Chocolat, Volume 1

Chocolat #1

by Ji-Sang Shin, GEO (Artist)

How far would you go to meet your favorite boy band? Keum-Ji was little late getting under the spell of the chart topping boy band DDL. Unable to join the DDL fan club, she almost gives up meeting her idols until she develops a cunning plan, becoming a top member of their rival fan club for a brand-new boy group, Yo-I (Chocolat). This way she can always be near Yo-I at all their concerts. Funnily enough Yo-I always seem to play the same shows with DDL. It's almost the perfect plan except it's really complicated being a super fan for one band when your heart lies with another. Follow the adventures of Keum-Ji in this full-blown romantic comedy as she tries to keep her scheme together.

Genres: Manga, Manhwa, Romance, Graphic Novels, Comics, Young Adult, Comics Manga

180 pages, Paperback

First published November 2, 2005

About the author

Genres

Shoujo(7) Drama(5) Romance(5) Comedy(4) Slice of Life(3) School Life(3) Tragedy(2) Historical(1) Supernatural(1) Harem(1)

Reviews

[Lain · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is the extremity of silly. I really love the plot, art style and how fast paced it is. And it’s genuinely so funny, like laughing and giggling out loud funny. I’m really loving this series so far.

[~Cyanide Latte~ · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was never much into manhwa titles when I was in high school, and I regret that now. A close friend of mine however, adored manhwa and would frequently recommend titles to me. Chocolat was one of them, but I'd long since forgotten about it until recently seeing this used copy for sale in the bargain section at the local Books & Co. I had only a vague recollection of what it was about, and given all the recent craze among USA fans for Korean boy bands, I figured I would pick this up and give it a try at last.

This is an interesting little contemporary romance-in-the-works title focusing on idol culture in Korea through the eyes of a fangirl, who's perhaps more than a little confused about where exactly her loyalties lie (or at least, the series promises she will be.) Generally speaking, she would be among the lowest rank of fans for the group she actually likes, and so to try to still get a chance at exclusive access or chances to see them up close, she muscles her way into the early ranks of the fanbase for a rival group. Unfortunately her plans go awry when one of the members of the group she's faking love for finds out she's not actually their fan, and starts blackmailing her.

The way this first volume opens, it feels like it's set itself up with a lot of storytelling tropes, but I don't mind. It promises to show a lot of character growth and development, and I think that's part of why I would also class Chocolat as contemporary, instead of just the "romance" genre stamped on the back cover.

I believe my one major quip with this book so far is the fact that the last chunk of the book, while there is some of it dedicated to behind-the-scenes and interviews with the creators, the last chunk of the book is primarily a first-chapter preview for another series also originally released by the Ice Kunion imprint. And that...just feels a little ham-fisted. I get it; at the time Danbi and Ice Kunion first released Chocolat and a lot of other similar titles, there was probably a hope that throwing in little previews for some of the other titles in the imprint would generate interest in readers to buy those as well. But honestly, it feels so forced and a bit like a waste of paper. That shouldn't have been so much of the extra padding.

Regardless, I'm looking forward to eventually continuing with this series, because I am definitely curious to see where the rest of the books go.

[Harumichi Mizuki · Rating 5 out of 5]

Instingku benar waktu milih komik ini dari obralan. MENARIK! Aku jadi makin penasaran dengan pola cerita remaja ala Korsel. Mereka jelas masukin banyak elemen yang bikin ceritanya jadi sangat menggoda, seklise apa pun polanya. Dan gak cuma sekadar jual konsep karakter cewe-cowo cantik dan gemerlap kisah dunia selebritas.


Komik ini akan sedikit banyak membuat kita memahami budaya fandom di Korsel yang gila-gilaan. Bagaimana fans sampai rela mati bahkan berkelahi sampai mati dengan fans lain demi membela "Sang Oppa". Sinting. Tapi itu menarik. Bagaimana pun manusia selalu merasa butuh sosok "idola" atau "role model" sebagai pegangan terutama untuk melupakan kesulitan hidup.


Yang aku nggak ngerti kenapa tokoh utama ceweknya ga masuk fansclub DDL aja? Karena fansnya udah puluhan ribu dan ikutan pun juga bakalan susah ketemu Oppa-nya? Makanya dia ikutan fans club band Yo-I yang baru aja populer?

Wah.

[anenko · Rating 3 out of 5]

Along with most of Korea's young women, Kum-ji is in love with the band DDL, especially its lead singer, Jin. Unfortunately, Kum-ji discovered the band later than most, and finds that the official fan club is already at full capacity. Unable to bear the thought of never meeting her idol, Kum-ji comes up with a plan: she will become a club officer for rival band Yo-I! DDL and Yo-I are frequently at the same events, so surely Kum-ji will have plenty of opportunities to meet Jin.

Needless to say, things don't go as smoothly as Kum-ji had hoped. The primary glitch in her plan comes in the form of E-Soh, one of Yo-I's singers. While absolutely gorgeous, he's also infuriating; he and Kum-ji immediately clash. Things only get worse when E-Soh realizes which idol Kum-ji is truely devoted to. If the truth is revealed, Kum-ji will be kicked out of Yo-I's fanclub, and blacklisted from DDL's. E-Soh promises to keep the truth to himself, with conditions: "Just one thing! You'll have to do *everything* I say. . . "

"Everything" turns out to involve a lot of menial labour. As well as having to put up with E-Soh's whims, and various petty chores, Kum-ji also has to put up with put-downs and abuse from other band members and fans: "know your place. . . Who do you think you are?"

Volume one has many familiar ingredients: a potential love triangle, subtext between beautiful male characters, rivalries, and plenty of obstacles for our plucky heroine to overcome. It's a solid beginning, but the story didn't really click with me. Kum-ji's experiences as a fan are so far outside my realm of experience that I simply couldn't connect with her. I've never idolized a singer or an actor, and the depth of her devotion towards a man she's never met, and doesn't actually know, was bizarre more than endearing. Perhaps this will change as Kum-ji begins to see her idols as actual people, and her love begins to show some sings of being connected to reality.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not bad. I've never understood the whole fangirl mindset thing, though, which makes it hard to 'connect' with the character.

This fangirl, Kum-ji didn't become a fan of her favourite band in time to join their fan club, so she signs up for another groups' club hoping to see her favourite band when the two are at the same events, etc. (Apparently she has no life other than following a bunch of celebrities place to place...) She accidentally catches the attention of one of the singers her fanclub is dedicated to (by nearly getting into a fistfight with him) and it doesn't take him long to figure out her true reasons for being in the fan club (she didn't recognize one of the band members was probably a pretty good sign). I'd put even money on her ending up with him, even though right now he's using this knowledge to blackmail her into doing things for him. Oh, and given how surprised she is by the band's real personalities as opposed to those they present to the public, it should be interesting when the band (and the guy) she's really interested enter into the plot more often.

[Tiffany Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

My absolute favorite book series. It's SO hilarious, it has great drama, there's a love triangle that keeps you on the edge of your seat, and it's cute and romantic.
All of the characters are great, and E-Wan is the most precious tsundere, an absolute gem.

I've lent the first volume to multiple people who don't even read manhwa or manga, and they've all come back to me asking if I had the other volumes because they wanted to read the rest.

Such a good series that I can read over and over.

[Tiffany Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite romance reads.
The main character is so fiery and funny, and I really like her contrast with the icy love interest. The dialogue and banter between the characters is so good, and I love how you see the characters grow over the course of the story--great character development!
The book is hilarious, romantic, suspenseful, emotional. It's great!

[Pixie 🍜 · Rating 3 out of 5]

Art is pretty but the plot is kinda meh. That’s what I get for reading something that came out years ago though. Pretty sure this is the same artist as Very! Very! Cute though which I loved. Won’t continue the series.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

Feels like I’ve read this before. I probably did as a teen. It’s funny bc I just finished a book about a woman who meets an idol and doesn’t know he is an idol. So seeing the kpop world from the fans pov is interesting.

[BreAnna (Bre'sBooks) · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nah, I'm good.

[Lizzy · Rating 2 out of 5]

I honestly don't know why I picked this book up, but I would not have finished it if it weren't for the fact that graphic novels like this take maybe 30 minutes to get through at their densest. The protagonist was annoying, the plot is not something I would usually reach for, and the various romantic interests were rude and unappealing. Not for me.

[Ottery StCatchpole · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let us begin with the art, please. Strictly speaking this is not a manga, since it does not originate in Japan, and that's about the only thing that would set it aside from any manga, because in looks it carries all the same tropes and stylistic elements of shojo manga or girl's comics in Japan. This book has the long legged, long necked, handsome bishonen, boys; its main focus is love, and all the emotional drama that comes along with it; as well it has the heroine everyone can't seem to help falling in love with, and even elements of homosexual relationships, which is a staple of shojo manga. Honestly, but for reading the names of the mangaka responsible for this, I would not have known this book not to be Japanese manga. None of which matters to literate and smart people who don't judge the merits of a book on where it was produced but rather the merits of the art and story.

The artwork is not too cluttered, its nicely detailed, and not as sparse as I've seen some manga be. The boys are cute, the main heroine, despite constantly being called ugly is rather cute, and easily all of the characters are distinguishable, which can be a problem for some mangaka. In the art department Chocolat is pretty top notch.

Moving to the heroine, one is surprised to find that Kum-ji is not the usual run-of-the-mill, helpless, damsel in distress heroine that usually populates girl's comics. Which is a refreshing change from all the milksop, boy dependent heroines in some shojo manga. Kum-ji loves the band D.D.L. but unable to join their fan-club because they've met their quota or some such nonsense, she joins the fan-club for Yo-I, a band she feigns to like and somehow becomes an officer in. She later finds out that her aunt helps manage them too.

In any event, in a typical shojo trope, one of the boy's on the band E-soh, figures out she's not reallly a fan of Yo-I (his band) but rather D.D.L. and in exchange for keeping Kum-ji's secret she must do what he says. If this premise sounds familiar it comes to mind as the whole basis of Hot Gimmick, but while Hot Gimmick sadly becomes a slave to that trope, Chocolat soon drops it.

The story is interesting, funny, and cute. As the tables are turned and turned again in the series. I am currently reading volume 3 and I have up to volume 6 checked out from the library. The story evolves in every volume, changing the status quo constantly, which is again something we don't always see in Shojo manga. The heroine isn't destined for one guy, she may not even have to choose between two, we'll see the story is still progressing. But even so, she finds her feelings constantly in flux, and not always in the direction one would think. And Kum-ji is anything but a boring heroine, and her decisions can leave us at times, flabbergasted and completely surprised which is one of the more interesting elements of this manhwa i.e. Korean comics.

I heartily recommend this book for lovers of romance, shojo manga, people who like a good laugh and silly situations or if you're just curious to know how all those Justin Bieber fan-girl's truly feel. An interesting manhwa with an interesting take on fans and their adoring idols. Definitely a good read. But its a series, so don't leave without expecting a cliffhanger. And for the first book, its a good one.

[CJ - It's only a Paper Moon · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've never been in a fan club nor have I ever really been that starstruck (I've seen stars and I have to admit the only person I really freaked out about was Jason Jones from The Daily Show the rest I had my freak out moment in my head and carried on) however Kum-Ji, well, she's a fangirl.

She becomes a member of the fan club for Yo-I, a band that plays at the same venues and concerts as her favorite band DDL, a band that she missed the cutoff point to become an official fan member for.

Herein lies the rub. E-Soh, a member of Yo-I, meets Kum-Ji on the elevator and they come to blows. Kum-Ji doesn't recognize that the boy she's beating up is part of the band she's supposed to show reverence for. On top of that, E-Soh, with his beautiful face and demonic soul quickly finds out what Kum-Ji is doing; trying to get close to DDL by being a fan of Yo-I. She becomes his slave. However, she has to contend the real fan members of Yo-I, their leader Barbie (I know, very Korean)as well as her people (the DDL fans). It's a sordid story and so far nothing seems as it should.

Is E-Wan really a jerk, is E-Soh really that evil, is Barbie really that nice?

I'm going to go with no on all counts but I won't know until I keep reading.

[Kathryn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this soooooo much!

I don't feel like getting into the story, but basically the main character Kum-Ji joins the fanclub of a boy band that always plays with her real idols, since she couldn't get into her real idol's club. Then E-Soh, the devil iincarnate and a member of her fake idol, finds out and blackmails her into becoming his slave, which leads to some rather hilarious situations for poor Kum-Ji.

I pretty much fell in love with E-Soh. He, is, like, evil and kicks serious ass. I. Love. Him. The entire story itself is great, and I was laughing, squealing, and yelling "Oh shit, that's not good! Watch out Kum-Ji!" on every other page. I normally don't go for this kind of stuff, but Chocolat was amazing (although I'm not sure why it's called "Chocolat". There was no mention of a certain sugary treat in the entire book). And, it totally redeemed manhwa for me, since all the others I've read were terrible. I would totally reccomend this to anybody who has a love of graphic novels.

[Nicole · Rating 2 out of 5]

Meh. I had high hopes for this romance manhwa, but it reads kind of "flat" to me. The most interesting element was a look inside a "fan girls" life - the various levels of boy-band fandom that exist in Asian society and the levels young men and women reportedly go to in defending the honor of their favorites. I didn't feel any real sympathy (or interest) in the various plights of Kum-Ji as she joins the upper-echelon fandom of a band she doesn't even know so that she can get closer to her the band of her dreams at various superstar events. Three volumes in, we have three celebrity artists developing romantic interest in Kum-Ji (no clue why) - E-Soh and E-wan of band Yo-i, and Jin of band DDL - and Kum-Ji of course shows various levels of attraction to each. But everything feels so superficial or two-dimensional. The artwork is very pretty, and I love seeing the outfits the celebrities wear - but not sure I'll go much further in this series...

[Frahorus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un boss della malavita giapponese diventa... pasticcere! E da lui si trasferisce la sua figliastra quasi uguale a sua madre morta pochi mesi prima. Lui diventa pasticcere perché il sogno di Maya era proprio quello di aprire una pasticceria e lui vuole redimersi diventando lui stesso pasticcere. Credo di non aver mai letto nulla di più insolito! In questo primo volume conosceremo Chiyoko, la figlia abbandonata dal padre e che si rifugia nell'amante di sua madre a cui imputa tutte le disgrazie della sua vita. Poi ci sono alcuni membri superstiti dell'ex clan della Yakuza (la mafia giapponese) Komugi ovvero Shuzo, ex sicario; Ichigo, appena uscito di galera; Kurio, ex corriere e grande ammiratore di Ichigo, ed infinie Komugi Matsuyoshi, l'ex boss dell'omonimo clan. Vedremo che pian piano il boss cercherà di riallacciare i rapporti con Chiyoko, che vede come una vera e propria figlia. Il volume termina con l'arrivo di un nuovo personaggio, chi sarà?

[桃 · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am enjoying this manhwa a lot more than I thought I would. Most 少女 is all the same (which is why we like it): love triangles, misunderstandings, the girl ends up falling for the guy she's usually arguing with, there's the silent guy and the loud guy, ...more I enjoyed this manhwa a lot more than I thought I would. Most 少女 is all the same (which is why we like it): love triangles, misunderstandings, the girl ends up falling for the guy she's usually arguing with, there's the silent guy and the loud guy, etc etc. And I'm not about to say Chocolat is any different, but somehow, despite all the stereotypes, I found myself laughing my way through the first two volumes a lot. It's very light and less drama laden as some of the others in its genre.

The translation is lacking quite a bit, though it's still worth a read.

[Kate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Chocolat captures the fun of being a teen obsessed with the latest boy band. Kum-Ji and her friends love everything about their idol band, D.D.L., and Kum-Ji in particular will do anything to get closer to them. Along the way, she gets to know a rival band of her idols, and maybe even falls in love a time or two. This is a cute series that actually presents a believable case for Kum-Ji's less than ordinary acquaintances. Perhaps the fact that the manhwaga are both fans of a Korean band helps them channel their infatuation into the graphic novel. Fun.

[Dorcas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Kum-ji is a fan of the idol group D.D.L. but is so low on the fandom scale that she can't get near them. So, she becomes the president of a new up and coming group, Yo-I, so that she may secretly see her precious Jin of D.D.L. in person. Things do not go entirely smoothly, however.
Kum-ji's obsessive fangirl antics can be annoying, but there may be something here with her interactions with the Yo-I group. I'll check out another volume.

[Lara · Rating 4 out of 5]

This series cracks me up--I mean, how could I not love a story about a dorky girl and two rival boy bands? I only hope the series continues one day...it's been on hiatus for too long!!!
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Apparently I reread this series every four years or so! Still dumb, still funny, still one of my faves. And it finally did get finished, yay!

[Sadie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Technically a manwha since it's Korean but I'm putting it on the manga shelf. It's a cute look at fandom. Since I'm kind of fanish I related. It reminded me of my brief Backstreet Boy affair back in 1999.

[Beck · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cute! I do love a ridiculous female protagonist.

The whole boy band fan club thing is such a cultural stretch--not just because it happens differently in the States in generally, but also because I've personally never been good at obsessing over any one person/thing/fandom.

[Alison · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fluffy goodness for those with the patience to read about a young gal obsessed with a k-pop band. It's silly and funny and I like this particular style of korean manhwa.

[Lưu Ngọc Trâm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love her love to her singer!

[Kaele · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love this book, it's absolutely hillarious!!

[Tab · Rating 4 out of 5]

(B+)

[A51621abc · Rating 5 out of 5]

it is very ssweet story~

[Jessica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Discontinued series. A great premise about boy bands and the ULTIMATE FANS. I thought I knew about groupies, BUT you ain't seen nothing yet!

[Sarah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Promising start. Ditzy girl. Idolized guy who's really a jerk. The two bickering like old friends. Fangirling over a band. What's not to like here?