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[katara]

Manga/Manhwa/Manhua: Elixir of the Sun (Season 1) / 태양의 주인 1 [Taeyang'eui Juin 1]

Writer: Konn, One / Original: solddam / Artist: Song Yi

Genre: Fiction: Historical, Fiction: Historical: Romance, Fiction: Historical: Supernatural/Paranormal, Fiction: Historical: Drama, Fiction: Culture: Asian, Fiction: Culture: Asian: Royalty, Fiction: Fantasy, Fiction: Mythology, Fiction: Mythology: Asian

Warnings: Slight gore, death

Sypnosis: Bayan is an outcast amongst the Siyo, a people who have healing powers. Considered worthless because she doesn’t have the ability to heal others, Bayan is sent to the court of Dhan, the Great Sun Emperor, who is cursed with unrelenting bloodlust and slaughters his concubines mercilessly. It seems that Bayan’s fate is sealed the moment she reaches the emperor’s palace and Dhan is fated to suffer from madness forever... But together, Bayan and Dhan just might be able to change each other’s destiny.

Review: This was the manga that drew me back into reading comics. I absolutely found the storyline unique among many of the cliche among the others. This one stood out. It has mythology and I am in love with anything that deals with mythology be it Greek, Asian, Norse, etc.

Before we continue, please note that there will be spoilers ahead for this manga. If you do not want to be spoiled. Please skip this review.





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This story opens with the God of this world and his three spirit sons. The three spirit sons are:

Tae-Mu-Ryeong - Spirit of Fire and Sun
Ga-Yu - Spirit of Earth
Neung-Hwa-Myeol - Spirit of Gold
These three spirit sons hated each other and often fought against each other. This made God miserable and he wanted to end the conflict between the three of them that he created Siyo, the Spirit of Water and warmth.

The newly created spirit offered itself up to the brothers and the brothers greedily took up his offer until there was nothing left of him. Enraged by what his sons had done, God inflicted harsh punishments upon the three brothers.

When they finally managed to repent for their sons, God told them:

"The one sole Siyo that offers up its life for your agony.....
.......This Siyo will become the master of your pain.
It shall begin with a mark and last to the end of its days."

We meet Bayan, an outcast from her Siyo village. While everyone has silver hair, Bayan's hair is black. Even her healing differs from other Siyos of the village. One day when she returns from hunting, she finds a boy around her age waiting for her with a package of meat. She takes it reluctantly, mainly due to her mother being in ill health. Unfortunately, the meat is tainted with poison killing her mother. Devastated by her mother's death, Bayan finds out she has been sold to the Emperor, who has been known to be a tyrant and a murderer of his people and concubines.

Dhan is the Great Emperor of the Sun and is notorious for being bloodthirsty. He has killed those around him and his concubines. His people are afraid of him and rightfully so. He is a descendant(?) of the Spirit of Fire and Sun. His curse is the same as that of the spirit - the thirst for blood is the only thing that can be satisfied.

One night while going to visit one of his concubines, Dhan and Bayan cross paths and she becomes the focus of his blood lust. There he drinks her blood. As night turns into dawn, she stumbles back to her courtyard drained and somewhat disoriented. Her maids help her to her bed and she slumbers for a day or two to recover from the draining.

Meanwhile, Dhan feels great. His bloodlust has seemingly become nothing more than a distant memory but now he wants to find the girl who offered him and sends out his people to find her. When she stumbles right into his hands, Dhan knows he can never let her go. He teaches her to read and write and she, in turn, starts learning about the politics of the palace.

But will be enough for Bayan to make it through the palace intrigue?

Final Thoughts: I absolutely love this manhwa/manhua. It drew me back into the world of manga and has become one of my absolute favorites. Bayan/Dhan are so cute together and you can see he loves her. He dotes on her, teaches her to read and write, and even encourages her to learn more.

I highly recommend this manhwa/manhua who loves historical romances and dramas. This one has a lot of it in it. Bayan, despite being abused by her village, remains a beautiful soul, but she has ever a slight mean streak against the village who used her and even killed her mother.

Read it. You won't be disappointed.