Sang Sun Park is one of my favorite artists. Over my next few posts I will review three of the manwha she drew: Ark Angels, Les Bijoux and Tarot Cafe. (Manga = Japanese, Manwha = Korean) Sang Sun Park also wrote Ark Angels and Tarot Cafe, but the story for Les Bijoux was written by Eun-Ha Jo.

Sang Sun has a beautiful style of drawing that is far more realistic than the typical manga you see in stores. Manwha is easily recognized by it's more realistic style, (that and the creators all have 3 names), but Sang Sun is different (although she does have 3 names). Many manwha/manga are dominated by white space and those that have more are often too busy to discern what is supposed to be going on. Sang Sun doesn't leave much white space. She meticulously fills in her art with texture and pattern in such a way that pleases the eye rather than confusing it.

Ark Angels is about three sisters Shem, Hamu and Japheth who have been charged with saving the world. At a large meeting of the spirits, fairies, planets and magicians a man called The Lord called for the destruction of the humans who were contaminating Earth, the most beautiful planet of all. However Earth and the magicican sisters called for giving the humans another chance at redemption, so a compromise was reached. The Lord produced a huge clock that measures how much time Earth has left. The clock had already reached 9 and it was the job of the sisters, who believed so strongly in the humans to turn back the clock. They would have to travel through time with a whale shaped ark and rescue the last remaining animals of each species just as it was about to go extinct. The girls can see the souls of each animal so the animals each appear in a humanoid form.

The girls live like normal humans, the younger two, Japheth and Hamu, attend school while Shem, the oldest runs a flower shop. For some reason that hasn't been revealed Japheth must dress like a boy. The Lord isn't happy about being overruled and the sisters have his underlings to contend with as they try to rescue animals.

This Manwha is a bit on the young side and feels a bit silly but Sun Sang's art more than makes up for it. Only the first volume has been released and the second isn't out until September, but I like this manga and will wait for it. The designs of the animals are amazing and I can't wait to see how the story progresses and develops. There is a cute boy at school that I'm fairly sure is going to develop a relationship with Japheth, but I think he may also be an agent of The Lord, if not being The Lord himself.

Luv and Huggs, Magic


P.S. This is just a space saving avatar, I'm almost done with my hand-drawn one.