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I.N.V.U. Volume 1

MSRP: $9.99

PAGES: 176

ISBN: 1-59182-001-4

EAN: 978-1-59182-001-7

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AVAILABLE: NOW

Volume 4
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Volume 1

Volume 2

Volume 3

Volume 4

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I.N.V.U. Volume 1

I.N.V.U. Volume 1

One morning, 16-year-old Sey's world is turned upside down when her mother announces she's moving to Italy to finish her novel. She's made arrangements for Sey to live with her friend, Meja, and Meja's creepy daughter, Terry, not exactly Sey's ideal living situation, but she has no other choice. Sey has a killer crush on a teacher named Mr. Cho, and she's beyond shocked when she learns that Terry knows him well ... VERY well. Meanwhile, Sey's best friend begins to date Siho, a cute guy who always seems to be hanging with the wrong crowd. Sey's psyched when Siho gets her a job at the gas station he works at ... until she finds out that she'll be required to wear rollerblades. She's never been on blades in her life! She buys a pair pronto and convinces Siho to give her some lessons. Across town, Terry is being hunted down by a persistent model scout who also seems to know Mr. Cho from the past. When Sey gets sick at school, Siho stops by the nurse's office to give her some medicine. (Does he have a crush on his girlfriend's best friend?!) There, he finds Mr. Cho leaning down to wake Sey up. As Siho hides behind a curtain, he witnesses a tender moment between Sey and Mr. Cho and grows suspicious about the status of their relationship. Are they friends ... or something more?!

I do a lot of TOKYOPOP’s industry presentations at conventions and whatnot, and for the past three years on every panel I do it’s almost guaranteed that someone asks, “When’s I.N.V.U. 4 coming out?” And for good reason! One of the first Korean series that TOKYOPOP put out way back in the early days of the Manga Revolution, I.N.V.U. has stood the test of time as a real shojo classic. I read a good portion of TOKYOPOP’s library in my first few months at the company, and I.N.V.U. made a solid, and long-lasting impression as a terrific, unusual teen love story. The characters all go beyond the typical romantic stereotypes and feel very human and intriguing. From Hali’s personal struggle, and Sey’s conflicted feelings for playboy Siho, to the super-stylish Rea and the geeky Jae Eun, these are your friends and their problems and their hearbreak. Kim’s elegant art has plenty of romantic scenes to make your heart go pitter-pat, but she handles physical comedy and the awkwardness of being a teenager in a particularly deft manner.
With volume 3 published in 2003, almost a year before I even started working at the company, the continuation of this fantastic series has been a long time in the making. But I hope that readers find, as I did, that it is well worth the wait. Sey’s almost absurd love life is really starting to gear up, and Hali continues to be torn by her identity crisis and her passion for the handsome and mature Hajun. Rea is finally getting her chance at fame, but will it be spoiled when Young Jun shows up? And what about Jae Eun and Simon? Can a baker and a geek ever find happiness together?
The only problem is that now we all are going to have to wait for volume 5!! Kim-nim! Draw faster! We beg you!

~Lillian Diaz-Przybyl, Editor

Sey Hong is a skittish teenage girl whose mom has left her in the care of an old friend while she jaunts off to Europe. Now living in what appears to be the perfect family, Sey finds out that Terry, the son of the house is really Hali, a daughter. Hali impersonates her dead brother to keep her mom from suffering a mental breakdown. Things continue to get more complicated as Sey finds out that Hali is in love with the same teacher that Sey has had a crush on for years, and even more complicated when Sey accidentally seems to steal her other friend, Rea’s playboy boyfriend, Siho! What’s a girl to do?

Kang Won Kim is the creator of I.N.V.U. and of the romantic fantasy-adventure, Queen’s Knight.

Sey Hong
A feisty 16 year-old girl who hates boys except for a terrible crush on homeroom teacher, Mr. Hajun Cho. It’s common knowledge that she hates all boys, thanks to a tell-all book her mother wrote about her love life.

Hali Kang
Cross-dressing 16-year-old who impersonates her dead brother, Terry, to keep her mother from mental collapse. She is also in love with teacher Hajun Cho, who used to be her tutor, and who is one of the few people who sees her as Hali, not Terry.

Rea
Sey's best friend and superstar wannabe. Her loves are fame, fortune, fashion and boys.

Jae Eun
Sey's other best friend. A real fangirl who cosplays and draws her own manga, Jae Eun is kinda ditzy and obsessed with a boy at the local bakery.

Simon
The boy at the bakery who also teaches a cooking class, which Jae Eun happily joins as a way to get closer to him.

Hajun Cho
Teacher and heartthrob of the high school. He is an heir to a vast fortune but teaching is his passion.

Siho Lee
The cool guy at school. Everyone sees him as a tough rebel, and Siho lives on his own thanks to inheriting a gas station that Sey works at. His family is still mysterious, and mysteriously wealthy!

Taegi Kwon
Entertainment agent interested in making Hali a star... which offers her a chance to escape from Terry’s shadow, for once.

Young Jun Cho
Hajun's younger brother and all-around dorky spaz. Friends with Sey.

With such a great combination of story and art, I.N.V.U. should be one manwha you definitely check out - and for those who don't consider themselves “romance” lovers, this is so much more, you're really missing out if that's the only reason you aren't picking this title up.

~ Sheena McNeil - Sequential Tart