Chunhoo Kang lives in a world of crime, sex and intrigue. He's the Nihon Saikono Warrior, Japan's greatest fighter in the yakuza underworld. However, he's also Korean. He holds the title through Shi-Nan-Joo, a powerful and ancient martial arts from Korea. Haunted by past sins, Chunhoo abandons his crime life to search for the young woman and son he abandoned decades ago. His yakuza bosses are unforgiving. They want his honor and title back. Assassins trail him all the way back to Korea and Chunhoo resolves that he's not going to be anybody's servant anymore. He's going to become an Emperor, standing at the apex of his own empire. Meanwhile, his son Sukgi is a rising hotshot in the Baekhwa criminal organization in Korea. He's got it all; money, women and power. But when the Baekhwas spark a national murder scandal, the mob boss forces Sukgi to publicly assume the guilt for the crime by threatening his mother. To save her life, Sukgi must agree to take the fall, a certain death sentence. Will father and son find each other? What will happen to Sukgi's mother? Will Shi-Nan-Joo be powerful enough for them to survive the murderous intrigues of the crime world surrounding them? And who is the Emperor that Chunhoo seeks to become? Will he be for good or evil?
Filled with hard-boiled action, Emperor's Castle is the representative work of Korea's most popular author in the adult action genre.
CHUNHOO KANG
The Nihon Saikono Warrior. The ultimate, number one fighter in Japan. This one-eyed man is the grizzled, ferocious and muscle-bound number one fighter for the Japanese yakuza, besting all those thrown against him. There's only one problem the Japanese have with him being the Nihon Saikono: he's Korean. Insulted and with bruised egos, they begrudgingly allow him to return to Korea to seek out his estranged wife and son. However, they have no intention of allowing him to slip peacefully away. A master of the ancient martial art Shi-Nan-Joo, Chunhoo is a warrior who knows no equal.
SUGKI GOO
Girls, money and power. These are three things that Sukgi Goo is not in any short supply of, being the #3 man in one of Seoul's most powerful gangs: the Baekhwa. The estranged son of Chunhoo Kang, he wants nothing to do with the man who abandoned both him and his mother. Despite this fact, there is more in common between him and his father than he knows, as he has inherited his father's warrior instincts and prowess in battle. Set up to be the fall guy for a terrible atrocity committed by the Baekhwa, Sukgi is sentenced to death, but finds mercy at the hands of a ghost from the past.
SEMI NA
A prostitute beloved by Sukgi, Semi's past is a long and tortured one. Existing now only as a broken shell of a woman, Semi's spirit is crushed – almost beyond repair. Sukgi grows fond of her throughout the time they spend together, and when he finds out who is responsible for her current situation, there's going to be hell to pay.
ROU
Sukgi's savior, she rescues Sukgi from a fate worse than death in the snow-capped mountains outside of Seoul. Loyal and honest, she has been training for a lifetime to avenge her mother's wrongful death. Her personal vendetta pairs well with Sukgi's, and the two set out to get reparations for the crimes committed against them.
MATSUI
Kyo-do-ryu is a feared and powerful martial arts style in Japan, and Matsui is its undisputed master. At the beck and call of the same organization that Chunhoo escapes from, he is dispatched to ensure the Nihon Saikono Warrior falls at the hands of a Japanese man, avenging the nation and reclaiming the title for one of its own countrymen.
Vol. 2
The original plan was to resign from a life as the best fighter for the Japanese
mob and return to his homeland, Korea. Chunhoo wanted to reconnect with a woman he abandoned years ago, and the illegitimate son she bore. She has died and the son was sent to prison for a crime he did not commit. He is a victim of the gang warfare in his own land. With a death sentence pending, Chunhoo helps Sukgi
escape from prison taking him to the red light district to hide out. Because
Chunhoo is viewed as a threat the Imperial House of Japan has contracted two
deadly hunters to kill down the father and son. Meanwhile, the prison warden has
sent his own deadly killer after the two to avenge his shame. When a situation
arises that endangers the life of his son, he must choose whether to save him
and expose himself to those who hunt them.
This adventure has gotten to the meat of the plot. All the schemes are
intertwining and some are yet to be revealed. An underlying theme in most
stories involving gangsters is often the fact that even those with good
intentions, or desire to leave it behind will come to tragic ends. This may end
differently but there are many obstacles in the way. The fact that the yakuza
bosses of the Sochun Organization won't let Chunhoo disappear would make it seem like he would have to wipe them all out to find peace. The fact that his new-
found bastard son hates him makes us wonder if they can find common ground to
bond. The rest of the characters are in a dance to seek their own ends in mostly
ruthless ways. It is not a pretty story. There is violence, some of it
senseless. But it reads realistically and is becoming fast paced. There is a lot
of ground covered as Sungmo Kim takes time to develop the characters and
situations but does not linger longer than needed. The little bit of martial
arts mystery is not overdone and adds to the aura of the main character. Part of
the fun is waiting for a climax but enjoying the pains being taken to get there.
It is a master story with a lot of depth to enjoy.
- David L. LeBlanc, ComicBkNet@aol.com
I enjoyed "Emperor's Castle" immensely. The first volume wastes no time throwing readers into a dynamic and quick-paced story. Readers who prefer their heroes to kick ass with overwhelming punctuation will find much to like in the first volume of "Emperor's Castle" which often reads like a print version of a good John Woo action movie. While the story is action-packed, the writer Sungmo Kim does an admirable job taking us from place to place and reminding readers that there's a larger story to tell, an expansive underworld of intrigue to explore and goals that each character ruthlessly pursues.
- Philip Daay, Editor, Emperor's Castle
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reviews Avg. rating
(9.3)
Thanks for finishing
marjou
02/08/11 12:57
Thanks so much for finishing this story. I'm happy I now know how it ends. I won't comment on the end to not spoil things for others.
I guess the next story I would love to continue to read is There's something about Sunyool and Human Club2 (in this order). I hope you'll be picking these titles up again.
The planned updates for march didn't come and it looks like the update for today won't come either? Could you please update and finish this series? I would love to see how it ends.
Thank you so much for all your work on this.
Finally an update after so many updates have been delayed in the last year. I was about to give up on this series. Thank you so much for this new release. I can't wait to see how things develop. Please keep updating this series.
For me, this one had a similar feeling to that of manhwa you see in Korean newspapers. It has a generic storyline with gangsters, sex and the the theme of honor. I think an interesting thing to note was the whole Korean/Japan rivalry going on. Despite the typical story and background, this manhwa is still pretty fun to read. All in all, it has a very old school feeling to it that's always enjoyable.
Im not so sure why, but i get a similar feeling from the artwork as i did with the manga, Monster, not the story mind, but there's just something about the art work.. Anyways, theres some fighting, between yakuza(japanese mafia) and people using swords in the 21th century for some reason.. but then again, theres some ridiculous stuff like stabbing a man through his shoulder with a thumb. if you want to see some fighting between old men and swords and thumbs, this is for you.
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