South Korea. It was originally released in French in 3 volumes. Here are the most detailed bios I could find on them. Artist Jung Henin at https://www.festivalscope.com/directo..., and illustrator Jee-yun Thot at http://www.bedetheque.com/auteur-5857.... Thanks Dark Horse for the translation but why doesn't it say anywhere what the original language was? Also the binding on the copy I read was pretty poor.

As for the content I liked the art a lot. The story was OK. It does have a few elements of Japanese folklore that are related in Lafcadio Hearn's 1904 book by the same name.

[Mel · Rating 5 out of 5]

I bought the original French version of this comic and loved it, but it was only part 2. So I found the English version complete for 1p on amazon and had to buy it. The art is just gorgeous! I really liked this historical ghost story. There are many spirits and other worlds and wronged lovers, and innocent people caught up in the middle of it all. Having read the beginning which explains what happened and why everyone is the way it is it made a lot more sense. Definitely one I'd very highly recommend.

[Tracey · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story plays out like many fairy tales but with more adult appeal, despite somewhat underdeveloped protagonists and some plot confusion near the ending. The artwork is flat-out gorgeous; it outshines the story, and yet manages to strengthen the writing. Most of the secondary characters were more interesting than the main characters. The story's center has less substance than I would've liked, but the warmth and detail--in both art and story--made me glad I read it.

[Radhika · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful prints on thick and quality paper. Nice art work. This is a keeper on your book shelf if only to admire the images. The story is Japanese and also nice. Kwaidan literally means ghost in Japanese. And this is a ghost-story.

[Rachelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

traditional Japanese folklore story although some areas of the story were a little confusing and some areas would have definitely benifit from slowing down a bit esp with explaining how each character thinks and feels

[Steve · Rating 4 out of 5]

just reread this bad boy. so wonderful.

[Kristen Harvey · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great Japanese comic book about spirits and love and war. Fantastic read and fairly good graphics.

[Christopher · Rating 3 out of 5]

A little confusing at times, but decent.

[Marissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the art style in this book, the well-done horror/ghost story aspects of the overall narrative, and the very cool, strong female main character.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really interesting Japanese legend. My only complaint was the size of the pages & individual panels - they were pretty small, so it was hard to see the details in the artwork.

[Caroline · Rating 5 out of 5]

ce livre est comme 'Samurai X'. J'aime beaucoup cette histoire mais elle ne continue pas... Jee-Yun doit continuer cette série.

[beau · Rating 3 out of 5]

5/10
I feel as this would of been better as a 60min animated short movie