Orange Marmalade

"I would totally stare into your eyes right now, but this sunlight is blinding me."

"You know... I...often think about you."
"I... really want to suck your blood."
"... What?"

Ma-ri is a withdrawn young girl who has just entered a new school. She has two loving parents and an adorable younger brother. She likes to play the guitar. And she also likes to go around nibbling on the necks of young bo- oops, wasn't supposed to let that last bit out.

So the tale of a reserved vampire girl and her persistent love interest begins. Will the self imposed isolation of Ma-ri prevent her from living her high school life to the fullest? Will she give in to the tantalizing smell of Jae-min, the handsome classmate she met on the subway? Will the school band ever make it big? Will this beautifully drawn comic ever rise above the Cliché Storm that surrounds every aspect of its plot? The answer is, "Absolutely."

Written and illustrated by Seok Woo, this webcomic can be found on Naver with English tranlations available at Webtoon Live. On-going with weekly updates.

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Tropes used in Orange Marmalade include:

• Alpha Bitch: Ah-ra is a failed one of these. She failed to get Jae-min to care about her and she failed to scare Ma-ri away from him.
• Angrish: Ah-ra, on seeing Ma-ri in chapter 47, says "ASDFWHAR-" and more, several lines long. Ma-ri wanders away confused.
• Annoying Younger Sibling: Joseph
• Arranged Marriage: Due to the lack of vampires, Ma-ri has been paired off with Si-Hoo.
• Aw, Look -- They Really Do Love Each Other: There are several instances. One being the Lap Pillow moment and Ma-ri wearing the hairclip Jae-min got her.
• Beautiful Dreamer: Jae-min falls asleep on Ma-ri's lap. She strokes his hair and gets caught.
• Behind the Mask: Ma-ri has to pretend to be a human due to the fantastic racism. It gets heart-breaking when she has to make racist jokes about herself and her family to keep her cover from getting blown.
  • Jae-min has a lot hidden behind his cool exterior.
• Chekhov's Gun: The metal bars seen hanging from a crane operated by an (ostensibly) lazy man were present early on in the series, and became an important plot device later on.
• Chekhov's Gunman: The rude white-haired vampire on television is Si-Hoo, the vampire Ma-ri's family want her to marry.
• Chick Magnet: Jae-Min
  • And as of chapter 45, Si Hoo
• Curtains Match the Window: Jae-min has blue eyes and blue hair.
• Evil Albino: Si-hoo, possibly. He has the physical appearance of one but his red eyes may be due to vampirism. . After giving Ma-Ri human blood to drink, adding a whole new dynamic to how serious his threats against Jae-Min were, he is definitely trending towards the Evil end of the scale.
• Fake-Out Fade-Out: Chapter fifteen.
• Fantastic Racism: Between the vampires and humans. It isn't pretty...
• Fetish: When Jae-min is getting stalked by Si-Hoo, he tells him he doesn't have that kind of fetish. Si-Hoo asks him about getting one.
• Friendless Background
• Friendly Neighborhood Vampire
• Headphones Equal Isolation: Ma-ri
• He-Man Woman Hater
• Hidden Eyes: Jae-min in chapter 55.
• Ice Queen: Ma-ri, she even has the nickname "ice princess" at her school.
• If It's You It's Okay: A non-romantic example, between Si-Hoo and Jae-min in chapter 47, when Si-Hoo is stalking Jae-min for his extremely tasty blood and says he'll make an exception (sexually) just so he can have Jae-min. Then Jae-min tries to punch him in the face.

Si-Hoo: "I don't bend that way either, but if it's someone like you, I don't mind giving it a try."

• Ineffectual Loner: Ma-ri
• Instant Fanclub: Si-Hoo gains one the moment he transfers to the school. The friend of Jae-min, who has a rabid fan club of his own, jokes that Si-Hoo will start stealing his fans and Jae-min comments that he hopes that happens.
• Japanese School Club: Band club that Soo-ri convinces/forces Ma-ri into joining. Jae-min eventually joins after being dragged in by his mother. Technically Korean.
• Jerkass: Doesn't express Si-Hoo's personality. He was dancing on a Moral Event Horizon in Chapter 45 For the Lulz. Fortunately he was interrupted.
  • Let's put it this way. His call to Ma-ri was "Hey, bitch!"
    • Corrected a chapter later by the scanlators, who stated that a more accurate translation would be "Hey bimbo!"
• Lap Pillow: Which leads to the first kiss between Jae-min and Ma-ri.
• Large Ham: Soo-ri
• Lethal Chef: Ma-ri and her entire family. Justified because vampires don't eat human food and don't need to know how to cook.
• Little Black Dress: Ma-ri's aunt is always wearing one.
• Love Triangle: Ah-ra likes Jae-min who likes Ma-ri, who isn't sure.
  • When Ma-ri begins to realize she likes Jae-min, a new guy appears on the scene who is engaged to Ma-ri, but appears to be attracted to Jae-min's blood. Future updates may develop what could become a Love Dodecahedron.
• Mistaken for Gay: Due to Jae-min's constant rejection and general dislike for girls, people think this of him. Including his friend, who was worried Jae-min had a crush on him.
• No Indoor Voice: Soo-ri
• One Head Taller: Jae-min and Ma-ri
• Our Vampires Are Different: The usual idea of a vampire was true several hundred years ago but due to various reasons the vampires in this story are watered down versions, mostly because they drink pig blood instead of human. They do have fangs (but many file them down), they can go out in sunlight, they can't eat anything except pig, they have extra-fast healing abilities and their very sensitive to the cold.
• Parental Abandonment: Jae-min was abandoned by his mother for two years, so he claims.
• Perfectly Arranged Marriage: Ma-ri's parents.
• "The Reason You Suck" Speech: Ma-ri gives a hefty one to So-Hoo in chapter 44. Their first meeting.
• The Runaway: Jae-min
• Running Gag: Joseph's abuse of animals, courtesy of one constantly hungry belly. Mainly the stray dog he picked up.
  • In one chapter he tries to bite a rat. A. Freaking. Rat.
• Secret Keeper: Soo-ri, when she finds out. Mrs Oh, a teacher and Jae-min's mother, keeps the secret of Ma-ri's vampire identity a secret.
• Shout-Out: Within the story the real-life band Riddim plays during a street festival.
• Shrinking Violet: Ma-ri, before The Power of Friendship kicked in.
• Smug Snake: Jae-min, though he gets better with time, just for So-Hoo to be introduced and be even more conceited.
• Stalker with a Crush: Jae-min is one now, no matter how much he denies it.

Jae-min: "I feel good when I'm watching you."

• • In chapter 47, Si-Hoo starts stalking Jae-min.
• Taking the Bullet: Ma-ri pushes Soo-ri out of the way of falling metal pipes and gets hit herself. Fortunately she has fast healing.
• Tsundere: Ma-ri and Jae-min are a tsundere couplet.
• Vegetarian Vampire: Well, not really vegetarian in the strict sense of the word, but the idea is there. They all drink pig blood. Han Si-Hoo now has been revealed to drink human blood. Adding to his Jerkass tendencies, and possibly going all the way to Complete Monster territory, he gave Ma-Ri human blood to drink and only told her what it was AFTER she drank it.
• White-Haired Pretty Boy: Han Si-hoo, the Jerkass.
• Why Can't I Hate You?: Jae-min says this in chapter six about Ma-ri.
• Yaoi Fangirl: A group of girls on the train who like Jae-min get upset when he says Ma-ri is his girlfriend (for kicks) saying they thought he liked guys and that "it's much more attractive".
  • The two girls in chapter 47 who, upon seeing Si-Hoo and Jae-min positioned in an interesting position, squeel "hyaaa~", ask if it's a lovers quarrel and take everything they say sexually (such as when Si-Hoo talks about pouncing on Jae-min. He means to attack and kill him... probably).
• Year X: It takes place in "Autumn, 20XX"
• You Gotta Have Blue Hair: Jae-min and his step-dad.