Laon: demon or deity in training?
Creative Staff
Story: YoungBin Kim
Art: Hyun You
Translation/Adaptation: Woo-Sok Park
What They Say
Laon’s musical tail gave Heri his big break, but the teen idol is about to discover that fame comes at a price…Following the sound of her tail’s voice, Laon abruptly ends Heri’s career, taking back her tail and its power. But Laon still lacks the strength to grant Tae-Ha’s wish, and time may be running out for his lost love!
Content: (please note that content portions of a review may contain spoilers):
This volume picks up in mid-sequence as Laon is in pursuit of the next of her missing tails, her singing tail. It’s granted it’s possessor with an inhuman singing voice and Laon is frantic to recover it. Even if it means almost taking out her semi-unwilling partner to do so. Laon doesn’t quite have the human act down pat, and attacks a speaker in her fury to get back her property. The reporter and his young inhuman charge make a narrow getaway from the concert they stage crashed.
The musician that was on stage, Eunbi, doesn’t seem particularly shaken, probably because she has bigger things to worry about. She’s convinced her friend and fellow singer Heri must have found some artificial means to become such a good artist. Eunbi’s background is the typical tragic rise to fame via whatever means necessary, while Heri seems to have been blessed by the gods. That blessing turns into a curse when Laon finally tracks him down.
Laon is an interesting character to watch. She’s more of a force of nature, with no human morals holding her back. It’s unnerving to see her running around without pants for the duration of the story, written off as a means for making way for the fox demon’s tails. Laon fits the frame of ‘creepy horror movie girl’ almost too well.
It’s hard to care about Eunbi and her selfish ways, but Heri seems a more genuine and tragic case. Both are just a means to an end though, and the author doesn’t linger on their tragedy for very long.
Laon has no qualms about taking back what is hers, much to the conflicted horror of Tae-Ha. As he watches the bloody spectacle that Laon creates he finds himself seeing visions of his missing friend and falls ill soon after. The aftermath has his reporter friends giddy with their latest scoop, while Tae-Ha feels like time is running out to find the lost Young-Yoo.
When Tae-Ha gets back on his feet his more determined than ever to make some progress, but all of the hwan demons seem to be avoiding the hungry Laon. Suddenly they’re both dragged off with another reporter to a prominent politician’s house. A member of the family disappeared, and it sounds like a hwan is responsible. While the current lady of the house tries to put the moves on Tae-Ha, Laon is drawn away by otherworldly forces from her own intergalactic battle.
In Summary
LAON is an interesting beast. Behind the cute lies a deceptively disturbing horror story. It takes the cute monster cliche and reminds the readers that the cute doe-eyed girl just might rip your liver out if you stand in her way. The artwork spills to the edges of the page yet remains clear while the story twists and turns underneath it. It’s a solid and intriguing tale, one I want to see play out. My only concern is how this story is supposed to wrap up in two volumes when Laon only has only recovered two of her nine tails. It feels like the story in only just beginning.
Content Grade: B
Art Grade: B+
Packaging Grade: B+
Text/Translation Grade: B+
Age Rating: 16+
Released By: Yen Press
Release Date: January 25th, 2011
MSRP: $10.99
