NOW (manhwa)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
NOW is a Korean manhwa (Korean term for comics and cartoons) by Park Sung Woo. Presented by Studio Zero and serialized in IQ Jump Comics, a weekly Korean manhwa magazine.
Contents |
[edit] Story
The story of NOW is set in ancient Korea and stars Bi-Ryu, a martial artist and Ah-Rin, a bubbly girl with a sword as they go on various adventures. The series is currently up to 22 volumes in South Korea and up to 5 volumes in United States. NOW is an action/fighting oriented comic targeted towards male fans.
[edit] Characters
- Bi-Ryu
The main character of NOW. Practitioner of the "Sashinmu" killing style. He has distinct silver colored hair. He was the adopted grandson of North Star, and holds himself responsible for North Star's death. He seems to be developing a crush on Rin. Bi-Ryu is a rather simple young man, unable to catch up with the times on his own. This is shown when he and Ah-Rin prepare to embark on their quest. She asks if he is all packed, and if so, where are his things. He casts a finger to Cho-Ryung in response. Also casually walking in on Yhun Ah-Rin and Cho Ryung in a bath, Bi Ryu asked directions and left as though she was not naked, Cho Ryung seems to have the same casualness. However, he is merciless in combat, referring to himself as a Sa-Shin, a death god. He has been shown to descend into a ferocious killing rage during battle, with Ah-Rin being the only one able to return him to normal.
- Yhun Ah-Rin
The 15 year old female protagonist of NOW. Though powerful thanks to her father's transferred Sashinmu energy, she is considered a bit of a klutz. She seems to be developing a romantic interest upon Bi-Ryu, starting from when Bi Ryu saw her breasts, her Mother and sister have told her she has to marry the first man to see her breasts. Her mother, the legendary Lunar Ice, has trained both her and her sister in the Heavenly Mountain Sword Stance, which constantly circulates a type of internal ki to accentuate constant movement in battle. However, when Rin was younger, she accidentally ingested a poisonous herb. To save her life, her father transmitted some of his own Sashinmu energy to her, thus saving her life and at the same time preventing her from mastering the sword stance at her current level.
- Cho-Ryung
A feral cat-like girl that is the traveling companion of Ah-Rin and Bi-Ryu. She is unable to talk and instead makes animal-like noises to communicate. It is speculated that she is the creation of Mother Demon. Bi-Ryu considers her a simple piece of property, to which she holds no objection to. She is very powerful, able to make off with Rin's rather heavy sword at the beginning of the series holding it only by her teeth. Ryung, like most animals, despises water and only after being caught and forced will she bathe.
- Yu Sae-Ha
One of the male protagonists of NOW. A good person at first but is becomes twisted and evil by a traumatic incident in the first volume. Originally sent with his brothers to destroy Sashinmu's secrets upon his swordmaster's last wishes. He discovered his older brother had secretly been working for an opposing force, and was nearly killed by him. It was this brother's sword that left the scar on his cheek. Together, the two plunge into a chasm, and he barely survived unlike his brother. He acquires the Sashinmu killing technique from reading the Sashinmu book with the purpose of changing the world so as to acknowledge his strength and, indirectly, his reason for existing. Yu Sae-Ha's style of Sashinmu is unique, for it utilizes negative (ice / Yin) ki instead of positive (fire / Yang) ki, as a result of him having absorbed Yhun Ah-Ran's ki. Originally starting out as a shy and timid character, Yu Sae-Ha grows obsessed with power as the story goes on, willing to do anything to become stronger. He harbors feelings for Yhun Ah-Ran, although she does not return them.
- Yhun Ah-Ran
Elder sister of Yhun Ah-Rin. Ah-Rin is much more stoic than her sister. After a confrontation with Bi-Ryu, she is left injured and drained of energy. It is here that she is captured and taken to Mother Demon's palace, where she is held captive until Yu-Sae Ha rescues her. It is discovered that she had killed Demon Mother's younger brother in an earlier confrontation during her search for Rin. She is eventually paired up with Yu Sae-Ha in a secondary storyline. Unlike her sister, Ah-Ran seems to have nearly, if not completely, mastered the stance, as she has displayed advanced techniques. However, as Yu Sae-Ha has absorbed her ki, it is unknown whether or not she is still able to fight.
- Nirvana
A little girl introduced in volume 4, Nirvana is not all she appears to be. Due to her features and clothes many fans assume her to be Indian. She is first seen as a child Ah-Gi has taken to kill and make into food. Bi-Ryu and Ah-Rin show up just in time to save her, though she shows no fear towards the man. He believes her to be a mute, as she has not spoken since he abducted her. Later, after meeting Bi Ryu's Party she speaks slowly with future predictions, accurately predicting Yhun Ah-Rin kicking Bi Ryu. It is also known that she apparently is wanted, as a group of assassins intrude upon Bi-Ryu's party and attempt to kill them to take Nirvana. She seems to like Cho Ryung, as she hugs her like a stuffed animal a lot.
- Shiva
Chief minister of Myung Wong Shin Gyo (The School of Tomorrow's King)
- Jakshmi
Head of the security detail in Myung Wong Shin Gyo. She and ganesha make up the Ministers of the Right and Left respectively. Her primary duty is to provide security to the Chief Minister (Shiva). Her and Ganesha are apparently not on good terms. It is said that her powers are on par with Ganesha, but she is not the "brute force" type. Instead, she is known to make deals and use subversive methods to do her job. She often passes herself off as the "lovely little lady". When Ganesha returns with Yu Sae-Ha and Yhun Ah-Rin, Shiva requests that she "lightly spar" with Yu Sae-Ha. She displays here her actual strength, seeming to teleport to and from. It also seems her physical strength is above average, as with one kick, she sends Yu Sae-Ha flying upwards into the air, despite his unintentional defense.
- Ah-Gi
An evil monk who is also a cannibal. He wields a cooking knife attached to a chain, which emits loud clinking sounds meant to distract the opponent during battle and perhaps make up for a lack of physical strength. He flaunts himself as a master cook. As the story progresses, Ah-Gi becomes more of a comic relief character than an actual threat. He has his own pages, located at the end of the Manhwa, called "Ask Ah-Gi," a short comical strip of few pages where he (supposedly) answers questions from the readers, often involving Ah-Rin and Ah-Ran, and ends up getting beaten up/stabbed/slashed/etc. by the two girls.
- Dharma
An antagonist introduced in volume 4, he is a large muscular man with dark skin.. His weapon is a spear named Shin-Chang NAGA that absorbs all his negative ki thus giving him the ability to hide his ki in fights. He is defeated by Bi-Ryu, after mortally wounding Yuhn Ah-Rin. This inspires Bi-Ryu to "pass judgement" and deliver the "Seven Dark Star Attacks" upon the man and finally kill him. His last sight is that of Nirvana, whom he states is the Founder of Myung Wong Shin Gyo.
- Ganesha
The Head of Security in the Myung Wong Shin Gyo. He seems to be a controlling man, telling Ran and Rin's parents he had come to handle business with Mother Demon, but became captivated with their fighting skills. His apparently true purpose of coming was to obtain the secrets of Sashinmu. He seems to be powerful as well, escaping from the two skilled warriors with the only damage received the losing of the bottom portion of his mask. He entices yu Sae-Ha to accompany him to Myung Wong Shin Gyo along with Yhun Ah-Ran. It is later revealed that he is the twin (younger) brother of Shiva, and that he only takes off his mask when he is needed to "stand in" for Shiva in certain situations.
[edit] Notes
- NOW is a sequel to an earlier Park Sung Woo manhwa, Chan Rhang Yhur Jhun (Legend of the Sirius), which featured Yhun Oh-Rhang and Whur Ha-Rhang, the parents of Yhun Ah-Rin and Ah-Ran. Thus the significance of some characters and story might be lost without reading the prequel.
- The manhwa is action heavy, similar to Japanese manga like Rurouni Kenshin or Dragon Ball
- This manhwa was formerly distributed in the United States in English by ComicsOne. It was later acquired by Infinity Studios.
- NOW occasionally contains fanservice. Usually in the form of Ah-Rin or Ah-Ran bathing.
[edit] Publishers
NOW was originaly published by ComicsOne Corp.. In ?? ?? 200? Infinity Studios LLC took over publishing, announced that will be republishing the first 5 volumes in the series.
