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Reviewed by Charles Webb There comes a point when the heavy stylization and conventions of a genre make it unapproachable. That's pretty much the case with Time and Again whose visual quirks of an entirely feminized cast make reading the book something of a challenge. Which is a shame, because the book has a couple of interesting ideas. The book acts more or less as a running anthology of stories with exorcist Baek-On taking a variety of cases in historical Korea alongside his partner and bodyguard, Ho-Yeon. As the formula goes, Baek-On's the fussy, occasionally hysterical and often greedy one, while, Ho-Yeon is often a taciturn cipher, content to occasionally call his partner on his bad behavior. The volume offers up four stories including "Karma" and "Shin-Wal," which involve direct confrontation with the supernatural; "Bound" which is a kind of moralistic tale about paternal loyalty taken too far which keeps the leads at arms' length; and "A Forked Road," which provides a bit of backstory for an old friend of Ho-Yeon's. In and of themselves two of the three stories - "A Forked Road" and "Karma" - are actually quite good. "Bound" is interesting but feels out of place in this collection with these characters while "Shin-Wal" spends an excessive amount of time on the origins of an anthropomorphic sword. Where this collection is hurt is with the art style which frequently makes characters hard to differentiate and occasionally leaves some action hard to follow due to poor staging. As I noted above, it's a shame, because there are some interesting ideas here about the idea of being a slave to Karma and trapped in patterns in one's current life. Each story (regardless of quality) is thematically sound in this regard, touching on this theme in some way or other and advancing the idea that it is possible to break free. If only the scripts had the art they deserved, Time and Again could be a real winner. A review copy of this book was provided by the publisher, Yen Press. If you liked this review, be sure to check out more of the author’s work at Monster In Your Veins. Interested in writing for MangaLife? We're always looking for talented reviewers and columnists, so drop us a line!
Charles Webb
Editor-in-Chief, MangaLife.com
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19 August 2010 17 August 2010
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