Note: I have not seen a proper review that describes the full story of this manwha, so I decided to try and give it my best. Just note that I will not compare this work with any others that this mangaka has done. No matter how repetitive the story or characters are, it is not fair for judging this alone as an art. If you have any complaints, give it to the author not the artwork.
Now then, reading the first few volumes of the story is certainly.. addicting. I believe Hwang went into a new direction having a story where the protagonist is switched
...
into someone else's body. Story-wise, it was not much, mostly because readers are pulled into the enjoyment and characters rather than the plot itself. That goes with the second part of the story, pulled by what the characters are doing in relation to what's happened before (when she's placed back into her old body. I doubt this is a spoiler because it's fairly obvious). The idea of switching souls does not even cross your mind when dealing with the latter half, which is a shame because it made this story a bit unique, but it does pull the drama overall.
Art: It's difficult to judge this. For it's comedy value, it's a triple plus. I never get tired of laughing from what the drawings show me. However, when considering that this is a story, it's a minus. The dramatic moments tend to have the same face, which happens far too much. In fact, besides from the random expressions in its comedy, there is probably only 5 or so expressions total. Plus side, the author could have saved a lot of time by recycling these panels. Down side, I didn't. Nevertheless, it's fairly average artwork overall that is better than most manwhas I've come across, so I would give it a 7.75
Characters: To be short, they're wonderful with their own value in the story. Having a hot-blooded woman such as Ha Ji/Aram is surely not original, or even a cold-blooded man such Sin Uoo, but their magnetic bond surely makes it enjoyable. The other part of the love triangle, Han Seo, does have his ups and downs. Whenever he laughs, you can see why he cares so much about her, yet whenever he's jealous you cannot help but hate him and wish he would go away. I believe all the character come together very very well in terms of comedy, but it's hard to say what character depth they have besides what personality they show us.
Character Development: Rating this is like going through the loops of a roller coaster. You go up, the thrill of enjoying and getting to see these characters, especially Ha Ji. Then around midpoint it goes downhill following straight lines (like a stock market crash), but finally you go through a scary loop at the end that you never expected. ~~~~~~~~~
Explanation: You enjoy how much Ha Ji changes the characters and environment around her [much dealing with Sin Uoo], but when she deals with characters from her other life when returning to her old body, you see that there is no development between the character's actions and what is happening (no matter what happens, she never changed her mind about people like Han Seo). Bad thing is, this continues to happen and it's soon hard to find that strong character that we love so much about her. Her friend, Han Seo, goes back and forth between being the antagonist and the loveable psycho-friend, but it is certainly his actions and her static character that makes the moment like a car crash waiting to happen.
Towards the ending, however, it surprised me so much that the noble-strong female lead could switch roles with the antagonist. The story often portrays people wearing these "masks" and not showing their true intentions, but the ending climax could not have made it so clear. Just when you think that Ha Ji is a stupid, slow, innocent-minded heroine, and it most cases she is, in all reality she can be wicked and greedy. Looking back, I believe Hwang did a good job giving hints about Ha Ji's greediness and character motives for her intentional stupidity (don't get me wrong, she is indeed very dim-witted), but it nevertheless shocked me. How could one psycho antagonist suddenly appear as sympathetic, and how could all the protagonists look so selfish/crazy. The ending does give a lasting taste where you cannot hate these characters and concludes the story quite nicely. This is very subjective to rate, where many people hate it deep in their guts, but I just find it beautiful. (I included both thoughts, so don't hate me if you don't agree with me T_T).
Overall, it could be thought of inconsistent. The first half is certainly enjoyable and full of comedy, but the second half is mindbending and full of that never-ending drama OFTEN dealing with what happened in the first half. It has it's comedy too, but some of it can ruin the thought of development or drama. I wanted to bring to light the wonderful things about this manhwa, but wanted people to be aware that there are many flaws (mostly dealing with character and story) that to some people can over-weigh it's entire value. I still found it to be a great thing to read, but if I don't point out the flaws this would always clash with other judgments.
Nevertheless, you cannot help but go along with the story and laugh. Hot Blooded Woman has its great moments, whether it would be the endless hunger for Ha-Ji/Aram or the easy misunderstandings between her mind (which so often thinks of food and fighting) and others. I hope this review would help your judgment, which might appear clear to the people who read it but vague to those who haven't, so why not just give it a try =)
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Aug 2, 2010
Hot Blooded Woman
(Manga)
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Note: I have not seen a proper review that describes the full story of this manwha, so I decided to try and give it my best. Just note that I will not compare this work with any others that this mangaka has done. No matter how repetitive the story or characters are, it is not fair for judging this alone as an art. If you have any complaints, give it to the author not the artwork.
Now then, reading the first few volumes of the story is certainly.. addicting. I believe Hwang went into a new direction having a story where the protagonist is switched ... 
Aug 5, 2009
Maison de Beauties
(Manga)
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First Review heh? Well, then..
For one, I haven't really come along a manga with a.. somewhat unique story. I mean, a guy building a house to pass on his beauty genes? Really..? But, later on the story, you'll learn the real theme of the manga [I found out at the very end. heh.] Characters- Well, shoujo usually have pure, heroine characters. But that purity(meaning the main character) meets life as you see that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover(meaning her weird roommates). Still, they seem very nice (it was generally only one thing about the two roommates that'll surprise you). It was definitely nice ... |
