Title: Cafe Occult #1
Author: Ahn No Uhn & Oh Rhe Bar Ghun
Publisher: Infinity Studios
ISBN: 159697091X
Suh Rin, caught in the rain after a trip to the book store, seeks shelter in the mysterious Cafe Occult. She is drawn to the cafe owner and shares a pleasant conversation with her, until she’s chased out of the establishment by a rude customer. It starts to rain again, and she drops her precious books. As she bends to gather them together, she looks up to see a truck speeding towards her.
A stranger grabs her wrist and drags her away. He attacks her, and informs her that she was hit by the truck and she’s now a ghost. She’s rescued by the rude guy from the cafe, Young. Returning to the Cafe Occult, she learns that she’s dead, and someone is after her spirit. When her pursuers track her to the cafe, will Young be able to protect her?
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. The story was engaging, and I liked Suh Rin’s character (she’s a book-worm; how could I not?). Young is interesting, though his quest for the man carrying the white cross shaped gun, a twin to his black weapon, seemed a little on the generic side. I still enjoyed his tough-guy persona, but maybe it’s because he looked so good in his black trench coat.
There was a ton of action packed into this volume, as the evil Master’s henchmen ruthlessly pursue Suh Rin’s soul. The art really moved the action along, with plenty of large, eye catching illustrations of Young thrashing the bad guys. The page layouts were varied and enhanced the non-stop action.
While Suh Rin could have been slightly less inept, I guess it was her role to stumble stupidly into the Master’s clutches. It was a little sad when Young blindly followed suit, but since I hate invincible heroes, I’ll forgive him. I’m looking forward to reading the next volume, and learning why Suh Rin’s soul is so special. And despite being rather cliched, I’m curious to know about the guy that Young is trying to hunt down.
Grade: B+
