One, Volume 1

From my school library. This appears to be the library's one and only manga volume.

Title: One
Issue: Volume 1
Date: 1998
Publisher: Tokyopop
Writer: Lee Vin
Artist: Lee Vin

This is the opening volume in a somewhat over-the-top KPop drama set in a "Celebrity High School" in Korea, a school attended by several teen pop stars.

This volume introduces quiet but brilliant title character Eumpa One, teen idol Jenny You, crossdressing rap star Jiwon Jin, boy-band leader Ha Rock, and seemingly quiet music fan Young Ju. There's also a whole supporting cast of music teachers, stage managers, and tiger-moms.

With so many characters to introduce, most of this volume is background, although a plotline involving a teacher stealing Eumpa One's compositions in the guise of assignments comes to the forefront by the end.

The characters have a lot of potential, although several of them are not initially likeable, particularly Jenny You, whose petty antics to sabotage Jiwon Jin's career set her up as possibly more of a villain than was intended. Still Jenny does have some sympathetic moments when the story shifts to her point of view.

Some of the language and discussion around gender identity feels dated, and the attempts to describe current pop music fall a bit flat. A discussion of classic punk rock that references real bands works better than most of the music-related sequences in the story.

This had some potential, and the quirkiness of the characters was intriguing enough to hold my interest.

Rating: 6/10