Couple Vol-2
Story by: Jae Sung Park
Artwork: Sung Jae Park
Pages: 176
Published Domestically by: CPM Press
By: Jeffrey Couto

Introduction

For my first manga review (although technically the title was a Korean Manhwa) for the site I chose Couple, a great title about young love and friendship; the title’s focus being a tale of two young strangers, who decide to live together due to a number of different circumstances.

It’s time to head back into the wonderful world of Couple, and see what our young student friends are up in the second volume of this release.

Story

"What's the big deal about living together?" Young Ho Han thought, but he'd better think again! Ever since the sweet and innocent country girl Yu Mi Yu moved in with him, Young Ho's life has been a swirling mass of conflicting emotions.

Are they just friends? Are they like brother and sister? Could their relationship turn into something else?" -- CPM Press Couple Page

Review

The second volume of Couple picks up right where the last book left off as Young Ho rushes through the streets in search of a screaming Yu Mi, afraid that someone might be hurting her. However as it turns out Yu Mi is actually yelling at a young girl that our hero stumbles into in a street corner. It seems that she's supposed to be studying with Yu Mi, who has just become he tutor, but instead Heesu is trying to get away so that she can do her own thing.

As we come to learn Yu Mi has taken the job of tutor to help out the girl’s father. Heesu, who lives alone with her him has recently become very rebellious and her father is desperate for help so that she doesn’t fail her classes. Yu Mi, feeling up to the challenge, and desperate for good money takes on his offer to help her study, but the job ends up being more difficult than she could have anticipated.

This eventually leads to several misadventures and troubles for both of our main characters as actions are misinterpreted, new friendships develop, and more is revealed about Yu Mi, which hints that there is a lot more to her than we first suspected. By the end of the book Young Ho will be in a lot of trouble!

The second volume of Couple manages to build on what was established on the first book while adding to the story and main cast of characters. Whereas the first book was very Young Ho and Yu Mi-centric the second one expands on their relationship to include more of the secondary cast, which I think works rather well, especially since now we have a better feel for the two main protagonists.

The introduction of Yu Mi’s new job as a tutor also helps drive the story into more interesting places as we see her moved by a new relationship and driven by her job to accomplish a difficult task that has broken other people who attempted it before her. This brings out a more determined side of her personality that was not as apparent in the last volume. As a result of this new angle to the storyline she definitely becomes more interesting as a character.

Whereas Yu Mi becomes more interesting Young Ho becomes funnier and more determined in his many quests throughout this book. We also start seeing more and more of his caring side, albeit sometimes its difficult to appreciate it as the story usually ends up balancing these scenes with more primitively driven moments in which our young hero gives in to his male hormones despite his best efforts to be good citizen.

Overall I would say that the second volume of this series is better than the first, mostly because we’ve gone through the introductory period already, so now we can just enjoy the characters as they expand themselves emotionally, socially, and in world as they take on new jobs and responsibilities. Since the book is so character-focused this approach by the authors to the story just works perfectly.

As with the first volume the artwork here is beautiful, using simple drawings for the characters mixed in with more complex line work for the backgrounds. The panels go form one to the next easily and help narrate the story visually with a balanced flow of images and action. I really, really love Sung Jae Park’ artwork! I can only imagine what it would be like if it were adapted for an animated TV series

Conclusion

Couple has to be one of the best kept secrets in the Manga/Manhwa universe. I absolutely love this series and can’t wait to see where it’s headed. If you’re in your local manga or bookshop do yourself a favor and pick up Couple, you’ll be happy you did.

This one comes highly recommended from the Japan Hero manga labs!

Jeffrey Couto