Last week while browsing the library I stumbled upon a three volume manhwa (Korean comic) called "Ark Angels" by Sang-sun Park. The author was new to me, but the cover was cute enough. So I figured, eh why not.
The main character is Japheth, who was always my favorite in the ark story. In this case Japheth (which of the two is spelt wrong) is a girl joined by her sisters Shem and Hamu, and they are the daughters of Noah. Instead of building an ark as ordered by God, Noah and his girls (well really, just his girls) are part of a collective of semi-divine creatures. The council must decide the fate of humans on Earth and are divided. The two sides want to save an anthropomorphized Earth from human pollution, but they differ in method. While that idea is used often (i.e Bruce Coville's My Teacher is an Alien series and Clamp's X/1999), our heroines, following the biblical story, must save the Earth one endangered species at a time taking them into an extra-dimensional ark. While the overall premise is not terribly original, the creator keeps the story interesting.
Even though this story is a bit elementary, it is cute with "scary parts" and "dating." The plot is a collection of stories related to the animals (which to them look like humans). Each animal has their own history and story that are believable and very human. The girls are childish, but fun, and Japheth has the same energy as Hikaru of Clamps' Magic Knight Rayearth. Nonetheless, Japheth is the real focus, as she looks at humans with untainted optimism and believes that they can be better. It can be a bit preachy about conservation, but no worse than Captain Planet (is our hero, is going to take pollution down to zero).
Peace for now!
J.R. West the Raccoon
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