Demon Diary BOOK REVIEW

DEMON DIARY (VOL.1)

Lee Chi Hyong. 5900 Wilshire Blvd, Los Angeles, California: Singongsa, Tokyo Pop, MadMan Entertainment. www.tokyopop.com. June 1, 2004. 192pp. ISBN 1-59182-154-1. USA $9.99

Demon Diary (Diary of a Demon King) is a seven volume fictional Japanese style Korean comic book. It is a Manhwa (adventure, fantasy and comedy) comic book that is about the never-ending battle of the Gods and Demons in the realm of the mortals as their battlefield. Lee Chi Hyong, the author, had to stop writing, because of the upcoming exams which made many fans speculate what his original plan of the story, which is why Lee Yun Hee wrote the rest six volumes.

This book is a tale of a clueless, but adorable Demon Lord Raenef V and his journey to becoming a ‘true’ Demon Lord with his instructor, a legendary demon Eclipse. The author’s purpose of the book is seemingly to entertain readers, Raenef’s blundering ways and Eclipse’s 'anger' often played for laughs had made this manhwa a must-read book. Lee Chi Hyong’s book is fascinating as well because of its captivating scenarios portraying how naive and adorable Lord Raenef is.

The story begins with Raenef, an heir to a demon royalty, though he is hardly courtly material. The highest rank of the Demon world, the demon king assigned Eclipse, a prudent and noble demon teacher to whip Lord Raenef into a proper demon shape. Raenef is clueless about magic and royal etiquette, which is why he is considered as the black sheep of the demon court. As time passes by, Raenef and Eclipse had developed stronger bonds of their friendship aside from the student/teacher relationship. Lord Raenef undergoes training or process to being a ‘true’ Demon Lord for the reason that long ago, the Gods and Demons wage a never-ending battle. As is the case with most abiding feuds, the reasons seem to be unimportant. Hatred becomes a way of life, but it is said that one will arise to restore the harmony and retie the bonds between gods and demons, and that is believe to be the Demon Lord Raenef.

It isn’t impossible to get interested with the next volume release. Still, there are some weaknesses that can be found in the book. First, the book has two unrelated bonus stories, namely Terra and Crystal Heart, which have almost the same number of pages with the original story of the book. This perhaps, made the readers feel insufficient for the plot of the story. Aside from that, for the reason that the writer was changed, the two nameless characters in the first pages of the book have never been used again in the story.

Nonetheless, Lee Chi Hyong’s book, Demon Diary was able to convey its main points and captivated reader’s attention with the story. It may not be instructive for the readers yet, it is heart-warming for the reason that the story’s message is about how to restore and spread peace, no matter how diverse and varied living beings are.

Grilo, A. (2009). The Book Smugglers. Manga Appreciation Week. Retrieved from http://thebooksmugglers.com/2009/01/manga appreciation-week-book-review-demon-diary-by-kara-and lee-chi-hyong.html