I've been reading this manga for years and I dream of the day it's fully scanlated (or available in english). The dark mood is heavy at times and I love that. The romance is very subtle, but it's rapidly developing as she gets older.

The art is amazing, and the characters are interesting. I love the juxtaposition of the past/present.

Amazing read, I highly recommend it for anyone who enjoys a more meaningful story with an age gap.

Its very interesting and i love the way it switches from present to past memories.
However when i first read it i was confused and thought that the part where he looks after the girl was the past and the 2 teenagers was the future where the girl grew up. It took me a while to realise it was the other way around and that the one with the two teenagers was the guy and the girl's mom when they were younger. I know its a silly mistake but i thought i'll write this just incase anyone made the same mistake as me

I understand not everyone likes the same stuff, but I really love this manhwa for many reasons.

The cover arts are always gorgeous, as they always try to convey a set of dreamy images: a young girl growing up in a beautiful garden. The garden, presumably her guardian's, is also her secret garden of childhood. The unity in colors across the set of 6 volumes (green and yellow) are the symbol of nature, of green leaves, and of youth.

The art inside is also beautiful. The page layouts are well managed. They are of freer modern style, not the cramped old school page layouts like many other manhwa/manga/manhua have. I also love the artwork at the beginning of each chapter. They all show a fleeting moment of the characters: the guardian and the girl in the shadow of leaves, the girl and her new pair of high heel shoes, etc. The author is successful in portraying a doll-like child. The girl is truly adorable, both in her appearance, fragile - Yuri - glass, and her demeanors.

The name NOCTURNE implies the night time ambience. The manhwa really has some feeling of film noir without having the plot of a film noir. The series suits romantics like myself to a T. Who would not love that eerie moment of the uncle standing next to the window watching the young girl sleep at night? Or when the two of them driving in their car into the city lights? Yes, I'm totally in love with the imagery.

The plot itself may not be new, but it's not so predictable. The jumping back and forth in present time and the memories of the past also reminds me of modern writing. In fact, the story as is told from the perspective of a young girl in her own world is sort of a 'stream of consciousness' writing inspired by modernist writers. And yes, I understand the slow flow of the manhwa. It's about the progress of growing up. All the events add up to Yuri's own experiences, as well as her guardian's memories of the past. She the child growing up, and he the already grown up one.

I love the two main characters. The looks on their faces seem like they have a lot inside their minds without saying too much.

I love this manhwa for its feelings too. Being an introvert myself, I can totally identify with Yuri's character. The real romantic part is not about love, though I do ship Yuri and her guardian, but about her being in her own world.

People criticizes the guardian for isolating Yuri from the world, and his leniency kind of spoil her. Those are up for debate, really. I don't think Yuri will turn out well with that, but I don't think it's truly Dowook's fault either. He's a pretty chill grown up man.

And the romance part... That is too hard to say for now, because Yuri is still too young, but I love the chillily weird chemistry she shares with Dowook. But she also has that kid her age who is quite infatuated with her... Love triangle? I'm still waiting for the updates.

i still dont know where this is heading, but the story is still interesting nontheless. the prologue just hook me and i want to know the reason for her attitude when she had grown up. the story is nicely fleshed out slowly and if you like quite unhurried story with gorgeous artwork this is for you.

It strikes me as yet another obsessive love story albeit with a slice of life spin so far. The concept isn't too bad and I do like some of the "slice of life" elements and the character interactions. However, the plot is somewhat fragmented so far and the pacing quite slow. I do really hope they'll put in a few time skips soon, as she's still in her childhood and the manhwa's supposed to cover her development from childhood to teenager or even adult. Though the plot is picking up, I fear it's becoming a bit too contrived already, since there aren't enough people to really "flesh out" the world and since there's insufficient development to compensate for the flaws.

I actually prefer the first few volumes of Shihwamong over this instead, for manhwa slice of life. If you all want obsessive love, try Stalker which is much deeper and better developed on so many levels.

... Last updated on July 26th, 2011, 3:19am

This was a really nice slice of life, the art is pretty and nice to look at. There are some deep meanings about life and growing up in here, so i would read this on a rainy day to relax.