I agree. I'm all for visual variety. There's often crappy writing in the mix as well though (not that manga doesn't suffer from that problem, too, of course), and that tends to be the nail in the coffin.

And just not enough awareness before books hit shelves. Even now, most Japanese series have at least *some* fan awareness, but very few Korean ones do, and so the book has to really go above and beyond to get noticed at all.

Threads of Time is hanging in there. But yeah, Qwan 4! *wants* But go read Suikoden while you wait, or, if you're up for gruesome vampire stories, Bloodsucker: Legend of Zipangu! It's better than the title would lead you to believe.