From JShoujo Scans:Growing up on the wrong side of the tracks in Bend, Mississippi, Becky Lynn Lee doesn't have the luxury of dreaming. With an abusive father and a broken mother, she always thought that this was it. But after the ultimate betrayal, Becky Lynn can no longer live the nightmare.Determined never to go back, Becky Lynn escapes to Hollywood. As a photographer's assistant, she discovers a talent for spotting beauty and capturing the perfect shot. When the camera eventually turns on her, the awkward, shy Becky Lynn of her childhood disappears. But when the success she's achieved is threatened, Becky Lynn must find the strength to embrace her new identity and put the ugliness of her past behind her forever. 1k31l
Based on Erica Spindler's novel "RED"
7 Volumes (Complete)
I wish this had been tagged with "showbiz" earlier because then I could have read it sooner!
Red is captivating while you read but once the suspension of disbelief is broken it leaves something wanting. The mangaka rushes through the beginning and set-up of why Becky Lynn left her home town - the story is there but the characters are not. This habit of having one dimensional characters persists, but Becky Lynn and Jack are fleshed out more than the others. The large cast that arises simply from the setting of the story precludes and real character development for the majority.
Becky Lynn Lee's character is good. She's strong, and while a bit weepy and self-pitying at the beginning she does realise that she can't count on anyone to save her and comes to the conclusion that it's high time she saves herself. When something comes up and she encounters problems, instead of worrying without doing anything she actively tries to prevent the "something bad" from happening through hard work and good ideas.
The psychological trauma that she goes through from the rape persists, although it would have been nice to see it a bit more prominent for while it doesn't get swept under the carpet, it's kind of forgotten about.
Jack's character is fairly stereotypical in his hatred of his father and half brother. His character is more fleshed out than just this simple goal, however, and while declaring that he doesn't care who he steps on to achieve his goal, he knows when he's wrong and apologises.
Overall, this is quite a captivating manga though not without it's flaws. The character development reminds me of Hwang Mi-Ri and the artsyle is reminiscent of hers; whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is for the reader to decide. For me, the character development was lacking, although the general story telling and plot itself is far better than those of Hwang Mi-Ri, in my opinion.
... Last updated 12 years ago
I start off by reading the manga, but since the manga isn't complete I went and order the novel instead.. I love this novel so I am pretty sure that the manga would be a great story as well.. Comparing the novel and the manga there is a different, but however the story still carries out the main plot.. This story talks about a young girl coming from no where and felt like she doesn't belong anywhere because of her social status.. Because of her status and because of what happen to her she ran away from home, went to a whole new place and that is when she new life begin..
only one chapter out but i can tell i love this series already! thanks so much to jshoujo for scanlating! i really love all of kobayashi hiromi's works (if only i could read japanese, siiiigh). she's a lot better than a lot of the other mangakas out there. in any case, the storyline is realistic but still interesting, and the heroine is likable. i actually think im going to read the book the manga was based off!
