Manhwa-ga: Shin JiSang and Geo
Publisher: Yen Press
Rating: Teen (13+)
Released: September 2008

Synopsis: “With her confession rejected by E-Wan of Yo-I, Kum-Ji is driven to despair. But with DDL’s tour starting up again, she at least has something to get her mind off of her hurting heart. But when E-Wan is suddenly hospitalized, she must draw up the courage to visit him. And who’s there to back her up but E-Soh?! Just when it seems that E-Wan can never be as nice as E-Soh, he has a change of heart?!”

Kumi-ji comes out and tells E-Wan that she loves him and is slapped with a cold turn down and a hard truth. But is that the end? Friend and pop-star, E-Soh, still makes it no secret he wants her for himself, and where once Kum-Ji felt torn between them, now her heart can think of no one but E-Wan.

The majority of volume six of Chocolat is Kum-Ji coming to terms with E-Wan’s put down. E-Soh’s dedication to her continues but she spends nearly the whole volume avoiding his feelings but avoiding him altogether. Not a completely unbelievable response by any means, but geez, sure wasn’t much fun to read. Throw in some issues with baldness and making it to see her favourite band in concert, and you the current day of the life with Kum-Ji.

Biggest problem I continue having with Chocolat is the art. It’s pretty in a way only Korean manhwas can be, but I’m constantly struggling to keep track of the characters. With designs so similar, I rely almost entirely on someone saying another character’s name or else I don’t know who these faces belong to. Bad enough I keep confusing the two bands mentioned numerously in the series, Yo-I and DDL, but even individual characters occasionally get muddled in my eyes. You guys are so pretty to look at, but why must you be so darn confusing?

Come the end, the drama of Chocolat feels like it may be running a little stale for me by this point. While volume five proved interesting, the lack of drama in this volume past the do-I-don’t-I’s of the characters failed to really engage me. Hopefully volume seven picks up a little bit, because the series has warranted my interest well enough to this point and I’d hate to have a less than gratifying instalment turn me off it for good.

Review written September 22, 2008 by Lissa Pattillo.
Book provided by Yen Press for review purposes

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About the Author: Lissa Pattillo

Lissa Pattillo is the owner and editor of Kuriousity.ca. Residing in Halifax, Nova Scotia she takes great joy in collecting all manners of manga genres, regretting that there's never enough time in the day to review or share them all. Along with reviews, Lissa is responsible for all the news postings to the website and works full time as a web and graphic designer.