바람의 저편 01권

An excellent start to what promises to be an epic adventure!

Entertainment

An explosion sends a high school girl 노리코 into another world, where she's attacked by a hideous monster. She is saved by a young sword-weilding man called 이자크, but when she tries to thank him she realises he speaks a different language. Scared and confused, 노리코 wants to stay with 이자크, who is a little reluctant, but allows her to accompany him.

노리코 is a likeable protagonist - although she doesn't know what has happened to her or how she came to be in this world, she is also determined to make the best of it. Once the initial shock of being transported to a different world and being attacked by strange creatures has subsided a little, she decides to make an effort to learn the language (a girl after my own heart!) so she can be of help to 이자크 and the people they meet.

이자크 is mysterious and aloof, though not unkind: he saves a stranger from a dangerous situation and accepts her as his travelling companion. Not only does he save her from monsters, but he also gives her new clothes so she won't stand out in her school uniform, and we even see him helping her a little with learning his language.

Several other characters are introduced, and the stage is being set for what seems to be an epic story: 노리코 seems to have been intentionally summoned to this world, and dangerous people are looking for her, as she may be the key to unlocking unfathomable power. Neither of our protagonists seem to be aware of this, though.

The reader moves between various groups of characters, learning their roles and motivations. We meet mercenaries, thieves, soldiers, salesmen, townsfolk, royalty, and prophets. This, along with the change in locations, helps give a sense of scale to the story we are embarking on: from dense, untamed forests and underground rivers to towns and palaces.

This first volume has a nice balance of introducing characters, world-building, and action: it feels like you learn a lot while the story also keeps up a brisk pace - with some fighting thrown in for good measure - all the way to the cliffhanger at the end...!

Language

While there is a bit of fantasy language, the majority of the new vocabulary I encountered were just "normal" words that are used less frequently that you won't encounter in lower-level manga (for example: 세력다툼, power struggle; 용병, mercenary; 인신매매, human trafficking).

Nothing stuck out as being particularly unusual grammar-wise, which means it's should be relatively straightforward for lower-intermediate learners.

There's a nice variation between scenes that have a lot of talking and those that are focused more on action or the visual storytelling. The fonts and SFX are all clear and easy to read, and there's no handwritten text.

Conclusion

I was gripped by the story, and adore the early 90s shoujo art style. This first volume was a terrific read, and has me excited to continue the series; I also found it easy enough to follow the story while learning a good amount of new vocab along the way, so I would highly recommend it from both a story and language-learning perspective. Enjoy!