I.N.V.U. Volume 3

I have been hooked by this manhwa author. She is the most intriqeing author I know. Nothing she puts on paper or in picture is boring...ever...I love I.N.V.U. and I am so excited that book four is finally making it past the red tape and being published in September. The Queen's Knight is another series she writes and it is almost completely out in Germany...up to book 15. What a great series! Hot men, drama, humor, mystery, beauty, fantasy..it's all there!

I adore this shojo manga, with it's beautiful art, interesting plotlines, and loveable (not to mention very cute!) characters. Unforunately, the manga artist who created this title has put it on hiatus while she works on other projects. Volume 4 won't be coming out until the artist returns to this series. (Which she said she will eventually, but no idea when.) So while this series is extremely addicting, it's going to leave a bad taste in your mouth when you realize the cliffhanger is going to be there a long, long time.

I absolutely love this series with all of its twists and turns. However, with this volume as a cliffhanger, I cannot wait till the next one comes out. However, it has been so long that I doubt they will release volume 4. It's a little annoying, too, because this is the kind of series where you truly need to know what happens.

I.N.V.U. was the first Korean manhwa I ever read, and despite my initial difficulty with the -new to me!- Korean names in vol.1, I enjoyed all three volumes immensely, and I'm looking forward to vol.4, whenever it comes out! I.N.V.U. has real characters that could be living down the road, even if some of them seem to be constantly dealing with extreme situations. They are the kind of characters you get to care about and want to see what happens to them next. Some of them are so easy to identify with, although its been a long time since I left school! I like the way we get a glimpse of the inside world and the psychology of this particular sample of modern Korean schoolgirls, their everyday life and problems. The style is very similar to Japanese manga -and having read so many manga in my life that I can't even count them, I found I.N.V.U. both comfortably familiar and pleasantly refreshing. Thanks and congratulations to Tokyopop for taking the initiative to introduce Korean manhwa in English -and the same goes for the other companies following it up. I can only wonder what happened to vol.4 of I.N.V.U. -it seems to be taking a long time to come out!

Cream puffs from a certain chef make one girl's heart go "pitter-pat" while another girl-gone-famous pushes her taboo crush object past the point of return (hot for teacher turns hot for student). Sey and Siho learn more about each other, and Ria acts out on her -itchy jealous feelings (Down with Ria Yoo!). All in all, this is another great book by Kim Kang Won, but it leaves you wondering, "Why is Hyde from 'That 70's Show' guest starring in a manga?"