Ocean of Secrets Is a Fantastical Whirlwind
By Kristen Swendrud

http://twincitiesgeek.com/2017/05/ocean-of-secrets-is-a-fantastical-whirlwind

I was intrigued by the manga Ocean of Secrets by Sophie-chan as soon as I saw the cover art. And when I read the short description, which told of a young girl named Lia whose seemingly normal life is turned upside down when she’s swept away in a storm and rescued by a magical ship, that was all I needed to know I had to check this one out!

My expectation going into the story was that it would have a steampunk feel to it, with lots of romanticized, high-flying adventure and a lyrical feel. I suspected that it would have echoes of other stories I’ve read or seen that are part of this subgenre; nevertheless, I hoped that it would offer a fresh take on some of the tropes that tend to crop up in these stories. For the most part, those guesses were accurate, though there were a few surprises along the way.

At first, it seems Ocean of Secrets is a fallen-through-time story, as the trappings of the ship Lia finds herself on and the people who inhabit it are very old-fashioned, and there’s a pseudo-Victorian feel to everything. However, in truth, it’s almost as though Lia has been taken to another dimension. I won’t say more than that in the interest of avoiding spoilers, but suffice it to say that having my expectations of the story turned on their head a couple of times in quick succession was both dizzying and refreshing.

It has to be said, though, that a more negative aspect of that dizzying feeling came about because of the pacing of the story. I’m used to manga stories moving along at a pretty good clip and trying to communicate a lot (often too much, in this reader’s opinion) in just a page’s worth of emotive frames. However, the speedy pace felt nearly breakneck in the first volume of Ocean of Secrets. I didn’t necessarily feel like I wasn’t understanding the story, or that key information was missing, as I have with some of the other manga I’ve read. However, because of the shockingly swift pace, it was hard to find my footing in the story, and everything felt very surface-level, like the plot was a water bug skimming along over a pond, looking back at me and wondering why I couldn’t keep up.

That said, I felt a surprising amount of connection to the main characters, Lia, Albert, and Moria, even with how fast things were moving. The author managed to inject a surprising amount of pathos into the story and the characters, even while hurrying the reader along like a tour guide who’s behind schedule (and we’re walking, we’re walking . . . we’re running, we’re flying . . .). Even though I figured out some of the hidden motivations early on in the story, I still found myself caring quite a bit about whether the characters would achieve their respective goals, and where their stories will go from here.

Beyond the rather shallow feel of the overall story, there were a few other dissonant notes that I couldn’t help noticing. For one, the brief explanation of the magical system was a bit dubious and felt video-game-esque in a way that was jarring and out of place, even in the fantastical realm of the story. And though there is a brief info dump at the beginning of the story to explain the world Lia finds found herself in, I was left with a lot of questions when all was said and done. While it’s good to retain some mystery, it’s not so effective when that mystery strays into the realm of confusion. Beyond this, the way that some of the plot points were connected felt shaky, so much so that I spotted some fairly major holes along the way. It was to the point that I was able to guess the primary plot twist very early on in the story, which (to my chagrin) is something I’m usually not great at.

And while the first installment of this story contained the allusions and tropes I fully expected it to have, it sometimes strayed into hackneyed territory. As this title is the author’s debut, I wasn’t surprised by this, though I had hoped for better. Granted, the overused elements were primarily the type that I enjoy, so it didn’t detract from the story much for me (though it does involves the played-out theme of elemental magic, and there was a Bermuda Triangle reference that made me groan a little). But while the presence of a few trite story elements didn’t bother me all that much, a fresher take on this genre would have taken this story from good to great.

Minor slip-ups aside, though, I enjoyed the introductory installment to this new manga series, and I hope I get the opportunity to see where the story goes next. It includes so many of the elements I love from some of my favorite series—high adventure, a fantastical and aesthetically pleasing setting, and characters whose backstories hint at great depth and lots of secrets to discover. As the author mentions in the bonus material at the end of the volume, it looks like the series will encompass several stories within this world, though they may or may not be contiguous, so I’m curious to see the many new characters who are sure to be introduced along the way. As I mentioned, the author of Ocean of Secrets is a fledgling manga author/artist, and while there’s a lot of room to grow, I think this series has the potential to be a lot of fun, and promises the reader all sorts of secrets to discover as the protagonists find their way in their mysterious, magical world.

I didn't enjoy this one. I didn't really like the story.

Fun little read. Part sci fi, mostly adventure. I honestly will look forward to reading the rest of the series.

OMG this was SOOOOOOOO boring!!! Why is there SO MUHC explanation! A good author would be able to world build without having pages and pages of characters LITERALLY EXPLAINING TO OTHER CHARACTERS HOW THE WORLD WORKS!

I love reading manga so obviously, I jumped at the chance to read this one.And it was a huge win for me! The art was beautiful, the characters were just so cute! And the world she built was just beautiful too. Sadly this manga was read way too quickly but thankfully there's a second volume!

Orphan finds new family, though it’s ominous that she’s a replacement daughter for one who died. Don’t know if her new sister tried to kill her, but she goes overboard and sorta drowns, waking up in another reality, on a flying ship with a brother/sister pair.
If it wasn’t for the hair, I wouldn’t be able to tell the two girls apart.
There really isn’t anything new here. I’m not one to call it a Mary Sue, but this had that definite vibe, especially how Lia instantly offers to go rescue Albert when he’s arrested. It all circles back in the end, though it feels too coincidental and convenient. For how long it was, it could have been a tighter story. And what happened with the pirates?
All in black and white, which didn’t do the story any favors.
Last 20 or so pages are extras, with author interview, character designs, and a sneak peek at another story.

Thoughts on the Artwork:

Soooo pretty, guys. (Especially the cover!) The artist of this book was self taught, and I can see her hard work has paid off, because her drawings are gorgeous.

Thoughts on the story line:

This was a pretty interesting manga. It had some surprising twists and turns, and some sweet relationships that gave it some cuteness. It did seem to be a bit too fast at some points, and I felt a bit overwhelmed by all of the information that was thrust at me. However, this did not ruin my overall enjoyment of this manga. The world was fascinating, taking place in a realm in the sky that humans are not aware of. There’s flying ships, pirates, kingdoms that wield different elemental powers… I can tell that there was a lot put into thought for the plot and world of this story, and I want to know what happens next.

Rating: Four. Not quite the most amazing thing I have read, but still an enjoyable tale.

This is from an advance review copy for which I thank the publisher.

Despite her name, this author is not Asian as far as I know, but chooses to tell stories and illustrate in that style. I have to say, to be fair, that I am not a fan of manga, but this one sounded interesting. In the end I was quite disappointed by it. I think this artist can draw, and draw well, so I believe she has a career, but I am far from convinced this is the best story to launch it with.

For some reason, the author chose to put a message in between the introductory pages and chapter one, which I found annoying and inappropriate, and which completely took me out of suspension of disbelief. I actually quit reading another ebook just a few days ago because the author did something similar (and misspelled 'shekels' in doing so!). In this case I decided to continue on since I don't normally read introductions anyway, but when I did, the story did not thrill me at all. I quit before the end because it was not entertaining me at all. The story made no sense, and reading it 'backwards' for no good reason did nothing to put me in a favorable mood!

There was a watermark on each page which interfered with appreciating the art (and I realize that this isn't the author's doing). I cannot see the point of the watermark because if lowlifes out there are going to abuse this, then a sorry watermark isn't going to stop them, while for the rest of us, the majority of us, it's nothing but an annoyance which interferes with our appreciation of the writer's work, and worse in this case, with the artist's work.

To me the story was very weak and derivative, using as it does the baseless magic of the four 'elements' of air, earth, fire, and water (as does The Last Avatar for example), which have never made any sense at all to me. I do realize they are a popular go-to for authors who are too lazy to think up a new system, but they're way over-used and unless you're going to do something truly original with them, I think you need to find something else.

Worse than this, though, the story was very much an info-dump, which is a problem with series, and which is one of several reasons why I'm not a fan of series in general, although I'm always holding out hope that I might find one that breaks the mold. The plot made little sense to me and having to read it backwards (as compared with the norm in the west) did not help.

I don't get it in an English version. I can see how an author might be so enamored of the manga form that she might want to try her hand at it, and it would need to be that way if Asian sales are hoped for (who wouldn't want to go on a book tour in Japan?!), but in the electronic age, we could have a regular version for those of us in the west and a reverse version for those in Asia. It's not like it's difficult to achieve this with current technology.

In the print version it's easy-enough to read backwards with little effort. You can even number the pages accordingly, but in the e-version, the pages are numbered wrong because the e-reader is doing the numbering (there are no numbers on the actual pages themselves, and is all-too-common with comic books). Technology has yet to reach the point where you can simply flip your tablet and start at the back! Instead you must navigate to the 'end' to start, and then you have to overcome your swiping habit to go backwards! All of this detracted from focusing on the most important thing - for me more important than the art - which is the story! It was there that my biggest disappointment lay as it happens.

Note that I'm not saying you can't follow your dream and write a manga that has nothing to do with Asian culture, but I think you have to keep in mid that it's your dream, and your potential readers may not be willing to buy into it unless you give them some really good reasons to do so. For me there were insufficient. This is an English book throughout, set in the US (or more accurately in the air above central America), and it has nothing to do with Asia or any Asian topics so for me the justification was weak. If the story had been engrossing, I would have been happy to overlook other issues, but as it happened, taken as a whole, the package simply didn't work for me. It felt annoying and pretentious. I do wish the author every success in her career, but I can't recommend this one.

It’s no secret that I love manga. So when I had the opportunity to review a copy of a new manga I’d never heard of before, of course I jumped on it. Ocean of Secrets, Volume 1 is a brand new series by the mangaka Sophie-chan. The cover was full of pretty purples, and drew my eye to it immediately. This volume will be released on May 16, 2017, just a little over a week from now.

Ocean of Secrets Volume 1 is about Lia, an orphaned seventeen year old living near the Atlantic coastline. One day while out boating with her adoptive sister Lia is swept away at sea, only to be rescued by two strangers. Albert and Moria take her in aboard their magical ship, and Lia is plunged into a world in the clouds, a world very different from her own.

For the most part, the writing itself was good. There were a few times the phrasing felt just a tad bit awkward, but nothing that stood out too much. I also liked the art. Some cells do have quite a bit of white space, leaving backgrounds up to the imagination entirely on some pages.

The thing I liked the most about this manga was probably the first chapter. It was well paced, and I was drawn to Lia and her sister rather quickly. The art was pretty. I was definitely drawn in and wanted to keep reading.

However, the rest manga moves fast. Very fast. A bit too fast, really. There were a few times that it felt like a few pages were missing, events occurring so quickly that it felt almost wrong. There was a lot of telling rather than showing. I would have liked to see a bit more Lia’s reaction to events rather. The second chapter included quite a bit of infodumping.

On the other hand, it’s quite nice to have one volume be such a complete story arc. This isn’t something we always see in manga and it can be a good thing to pick up a manga volume and get a very complete story without needing to dedicate yourself to the next three or four volumes as well, if not the entire series. Still, I couldn’t help but wish that a few scenes were extended by just a couple of pages. I think we could have used a little more time with a few of the characters to really get in their heads a little more and identify with them, or at least sympathize for them, a little better.

The end of the book has some great bonuses. There are alternate character designs of the main characters. And, most interestingly, there are alternate versions of some of the pages. It’s fascinating seeing the earlier versions and alternative layouts, and despite many manga having small bonus things at the end of the volume, I don’t think I’ve ever seen this before.

Now, there is something I want to talk about that really grates on my nerves in regards to the book. It isn’t anything with the story itself – writing or drawing wise. Every ten or twenty pages is a notation at the top of the page that says “Read this way” with arrows pointing in the proper direction. This may sound nit-picky, but hear me out. First, it’s a bit insulting to the reader. Yes, manga reads right to left starting at what Americans would commonly thing of as the back of the book. Though this may feel odd for first time manga readers (I know it did for me when I started reading manga) it is easy enough to follow. Moreover, this occurs throughout the entirety book. At this point it gets a bit insulting. I find it hard to believe readers will forget what direction they’ve been reading in for the past hundred pages.

On a similar note, the review copy has water marks on every page (at least the digit one). I know, I know. How much can one person complain? But really! I haven’t seen another publisher do this with any other early copies of manga or graphic novels I’ve requested. And it is quite distracting when trying to read. More so than I initially expected it would, really. This is a manga, after all, and having the images shaded over was very, very distracting and made it hard to pick apart the images versus the watermarks on some pages.

Despite pacing issues, I am interested to see where the story is going, especially since what I assumed to be the main plot of the entire series resolved itself in one volume. What direction is the manga going in? I can make guesses, but I’m not positive. If you like fantasy manga give this one a try. If you don’t like fantasy manga, or don’t like infodumps then this may not be the manga for you.

This was a decent first attempt at a manga volume, and it's impressive that the entire thing was done by one person. The art is good and the layout is easy to follow for the most part, although it has been years since I actually read a right to left manga. However the story line is so rushed that you don't get a real feel for the characters or what is happening, rushing from one scene to the next and once skipping several weeks between scenes. Each of the four chapters feels like it could be an entire volume on its own, instead of just a few pages. The concept is pretty good and I liked the inclusion of the Bermuda triangle into the story, but I didn't have time to connect to any of the characters or get a feel for their motives or anything else. It felt more like an abridged version than a final product.

The story overall I think it's okay, but I feel it's a little rushed, and there are not so many backgrounds or dynamic action with the characters .I Hope the second volume will be much more improved.

I'm not a huge fan of manga to begin with. But this one in particular didn't really offer anything new. Not bad, but not good.

This was one cool manga. The art was cute. The story was different. This does not feel like a debut manga at all. Also, the story and illustrations are by a single person, which is something I seldom see in a manga. Hats off to that! Loved reading this book and eagerly awaiting the next volume. Thanks to Tokyopop for giving me an advance review copy.

Sigh. Ocean of Secrets is a pseudo-manga by Sophie-chan and it basically has all the problems that most pseudo-manga have. For most part, I don't see why this has to be read like manga, from right to left. Japanese is written like that, but this isn't Japanese and it feels so superimposed as it has no function aside from the weeaboo factor. The plot is extremely hard to follow and the structure doesn't work either and everything is so scattered. We have Lia, an orphan, who ends up on a flying pirate ship of sorts only to find secrets about her past she cannot remember. The plot works on an idea level, but the rhythm is off and the panels don't follow one another seamlessly. This is probably the most common problem. Movement makes it easier to show the story line, but manga lacks that and thus Western manga usually fails. The links disappear and the comic is just panels after panels and you really need to concentrate in order to get what is happening.

The art is so-and-so. It's basic stiff manga style that doesn't have anything to do with manga, really. The biggest problem is the usage of tones that look cheap and not fitting. Using tones is art in itself and there's a reason why mangakas have helpers to perfect that. Sophie-chan hardly uses any which makes the art poor and flat. When she uses those, they don't bring any added value. I haven't seen that many Western artists that can actually rock tones, sadly so. With a better toning the art could be slightly better, but in a sense it feels like perhaps Sophie-chan hasn't examined manga enough to know how it functions. I've read over 3000 manga myself and it's odd that Westerners tend to have the exactly same problems when doing "manga". Why?

There was just so much I had an issue with. This was a poorly developed and the story line was very typical. The progression felt very jumpy to me and I didn't feel a connection with any of the characters. It didn't feel like any other manga I've read, more like someone's first attempt at a "stereotypical" manga. There is so much I want to say but I can't gather my thoughts. I'll come back with a better-written review after I've wrapped my head around what I've just read. I guess it didn't feel authentic, especially with the author calling them self "Sophie-chan" which is not done culturally. All in all, I don't see this being successful as a manga or any other media type.

Can't read this with a pdf only format... kindle wont support it, sorry!