Ruler of the Land

    (ADV Manga, 2004)
™ and © 1994 Jeon Keuk-Jin, Yang Jae-Hyun / Daiwon C.I. Inc.

Bi-Kwang Han is a handsome but irresponsible young playboy trying to escape the responsibilities of a disciple of the Lord of the Thousand Horses, leader of ancient Korea’s Reform Sect. Hwa-Rin Dahm is the beautiful tomboyish granddaughter of Geum-Hwang, the missing leader of the rival Establishment Sect. Disguised as an effeminate man, Hwa-Rin seeks her grandfather to bring him the invincible Sword of the Flowers. When she is besieged by killers led by mercenary assassin Sang-Pil Jin (aka “Gold Cobra”), who wants the sword, she is rescued by Bi-Kwang, who mistakenly thinks that “he” is the brother of the lovely Hwa-Rin.

This is the setup for an amusingly violent Korean manhwa tale that alternates Oriental super-human martial-arts and swordplay action with the slapstick romantic farce of a Mozart or Rossini comic opera. The villains are more complex than they first seem. Bi-Kwang fights his increasingly serious feelings for Hwa-Rin, who cannot decide whether he is basically honorable or the biggest letch she has ever met.

— Fred Patten
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