Milkyway Hitchhiking (manhwa, vol. 2) by Sirial, translated by HyeYoung Im

Milkyway Hitchhiking is an episodic manhwa (Korean graphic novel) that's hard to assign to any one genre, since it changes a bit from one story to the next.

Review:

I can't believe it's been over 10 years since I read volume 1. Anyway, like the first volume, this is a collection of short stories (episodic chapters?) loosely tied together by the presence of Milkway the cat, who seems to exist in multiple times and worlds.

In the first three stories, a trio of older ladies who are friends have their annual get-together and tell each other cat-related stories from their pasts. The next story is about a boy who misses his frequently traveling artist older brother. After a "convenience store" interlude that features cameo appearances of characters from earlier stories, there's the story of a tribe that has a marriage tradition of sending its young men out into the forest with a special cloth tied around their waists. The first person who finds them and removes the cloth becomes that young man's bride. The next couple chapters are about a cursed brother and sister. Next is the oddly sweet story of a fox being raising a chick...so that he'll eventually have chickens and therefore a steady supply of food. The volume wraps up with the story of a young prince raised to be little more than a weapon and the girl he saves from his father's cruelty.

Milkyway Hitchhiking (manhwa, vol. 1) by Sirial, translated by HyeYoung Im

Milkyway Hitchhiking is an episodic manhwa (Korean graphic novel) that's hard to assign to any one genre, since it changes a bit from one story to the next. It's licensed by Yen Press.

I won't be including any read-alikes with this. Also, be aware that some of the things in this review could be considered spoilers.

Review:

Milkyway Hitchhiking is composed of 11 short stories and one bit that I suppose could be called an interlude. Milkyway, a cat named for the gorgeous star-like pattern on her back, is the only thing most of the stories have in common.

I picked this volume up primarily because I loved the cover. Luckily, this is one of those cases where the artwork on the cover gives you a good idea of what to expect in the volume as a whole. All the artwork is in color, except for one story that purposely starts out in shades of gray. Sirial's style has a dreamlike quality to it, and I found myself repeatedly thinking that a Sirial-illustrated picture book would be an absolutely wonderful thing.

The artwork definitely did not disappoint, but what about the stories? That's where things got a bit more “meh.” I did enjoy them, but at one point I put the volume down and didn't pick it up again for months – in fact, I waited so long that I decided to just start over from the beginning when I picked it up again.