Love as a Foreign Language

(Oni, 2004–2007)
™ and ©2005 J. Torres and Eric Kim

This manga-sized volume sets up its slight premise with glacial slowness, as readers watch American English teacher Joel suffer from culture shock and homesickness as he endures the frustrations of being a foreigner in Korea. He’s just about to tender his resignation at the school where he teaches and go home, when he meets the beautiful Hana, a Korean woman who’s just starting work there.

Clearly, readers are supposed to sympathize with Joel, but he’s painted as such a whiner in an enviable situation it’s hard to feel more than a twinge of empathy for him. And, while it’s plausible for a man to fall in love with a woman he knows absolutely nothing about, it’s hard to tell whether he’s being romantic or just unbelievably superficial. It’s difficult to imagine Hana reciprocating Joel’s feelings, given his attitudes toward her culture, but writer J. Torres has an excellent track record uncovering unexpected depth in prickly characters who are uncomfortable in their own skin.

— S.A. Bennett

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