''The Other Side of the Mirror'' ( zh, t=鏡子的另一邊) is a comic written and illustrated by

Jo Chen Jo Chen (; born July 4, 1976) is an American comic book artist and writer best known for her highly detailed painted comic book covers. In the Japanese comic industry she is also known by the pen name TogaQ and is known as Jun Togai ("Togai Jun" ...

. It was originally published by

Tong Li Comics Tongli Publishing Co. (Chinese: 東立出版社, Hanyu Pinyin: ''Dōng Lì Chūbǎnshè''), most known as Tong Li Comics, is a publishing company which distributes a variety of domestic and imported comics in Taiwan. History Tong Li was founded ...

in Taiwan and has been translated into several languages, including English.

Publication

''The Other Side of the Mirror'' was originally serialized in Taiwan from July

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The '' Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently ...

to February 1999 in ''

Star Girls ''Star Girls'' () is a Taiwanese anthology magazine published by Tong Li Comics specializing in serialization of manhua comics aimed at young females. It debuted in July, 1992 and is published six times per year in even-numbered months. Seriali ...

'', and later collected in two volumes by Tong Li Comics. It was Chen's first full-length manhua. Volume 1 included a short story entitled "99 Roses", and volume 2 included "Peggy" and "The Funeral Procession of Stars", all originally published in ''Star Girls'' in its March, May, and July 1999 issues, respectively. The collected volumes were soon thereafter published in South Korea, China, and Hong Kong. At

Anime Expo Anime Expo, abbreviated AX, is an American anime convention held in Los Angeles, California and organized by the non-profit Society for the Promotion of Japanese Animation (SPJA). The convention is traditionally held annually on the first we ...

in June 2007, Tokyopop announced it had licensed ''The Other Side of the Mirror'' for release in English. In December 2007,

Tokyopop Tokyopop (styled TOKYOPOP; formerly known as Mixx Entertainment) is an American distributor, licensor and publisher of anime, manga, manhwa and Western manga-style works. The German publishing division produces German translations of licensed J ...

published volume one of the series, and in April 2008, volume two. Translation was provided by J.Y. Standaert with an adaptation by Kereth Cowe-Spigai, and the cover featured praise from

Joss Whedon Joseph Hill Whedon (; born June 23, 1964) is an American filmmaker, composer, and comic book writer. He is the founder of Mutant Enemy Productions, co-founder of Bellwether Pictures, and is best known as the creator of several television series: ...

. The release included the short stories included with the original Taiwanese volumes, plus an interview and sketches by Chen. Chen promoted the release at the 2007

New York Anime Festival The New York Comic Con is an annual New York City fan convention dedicated to Western comics, graphic novels, anime, manga, video games, cosplay, toys, movies, and television. It was first held in 2006. History The New York Comic Con is a f ...

and

Anime USA Anime USA (AUSA) is an annual three-day anime convention held during October/November at the Hyatt Regency Crystal City at Reagan National Airport in Arlington, Virginia. Programming The convention typically features an AMV contest, artist's a ...

2007, an event to which she will return in 2008. In 2008, the series was also published in Italian by JPOP.

Reception

Chen admitted for years she never thought Western audiences would care to read ''The Other Side of the Mirror'', despite selling well and winning an award in its native language. One reviewer described the English-language release of the work as a "quirky combination of dreamy romance and slapstick comedy". Another felt that though Chen's illustrations were "gorgeous" the story at the heart of the work was slightly lacking, and that Chen was still "miles above the pack" in terms of style, artistry, and storytelling ability. The series' art was described as a "refreshing change" from other works in the genre, which ably improved a mediocre story.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Other Side of the Mirror, The Humor comics Romance comics Taiwanese comics titles Tokyopop titles 1998 comics debuts