Antique Gift Shop Vol 6
The first section of this volume focused on an episode from Bun-Nyuh’s past. Specifically, the events surrounding her mother’s death, which adds even more reasons to her dislike for her shaman heritage, as well as her difficult relationship with her grandmother. It also reveals that beating Green Rupert (must find out if there’s only one of them, or if it’s a title) at card games is apparently a family tradition.
The bulk of the volume, however, is devoted to Bun-Hyun making her first visit to the gynecologist. Shamanic women who are possessed by spirits, it seems, cannot menstruate, and Buh-Nyuh has never menstruated. (I…I never thought this could be a pertinent plot without pregnancy being involved…) If you’ve read even the first volume, then you know that anything related to her shamanic heritage isn’t something that Bun-Nyuh will react well to. It’s further complicated by a pair of glasses Bun-Nyuh finds in her shop that seem to make her see the world a little differently from how others do, as well as her having a crush on her doctor. The two combine into an interesting and somewhat touching story that may eventually shed light on a part of Bun-Nyuh’s past that she’s been looking for. Unfortunately, it also adds a slightly creepy aspect to the story.
Specifically, the doctor is middle-aged, though Bun-Nyuh sees him through the glasses as only being a few years older than her. At the end, we learn that the glasses were his, and that his wife was also of shamanic heritage and possessed by a spirit, and that she took the glasses the day they met, and presumably took them with her when she disappeared years ago. The logical (and likely true) interpretation of this, of course, is that the doctor is Bun-Nyuh’s father-who she’s never met-and that the glasses are causing him to see him through her mother’s eyes, and possibly even feel her feelings. Which leads to Bun-Nyuh kissing him in the street. He, thankfully, reacts by lecturing her. The lecture is actually one of several scenes that were interesting the first time through, but much funnier when I went back to reread them, knowing that it was a middle-aged man displaying a mixture of fatherly and professional concern, but that he was being seen as a young man, through the eyes of a crush. OTOH, Bun-Nyuh quite possibly kissed her father. (Admittedly possibly being ruled by the feelings of her mother’s ghost, which possesses her.)
Thinking about it, I actually wonder if the doctor’s interest in gynecology was his wife (Bun-Hyun’s mother or not) never menstruating, and her claims that it was because of her shamanic heritage.
On the subject of the Green Rupert (since I’m under the cut code anyway) I can’t help but notice that Yang’s wardrobe at the anniversary of Bun-Hyun’s mother’s death was similar to the clothing of the Green Rupert, though those may just be traditional Korean funeral clothes. The Green Rupert in the flashback to Bun-Hyun’s childhood also seems to be dressed a little bit differently from the one Bun-Hyun beat, but I’d have to look to be sure. They do have the same weaknesses and concerns and ego, though, but that could apply to multiple Green Ruperts if it’s a traditional Korean thing.
At the end, there was a cute story about Guatemalan worry dolls and what they do with the worries they take from people and how busy their lives are. It was fun, though I wish the Guatemalans in flashback hadn’t been drawn as stereotypical buckskin Indians.
The bulk of the volume, however, is devoted to Bun-Hyun making her first visit to the gynecologist. Shamanic women who are possessed by spirits, it seems, cannot menstruate, and Buh-Nyuh has never menstruated. (I…I never thought this could be a pertinent plot without pregnancy being involved…) If you’ve read even the first volume, then you know that anything related to her shamanic heritage isn’t something that Bun-Nyuh will react well to. It’s further complicated by a pair of glasses Bun-Nyuh finds in her shop that seem to make her see the world a little differently from how others do, as well as her having a crush on her doctor. The two combine into an interesting and somewhat touching story that may eventually shed light on a part of Bun-Nyuh’s past that she’s been looking for. Unfortunately, it also adds a slightly creepy aspect to the story.
Specifically, the doctor is middle-aged, though Bun-Nyuh sees him through the glasses as only being a few years older than her. At the end, we learn that the glasses were his, and that his wife was also of shamanic heritage and possessed by a spirit, and that she took the glasses the day they met, and presumably took them with her when she disappeared years ago. The logical (and likely true) interpretation of this, of course, is that the doctor is Bun-Nyuh’s father-who she’s never met-and that the glasses are causing him to see him through her mother’s eyes, and possibly even feel her feelings. Which leads to Bun-Nyuh kissing him in the street. He, thankfully, reacts by lecturing her. The lecture is actually one of several scenes that were interesting the first time through, but much funnier when I went back to reread them, knowing that it was a middle-aged man displaying a mixture of fatherly and professional concern, but that he was being seen as a young man, through the eyes of a crush. OTOH, Bun-Nyuh quite possibly kissed her father. (Admittedly possibly being ruled by the feelings of her mother’s ghost, which possesses her.)
Thinking about it, I actually wonder if the doctor’s interest in gynecology was his wife (Bun-Hyun’s mother or not) never menstruating, and her claims that it was because of her shamanic heritage.
On the subject of the Green Rupert (since I’m under the cut code anyway) I can’t help but notice that Yang’s wardrobe at the anniversary of Bun-Hyun’s mother’s death was similar to the clothing of the Green Rupert, though those may just be traditional Korean funeral clothes. The Green Rupert in the flashback to Bun-Hyun’s childhood also seems to be dressed a little bit differently from the one Bun-Hyun beat, but I’d have to look to be sure. They do have the same weaknesses and concerns and ego, though, but that could apply to multiple Green Ruperts if it’s a traditional Korean thing.
At the end, there was a cute story about Guatemalan worry dolls and what they do with the worries they take from people and how busy their lives are. It was fun, though I wish the Guatemalans in flashback hadn’t been drawn as stereotypical buckskin Indians.