EN Since I saw this book being showcased by Comix Zone, I’ve been very interested in it. The art looked fantastic, and it turns out it truly is.
"Yan" is a Thai manga. I’m not entirely sure if *manhua* is the correct term to use here, but you get the idea.
Yan is the sole survivor of her family’s murder, a crime for which she was accused. Three decades later, she’s back and seeking revenge.
I loved every aspect of this read. The artwork is stunning, making me wonder how much time the author must have spent on some of the panels. Chang Sheng is every bit as skilled as the Japanese artists. I hope Comix Zone or another publisher brings more of his works, though it seems he only has one other title.
Highly recommended. One of the best mangas I’ve read this year.
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PT Desde que vi este livro a ser divulgado pela Comix Zone, fiquei muito interessado nele. A arte parecia fantástica, e afinal é mesmo.
"Yan" é um manga tailandês. Não tenho a certeza se manhua é o termo correto a usar aqui, mas percebes a ideia.
Yan é a única sobrevivente do assassinato da sua família, um crime do qual foi acusada. Três décadas depois, ela está de volta e em busca de vingança.
Adorei todos os aspetos desta leitura. A arte é deslumbrante, fazendo-me questionar quanto tempo o autor deve ter gasto em algumas das pranchas. Chang Sheng é tão talentoso quanto os artistas japoneses. Espero que a Comix Zone ou outra editora publique mais obras dele, embora pareça que ele só tem mais um título.
Altamente recomendado. Um dos melhores mangas que li este ano.
3.5 stars✨ Not gonna lie, I was very confused about what was going on up until the epilogue at the end that helped clear it up😭 The art style for this is interesting and I’m for sure going to read the next volume!
Another amazing read! I'm home with a fever for a few days so will definitely have the time to read more.
I loved the art style in this one, it felt so real and well made. The are tons of splash pages and the story seems very intriguing so far. I liked as well the structure, where more than once the story seems to go back and reprise from a specific moment, but getting more and more detailed every time. It's a choice I really liked and definitely helped getting into this mystery.
So far I think we got a very big introduction of what happened, what is happening and what will happen, without jumping into the story too drastically, this first volume was used as a world building and to create a very good pace to the main story.
What grabbed my attention was the striking cover. It features the main protagonist, Yan Tieh Hua, wearing traditional Chinese opera makeup.
Yan is the sole survivor of the massacre that took out her entire family. She's framed for the murder and swears vengeance on the people who orchestrated the downfall of her family.
Thirty years later, Yan re-surfaces and sets out to get her revenge. This story is exciting! Yan Tieh Hua is a morally grey baddie, and I definitely have a crush on her. It's gearing up to be an exciting sci-fi vigilante thriller, and I'm hype to see how this story unfolds.
I'm weak to a pretty cover, so I knew I'd be picking this up. And it was okay, not great, but enjoyable. It reads like a western superhero comic with traditional Taiwanese elements and has the advantages and disadvantages of the genre. It features bold art and detailed action scenes, but also very superficial characterization. I'm still intrigued and will check out at least one more volume, but I'm hoping I can connect with these characters soon.
Ho appreso che sono 6 volumi, non vedo l'ora di leggerli tutti 😍 Questo è l'inizio: si spiega un po' cos'è successo alla protagonista trent'anni prima e presenta il "fantasma" che dieci anni dopo la sua morte è tornato per avere vendetta. Davvero un sacco bello, alcune scene mi piacerebbe vederle animate. La storia ci lascia indizi per come andrà avanti, incuriosendo il lettore ma lasciando spazio ad ipotesi. Ve lo consiglio tantissimo 💗
J'ai d'abord acheté ce livre pour sa magnifique couverture. J'avais peur une l'histoire soit un peu trop violente, mais non, je me suis complètement laissée embarquer par l'histoire. Vivement le tome 2.
A fairly basic story about a young woman’s journey for revenge that is ultimately bogged down by hackneyed cliches that sort of drag manga down as a whole. Remove those elements and there’s a better story here. The artist seemingly has used Krysten Ritter and Amy Lee as references and it’s not that subtle…
A tense, grim volume, Yan sees its titular character drag the past kicking and screaming into an unprepared present. From the moment of her introduction as she livestreams her first act of vengeance, I was enthralled. The bombast of so public a performance promised thrills that would have made any revenge an enticing read, but Yan is a slow layering of mystery upon mystery that tangles you up in its intrigues and dances with other genres, wondering where it will take you next.
Yan brings violence that could pass for cartoonish in its extremity, and a sense of something wrong that sends Yan running to the carnage upon which she swears revenge, but as with its bold opening, it isn’t afraid to throw you into the depths. It makes masterful use of flashbacks, each time re-orienting your understanding of the world and its happenings. The one exception to this is Miku Higa’s disappearance, reported twice, in consecutive chapters. Admittedly, it’s difficult to keep hold of that fact in the face of a talking origami dinosaur and the revelation that ghosts exist.
It isn’t only the piling mysteries and action that thrill, however. From the shadows around Tieh Hua’s mouth as in that grin, or the way light reflects in an eye, Yan is gloriously expressive.
The one unfortunate element is the way that Tieh Hua’s body is presented. While I wouldn’t appreciate it, I would understand if the profusion of crotch shots were meant to be titillating. However, reasons aside, her suit shouldn’t be so revealing that I can see the exact shape and depth to her navel.
That aside, I still find myself incredibly excited at the prospect of reading the next volume.
"Stand up my girl! Life is full of suffering, But a Yan does not shed tears!"
Sheng Chang's first volume of Yan looks into the mysterious return of Yen Tieh-hua. Supposedly dead, her return has sparked destruction as she is seeking justice for the massacre that took her family. Detective Lei who advocates for cold cases has been tasked to look into Yen Tieh-hua's situation. With this comes his battle with revelations that lean towards the supernatural.
I do enjoy a revenge story but with Yan it's more than just that. Straight away there is a deep dive into the events that led to her initial arrest and disappearance for all those years. There's always this feeling of something else below the surface, something malicious but this is soon explained as the story progresses.
The other characters involved include the detective investigating and a missing chess prodigy who has the ability to see the immediate future. Adding these two into the mix gives that feeling of more fun and dangerous things to come.
Although this is genre bending it did feel like a horror in the way of human monsters and how they are birthed. However along the way there are many moments of comedy which I enjoyed too.
The artwork was perfect for this kind of story, the fighting scenes as well as the comedy and emotional ones matched well with where the overall tale is headed.
I really enjoyed this first volume and look forward to seeing where things go in volume two.
4.5 stars for the art, but I reserve judgement on a higher, full five-star rating until the next volume/s and how Chang Sheng pulls together all the disparate story elements (& addresses the final point made at the end of my review). Yan Tieh Hua is a young Peking Opera performer who works with her family troupe, literally coming to blows with her mother on stage. This is thirty years ago and one day she returns home to discover that her entire family has been murdered. Arrested for the vicious crime, she confesses, although it's obvious that she didn't do it. Once convicted she is imprisoned in a privately run institution. Thirty years later she seemingly reappears (because she should be dead, blown apart in an explosion ten years earlier that destroyed the facility where she was imprisoned), to wreak vengeance on those behind the death of her family. That's just the first third of this propulsive thriller, pulling in the detective that originally arrested Yan, a missing go-playing genius, a mysterious time traveller (?), a supernatural ancestral spirit directly connected to Yan, A.I. Number Thirteen (that's all you get, apart from the face of its creator) and a large humanoid robot that lands in the city centre, destroying cars and attacking the police... I really want to see where Chang Sheng goes with this (but he does slightly succumb to the unfortunate habit of Japanese manga and it's voyeuristic obsession with young schoolgirls 😕)
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Pretty good manhua overall! The art is gorgeous and we all love a good revenge story. It throws you right into the action, which was nice. The switches between action and comedy felt weird and sudden; I like a good comedic relief as much as anyone, but some of it was out of both character and place. Still, it was enjoyable and I'm glad the amazing cover convinced me to give it a chance. I doubt I'll pick up the sequels, but I don't regret my read.
Mouais. Au début j'étais plutôt convaincue par l'héroïne badass et les scènes d'actions spectaculaires. Mais le récit dérive très vite dans une espèce de délire SF qui ne m'a pas emballée (le personnage de la lycéenne qui vomit dès son introduction...quel était le but au juste ?).
Pratiquement tous les personnages féminins sont sexualisés à l'excès. La tenue de combat de l'héroïne avec ses bottes à talons en est un parfait exemple. L'héroïne a 45 ans, mais c'est surtout pour souligner qu'elle ne les fait pas. Dommage, j'aurais bien aimé voir une femme mature botter des culs. Le seul personnage masculin important est quant à lui laid et ordinaire.
C’était extraordinaire. Je lis pas souvent de mangas sur des thématiques aussi éloignées mais le mélange ici est fun, funeste et assez accrocheur !
J’en dévoila pas trop parce que mon seul moteur d’achat a été instinctif à la fois pour la couverture et pour le côté opéra et au mélange d’explosifs de dessins sombres et dans un format plutôt agréable !
J’ai été agréablement surprise et embarquée dans cette histoire de vengeance. L’histoire est courte, puisque le troisième tome sort à peine et finalise la série, mais c’est assez page turner.
On dirait un vieux comic d'espions bien ringard. Pas du tout la vibe à laquelle je m'attendais et j'aime pas vraiment. Puis ça se voit que c'est écrit par un homme, la tenue de l'héroïne n'est pas crédible et ce qui est censé être drôle ne l'est pas (les hommes ne sont pas drôles dsl je fais pas les règles). Je pensais que c'était écrit par une femme, QUELLE DÉCEPTION. Je vais lire les trois tomes parce que je les ai achetés mais si je retrouve le ticket ça repart en magasin 💀
Arte é simplesmente maravilhosa. Seus detalhes são impecáveis. É muito bom ver mangaka que desenha com tanto carinho. Conta a história, ela é cheia de nuances, a qual por si só é muito emblemática te prendendo do começo ao fim. Quando você acha que o mangá está te levando pra um lado, ele na verdade estou te levando pra outro. As cenas de ação são implacáveis. E a nossa protagonista é simplesmente apaixonante.
Je suis trop mitigée de fou ? J'ai l'impression que ça part dans tous les sens, l'histoire avance super vite. Il y a des robots, des fantômes, des ia, une organisation secrète, des super pouvoirs, je suis perdue. Il faudrait peut-être que je lise les 2 autres tomes, mais j'avoue que ça ne me donne pas plus envie que ça. Et puis la tenue de l'héroïne bien en cuire moulant et talons hauts, bon ...
Esthétiquement, le manga est intéressant, que ça soit au niveau des chara-designs, des scènes d'action ou de l'ambiance générale. C'est joli, dynamique et travaillé, sans être trop chargé en détails. Côté scénaristique, l'histoire est intrigante mais ça part un peu dans tous les sens, donc j'ai moyennement accroché.
Esse é um mangá bem diferente, tanto pelo estilo de desenho quanto pela narrativa, mas o resultado final acabou me agradando. Os personagens são interessantes de acompanhar, a mistura de ficção científica com suspense deixou a história bem envolvente e o final deixa um gancho em aberto. Vale a pena conhecer!!
A story about an opera troupe family that gets murdered. The daughter is framed and sent to a research institute and now has super strength and is out for revenge. Also a future-seeing oracle, time travel, and giant mecha. The whole thing had a frenetic dark comedy vibe that felt like someone crossed a serious story with a gag comic... so like Crying Freeman but with scifi tropes thrown in?
There are these three guys watching a Peking opera performance at the start. They are falling asleep and only perk up when there is action. That's my feeling towards this. Beautifully drawn, only shines in fight scenes. Everything outside of that was all over the place, too much without grounding us in enough to make me care.
I got drawn in by the cover, because look how gorgeous.
I had no clue what this was about, and it's was a nice surprise. I like the drawing style, and the story is weird in the best way possible. And I'm always down for a revenge story with an angry badass woman.
C'est divertissant, j'ai pas détesté, mais je n'ai pas aimé vraiment non plus. C'est vraiment sans queue ni tête, on dirait que rien n'a vraiment rapport dans l'histoire et tout arrive trop rapidement. Ça aurait été mieux de prendre le temps de développer un peu plus
Surprenant. Et j'aime bien être surprise. Le dessin est chouette. C'est étrange. Ça me fait pensé un peu à 20th century boys, mais plus girls, et qui tourne moins autour du pot pendant 30 plombes. Je crois que je vais bien aimer.
I’m intrigued by this and I think I will keep an eye out for future volumes. Mystery, thriller and a bit gruesome. Girl who should be dead seems to have come back?