What do you think?
Rate this book
Legend #1
Legend, Vol. 01
Once upon a time, a selfish king summoned the monstrous Bulkirin into the real world. The monster killed half of all human beings, leaving the rest helpless as to what to do. That is, until one day when a hero appeared and defeated the Bulkirin with the legendary "Seven Blade Sword." But...what does all this have to do with eighth grader Eun-Gyo Sung?! First, she gets suspended from school for fighting. Then, she runs away from home. The last thing she needed was to be kidnapped - and whisked into the past by a mysterious stranger named No-Ah!
196 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2004
3 people are currently reading
208 people want to read
About the author
Kara
106 books53 followers"Kara" consists of two illustrators: Yoon-Gyeong Kim and Eun-Sook Jeong.
Not to be confused with French author Philip Kara who uses the same pseudonyme.
Not to be confused with French author Philip Kara who uses the same pseudonyme.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
October 28, 2025
Review for complete series
Eun-Gyo prefers to spend her time picking fights and skipping school. There aren't many things she catches on in class, but she is sure the legendary Seven Blade Sword the teacher was describing looks more like a key than a sword. She soon finds there's a lot more to this sword; it's been broken to pieces and the stranger No-Ah takes her to the past where they need to gather the pieces before the mad wish-granting Bulkirin breaks from where he has been sealed.
Legend follows the portal fantasy formula to a T - seemingly normal girl gets brought into a fantastical world by a mysterious stranger to go on a quest. This quest mainly consists of gathering items during which they win allies and likely fall in love. The completion of the quest is also the key to coming back home which in itself becomes increasingly more difficult as she cares about her new companions. The ending shan't be spoiled here, but believe me when I say that it fits right in with many other portal fantasy conclusions.
There is very little that makes Legend different from its peers, yet it's been a dear favourite of mine since the first time I read it. Despite following the exact formula, I find it neither boring nor predictable (rereads perhaps not included). The reason why I am so fond of this particular portal fantasy is that, while it does follow all the typical steps, it just does it so well. It has the perfect balance of fantasy, mystery, romance, comedy and meaningful relationships - there are very few books that balance all these aspects so nicely.
Eun-Gyo is both tough and feminine; she is immediately attracted to No-Ah's good looks but that doesn't allow her to let down her guard, in fact, she isn't afraid to throw some punches. Her tendency to pick fights makes her a fun character but she's also sensitive and cries out of both sorrow and relief. No-Ah is a contrast to her in that he is serious and aloof, though he too can get hot-headed if it means protecting someone he cares about.
They meet and befriend other characters along the way, most notably Ho-Dong, a priest who is cursed to look like a child. He joins quite early on, making them an important trio throughout the story. He may come across as rude and arrogant but he cares for others and struggles to express that.
There is a mystery man pulling the threads behind No-Ah as well as a shamaness, both of who are villains depending on from whose side of the story you're looking at. In fact, all characters in this plot have legitimate reasons for their actions, though they all realise that stubbornness is what caused the main conflicts. It's difficult when each character is written in a way that you'd wish them all happiness, knowing that it's not possible as all their wishes get in each other's way. Despite the light-hearted and comedic aspects, there is a lot of intrigue and hurt going on in this series and I think the ending was done just right - again, it's not a new type of ending - but it was a nice and clean way to wrap things up.
Legend is my favourite work by Kara and I particularly appreciate their art here. The dresses in particular are beautifully done and you know the art is doing something right if the comedic aspect also functions without words. I'm not the biggest fan of Korean comics, but I definitely love this work.
July 19, 2025
read this to bond with my sister, no-ah’s hot id let him break my legs
July 18, 2014
Goodreads get's on my nerves sometimes. I had a review written up and now it's gone. Let's try this again.
It was okay. I think the story would have benefited from being in color as apposed to black and white. On the cover the main female character has red hair. But the first couple of pages that are in color she has brown hair and of course the rest of the story is in black and white so she just looks like she has black hair. I know it's the same girl, I just don't like the inconsistency. The art work was okay but it needed some dimension, so again I think the story and art work would have been better if it had been in color for this particular style. Unfortunately that isn't the only thing that made the story fall short. The plot was intriguing but the execution failed. The main characters were 16 and 15 but the writing felt very young, almost at a 6-7 year old level. I see potential with this story line so I will continue to read the series but if these things don't improve after the 2nd Vol. then I will stop reading this series. If I find that this has been adapted into an anime then I will check it out. It's not a bad story it's just rough around the edges. Hopefully the story will progress.
It was okay. I think the story would have benefited from being in color as apposed to black and white. On the cover the main female character has red hair. But the first couple of pages that are in color she has brown hair and of course the rest of the story is in black and white so she just looks like she has black hair. I know it's the same girl, I just don't like the inconsistency. The art work was okay but it needed some dimension, so again I think the story and art work would have been better if it had been in color for this particular style. Unfortunately that isn't the only thing that made the story fall short. The plot was intriguing but the execution failed. The main characters were 16 and 15 but the writing felt very young, almost at a 6-7 year old level. I see potential with this story line so I will continue to read the series but if these things don't improve after the 2nd Vol. then I will stop reading this series. If I find that this has been adapted into an anime then I will check it out. It's not a bad story it's just rough around the edges. Hopefully the story will progress.
October 9, 2008
I liked this volume.
May 3, 2019
Zum Inhalt:
Eungyo Sung ist eine ganz normale Schülerin der Mittelschule. Na ja, vielleicht nicht ganz normal, denn sie gehört zu der Sorte Schüler, über die sich die Lehrer die Haare raufen. Mit Lernen hat sie wenig am Hut, dafür kann sie umso besser zuschlagen. Bis zu dem Tag, an dem der geheimnisvolle Noah auftaucht und sie in die Vergangenheit entführt. Sie findet sich mitten in uralten Welten und Legenden wieder, die jedem im Land bekannt sind. Mit einem Unterschied: Eungyo und Noah greifen in das Geschehen ein, um Noahs Schwester zu retten!
Cover:
Das Cover gefällt mir persönlich ganz gut. Zu sehen ist hier scheinbar die Protagonsitin Eungyo, welche eine Marionette in der Hand hält. diese soll wahrscheinlich Noah darstellen. Was jedoch Cover und Inhalt miteinander zu tun haben, erschließt sich mir noch nicht, denn eher scheint es anders herum. Nämlich, dass Noah mit Eungyo tut, was er will, indem er sie mit in eine andere Welt nimmt.
Eigener Eindruck:
In allen Zeiten ist sie bekannt, die Legende von dem berühmten Siebenschwert und wie es dabei half einst den großen magischen Drachen in seine Schranken zu weisen, der von einem gutartigen zu einem bösartigen Wesen wurde. Auch bei Eungyo in der Klasse wird diese Legende behandelt. Doch das aufmüpfige Mädchen hat keinerlei Interesse daran zuzuhören. Vor allem nicht, da sie lieber die Schule schwänzt und sich mit anderen Schülern prügelt. Dass das zwangshalber zu einem Schulverweis führt ist absehbar und so kommt es schließlich auch. Als Eungyo den elterlichen Schimpftriden entkommen will und sich mit ihrer Freundin trifft, begegnet sie in der U-Bahn Noah, der ungeahnte Gefühle in ihr auslöst. Nachdem er sie vor der einfahrenden U-Bahn gerettet hat, verspricht er ihr, sie bald wieder zu sehen. Verwirrt macht sich Eungyo auf den Weg nach Hause, wo Noah bereits in ihrem Zimmer auf sie wartet. Ehe sich das Mädchen versieht, wird sie vor den Augen ihrer Eltern entführt und muss Noah ins Museum folgen. Dort aus geschieht das Unfassbare. Noah nimmt Eungyo mit in eine fremde Welt, in der sie ihm helfen soll, seine Schwester zu retten.
An sich fand ich die Geschichte wirklich interessant, das muss ich schon zugeben. Was mir an der Story aber weniger gut gefallen hat waren die sprunghaften Szenen. Dadurch kann man den Storyverlauf schlecht begreifen beziehungsweise überhaupt verstehen, warum die Charaktere denn so handeln, wie sie eben handeln. Und besonders in Hinsicht auf Noah, dessen kleine Schwester entführt worden ist, bleiben sehr viele Fragen offen. Auch warum, er zu Beginn eher so aggressiv ihr gegenüber auftritt, anstatt sie gleich um Hilfe zu bitten. Das macht einfach keinen Sinn. Auch die Zeichnungen sagen mir nicht immer so zu. An einigen Stellen sind sie wirklich liebevoll und dann auch wieder nicht. Die zwischen den Kapiteln auftauchenden Zeichnungen sind bisweilen für mich auch verwirrend gewesen, da man nicht explizit sofort erkennen konnte, ob sie noch zur Geschichte gehören oder ob sie einfach ein Bonus sind. Es bleibt abzuwarten, wie sich die Geschichte in den nächsten Bänden entwickeln wird, aber bis jetzt bin ich noch nicht ganz überzeugt.
Fazit:
Kann man mal gelesen haben, muss man aber meiner Meinung nach nicht unbedingt.
Zeichenstil: 4/5
Idee: 5/5
Charaktere: 3/5
Spannung: 2/5
Details: 3/5
Gesamt: 3/5
Daten:
Broschiert: 156 Seiten
Verlag: TOKYOPOP; Auflage: 1., (1. Mai 2006)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3865806414
ISBN-13: 978-3865806413
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 13 - 16 Jahre
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 12,6 x 1,4 x 18,9 cm
Eungyo Sung ist eine ganz normale Schülerin der Mittelschule. Na ja, vielleicht nicht ganz normal, denn sie gehört zu der Sorte Schüler, über die sich die Lehrer die Haare raufen. Mit Lernen hat sie wenig am Hut, dafür kann sie umso besser zuschlagen. Bis zu dem Tag, an dem der geheimnisvolle Noah auftaucht und sie in die Vergangenheit entführt. Sie findet sich mitten in uralten Welten und Legenden wieder, die jedem im Land bekannt sind. Mit einem Unterschied: Eungyo und Noah greifen in das Geschehen ein, um Noahs Schwester zu retten!
Cover:
Das Cover gefällt mir persönlich ganz gut. Zu sehen ist hier scheinbar die Protagonsitin Eungyo, welche eine Marionette in der Hand hält. diese soll wahrscheinlich Noah darstellen. Was jedoch Cover und Inhalt miteinander zu tun haben, erschließt sich mir noch nicht, denn eher scheint es anders herum. Nämlich, dass Noah mit Eungyo tut, was er will, indem er sie mit in eine andere Welt nimmt.
Eigener Eindruck:
In allen Zeiten ist sie bekannt, die Legende von dem berühmten Siebenschwert und wie es dabei half einst den großen magischen Drachen in seine Schranken zu weisen, der von einem gutartigen zu einem bösartigen Wesen wurde. Auch bei Eungyo in der Klasse wird diese Legende behandelt. Doch das aufmüpfige Mädchen hat keinerlei Interesse daran zuzuhören. Vor allem nicht, da sie lieber die Schule schwänzt und sich mit anderen Schülern prügelt. Dass das zwangshalber zu einem Schulverweis führt ist absehbar und so kommt es schließlich auch. Als Eungyo den elterlichen Schimpftriden entkommen will und sich mit ihrer Freundin trifft, begegnet sie in der U-Bahn Noah, der ungeahnte Gefühle in ihr auslöst. Nachdem er sie vor der einfahrenden U-Bahn gerettet hat, verspricht er ihr, sie bald wieder zu sehen. Verwirrt macht sich Eungyo auf den Weg nach Hause, wo Noah bereits in ihrem Zimmer auf sie wartet. Ehe sich das Mädchen versieht, wird sie vor den Augen ihrer Eltern entführt und muss Noah ins Museum folgen. Dort aus geschieht das Unfassbare. Noah nimmt Eungyo mit in eine fremde Welt, in der sie ihm helfen soll, seine Schwester zu retten.
An sich fand ich die Geschichte wirklich interessant, das muss ich schon zugeben. Was mir an der Story aber weniger gut gefallen hat waren die sprunghaften Szenen. Dadurch kann man den Storyverlauf schlecht begreifen beziehungsweise überhaupt verstehen, warum die Charaktere denn so handeln, wie sie eben handeln. Und besonders in Hinsicht auf Noah, dessen kleine Schwester entführt worden ist, bleiben sehr viele Fragen offen. Auch warum, er zu Beginn eher so aggressiv ihr gegenüber auftritt, anstatt sie gleich um Hilfe zu bitten. Das macht einfach keinen Sinn. Auch die Zeichnungen sagen mir nicht immer so zu. An einigen Stellen sind sie wirklich liebevoll und dann auch wieder nicht. Die zwischen den Kapiteln auftauchenden Zeichnungen sind bisweilen für mich auch verwirrend gewesen, da man nicht explizit sofort erkennen konnte, ob sie noch zur Geschichte gehören oder ob sie einfach ein Bonus sind. Es bleibt abzuwarten, wie sich die Geschichte in den nächsten Bänden entwickeln wird, aber bis jetzt bin ich noch nicht ganz überzeugt.
Fazit:
Kann man mal gelesen haben, muss man aber meiner Meinung nach nicht unbedingt.
Zeichenstil: 4/5
Idee: 5/5
Charaktere: 3/5
Spannung: 2/5
Details: 3/5
Gesamt: 3/5
Daten:
Broschiert: 156 Seiten
Verlag: TOKYOPOP; Auflage: 1., (1. Mai 2006)
Sprache: Deutsch
ISBN-10: 3865806414
ISBN-13: 978-3865806413
Vom Hersteller empfohlenes Alter: 13 - 16 Jahre
Größe und/oder Gewicht: 12,6 x 1,4 x 18,9 cm
May 9, 2019
This is really cute! I like the spunky protagonist. I'm sad it reads left to right but I'm glad they didn't change the names. The Korean names and references are fantastic! I have a few Kpop fans who are excited to read or at least look over the book and see which of the sound effects they can translate. I only wish I had more Korean manhwa!
April 11, 2021
*3.5 stars*
November 13, 2023
pretty good volume. not much else to say other than i wish the other volumes weren’t so hard to find! 😭 but either way i’ll do my digging bc i do want to eventually read more of this story💫
June 29, 2024
3,5 its funny
February 3, 2018
Fun fact, I was actually introduced to this manhwa through its original Korean printing as opposed to the English translation that I happily own today.
As such, it's prudent to point out just how well KARA captured the emotions and general story within her artwork. I may not have understood the dialogue, but I definitely understood who the characters were and what they were after. From adorable humor to sinister plotting, the expressive artwork conveys everything that mere words cannot. Furthermore, KARA's unique style helps the title stand out from similar Asian-flavored historical fantasies.
That's as much praise I can give the opening volume, however. The story is serviceable, and the (completely adorable) humorous moments don't take away from the serious plot developments later on. The story does move a little too quickly from the real world to the first real past!timeline plot for my tastes, as it seems like the main duo discover the village of children a little too conveniently, but that's a minor nitpick.
Despite being a slightly cliche "plucky but book-dumb" school girl character, Eun-Gyo is enjoyable to follow as her antics manage to escalate even the most harmless situations into over-the-top fun. Even at her goofiest moments, she never truly breaks the suspension of disbelief in relation to her situation. On the other hand, her serious moments are a bit too rare, and she can come off as heartless as a result. As we don't really know enough about No-ah or the other characters at this point, she's pretty much carrying the whole story at this point. While young readers about her age may find her very compelling, older people may find her a little hard to take seriously. That's a big issue, as she makes or breaks the entire story in this volume.
Overall, LEGEND is a great series, but new readers should keep in mind that the beginning is a bit shallow in comparison to everything that follows it.
As such, it's prudent to point out just how well KARA captured the emotions and general story within her artwork. I may not have understood the dialogue, but I definitely understood who the characters were and what they were after. From adorable humor to sinister plotting, the expressive artwork conveys everything that mere words cannot. Furthermore, KARA's unique style helps the title stand out from similar Asian-flavored historical fantasies.
That's as much praise I can give the opening volume, however. The story is serviceable, and the (completely adorable) humorous moments don't take away from the serious plot developments later on. The story does move a little too quickly from the real world to the first real past!timeline plot for my tastes, as it seems like the main duo discover the village of children a little too conveniently, but that's a minor nitpick.
Despite being a slightly cliche "plucky but book-dumb" school girl character, Eun-Gyo is enjoyable to follow as her antics manage to escalate even the most harmless situations into over-the-top fun. Even at her goofiest moments, she never truly breaks the suspension of disbelief in relation to her situation. On the other hand, her serious moments are a bit too rare, and she can come off as heartless as a result. As we don't really know enough about No-ah or the other characters at this point, she's pretty much carrying the whole story at this point. While young readers about her age may find her very compelling, older people may find her a little hard to take seriously. That's a big issue, as she makes or breaks the entire story in this volume.
Overall, LEGEND is a great series, but new readers should keep in mind that the beginning is a bit shallow in comparison to everything that follows it.
March 26, 2022
I felt that this manga had scenes on scenes not really understandable .
I was really confused throughout the story😅
The action happens downright fast and its not giving the readers time to understand what just happened and why this person there was chosen randomly.
It's about a young man where his sister has been kidnapped, and he in return kidnaps someone, well a girl to help him find his sister...
I did not understand why this girl was chosen and how she could help him...
I feel that this manga didn't give too much explanation or details of what was really happening😅😅 If I had the chance to read the second volume I would pass my turn cuz im sorry just no...😅
I was really confused throughout the story😅
The action happens downright fast and its not giving the readers time to understand what just happened and why this person there was chosen randomly.
It's about a young man where his sister has been kidnapped, and he in return kidnaps someone, well a girl to help him find his sister...
I did not understand why this girl was chosen and how she could help him...
I feel that this manga didn't give too much explanation or details of what was really happening😅😅 If I had the chance to read the second volume I would pass my turn cuz im sorry just no...😅
December 19, 2014
I have been waiting to read this series for a very long time. I have loved so many other series from Kara. I'm not sure how much I really like this. My reading motivation is dwindling a tad, which makes starting new stuff a little tough. But the story seems interesting enough to keep me going and reordering it from the library.
July 27, 2011
Really liked the story - had a little trouble following it, but going to keep reading the series and hopefully everything will fall into place.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews