Based on a Korean folktale, two very different women find themselves making the same wish - to leave this world behind. One is Shim Chong, a young beggar living off the kindness of others to support herself and her blind father. The other is the bride-to-be of old Chancellor Jang, sold off to him for the sake of her family. When Shim Chong rescues this new bride from the river, their relationship triggers both love and hidden intentions. But will these two women be able to find their way forth in a world that favors men?
I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve straight-up ugly cried—not because I’m sad, but because I’m absolutely fuming over what’s happening in this manga. Like, why am I still here??!!! 🤬
In the end, we see these two women form a kind of couple, which is a sweet and fitting conclusion to their stories. They end up raising their son together. All the men in the story are terrible, which is clearly the point the story is trying to make, but I’ll admit it feels a bit too much at times. I agree that we need more stories that focus on women, but here the men are all bad, and the women are mostly good. That’s fine, but I did find it striking when I saw that the story’s central theme was supposed to be “fighting patriarchy,” when it only addressed one part of patriarchy—how it affects women. Patriarchy also impacts men, especially in the way they’re expected to hold positions of power. In this story, all the men are obsessed with comfort, power, and money. Even Shim Chong’s father, a poor beggar, never lifted a finger to change his situation. I liked how he remained poor and waited for his daughter to return, despite pushing her away, but he felt somewhat one-dimensional.
The men in this story are largely one-dimensional—selfish, power-hungry, and morally corrupt. While this could be seen as a criticism, I felt it was intentional to emphasize how the women have to outsmart these men in order to survive. But personally, I found it a bit frustrating that the male characters weren’t given more depth. Yes, patriarchy harms women the most, but it also harms men in subtle ways. I think the story missed a chance to explore this more. I would’ve loved to see at least one male character who was more nuanced.
Para qué escribir una reseña, si esta frase de las autoras en la última página lo resume todo a la perfección: "Peleas, tragedia y desastre. El tomo 6 es un torbellino de tristeza, sin duda"
Llegados a este punto, poco puedo contar sin destripar. Solo diré que este sexto tomo de La leyenda de Shim Chong es, tal vez, de los mejores. El sufrimiento y tristeza están presentes como no lo han estado antes. Conocemos la verdad sobre las motivaciones principales de muchos personajes y vemos el resultado final de toda esa estrategia de las anteriores entregas. Chong y a la Señora están atravesando el momento más oscuro, sin duda. ¡Tengo mil ganas de llegar al tomo final!
P.D. ¿Podemos hablar de lo bella que es esta portada?