Saver

Oh, I really do love stories like this one. The main character get's involved in something supernatural and ends up in another world. She falls in love with the handsome prince, well this storyline may seem distinctly familiar, but it's definitely different from other mangas...(or I should say manhwa).

Lets start with the storyline. Lena ha is is the captain of her kendo team. She's beautiful, but is a tomboy and is always mistaken for being male. She falls in love with her brother (unknowingly) and such as the tragic tale of incest. Although, later on you'll figure out that this won't even matter. I'd go in depth, but I don't won't to spoil anything for you. So now the boy's mother sends a bunch of thugs after her and her mother's life. Her mother's killed and Lena is on the run etc...now all of the sudden she is transported to another world. Injured on her way there, she is taken care of by a prophet. This prophet tells her a bit about her destiny, and there she goes off on her adventure.

Now lets keep in mind, the whole time she is mistaken for a male. (Not until waaay back is it discovered that she's female). This is what gives her the ability to move around this world as she pleases. See the queen is after her life, but since she is dressed as a male, she is able to fool the people coming after her. Everything is set into place perfectly and there weren't any plot holes so it was well thought out. The only problem here is that there are too many things going on at once. The king is doing something here, the enemies are doing something else, Lena is fighting her way through a whole army...sometimes you forget what's happening in a certain part of the story. There are so many different characters that it can get really confusing. Of course this is also a strength, and helps to add to the story and makes things more realistic and interesting.

Now, if you like comedy then this probably isn't the manhwa you should be reading. There is little to no humor in this. However, the humor it does contain is very funny, and usually involves Lena doing something hilarious. Now see I'm a person who loves romance, and I was expecting it. Although, I should have realized when I saw Lena's personality. Only towards the latter part of the manhwa is there some romance. Even at the end it wasn't like a "and they live happily ever after ending" that I wanted. Oh no no no, it was "and then the evil was obliterated", the end. HOWEVER, there is plenty of action. Lena's always getting into trouble. Whether it's fighting off bandits, or invading a castle, she has done it all and then some. She's been to ninja camps and fought people in underground arenas. She has more then enough chances to prove just how cool she is.


Next comes the art. At first, I really didn't like the art. It just didn't suit my personal taste. I can definitely say that it's unique. Ok I'll be honest, my issue here is their lips. I don't know why, but every time I saw Lena's lips I thought "carp". =.= Cough, ok but other than their lips the art is great. There are some great background scenes, and each person is unique. There were only a few characters that I might have gotten mixed up due to my inability to pay attention. The ones that do look alike are supposed to, and even then they aren't exact copies of each other. Oh and another thing, this mahwa is full of bishounens. I mean really, every character that matters is a good looking male. This says a lot about the mangakas personal taste. Of course all the females are very pretty as well. Yes but, in all honesty, each character has their own personal traits and the costumes are detailed and unique. Now the queen. The queen is probably the most annoying character in this series. She's devishly evil and is always trying to get in Lena's way. Now she's not annoying in a bad way, just in a way that the main evil character should be. You'll find yourself wanting to behead her more and more as the series progresses.

Lena is my favorite. She's my favorite because she's not a weakling. She takes care of herself and keeps you on the edge of your seat wondering what she's going to do next. The only problem is that in some cases, regardless of her overwhelming strength, she gets caught in these ridiculous traps and you wonder "wow,&&*^%&*^%*^*&&", how could you get caught like that?"Now then, there's the king. The king who falls in love with a girl from his dreams. Yes, in all honesty, that is the only realistic scenario there could be for a warrior female and a king to fall in love. What I love about him is that he's realistic. He doesn't throw everything away for his selfishness and endures, which is what makes him so unique. Of course, I can't blame him for feeling foolish for falling in love for what he thought at first was a beautiful male mercenary.

Overall I'd have to say that this is a great series. I realize that you may be hesitant considering the marathon of chapters, but you'll never get bored. I know I didn't. It's a great read when you have the time.

If you like stories with strong female protagonists, you'll definitely like this one.
The heroine, Lena/Ley, constantly shows just how strong a woman she is. She's incredibly skilled with a sword, being the captain of her school kendo club. When she's thrown into a foreign world, she doesn't panic about it and immediatley takes hold of her situation. She even takes on a role of leadership throughout her quests with great strength and without hesitation.

Being a time of war in the story, death is a reoccuring element; whether it be the enemy, innocents civilians, or allies. With that, there's consistancy of adventure and action. There's enough romance to satisfy fans of the genre, but isn't so overbearing as to take away from the focus of the plot.

The cold captain of the Kendo club, Lena Ha is looked up to and has a whole we-are-jealous club hatin’ on her [she’s that popular]. So she’s going on with her great life, ignoring everyone, giving schoolmates the cold shoulder, acting all tough and icy when Hye-Min Kang joins school and ruins her whole I-am-a-total-icy-maiden (change ‘maiden’ into whatever you feel is suitable, if you know what I mean) reputation by immediately feeling an uncalled for attraction towards her. Soon after this, she becomes the hero of some land and is hailed as being great.

Huzz--- oh, whatever.

First, inspiring quotes from the Manhwa:

“Let me get to know you” – boy says to main character
(hello, we just met, isn’t that a little too forward [not in Manga/Manhwa world, it isn’t])

“Just stay close to me. Is that too much to ask? Is it, [name]?” she bursts into tears
(well, yeah, considering you stalk the main character and that well, you want a lesbo relationship with her, I think that’s asking WAY too much)

“From the moment I saw you… I couldn’t stop thinking about you… Could it be…”
And then they go on about destiny.

As realistic as Tom and Jerry is (you know, the cat and mouse), the Manhwa tries hard to make sure that it looks even more realistic (sarcasm is in use) in comparison.
You know, when you read a plot you're supposed to feel suspense, wonder, entertained; O! How I miss those feelings.

The plot decides to try and become totally unrealistic, shallow and dull; pages go by and your stuck there feeling utterly bored; I’ve been waiting for some development, of any kind, but it just goes from bad to worse (come on guys, not this kind). From cheesy to saturated fat MIXED with trans-fat [enough to kill a poor elephant!]. I totally would have rather stuck carrot sticks up my nose, and called it a day but no, I had to read this story and try to give it a chance.

When will I ever learn!

“[Name], please don’t like me”
“It’s too late…”

These quotes aren’t even thought, Ladies and Gentlemen, they’re said! How awkward is that?

In the Manhwa, there are these weird situations like by the end of the main character’s and Hye-Min’s confrontation, she promises her stalker-suddenly-turned-boyfriend to never leave her side.

What do they teach at their school, have-kids-first-think-logic-later?

No wonder divorce rates are high.

(SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER/SPOILER)
And then she finds out their half-siblings, HA! The irony!

Then we’re back in the year something-B.C. (though the novel says we’re in the Middle Ages {I know for a fact that it is impossible for the setting to be in the Middle Ages when everyone is wearing togas! Well, unless the Middle Ages started in B.C.}), and the good people of B.C.-Middle-Ages-land practice Christianity, in B.C..

Yes, I know it sounds stupid.

I think the place is South Korea (never North, hmmm, I wonder why…), the author calls the landscape weird names such as ‘Billa’ and has a whole area named Scotland, with accurate landscapes to go with it (even though we’re STILL in South Korea) which in turn hints at the witches and what not. However, the author uses town names from across the world, (Yeah! We’re fighting against racism!) like Kabul for some reason but not one name from Asia. Oh and wait a minute, everyone in this ancient time has random western names, what’s up with that?

Actually, what’s up with ALL of that?

Characters:
The protagonist seems to have no reservations about killing people in the story (which does NOT support the fight against violence, people), slaughtering people who have guns and axes and all sorts of weapons. She must have been taking lessons from Neo (The Matrix movie) because from what I’ve heard, normally in a fight between a katana-wielding person and someone with a gun, sword-user gets killed.

In the Manhwa, there is an active working Lesbo that’s throwing herself on the main character once at least every three pages and a guy (namely, Hye-Min) saying quote ‘is this destiny?’ every once in a while just so you don’t forget as WELL as long and satanic scenes where prophecies are made by witches that are made out to be, yet again, ‘cool’, NOT TO MENTION that you have scenes where people practise buddhism and christianity in B.C. [oh and it’s the witches who practice christianity, just so you know] in where ever they are; in the midst of all this madness, I just wanna ask:

What the Hell is the author trying to do?

Go on a deholyfying (anti-religion) campaign? (Most probably)

What shitty volumes.

Now talking about the art, the face of Big Brother is sometimes seen watching you from captions, in low-detailed illustration with zero proportionality and improperly drawn bodies.

No, I did not enjoy it and no, I do not recommend it. So yes, look for another Manhwa/Manga since this isn’t a commendable read.
I’m just amazed that nobody actually noticed the critical quality of the Manhwa and written a review about it.

I just finished Saver and I can't help but write a review so here goes (fingers crossed).

Saver is an amazing manhwa that had me captivated from the very beginning to the very end (spent crazy amount of hours reading and finished it all in three days).

What first drew me in was the beautiful artwork. The art truly is outstanding and I couldn't help, but stop and stare at [insert character here] and think "Wow. [Character Name] is drawn so beautifully." I tend to be a (somewhat) picky person about artwork and won't even read a series if it isn't drawn in a style I like.

The story itself is wonderful, too. There were surprises and plot twists around every corner that had me on the edge of my seat (figuratively speaking, of course). For me, personally, it had just the right amount of romance, action, suspense, fantasy and adventure (with a dash of gore). The story is complex, but still flows very nicely. Everything has a purpose and isn't just thrown in for the heck of it (as it should be).

What surprised me, however, was how emotionally attatched I became to the characters. My favourite characters would have to be Lena and Michael. Lena, our heroine, is a strong, beautiful, courageous young woman you can't help, but like and want to root for. And yes, she has a few Mary-Sue like qualities, but really what do you expect from someone deemed "The Chosen One." I really enjoyed watching Lena grow as a character. Michael is a very mysterious character and, man, he really tugged on my heartstrings. I can't really say anything more about him without spoiling (sorry), but I promise you'll love him (especially if you're a girl). He really developed into a great character. All in all the characters are very diverse and are well rounded (no flat charries, nuh uh).

I don't have anything else to say except that I thoroughly enjoyed this series. Even though I'm not a big fan of war, I still managed to love every bit and piece of Saver. I rated Enjoyment 10 because I found myself enjoying every little part of this series and it sent me on an emotionally rollercoaster ride (best.ride.ever.). And now to end this little review I'm going to recommend this to all of you who are reading this right now! Whether you're a romantic or an action-lover or a fantasy nut I promise that you'll thoroughly enjoy Saver! So what are you waiting for?

Before I begin I would like to say that i have read this manga many times and I enjoyed it even more after reading it each other time. Saver is my favorite manga so far and I don't think I will ever find one similar to this. I knew from the first chapters that this manga will be one of my favorites.

STORY
The story starts with a beautiful girl named Lena who lives alone with her mother. She meets Hye-Min Kang and they start falling in love with each other. By a twist of fate, she finds out that she and Hye-Min Kang are half-siblings. After her mother is killed she is injured and transported in another place and time where she has a big role to play. I love historical manga and time travels so this manga is exactly what I've been looking for a long time. I enjoyed each chapter of it. I liked that the fact that Lena was a female wasn't revealed at the beginning of the story and that the main guy fell in love with her believing that she is a boy.

ART
At the beginning of the story the art was set in modern times and was pretty good, but then when it was set in the pastand I loved it. The main characters were the most beautiful drawn. I loved the clothes and the backrounds. The art was quite unique which improved even more my opinion about this series.

CHARACTERS
My favorite character is Lena. She hides that she is a woman and calls herself Ley. I personally like strong-willed females who are courageous and fight to protect themselves. That is what I loved the most at her, that she is not a girl that is protected by others and that she rely on her own power to survive. I liked that attitude of hers where she looks like she doesn't care about what happens to the others when is totally the opposite. She doesn't let her true feelings to be noticed, she knows how to control her heart and she doesn't let Lucien to know about her true feelings. The way she leads everybody shows that she is a true leader.
My other favorite character is Lucien Wycelf. What I loved the most about him was the fact that he doesn't let his love for Lena to overwhelm him and to distract him from his people. The fact that he fell in love with Lena believing that she is a guy was great. I think this manga wouldn't be so good if he knew from the beginning the truth about her sex.
The others characters were also good. I would liked to know more about the queen and about 'The Five'.

ENJOYMENT
This manga was a great production. It is the perfect combination of history, romance, drama, action, adventure and fantasy. If you like historical mangas with a little romance you absolutely have to try Saver. It is one of the few mangas out there that, no matter how many times I'll read it I will never be bored.

Pros: Saver is an absolutley amazing manhwa. It's one of those books that you read, and then after you've finished you think about the entirte plot line and think, 'Wow. That was like ten novels put together.' It's plot is thick, entertaining, and complicated but not overly dramatic. As an example of plot style think Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien. I would definitely recommend to anyone for a nice, long, deep read. The characters profiles are well built and really make you miss them after you've finished reading. Definitely one that I'll remember!

Cons: Only 6 of the 17 volumes were English translated by Tokyopop before it was discontinued. Therefore, for the other 11 volumes I had to find on a scanlation site. The different scanlators used different names for the characters throughout the series which led to complications in reading, but you eventually grasp the fact that Lady Linua is also Lady Lydia, etc.