One Thousand and One Nights Manhwa Review

 

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One Thousand and One Nights illustrated by Han SeungHee and written by Jeon JinSeok is a 2005 Korean manga (called manhwa) published by Seoul Munhwasa that was inspired by the classic One Thousand and One Nights. I picked up the first three volumes from my library's book sale because I was curious but not really excited. Upon my first reading, I was annoyed by the fact it's set up from left to right. I'm a bit of a manga snob and feel like it's important for the format to remain the same as those published in Japan (top to bottom, right to left instead of the English left to right) but I'm not sure if manhwas are set up the same way so perhaps it's not a big deal.

Now, I've never read the original source so I can't do too much of a comparison between the two. I do know that this version if is a bit of a gender bend (character's genders are changed from the original). Instead of Sehara being the smart young woman who tells the sultan a story every night in order to prolong her life, Sehara is a young man who goes into the harem in disguise in order to protect his sister from being taken. This plot point is a short-lived surprise, however, as the sultan discovers this within the first few pages. The rest of the story is about Sehara trying to teach the sultan to be a better man through his nightly stories while also learning why the sultan is beheading young women after each night. 

Trigger warning: this series does deal with rape, violence, murder, etc. It's not always explicit but this is a visual medium so you have been warned. This series is rated for older teens and I wouldn't recommend it for anyone younger than 17 or 18 just because of some of the content.

I did want there to be more tension between Sehara and the sultan, building their relationship before it's revealed Sehara is a man, like they did in Oran High School Host Club. But the focus on this one is the stories and not the drama of risking your life to hide your identity. While the stories are interesting, I was more interested in the relationships between Sehara and all of the other characters. Everything is occurring before a crusade so there are a lot of politics and social issues that play into the characters. The stories do play into these being used as lessons for the sultan, but I felt they took up too much time and space since they broke up the flow of the rest of the story. There also isn't one thousand and one stories since that would make the series incredibly long. 

Another little nitpick is the art style. Again, I thought this was a manga when I got it so I didn't like the art style as much. Instead of the crisp and simple style that I tend to favor, this series uses gentler lines, everyone is "pretty," and eye-candy is a thing in this series. Not really my favorite style, but it's nice for the type of story they were going for. 

The first three volumes is mostly Sehara arriving at the palace, being discovered, and telling the sultan his first story. He's punished for pretending to be a woman, but is allowed to stay and work for the sultan. Then he must protect his sister from the sultan, rescue her and the sultan from a group of rebels which is run by a childhood friend, and start to piece together the mystery of why the sultan kills every woman he sleeps with. At the same time, readers get the stories of Turandot-- a cruel princess who kills any suitor who cannot answer her three riddles-- Cho-yong-- a slave boy who is thought to be the son of the sea god whose wife is taken by the prince-- and Cleopatra. Again, these stories are done to prove a point to the sultan and the authors include commentary on these stories at the end of the volumes, but it felt more like an interruption of the main story more than the focus of it. 

I'm not sure if I'll pick up any more of this series. It's an interesting idea but not too much is really happening yet, despite it being the first three volumes. I'm not a huge fan of the art style or the genre, but the characters do interest me though not much else does. Perhaps there will be more drama throughout the rest of the series.