Ruler of the Land

Publisher
ADVManga
Writer
Jeon Keuk-Jin
Artist
Yang Jae-Hyun
Country of origin
Korea
Year
1994

Ruler of the Land GN 2

By David Rasmussen
28th Oct 04

Studio - ADVManga
Age - T for Teen (13+)
Story by Jeon Keuk-Jin
Artwork by Yang Jae-Hyun
ADV Manga Staff
Translator - Jason An
Lead Translator/Translation Dept. Supervisor - Javier Lopez
ADVManga Translation Staff (additional) - Trisha Eggleston
Publishing Editor - Susan Itin
Assistant Editor - Margaret Scharold

Previously
Meet Bi-Kwang Han. He who, like a majority of main characters in these martial arts combat ancient times series, can kick major butt... But he'd rather not.
He does have one move down, though, and that's a Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon style move that lets him leap long distances... probably walk on water, jump on top of trees, etc... and he strives to be the heir of a great man... pity that man happens to be Leisure Suit Larry.

When he ran into that man, who in fact was a woman, and got involved in her search for her grandfather (who readers have already seen so it's an anticlimactic search because we already know where he is) he got into more than he bargained. Especially since they are now being pursued by a group looking to take his hidden female companion's sword, the Sword of the Flowers, which has the ability to break the most powerful magic... well, at least the written spellcrafts like invulnerability which she does when she hacks a few dogs apart with an "Black Iron" spell on their bodies making them invulnerable to attack.

Oh, did I mention he's totally clueless and despite being hit over the head with a half a dozen clues he still hasn't figured out that his companion is a woman? No? Well now I mentioned it.

As we open up it looks like this unlikely duo are in combat with their enemies, amongst them a powerful nemesis in a hard to kill jerk named the Gold Cobra.
Oh-kay. Nuff warm up, let's get right down to it.

Ruler of the Land GN 2
It'll be a lot of work to get away from the bad guys, but along the way our unlikely duo of Bi-Kwang and Hwa Rin end up losing the Sword of the Flowers to the enemy. It'll be a long road to take it back, and considering the horrible beating they took just to get away they may not be up to the challenge.

Meanwhile we get to know abit more about a few of the secondary characters (and one or two of them might even have deep personal grudges against the Gold Cobra that they need to thrash out with him sooner or later), and things might slowly be growing closer for the duo... maybe.

But as the two join forces... for "obvious" reasons if you consider Bi-Kwang's actions back in Graphic Novel 1, another fight between them and the forces aligned with the Gold Cobra comes about in a rather strange way. And we also learn that Bi-Kwang has been lugging around his own powerful sword, well maybe not his sword but... it's complex.

It ends in a cliffhanger and what seems to be the "cavalry" on Bi-Kwang/Hwa Rin's side, which might hasten the meeting she's been wanting with her grandfather... but we'll find that out next week.
Time for the second breakdown.

Ruler of the Land Breakdown 2nd
What's Hot? - Second verse same as the first. It's a good solid read. It's got action, humor, nice pacing and beautiful visuals (artwork). All around this is one of the best I've read of this genre and have only good things to say about this. Excellent job all around by everyone, well done.

What's Not? - Nothing. It's all good here.

Moments to Remember
Once again the odd couple "relationship" between our pair of unlikely travelers and the awkward situations they get into is the highlight. Their travels are quite memorable without a doubt.

What to Ignore?
Nothing. Once again it's all good here.

Overall?
It's a good read and I have to say I enjoy it greatly. Next week I'll review Ruler of the Land GN 3 so stay tuned for that. Excellent all about read, must have for your collection without a doubt.
So, in short, if you are a fan of period piece asian martial arts/sword and sorcery epics then this is something you should no doubt check out. If not? Any fan of a good action/humor yarn would also find this appealing.
Recommended from me to you. Check it out.

-- David Rasmussen 28th Oct 04