A little background: I’ve been a reader in many fandoms for about ten years, but I primarily write in one. I also run a fandom community. Legality of fan fics doesn’t really come into it for my fandom. It’s manga-based, and manga creators and their publishers know that a large excited fan base sells books.  They go out of their way to include characters that will draw the attention of those who like to create fan works. In the fandom for which I write, the author was herself a fan who did the same thing before she went pro.

To me the important thing about fan fic is that while a few people may write it in a solitary environment, from my experience it’s really a community-based activity. That’s both a good and bad thing, centered around the fact that fandom communities can be very insular.

It’s bad because it makes people lose perspective. There’s a balance that has to be reached within a community when it comes to fan fic.  Some people are practicing writing and want constructive criticism, emphasis on the constructive. Many get it through beta writers; some want it from readers.  They want to do it better.  Other fans don’t care about improving. They’re only writing to share things with other fans, their love of the original work and characters, their take on aspects of the original work, and sometimes more personal things. They don’t plan on writing outside of a fandom.

The balance is how much criticism do you allow in the community and how?  It can stifle fan participation until there’s next to none, and no one posts anything for the joy of it. On the other hand, without it, there’s a loss of a real sense of quality of work.  Personally, I don’t allow it on the groups I moderate unless writers are OK with it. It’s part of their fic header. That way, those who just want to have fun and throw out an idea can do so without worrying about people jumping down their throats, and those who want to improve can do so. I think fans feeling fun and safe is more important.

That can lead to a skewed perspective though. In fan fic stories tend to be graded on a scale, which means a lauded story in fandom could be great, but there’s no guarantee. And when they’re hit with a lot of praise, writers can forget that just because a fic is considered better doesn’t mean it’s good.

I think that’s responsible for situations like some we’ve seen recently where less-than-spectacular fan fic has the serial numbers filed off and is published simply because it had fan support. There’s a huge difference between fandom-ready and publication-ready, and that seems to be getting lost.

A loss of perspective can also be a problem when misinformation is perpetuated.  In m/m fandoms a lot of that centers around gay sex. We have some gay members, and fans are happy to ask questions, but the few guys just want to read fic and have fun, not necessarily be everyone’s Wiki.  BDSM is another problem area.  But I think that’s a problem whenever any small group of fans gets together. Not everyone is represented there, and not everyone is an expert. There are always Cliff Clavins.  But the fact that people are talking to begin with can also spread good information. I’ve had fans from isolated parts of the world post to talk about AIDS for example, and everyone learned something from that discussion.

And that leads to some of the best things about being in a fandom and writing fic.  The fact that the communities are insular tends to make them safe places to discuss a lot of topics, and fiction is a safe way for the members to express themselves on these topics without even really mentioning them if the aren’t able to.

Fan fic is certainly done solely out of love and fun for a number of fans. But for many others, the themes within reflect questions and issues within themselves, and they write to communicate these things and try to understand them.  Gender, sexuality, abuse are just a few among the topics explored in fan fic.  Some writers  take familiar characters and change their sex and try to figure out what that would mean to his character and relationship, or they make him pregnant while he’s still male (I think these fics are partly revenge-based).  Or maybe they subject him to rape, or uncertainty about his sexuality.

Other fans are incredibly supportive when discussions of these issues come up. Sexuality and experimentation are played with within fics and that’s celebrated.  95% of the members of one community I’m in are female, but over a third have said they don’t feel that way. Sexuality is represented in its many permutations. All of it is accepted. Abuse and negative situations are discussed and if people ‘testify’ they are supported.

Now I have to get a little personal. I’m a rape victim. It happened long ago, but for a long time it was something I had trouble addressing, at least up until I entered a particular BL manga fandom (I won’t talk about the differences between BL and Western m/m, which could fill a book; as Alton Brown says, that’s for another post). This particular manga contains rape and non-con situations between several men. Two of the men end up in a romantic relationship. It’s drawn in a beautiful style, aesthetically pleasing. It was something even I could look at, even though I didn’t understand why I would want to.

BL manga expects its readers to understand the rape tropes used within it.  Because of that, the manga for the most part doesn’t explore this. But fic writers do. It led me to start writing about the couple myself, the first writing I’d ever done in my life, exploring their dynamics, getting into their heads, and letting me explore my past and my feelings in a safe way.  These men were not me. They were not even female.  I could start there.

But even more important, I started noticing similarities in other stories, women exploring similar themes, and they reached out to me and I them, and we found ways to talk about what had happened to us using these characters. Readers began opening up to me because of what I was writing, some of them telling me I was the first person they’d ever told about their rapes. One friend actually took the manga and her fics into her therapy sessions and began discussing it for the first time ever.  And I began to talk about it openly.

Even though the characters and world used are someone else’s to start with, during the writing process it still becomes deeply personal to the one doing the writing.  These characters become a way to easily express joy, laughter, pain and any number of things that the writer could not express any other way.  I love the lighter side of fan fiction, but authors, if your characters have led to the easing of pain of others, isn’t that something to celebrate?

I’ve experienced this first hand in my favorite fandom. It is something I see in every fandom I read in: people with something awful happening in their lives or past, trying to talk about it through the fics they write. They go into a fandom because they love the original work. Most, including me, will never write well enough to publish anything and we don’t really want to. So we borrow the characters and places we love to help us say something important to us, in a place where we feel safe saying it.  Many writers never even notice that they’re doing it.

At first I was sad that so many people in fandom are injured in some way. But then I realized of course that these are the people who are now able to express it. And that’s a very good thing.

This isn’t how it is for all fic writers. Some do just have fun. Some just want to explore what’s not been explored to their satisfaction. Others want to work on their writing. It’s all good, so long as they remind themselves to keep some perspective.  But when you think about why fic writers write, remember that for some it’s not really what they keep the same as the original that’s interesting. It’s what they change. Because that’s where their story is, one they wouldn’t have been able to tell without fandoms and fan fiction.

Related posts:

1. Tools of Change: Thoughts from a Reader’s Perspective
2. Fair Use Part 2: Fan Fiction, Rowling and Cassie Edwards
3. Behind the Scenes Feature: From the Brief to the Book, A Writer’s Perspective on Continuity Series

I always approach an old favorite with trepidation. So often they were favorites because of the person I was at that time in my life, and having changed, they no longer affect me as they once did. But sometimes I’m lucky and I find that it was something more timeless and I love the book as much as ever.

I’m a long-time lover of science fiction romance, and have been reading it since the 70s, even though I didn’t have any concept of the sub-genre at the time. I’m going to be revisiting some of the classics, those books considered must reads that I haven’t read in ages. I expect that I won’t love some as much as I once did. I’m happy to say that the first I chose, a favorite of both mine and Jane’s, is one of those timeless ones, your Dragon Bones / Dragon Blood.

Honestly, I was hard-pressed to come up with any criticism of this book. I sat down after re-reading it and tried to come up with something I’d have changed had I written it myself, and I couldn’t think of a thing. That’s the way it is with a book you see as a classic, I suppose. There are a couple of things that I think others might complain of though, so first I’ll describe why I love these books, and then what I think might give romance readers pause in reading them.

One thing I love is that, though this is a fantasy and a very original one, it feels very real. Ward, the main character, is someone I believed in, a real human being, and I was with him every step of the way. He’s a hero, but more of a hero that fell into his role. Ward is a natural leader – people respect him. Part is because of his noble blood line, part is because of his size and strength. But Ward has a problem. When he was young, his father beat him so severely it affected his brain and rendered him unable to anything but simplest magic, his ability to Find things. It also affected his thinking.

His father saw him as a rival, and didn’t want to be killed off the same way that he himself had killed his own father, so he’d attacked and rendered Ward harmless. Or so he and everyone thought. Ward still had some wits about him, and to protect himself played the harmless imbecile, though one powerful enough to hurt those who harmed the ones he cared for.

When the story opens, Ward’s father dies. Ward’s uncle is appointed guardian. We immediately start to question the motives of everyone around Ward, and we question Ward’s ability to see clearly. How much we can rely upon his observations is something we have to learn as the story progresses. Because most of the story is told first person from his point of view, we, like his people, have to come to know and trust him.

I loved that about the story. It brought all of it that much closer to the reader, because I was right in there with his companions, only with a slightly better seat. There were layers to this story that I needed to think through to arrive at the truth.

This carries over into the few chapters told from others’ points of view at the royal court. The king sees plots everywhere, possibly because many are, and he kills anyone whom he suspects, or else places them in an institution for the insane. He becomes convinced Ward is a threat and orders him committed.

Other things I liked: The pace of the book and how they spent time where it was needed to make it more realistic. Some books jump from one action scene to the next, forgetting that much of what we learn of characters, and their growth, take place between the action. Here you used things like periods of training during travel to allow characters to get to know each other and develop relationships that are all important. This made the book flow very naturally as well from one section to the next.

It also made their struggles more convincing. Their hell lasts and hurts, and their happiness and successes feel all the more deserved because of it.

I also liked the way new characters and scenes were brought in. First we learn about Ward via first person, then are introduced one by one to the players, remembering that while the portraits seem clear that we’re seeing through Ward’s eyes and those aren’t necessarily reliable.

The world building here was quite good as well. The society was complex and drawn with a sufficient number of interesting characters that it was convincing. Regarding the magic, while this is fantasy, the magic is minimal, especially in the first book. But the use of magic was consistent and had a price. People didn’t walk away unscathed from it. This also makes the world building more convincing, as does the way your world has echoes in ours. It’s not unlike the Renaissance. It reminded me of Italy under the Borgias.

What do I think people might complain about? I know some people just don’t like first person narration, especially where romance is involved. Ward’s chapters are all first person. I think it’s vital that they are for reasons stated above. Tisala’s, the heroine’s, are third person. This too feels right, because it gave you a chance to paint a broader picture, something important in the second book.

That leads me to something that might well drive romance readers nuts. Tisala appears only minimally in the first book, and in the second book, Tisala and Ward spend a fair amount of time apart. Someone looking for a romance-novel-like focus on their relationship would probably be disappointed. This is a fantasy containing romance, and while that romance and relationships are very important to the books, the romance isn’t the point of the books.

Even thought the two spent time apart, I found their relationship to be a convincing one. They both had trust and image issues to work around, and they spend enough time talking and interacting with each other that the feelings that grew between them, and we do see them grow, made sense. By the time the ending rolls around, where they end up is where you’ve been leading them.

And while I suppose some people would have liked more romance in the first book, or at least more participation from the heroine, I wouldn’t want it. There wasn’t room. Things had to be taken care of before Ward or Tisala could even think about anything else.

This all leads to what I love most about sfr: There are no boundaries to the romance. There is no box to step outside of. Everything is unexpected, so what happens tends to hit harder because you don’t have a guaranteed HEA. So when one comes along, it just feels more potent to me, especially in the hands of someone who can make us feel for her characters each step of the way.

Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood felt like classics to me when I first read them. I’m happy to say they still do. I’d recommend them not only to lovers of sfr, but to fantasy readers who enjoy a character based story with some political kick to it. And also to paranormal romance readers who want to try a story that while it contains romance, would immerse them in a world more thoroughly than most paranormals I’ve read.

Sincerely,
ジェーン
(Jān)

Dragon Bones and Dragon Blood can be purchased in paperback at Amazon or in ebook format from Sony here and here or other etailers.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Blood Bound by Patricia Briggs
2. REVIEW: Iron Kissed by Patricia Briggs
3. REVIEW: Alpha and Omega and Cry Wolf by Patricia Briggs

Netcomics is a publisher that publishes manga and manhwa online. No e-reader is needed, just $0.25 per chapter. They publish not only their own but Luv Luv and Yaoi Press comics among others. The way it works is that you buy e-cash in $10 amounts, then pay as you view each new chapter.

You don’t own the chapters, not at those prices. You get to view them for 48 hours. But, so you have a chance to look at a manga before starting to pay, the first 1-2 chapters are always available free (one for short works, 2 for longer).

Last, almost all the books are or will be available in hard copy if you find you truly love them and can’t live without them. There are a couple of series I follow that I purchase in hard format. What I love most about Netcomics though is that the net-version is usually 1-2 volumes ahead of the print, and with chapter releases the wait time is generally much less for updates, 2 weeks for my favorite series.

The series tend to be focused on women’s and girls’ comics. There are romances both het and m/m, and fantasy and drama with strong female leads. Only a few of the series are what I’d consider to be male-oriented. There’s a lot of variety though, and a number of the series look interesting. Browsing through their lineup I found 20 series that looked interesting enough to try, a third in various stages of completion, the others completed and (most) also in print.

The comics are quite easy to read on the screen. Some adjustments can be made for size, one or two page viewing, auto vs manual page turning. One thing that does annoy me about the reading window is the scrolling text on the upper left menu bar. It keeps catching my eye and distracting me. But the window can be slid to the side so it’s off screen so it’s not that big a deal. Other than that, I enjoy reading the manga this way. The print and art are clear and crisp, and there seems to be very little issue with things like lag or memory overload.

Today I’m looking at three ladies’ het oneshot manga volumes (single volume series) that can be viewed on the site for a really reasonable cost. The quality of writing varies wildly between them. I’ve not included samples, because the website itself offers a sample of every manga it sells. I’ve linked to the pages for each.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Luv Luv Press is bringing Japanese adult comics for women to the US. Sadly, the economy is hitting them hard, so if any of the titles here interest you, you may want to try them while you can. Their titles are all complete within one volume. The subject matter is adult romance and relationships. Their latest title on Netcomics is Make Love & Peace by Takane Yonetani. The volume is 7 chapters, or $1.50 (the first chapter is free). It consists of the 5 chapter main story and two oneshots.

The story has Ayame, a college student in a relationship with Koichi, a detective, when he saves her from a mugging. Koichi saves Ayame a lot. Between saving her they have lots and lots of sex (The sex is softcore level of explicitness, ie no graphic depictions of genitalia.). But it’s boring sex, not the least bit erotic to me, for two reasons. One is that the characters look like teens. I know the conventions of a lot of manga result in this, but I prefer manga where the guys look like they’re over fourteen, especially if sex is involved. Second, the art just feels amateurish. Not only are the character designs mediocre, but the pacing of the stories is off, and the drawing of the sex is stiff (no pun intended) and without eroticism. It felt like this was an early comic by someone who didn’t know how to draw sexual tension.

The entire volume had that shortcoming. There wasn’t much story, just several flimsy plotlines about an underwear burglar and lots of boring sex. It was painful to read. Honestly, if I hadn’t bought it for review I would have stopped after one chapter. I’d call this a skip-worth volume. I really found nothing redeeming in it, so I’d have to honestly give it an F.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The next Luv Luv volume I tried was much better. It’s Real Love by Mitsuki Oda , and is 6 chapters, or only $1.25!

The art in this is beautiful, professional, a complete opposite to the previous volume. It reminds me a lot of Ai Yazawa (Paradise Kiss, NANA) only a little less cluttered. It’s very pleasing to look at. The story is an improvement as well. Of the 6 chapters, the first 4 are devoted to the cover story. The last two chapters are a lesser story about a young woman musician who has to learn to write music from her heart, and it’s fairly average.

I enjoyed the cover story more. A young woman in university, Shu, is surprised to meet the young man, a popular actor named Naomichi, who took her virginity. She had loved him but found he was a cold womanizer and she dropped him. His career went downhill after that and he’s back in school, and determined to win her now. She’s not interested, except the sex was hot and she’s still attracted for that reason. Her waffling and our not being sure of his motive or feelings supplies the tension. As does the presence of her twin brother Shun, who seems to be having some crises of his own centered around both his sister and her ex.

For only having four chapters I thought I got to know the main characters remarkably well. I felt like I’d been reading something several volumes long, not because it was tedious, but because the mangaka told us a lot in the space she had, and that made this feel much deeper than a typical one volume manga.

However the ending of it felt way too rushed. In fact, I was shocked when I turned the page and found another story starting, and that’s not a good thing. I hope there’s a volume 2 being worked on out there that someday makes it to our shores. As it stands, it gets a B-.

~~~~~~~~~~~

The last single-volume manga I looked at for this group was cm0 (Centimeter Zero) by Kazumi Tohno and published by Netcomics. It’s 5 chapters, so would only cost $1! Honestly, at these prices how can you not try some?

This was a sweet and slow-paced love story about a university student, Hasumi, and a young woman, Miharu, who is one of his professors. They live in the same apartment building and know each other on a friendly basis. When her fiancée dumps her because of rumors about them, she turns to Hasumi for comfort, but that night they spend together drives a wedge between them. Eventually they begin to reconnect, slowly drifting back together, first as friends, then both gradually realizing it’s something more.

I love the artwork in this. The character designs are so normal, and the drawing style is soft and expressive. There is no explicit sex on the pages of this story, though there is some in their relationship that’s referred to.

I do have a complaint about typos and grammar. I’m not one to notice them, so when I do it generally means it’s bad enough to annoy most people. There were several instances of letters dropped off or left out of words. And one thing that annoys me to no end is when someone says “between you and I”. The character is an English professor. I think she’d know that after a preposition you use “me”, not “I”. This is a translation/editing mistake, and one that shouldn’t occur in a professional publication.

However, despite that, the story is a lovely one and I do recommend it the most of the three books here. This book is only available online. I’d give this story a B+.

No matter what I thought of these books though, the fact remains that I read three volumes of manga that would normally put me out $30 plus shipping and leave me stuck with one I wanted to give away but couldn’t because of its adult nature. I only spent $3.75. That makes it a great way to try manga, and a cheap way to buy manga for teens as long as you’re aware of the offerings on the site and what they’re reading. I’ll be reviewing more of the series in upcoming installments, and focusing on both the manhwa and BL (m/m) offerings.

Sincerely,
ジェーン
(Jān)

Related posts:

1. Manga’s 2007 Sales Are Up. So Is It or Is It Not Dead?
2. Review Manga the Complete Guide
3. DC Comics Invests in Japanese Manga Startup

I just have to tell you about this manga. This isn’t a typical manga for me to review because it’s not a romance manga, and it’s not really about the characters. It’s about food. I’m a serious foodie. I love exploring foods of all cultures, from low cuisine to high. And I love reading about it as well. Viz Manga has decided to bring over to the US part of one of the most influential food manga series of all time, and if you’re a foodie you’ll probably love it.

First, a note about food manga. The Japanese love them. There are a surprising number of action manga where the hero of the series has special food talents. Yakitate! has a boy with a gift for creating breads unique to Japan. Addicted to Curry is about a chef dedicated to, yep, curries. Kitchen Princess is a shoujo (girl’s) romance about the orphan daughter of pastry chefs who has inherited their talent to please everyone with some dessert.

There are also manga that seek to educate adults. The Drops of the Gods is fairly new one that’s educating the Japanese about Western wines. It has sparked an enormous rise in the sales of wines, especially those discussed in each chapter.

The granddaddy of these manga series is Oishinbo. This massive and extremely popular series of 102 volumes, still ongoing, started in 1983 and sought to educate the Japanese about their cuisine and food customs and give them pride in them. The author says in a short essay that the best word for Japanese cuisine(s) is washoku. The wa means Japanese, but also means harmony. That, he says, is the essence of eating Japanese style. All the elements are present and recognizable, but in harmony. This series attempts to explain all the elements and how they fit together.

Now, Viz can’t bring all 102 volumes over. Well, they could, but they’d probably lose money on a lot of them. Even though I’d buy every one. But they are bringing over select chapters and sections on things Westerners tend to be curious about: sake, rice, noodles, sushi/sashimi.

This first volume covers quite a few basics. Some chapters seem downright silly, as in the cook-off between the demanding bastard father and the (anti-)hero over rice. The father’s chef wins because he goes through every grain of rice and pulls out the ones that are broken or odd shaped so each grain finishes at the same time. It’s so anal it’s ridiculous, but it also serves to support a point all cooks know, and that’s that you want portions you’re cooking to be of equal size so they finish cooking together. It’s a good principle applied in a goofy manner so you remember it.

The book covers why sashimi is an art and not just chopping up raw fish, simplicity as a technique, etiquette with chopsticks, purity of ingredients and letting them stand on their own, and making sure your palate as a chef is clean. It explains several dishes (though doesn’t provide recipes) like daishi broth; it’s more concerned with explaining the heart of it than the how of it, though often the how is involved. There’s also a lengthy section of footnotes, 14 pages in the back, that explain all Japanese customs and words that might not be clear to Western readers. It’s quite thorough and good.

There is a plot of sorts. A young man, Yamaoka Shiro, is a gourmet with a very discriminating palate and an ability to cook that matches it. However, he now works at a newspaper and his main concern is betting on the ponies. One day his editor decides that for their 100th anniversary they will serve the ultimate feast, and knowing Yamaoka’s background appoints him to be in charge (along with a young woman to whom he eventually gets married in a minor part of the story which we don’t really see).

This appointment angers the most important gourmet in town, Yamaoka’s nasty father, a renowned potter who demanded such perfection from his wife in their food that it drove his wife to her grave. Yamaoka in revenge destroyed all his father’s artwork. Needlesstosay, they’re not getting along. Yamaoka’s father sets up a rival feast and constantly challenges his son. (He seriously needs his ass kicked.) The most annoying chapters are when he’s right. But even jerks can teach us things.

The graphics in this are really old-style manga. They’re not bad by any means, but they may look dated to people used to newer manga, especially in their use of block panels a la Western comics. They always illustrate points clearly though, and that’s what concerns me most. Here an American friend of Yamaoka’s has been training in how to make water-chilled sashimi to teach some know-it-alls a lesson (as usual, please start reading from the top of the right page, and please forgive my homemade scans).

As you can see, expressive as they are, the faces leave something to be desired. But the portraits of the food and technique come through clearly. I also included a page from the notes from the back of the book so you could see how useful they are.

The book itself is quality, softbound and larger with a dust-jacket. Viz did a lovely job with it.

I’d read parts of this before, but none of these sections in this first volume. I seriously couldn’t put it down once I got it in the mail yesterday. I found everything about it fascinating, even the irritating father and how he was dealt with by the author, and the anal-retentive bits, because being picky about techniques and ingredients is part of being a good chef. I think anyone with an interest in Japanese cuisines or culture would eat this up. It’s a little choppy because of the way the story was taken apart and put back together, but it should just be read as a series of related short stories, A-.

Sincerely,
ジェーン
(Jān)

Oishinbo, by Kariya Tetsu, illus by Hanasaki Akira. Viz. Retail: $12.99. 272 pages. 1/8 compilation volumes. Rated T for teen (probably because kids probably wouldn’t understand terms and such, but there’s no sex or violence; if you’ve got smart young-uns though go for it.). This book is available for discount at most manga stories like Rightstuf.com

Related posts:

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2. REVIEW: Manga: The Complete Guide
3. Harlequin to Distribute Manga Via Cellphones in Japan

Dear Sony,

I’m an e-Reader noob. Oh, I read tons of ebooks, I just use my laptop and whatever program is called for. The thing is, I also read lots and lots of physical manga and books. I always carry a couple with me. The last time I took a vacation I had one bag of clothes and two of books. So I was pretty excited to get something compact and light that could hold all of that for me. I like a lot about the Sony e-Reader. There are some things that could stand to be improved. Overall though, I think I’m going to be very happy with it. I know my husband looks forward to “me” not carrying loads of books everywhere.

The e-Reader physically is a very pretty thing. Mine is red. I really had no preference in color, though I tend not to be adventurous with electronics and go for sober shades. Surprisingly I found the red to be not only pleasing to the eye, but it seemed to bring out the dark of the text and lines on the reading screen, enhancing the contrast.

The cover is nice and sturdy too, though I think I’ll add a pocket or two to hold SD cards. I just want to put all my books on those and keep it all in one place. I’ve realized I’d rather have several smaller cards than one big one that takes a while to index and page through. Most people probably only a need for one card if any though, and it will be in the reader itself. I’ve just collected a lot of ebooks and manga over the years and want them at my fingertips.

After opening the package, everything charged up easily from my laptop and all the programs installed easily. Even my Dad could have done that part, and that’s saying something. It took me a second to figure out the on switch, a slide that snaps back, until I found the instructions. Which brings me to one thing that annoyed me. I don’t want installation instructions that fold open like a road map. Book readers like BOOKS. I felt like I was trying to find my way to Vegas at 3:00 am after missing that left at Albuquerque. Once I found my location the step I was after, the route process was clear. But of course, I ended up refolding the map instructions incorrectly. Book, OK?

So then I got the instruction e-manual installed on my laptop and pulled it up and read through it. Yes, I actually did. I’m not only anal, I’m a girl (men wouldn’t have even made the roadmap comparison, as they know not of which I speak). It seemed very simple: Open the software, add my ebooks to the program’s library, drag and drop them to my reader. And it was simple. It worked. Two minutes later I was reading Lynne Connolly on my e-Reader. WHOOHOO!

I upped the font to medium. There are three font sizes, S, M, L. I found M to be just right. I didn’t realize there was no light on the 505 though. I’m glad this was adjusted for the new model. But I bought a full spectrum book light from Mighty Bright and will be happy with that. That will help with the contrast as well, as it’s less than what I’m used to and unfortunately not adjustable. Under a light however, I was able to read quite easily in the dark. And of course in the bright sun reading was a breeze. I love the fact that there’s no glare, and that the page looks like paper.

Then I got adventurous. I went to the Sony ebook store in my browser and tried to buy something. Oops. You can’t do that. That’s kind of annoying. Why do I have to be on an approved system with Sony software installed to buy and download something? That’s rather limiting. If I’m on vacation and want a book, I can’t just plug in at an internet café. I’m screwed without that software. Bad move.

But this time I was on my laptop with software installed, so I opened it back up and entered the store from there. Since I’d already tried an ebook, I decided to download one of your manga from TokyoPop to see how that looked. It was very easy to navigate around the site and narrow the list down to choices that might interest me. I found one I wanted and clicked ‘buy’ and after I registered, it downloaded itself to my library. Then drag and drop and open. Very simple. The quality was a little less than what I’d see on my computer, but all in all, quite readable. I buzzed though the volume in no time. The experience was so like reading a book that I kept reaching up to turn the page.

There were two issues with the manga though. The first was that I got to the end of vol 1 and your store does not carry subsequent volumes. !!!! So I had to go buy them in hardcopy. I don’t mind having hardcopies, but that rather defeats the purpose of having the e-Reader to save having to store paper manga series.

The second issue is that I could not zoom on certain files. I have no idea why, but homemade manga volumes I made zoomed perfectly well (thank you, Calibre!), yet the manga I purchased from your store did not. Granted, zooming on the homemade volumes only gets you a bigger and fairly grainy picture, but for those little asides that appear in manga so much, it would be helpful. Click the picture below left to get a view of how a page of one of my own scans appears on the Sony Reader.

But those are minor complaints, really. The fact that I can load up dozens of manga scans that look great, instead of carting all those volumes around makes me want to find all of you and give you smooches. Or at least send you a pizza, which would be more hygienic.

I should point out to the readers that there are a very limited number of commercial e-manga out there. To create your own, you either have to scan what you have or find someone who has already done so. As far as I’m concerned, owning a home-scanned version of manga I’ve already purchased is perfectly reasonable. And that’s all I have to say about that.

Now let me tell you how I’ve used it, after putting my books and a lot of manga on SD cards.

A few mornings ago I felt terribly sick, and I was looking for a comfort read to make me feel better. I have manga and books lying all around, but to be honest it’s all unorganized. It takes me a while to find anything, if I find it. But I grabbed my e-Reader, and had so many favorites right there at my fingertips, no searching. I picked one out, no fuss, and lost myself in it.

I get into a lot of discussions about the manga I’m reading online. That generally means I have about 10-20 volumes lying on the bed and desk at any given time. Not now. If I’m talking about it, it’s on my e-Reader. The bed is all mine!

I usually have to wait and wait in the car while my husband talks and talks at the hobby shop he goes to (No gurls allowed!), so I carry a few books. Not this week. Just one handy e-Reader with all kinds of choices. When he came out, I told him to go back in. The look on his face was priceless. Heh.

So, no more lugging books around, and the choices are myriad. Sometimes getting the books to that point takes a little work. But with a conversion program like Calibre that’s been made pretty simple, just highlight the book and click convert. And yes, there are improvements that could be made, but they’re minor as far as I’m concerned (and the newer model’s light takes care of the biggest one.). I am quite happy with the versatility and quality of experience this reader has to offer.

Sincerely,
ジェーン
(Jān)

Related posts:

1. Best of 2008 List: Reviewer ジェーン(Jān)
2. A Better Ereader from Bookeen
3. REVIEW: Ereader and Bookshelf App for iPhone

• Love Mode – Yuki Shimizu – completed 11 vol mxm romance series
• Sand Chronicles – Hinako Ashihara – ongoing mxf contemporary manga
• Duke of Shadows – Meredith Duran – mxf historical novel
• Seduce Me After the Show – Est Em – completed 1 vol mxm manga
• Private Arrangements – Sherry Thomas – mxf historical novel
• Ouran High School Host Club – Hatori Bisco – ongoing mxf manga
• Vampire Knight – Matsuri Hino – ongoing mxf vampire manga
• Tangle – Ginn Hale, Jesse Sandoval, others – mxm anthology (prose)
• REAL – Takehiko Inoue – ongoing sports (wheelchair basketball) manga
• Me and the Devil Blues – Akira Hiramoto – ongoing blues/historical (1930s) manga
• The Bell at Sealey Head – Patricia McKillip – YA/children’s fantasy novel

Related posts:

1. Best of 2008 List: Reviewer Joan/Sarah F
2. Best of 2008 List: Reviewer Jia
3. Best of 2008 List: Reviewer Janet aka Robin

Here are two more first volumes, these two from popular series that I found I didn’t like as much as their popularity suggested I should.

Honey and Clover by Chica Umino. Viz. Retail $9.99. Rated T+ for older teen. 10 volumes (still ongoing in Japan; 1 released here).

Honey and Clover centers around a group of poor eclectic students at an art college that live in the same tiny, rundown apartment building. There’s a large cast of characters but these are the main ones: Morita is a weirdo genius slob who’s been in college for many years, and who leaves for weeks at a time and comes back exhausted and loaded with money. Mayama is a fairly normal architecture student about to graduate, but with hints of a mysterious past. And the last is a very average guy, the hero, Takemoto, who doesn’t have any real aim in life except he’s studying architecture as well.

One day they meet a tiny relative of a professor who enters the school as a Freshman. She’s Hanamoto Hagumi and both Takemoto and Morita instantly fall in love with her cuteness. They fall for her but she’s never anything but a doll, even in the drawings. It’s a bit disturbing. She’s not much interested in them though; she’s a genius as sculpture and lives for that. And shiny pink mules. And meat. She isn’t your typical heroine. But then, this isn’t exactly a romance.

The story goes on, with little slices of life, some more interesting than others. Takemoto tries to find common ground with Hagumi and ends up trying to design a rococco warddrobe for her caveman-inspired doll clothes. A tenant returns from the country with meat and vegetables, and they feel better for eating until he leaves again.

You know, what this manga reminds me of is Seinfeld. It’s really not about anything. It’s just episodes about their lives, revealing their characters and friendships, but not really taking you any place. It’s kind of interesting. It’s kind of funny. It’s good at revealing who the guys are. I’m assuming the love story goes somewhere, maybe. But all in all, it seems something to relax with when you don’t want to think about anything yourself. Not that there’s anything wrong with that. B.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Swan by Ariyoshi Kyoko. CMX. Retail $9.99. Rated E for Everyone. 21 volumes (complete in Japan; 12 released here)

This is one of the toughest reviews I’ve had to write. I’m just not sure what to make of this rather famous shoujo series.

On the one hand, it’s a serious story about ballet, and the rise of a ballerina from being someone who has a lot to learn, to the top of her form. The art used to tell the story is gorgeous, albeit a little dated since it’s from the 70s. The heroine isn’t a genius who rockets to the top, but someone at the bottom of her class who keeps screwing up. Because of that, both she and the reader learn a lot about what it takes to be a successful ballet dancer. This is a story about the sweat and the work and the sacrifices and the pain of being a great dancer.

But on the other hand, it’s so freaking melodramatic, tears and wailing and gushing over everything. I’ve never seen so many exclamation points. This her revelation over ballet after she’s lost a big contest and had her bubble burst, when she sees the winning performance by the people she met. Her thoughts surround her jumping through the clouds, tears overflowing:

“I get it now!

I can feel it exploding in my heart… Like I’m going to burst! Because of them, in just that short time!

Everything they told me… Everything they did…It was all about the discipline of ballet!

Now I want the harsh world of ballet! I want it more than ever!

I want a teacher who will mold me into something beautiful! I want it now, more than ever!

I want to dance!

I want to be with the others, those brilliant, beautiful dancers.

I want to take this passion and pour my heart and soul into training!”

Good thoughts really, but the way they’re expressed… I want to read it, and yet don’t.

I will recommend this with caveats. If you are an aspiring ballet dancer, or even if you just love ballet this might well be a great series for you to buy. And those with youngsters should note that this is the first series I’ve reviewed here with a general rating, acceptable for everyone, so those with children 8-12 who are thinking about ballet could buy it for them. It would be the perfect introduction to the real world of dance, I think. But I recommend buying the first volume or reading it in the library so you or they get a feel for what it’s like.

Many people have loved this series through the years. I do not love this first book, but I don’t want to discourage others from trying it if they’re interested in the subject and think they can get past the melodrama. B-.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

These can be purchased or pre-ordered at most bookstores, or they can be found at a discount at one of my favorites places to buy manga: Honey and Clover; Swan

Related posts:

1. Manga/Anime Review: A Great Present for Kids of all Ages: Princess Tutu
2. Manga First Impressions 3: Land of the Blindfolded, I.O.N., Sand Chronicles
3. REVIEW: Manga Review: Cipher by Narita Minako

Two more vol 1′s from Viz. But the first is a Vol 1 from CMX, another publisher who brings quality shoujo to the US.

Land of the Blindfolded by Tsukuba Sakura. CMX. Retail $9.99. Not rated, but I’d say high school and up. 9 volumes (complete in Japan and in the US.)

(I should mention that the main story only takes up about 2/3 of the first book. There are also two unrelated short stories at the end that are rather sweet, both romantic.)

I actually heard of this story back when I first started reading manga and the concept intrigued me. I never knew it was released over here though until recently, and so I bought the first volume. It’s definitely a cut above other shoujo.

The story involves a high school girl named Kanade who can sometimes see the future when people touch her. She thinks of it like living in the land of the blindfolded, only her blindfold sometimes slips. One day she bumps into a young man in the hallway, Arou. He can see the past when he touches someone. He’s a bit bitter about the fact that he can’t change anything, but Kanade can. Kanade thinks she was given her gift to make things better. Arou’s philosophy is that they were given this gift to observe, and he won’t help Kanade.

The book plays with both of these ideas a lot, showing the good and bad of interference and non-interference, and how both Kanade and Arou are torn by what they have and what they can and can’t do with it. It hurts, being able to see what they do when they can’t change things, or when they screw them up worse. This draws them to each other, because no one else understands what they’re going through.

There are a few interesting side characters in this book as well. Kanade’s best friend, who is shallow and self-depreciating in her pursuit of the boy she likes, but completely aware of what she is doing and why. The boy she’s chasing almost qualifies as @sshole of the year, until the author shows that maybe that girl got through to him. And then there’s the new kid at school, another psychic who can see the future, but one who likes to play games with it, a jerk but one there seems to be hope for. All of them are three dimensional, and I look forward to reading more about them.

Most high school romances don’t concern themselves with the ethics of the special gifts the characters have, or about the characters surrounding them. The fact that this one does, and does it well, makes it a special series above and beyond the average shoujo romance. I hope it sustains that. B+.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I.O.N. by Arina Tanemura. Viz. Retail $9.99. Rated: T for Teen. 1 volume, complete.

Ms Tanemura is the mangaka of the very popular Full Moon wo Sagashite and Kamikaze Kaitou Jeanne, so I was familiar with her work. KKJ doesn’t have much depth and really is rather silly (a magical girl reincarnation of Joan of Arc who fights demon-possessed paintings? Okaaay.), but Full Moon wo Sagashite does have depth and I recommend it, only be prepared to cry. But considering how different those two works are I had no idea what to expect from this single volume story.

ION turns out to be a fairly standard shoujo romance that didn’t do much for me. Like Monkey High the characters are quite young looking, and act it. And while I don’t mind this in a book like oh, Kitchen Princess where the focus isn’t so much romance but following your dream, when the focus is solely on romance older is just better for me.

The book is about a young girl, Ion, who chants her name when she’s in trouble because it makes her feel better, maybe like a mantra or something (funny, when I do that it sounds conceited). But when she comes in contact with an experimental substance made by the psychic research club at school and starts chanting, she’s suddenly telekinetic! This leads to hijinks galore!

Young teens might think this is a cute story. Or they might be bored from comments I’ve seen on message boards. I tended to agree with the message board commenters. Another DNF.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sand Chronicles by Hinako Ashihara. Viz. Retail $9.99. T+ for Older Teens. 10 Volumes (complete in Japan, 2 out here)

I instantly fell in love with this series. It’s so good. 26 year old Ann is getting ready to marry and move overseas, and is packing up her things. An old hourglass falls out and makes her remember when she got it 14 years before, the year she met, I think, her husband to be.

It starts when her parents have just divorced and she and her mother have gone to live in the country with her grandmother. She’s such a real 12 year old, emotional, volatile, cynical, vulnerable, trying so hard to act the adult and help her mom make it through tough times yet still child enough to enjoy the world around her. Her own older self comments at one point, “I was still so innocent.”

I think everyone could identify with Ann. Her troubles are shown honestly, from her serious family ones to less serious problems with her period and friends. But the fun times are shown honestly too. Her friends never let her forget to laugh. Sometimes it’s the only thing they can give her. That leads to some incredibly funny moments, as does the mangaka showcasing everyone’s foibles through asides and comments in the background.

Volume one shows Ann gradually making friends, in the real way young people drift toward one another in small communities. Two of her best friends are boys her own age, the athletic Daigo, who she falls for and who likes her, and the upper class Fuji, who falls for her. It’s a love triangle that I have the feeling will last for the next 14 years, and we won’t know the outcome until we see just who she’s going to marry in the future. The whole set up lets me know that these relationships will be treated seriously, and that there will be some hard decisions for all three after they learn to see themselves and each other honestly. This has the makings of a great romance.

If there’s a short-coming, it’s in the second half of the story where for a moment it veers close to shoujo cliché territory when a rival for Daigo appears. But the reason for that section is all in how Fuji and Daigo respond, which seems to foreshadow an awful lot to me.

OK Viz, you sold me. I am a complete and utter fan. I want more of this story NOW. A-.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

These can be purchased or pre-ordered at most bookstores, or they can be found at a discount at one of my favorites places to buy manga here:Land of the Blindfolded, I.O.N., Sand Chronicles

Related posts:

1. Manga First Impressions 2: B.O.D.Y, Monkey High, Haruka
2. REVIEW: Manga Review: Cipher by Narita Minako
3. Manga First Impressions: Wild Ones and Fairy Cube

Here are some more first volumes of shoujo series coming out:

B.O.D.Y. by Ao Mimori. Viz. Retail $9.99. T+ for older teen (kisses, sexual innuendo). 12 volumes (ongoing in Japan, just starting here this month)

I’d never heard of this title but I was taken with it from the first page. The drawing is clear, sharp, and expressive, the characters modern, attractive and easily distinguished, the storyline cute, funny and lively.

Ryoko has a crush on a silent studious type in her class that everyone else thinks is creepy because he’s so morose. But she likes a guy who’s so conscientious about his work, and can’t stop thinking about him. She decides she’s in love and dons her battle armor (mascara, curls, accessories, and courage).

Then she finds out he’s working as a host (a male escort affiliated with a host club, sex not necessarily included) because he likes playing around and getting paid for it, and he has a completely different personality outside school. She rightfully knocks him on his ass and tells him she would absolutely never fall for him. He takes it as a challenge and tells her he’ll win her heart. The fight is on. He starts by ignoring her. Some of this was very funny.

I love Ryoko because she’s kind of serious but not too much, has normal friends, doesn’t let people walk on her, and she goes for what she wants even though she has as many doubts and periods of freaking out as the rest of us do about relationships. And I can’t wait for Ryunosuke, the hero, to fall for her as hard as I have. This looks like a great title and I can’t wait to read more of it. I’ll just pray it doesn’t fall into the pit full of clichés that often sustain longer shoujo series. So far it hasn’t. B+

~~~~~~~~~

Monkey High by Shouko Akira. Viz. Retail $9.99. T for teen (kisses only). 8 volumes (ongoing in Japan, just starting here this year, 1 vol released.)

On the other hand, Monkey High didn’t appeal to me at all. The art is pretty good, but the characters seem younger to me. The hero is a immature energetic good guy that reminds the upper class heroine of a monkey. That doesn’t spell the kind of romance I’m interested in. The cover copy describes the conflict as this: “Will Haruna remain jaded and distance herself from everyone around her? Or will Matcharu win her over with his monkey magic?” Um, no. Just no.

The main problem to me is that the hero doesn’t seem to have hit puberty yet, and while I know kids can fall in love too, it’s not really something that appeals to me. I like romances where I can enjoy and appreciate the attraction between the h/h without feeling like I’m doing something illegal.

In reading parts here and there, I’d have to say this is one for the young ‘uns, 12-13 or so. Unfortunately I wasn’t able to finish it, so DNF for me.

~~~~~~~~~

Haruka, Beyond the Stream of Time by Tohko Mizuno. Viz. Retail $9.99. T+ for older teens (innuendo, non-graphic violence). 14 volumes (ongoing in Japan, just starting here this year.)

I have to admit up front, I’m a fan of this franchise. I have Harukanaru Toki no Naka de wallpaper for my computer. I’ve played the Japanese dating sim that goes with this version of the manga. I lust after one of the main characters. (Thank god he’s not a monkey boy, but a full-grown sexually active male.) So it’s a little strange that I’ve never read this manga.

Then again, maybe not. My attraction to Haruka is largely based on the very popular seiyuu (Japanese voice actors) who give life to the characters. So how does the story hold up without them?

I’m sad to say, not as well.

First, the story. Remember Fushigi Yuugi (FY)? If you’d managed to forget, sorry I reminded you. But this series owes a lot to that one, to be kind about it. Girl transported into Japan’s Heian era where men wear the loveliest costumes. She, Akane, turns out to be that world’s savior, a priestess with special powers to defeat demons, the leader of whom is pretty darned hot. She’s not as stupid as the FY heroine, but she does do some TSTL things.

Akane has the help of 8 prime males, one of each “sort”: sensitive pretty musician, proud silent gorgeous warrior, fiery street fighter, quiet handsome scholar, powerful coolly-attractive magician, sexy flirt of a general, and two friends from home who get pulled into the past with her, the kid brother type and the childhood friend she ends up loving. Maybe. There are several versions of this story where she ends up with other guys, consistent with the dating sim mentality.

So what sets this apart from FY and the rest of its ilk? I’ll be blunt. I like this purely for the eye-candy. The guys are prettier. In the anime they have charisma. They’re conveniently paired up with each other for those who like slashing things. They all have their sad back stories so you can pick the angst of your choice. Frankly, Akane and the plot are just something to brush aside while you pick the man you want. What girl wouldn’t enjoy that? We all need a harem from time to time.

But do I recommend buying it? Well. Bandai Visual is going to start releasing the anime this month. They’re too expensive to buy, especially for subs and no dubs. But you should be able to rent it. I’d say if you’re going for the harem, get the full effect. But the manga isn’t bad. I liked it better than Monkey Boy, though not quite as much as B.O.D.Y. I’ll probably buy books later in the series that focus on characters I like. B-.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

Available for purchase and/or pre-order here: B.O.D.Y, Monkey High, Haruka: Beyond the Stream of Time

Related posts:

1. Manga First Impressions: Wild Ones and Fairy Cube
2. REVIEW: Manga Review: High Fashion and Coming of Age: Paradise Kiss by Ai Yazawa
3. REVIEW: Manga: Romance with a Capital “R”: From Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa

I got some first volumes of some shoujo series from Viz for review. I’ve not read any of the series, so I’ll just be providing my first impressions based upon all the Vol 1′s, a couple at a time.

Wild Ones by Kiyo Fujiwara. Viz. $9.99. T for Teen (innuendo, some cartoony violence). 6 volumes (still ongoing in Japan, 2 volumes out here)

I’m a sucker for yakuza (Japanese gangster) stories, especially the ones that are comedy so I was looking forward to this manga. Unfortunately this one, unlike Gokusen, didn’t have much special to make it rise above the rest.

The main character, 15 year old Sachie, is orphaned and trying to figure out what to do when her presumed-dead grandfather shows up and asks her to live with him. She’s a little shocked to find out that he’s the head of a yakuza family, and she is his heir. She finds herself thrown into this family of idiot gangsters with hearts of gold and decides to try to live as normal a life as possible. Unfortunately for her, her new bodyguard, the young and handsome Rakuto, is as nutty as the rest of the gang and just won’t leave his “princess” alone.

This is pretty typical shoujo ‘fantasy’, with pretty average drawing. The character is no doormat, but she is a Mary Sue. The gangsters adore her –she can do no wrong even when beating them up, because they’re proud she’s yakuza– and she’s worshipped by her bodyguard who’s also the student council president who of course met her and fell in love when they were children (though she doesn’t remember him). There doesn’t seem to be anything here that I can’t get in countless other shoujo series, so I’d give this a very average C and recommend if you want to read it to do so at the library.

~~~~~~~~

Fairy Cube by Kaori Yuki. Viz. $9.99. T+ for Older Teen (violence, no sex). 3 volumes (complete in Japan, just starting here)

I’m a big fan of Kaori Yuki’s. She’s the mangaka of the very popular Angel Sanctuary and Count Cain / Godchild series. She has an intricate and expressive style of art, and her stories are often gothic in tone, occasionally veering into the macabre. They don’t always work, sometimes sinking under the complexities she can layer into them, but when they do work they’re better than much of what’s out there. But there’s one thing for sure about her stories, and that’s that you’ll get angst, angst, and more angst, and teenagers eat this stuff up. This one is no exception.

This is a series of hers I hadn’t read. As usual, the premise is a complex one. Ian’s mother was a fairy. No one believes it. But she left him a legacy of a twin spirit who hates him and the ability to see fairies. It’s an ability that got him named Ian the Liar and abused by his father. No one except Rin believes him. She’s a girl his age and his one true friend and love.

The twin spirit, Tokage, makes Ian’s father murder Ian, and Tokage takes over the body sending Ian into the spirit world while he lives Ian’s life and hurts those Ian loves. Ian finds out that a number of fairies have done this, and the device they use is the fairy cube, a dormant state that lets them lie in wait for a body to possess. Ian makes a deal with a devil of shopkeeper who holds the cubes. He gets a body of his own and revenge, but in return he must betray the world.

To be honest, that doesn’t even scratch the surface of the plot I read in this first volume. Trips to Faery and battles with monsters from Celtic mythology, a battle between the Seelie and Unseelie court taking place in the human world, plots to rule the world, plots to rule the high school. No one is who they seem. Everyone has ulterior motives. Everyone has an angsty back-story to explain their behavior.

This story is definitely intriguing, albeit a little confusing. I have no idea where’s she’s going with it or even if she can manage to hold it together, but this first volume shows enough promise that I’m going along for the ride. B+

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

These volumes can be purchased / pre-ordered at most any bookstores, but I like Anime Castle and their prices: Wild Ones and Fairy Cube

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Manga Review: Cipher by Narita Minako

One of my fellow reviewers knows you, but I went into this book without any preconceived notions. I didn’t read reviews (including those here), interviews, cover copy, even your posts here at DA. I knew nothing except Janine thought highly of your work. And while that’s usually a good recommendation for me, sometimes we don’t see eye to eye. This time I think we do. This is truly one of the best romances I’ve ever read.

I keep trying to think of how to express the superlatives that went through my mind reading it. I fangirled at each little perfect turn of phrase I’d come across that described a character or situation to a T. I started marking pages to use for quotes, only to find I’d torn a paper napkin to shreds and my book looked like a tissue flower.

For once in a romance it wasn’t a question of loving the hero or heroine, but of loving them together. Of loving their journey to get to know one another, watching them change subtly, slowly, realistically, inevitably. You wrote it with a clarity that on occasion stunned me and had me reading sections over and over.

The first love scene between them opened up the heroine to us even as the hero did the same. Everyone should read this love scene, if they want to know how to do one the right way. It’s that good. From just its beginning paragraph we given so much of Emma’s thoughts and feelings. Her reactions to the unknown say so much about her.

He grasped her face in his hands to slant her head, to give him deeper access, to fill her. Yes, do it, she thought, consume me, swallow me whole. Odd feelings with no root tore through her. She felt frenzied, almost angry, ready to jump out of her skin. He would take her before she went. How would she go? Would she die? Would she face the water again? Could anyone keep the promises she suddenly wanted from him? The questions fluttered up through her mind; then his hand was under her skirt, tracing a pattern on the back of one thigh, and they scattered like startled birds. His fingers slid down, gripping her a few inches above her knee, as his mouth ran down her throat.

Just typing that paragraph melted me. This is extra-strength characterization combined with heat creating some primal understanding between them. Alchemy. It’s exactly what a love scene should be. And it’s this chemistry between them that kept me riveted throughout the book.

If the book had a failing for me it was in the villain. He was stereotypical, and some of the elements of the plot in the very last section of the book were worn ones. But even then, you breathed new life into them with the way your main characters behaved, and I was laughing at how you made me enjoy it despite plot elements that normally annoy me.

I was bored at no point in this book, including the first half. I read the novel in two sittings, sleep and work between them. And the most telling thing is, I think, that when I reached the last page I opened it back up to the first and began reading again, loving it as much the second time around.

I was just telling the others that a couple of the books released this month have made romance new and exciting to me again. We speak of the Golden Age of Romance, of Putneys and Gaffneys and Ivorys as if it’s something we’ll never see again. Your book makes me think we’re wrong. A.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

This book can be purchased in mass market from Amazon, Powells or in ebook format.

Related posts:

1. REVIEW: Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran
2. REVIEW: The Duke of Shadows by Meredith Duran
3. My First Sale by Meredith Duran

From Far Away by Kyoko Hikawa. Publisher: Viz. Retail: $9.99 each. 14/14 volumes released in English. Rated T for Teen (some fighting, no sex).

Dear Readers,

I’m starting to feel a little like Harriet Klausner, with all the positive manga reviews I’ve been doing. But everyone knows there’s a lot of mediocre manga out there. I’m trying to share the good ones that I’ve come to love. This next one I came to love overnight just a few weeks ago and the romance is still new and sparkly in my eyes. That’s probably not the best way to review, but consider yourself forewarned. But for that reason I’m giving this a B+, since A’s really need to stand the test of time with me.

First, thank you to you readers! You recommended this to me after my Basara review, and I read it overnight. “So what?” you might think. “Manga reads fast.” So it was 14 volumes, I dropped $70 for it (yay for coupons and sales), and I couldn’t put it down, except where I had to because I was stupid enough to only buy the first seven the first night. But I was up and hitting the bookstore first thing the next morning.

This is young adult romance and fantasy/adventure, just what I would have wanted to read as a young teen. Had these books been available back in the ??’s, they’d have become instant favorites of mine, up there with The Three Musketeers. Reading them now I know that they’re an instant comfort read for me whenever I want to be swept away into a world that, while it contains evil, is also chock full of warmth.

This isn’t a complex or a deep story. Manga readers have read many variations of it, though since this one is by one of the mangaka of the golden age, chances are she’s one of them who taught them their tricks. A girl gets transported to another land where she’s the key to saving it from a great evil and meets a handsome but lonely hero who needs her love. But as we know in romance, it’s not so much the plot as how you tell it.

The heroine, Noriko, is cute as a button. But not stupid-cute, or martyr-cute, or inept-cute as so often happens in these tales (including others by this author). She’s smart. For the first book or so she doesn’t even speak the language, but uses her head to figure out what’s going on, and makes it her first responsibility to learn to communicate. She’s very positive and loving. She comes from a close-knit family and has a loving background, no angst baby she, and she’s able to spread that to others. But most of the others don’t fall in love with her – this is not a harem story. They form other connections, those of family and friends. Noriko’s no Mary Sue. OK, she’s a little too good, but darn it, she’s so *cute* at it!

The hero Izark is the source of angst in the story. Noriko is The Awakening (stupid name but you get the point) that opens Izark up to becoming the Sky Demon, who is foretold to be a monster of great evil that will destroy the world. As a human, however, he’s about the nicest guy imaginable, though a very withdrawn one. As one might guess, neighbors and relatives weren’t inclined to think the potential Sky Demon was very loveable and shunned him, leaving him with serious angst. But Noriko only saw her rescuer and a hero and a lonely man and fell in love. And therein lies his redemption and the redemption of the world. Here a fight with a demon has thrown him into the pain of childhood flashbacks, until memories of Noriko intrude and he realizes what she means to him (the three pages and two have some fighting and running between) (as usual, reads right to left below and on the page):

<-then <-start here

Like all good fantasies, there’s a great group of side characters that you come to care about, good and bad, and most people are a bit of both. There are also some excellent action and fight scenes, as good as the better ones I’ve seen in shounen manga (for boys); they had me on the edge of my seat. The comedy is pretty silly and I got a kick out of some things like the village where everyone made up background stories for travelers, each more ridiculous than the last. And there are some wonderfully romantic and emotional moments throughout that had me tearing up.

The art is very 80′s shoujo, but I loved it because it also has a lot of elements from the 20s. I mean, get a load of the villain (on the right). His palace is totally art deco. The artwork throughout the book is mostly clean and simple lineart. There’s not a lot of shading, and not a lot of background detail except where it’s needed to establish a setting. But while there are books where I love intricate art, I didn’t miss it here.

Some people won’t like this because the world is a fairly standard fantasy one, though it seems to be based upon an ancient Indian or Middle Eastern one from the costumes. There’s one main plot thread and not a lot of divergence. The h/h’s relationship never progresses beyond kissing, no sex here, but plenty of romance. The story isn’t realistic and gritty, though the lessons it teaches about friendship and love and how to live are as important and real as you’ll find in any adult manga. The morals are positive but not childish. I found the story very uplifting, which to me is what a comfort read is all about.

All in all it’s a great series for kids and adults who still love kid’s books. This is one longer series I recommend buying, especially if you have teenage girls who love manga. It can be found as a complete set at some places like justmanga.com for $114 with free shipping, or bought individually from discountanimedvd.com for $7.50 a volume for $105. But if that’s too much, do go to the library and try this one out.

I just realized I’ve reviewed three fantasy manga in a row, albeit very different ones. Next time I’ll try to do something different.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

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I both liked and didn’t like your novella Lieutenant Samuel Blackwood (deceased).
I was attracted to it as soon as Jane offered it to us, because your email mentioned it was a penny-dreadful styled ghost story, and I love the ghost stories of the Victorian era (it’s set in Georgian times but the style it’s written in is from the Victorian period). I didn’t realize it was a romance, and a MxM one, until fellow reviewer Jayne mentioned it in an email when I was already 20 pages into the 80.

And therein lies the duel nature of my feelings toward this piece. As a Victorian-style ghost story you did an admirable job, beginning with the naval men around the fire hearing a hair-raising story about a cursed ship from one of its men. I was surprised and pleased when at the quarter mark it shifted into present tense and the most intriguing character of the first part, Daniel Leigh, decided to challenge the curse himself by joining the crew.

There were hints about the sexual inclination of the captain, but everything was all done so subtly that I thought this was a ghost story in which one of the main characters just happened to be gay. I’m a fan of MxM romance, but I don’t have to have it everywhere I turn.

Then out of the blue the main character, whose point of view we’d been reading all this time, declares his love! To say that it shocked me is an understatement. I understand Georgian gentlemen keeping this sort of thing to themselves, and indeed we get just the right amount of information concerning people other than Daniel, just what he’d know. But the story is told from Daniel’s close point of view, and I would have expected some idea of his feelings prior to this, other than that the captain’s smile of approval at one point made him happy. It would do that for any underling, so I don’t consider it to be sufficient to support this kind of thought at the moment he suddenly declares his love:

Did he know that Daniel tried so hard to excel in all his duties because keeping the ship in top condition and the crew at bay was Daniel’s personal notion of a declaration of love?

I don’t know if the captain knew, but this reader sure didn’t and she should have at least had some idea of it. So I was quite disappointed in the characters turning to romance because it just felt out of place, and was glad when the bump of their interlude was past and we were back to the story of the cursed ship. The ending to the story was quite suspenseful and I loved the unique approach you took.

The sea and ghost story were very well told. You have a real knack for capturing the period and the cadence of such works. (One small note: ‘dickhead’ stems from the 1960′s according to several online etymology resources, so it wouldn’t have been used in speech by Georgians. I’m not one to be picky about this sort of thing, but that one instance of hippy-era slang really threw me out of the story for a moment.) The rest of the work made me feel I was aboard a ship of the period. I’d love to see what you could do with more pages at your disposal.

Regarding the book itself, the price might seem a little steep to some, $10 for an 80 page booklet. I don’t actually have the booklet in my hands, but from the pictures on your website you were going for a very authentic look in recreating the ‘penny dreadful’. The illustrations are marvelous and Amandine de Villeneuve is to be commended. It seems that the physical copy may well be worth every penny, but as I’ve said, I don’t have it to be able to say (Readers, the author did offer it, but I was hasty and read the e-copy she sent. It is only my fault.). I don’t see an e-version being offered though that is what I read.

In summation, I wouldn’t suggest this to fans simply looking for a MxM romance, as the speed with which romance was introduced and the little face-time it was given made it unconvincing. As an old-fashioned ghost story set at sea however this excels, and anyone who likes those would enjoy the booklet for that alone. If the physical copy lives up to its pictures, it would only add to the enjoyment. Grade: B.

(Jān)

This book can be purchased in hardcopy, the way I’d recommend buying it if there is a choice, here on the author’s website.

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Manga Sutra by Katsu Aki. Published by TokyoPop. Retail: $19.99. 1/37+ released in English. Rated M for Mature (graphic sex). Note: Each single English volume contains 2 Japanese volumes.

Dear Readers,

This one is slightly different for me. Some people might just call it hentai (Japanese porn). But while it does contain scenes that qualify, its purpose isn’t just to titillate, but to educate. The author put it this way in his short preface:

This isn’t just a hentai manga. It’s about love, sex, and how-to… I wrote this with the hopes that it would serve as a bible to those who dream of having the best sex ever! And I really mean that.

That’s cute. So to serve that purpose Aki-san gives us Makoto and Yura, virgin newlyweds in an arranged marriage (still fairly common in Japan with businessmen and women who are too busy to date). They’re basically pretty nice people, though not very outgoing (hence their virginity), and they eventually fall in love.

But they don’t have a clue about sex. Not. A. Clue. Sure, they know that Tab A goes in Slot A. But even basics like kissing techniques are beyond them. However, they’re stupid so the reader doesn’t have to be. There’s someone around to explain it every step of the way, like Yura’s very sexually active sister Rika and Makoto’s loud-mouthed jerk of a brother Akira who prides himself on being a stud in bed. (Know-it-all people are always interrupting in this book, something which annoyed me to no end, like perverted Akira showing up to spoil their honeymoon.)

To show you the way things are often explained, here Rika explains the basics of kissing to Makoto after Yura has turned him away because he never turns her on (as usual, please read right to left):

<- with diagrams <- start here

And then he tries it out (with an intermittent page removed):

<- start here

As you can see, the graphics are kind of useless and almost comical. However the information is good, and in a culture like the US where half the people won’t talk about sex much less try to figure out how to do it right, it could only help. This volume covers topics ranging from kissing, hymens and virginity, honeymoons, foreplay, love hotels, premature ejaculation, non-sexual intimacy and communication, breasts, erogenous zones, and the ever-popular reverse cowgirl. There’s even an afterward question and answer session with a sex therapist. Facts pepper the pages (–>).

But, I have to wonder if the book would really be of interest to most English speaking people. I showed this to my non-manga-reading husband and the following conversation took place:

Me: What would you think if someone, like a girlfriend, gave this to you?

Him: My girlfriends know I don’t need it.

Me: *swats*

Him: Seriously? I’d laugh and think it was a joke.

Me: Why? The information in it’s good.

Him: The format. It’s cartoons. It’s a cultural thing. The Japanese are used to getting information in this format. But in the US, cartoon = kids stuff or comedy.

Me: Except to the people who know better.

Him: Those are the only ones who would take this seriously.

Me: A small niche — even smaller since only the adults could buy it.

Him: *nods* Adult manga readers are probably the ones who need it most though, living in basements without ever meeting the opposite sex, and not having a clue about what to do with them if they do.

Me: …. I’m an adult manga reader.

Him: …. This is one of those ‘Do I look fat?’ situations, isn’t it?

Those who wish to contact my husband over the next few days may try the doghouse.

But his initial point was valid. If you’re capable of gleaning information from a book regardless of the format, you might find the Manga Sutra full of useful and interesting facts. But the presentation makes it a hard sell in this society unless you’re already a manga fan; I wouldn’t suggest buying it for someone who isn’t. And even for manga readers the presentation is kind of eye-rolling and can be very annoying at times because of the side characters. So in the end, despite its potential usefulness, I’d have to give this a C+.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

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You had me fooled. I thought you were Japanese. From the minute I started reading this, I felt like a Japanese woman was writing it, and it had been published in Japan. And since this is written from your heroine’s close point of view and she’s a Japanese woman, that’s a good thing, though not all readers might see it that way.

I am endlessly fascinated by Japan, both the good and the bad of it. The reserved Japanese styles of interpersonal and intrapersonal interactions are particularly fascinating to me, and though I’m not Japanese I felt you really nailed that aspect of the main character, at least from what I know. You portrayed the shortcomings of Midori’s style of thinking and acting when it came to her dealing with a new culture, and fairly portrayed the good and bad as she saw it of American behavior. There’s not a lot of overt emotion here, just always measured responses, which are accurate but also unfortunately not all that exciting to read about.

That kind of sums up the pros and cons of the book for me. Pro: While most of the cross-cultural romances I’ve read in the past seem to pay only lip service to a person being raised elsewhere, throwing in something akin to a tea ceremony for color, this book I think genuinely gives the reader the experience of thinking from a Japanese woman’s perspective as she looks at a new life and romance in the United States.

Cons: I think a number of readers will come upon this unaware and be dissatisfied. We already had a discussion among the reviewers here about your choice in tenses, which to my mind was accurate from a Japanese writing standpoint (since a Japanese friend confirmed to me that Japanese novels tend to be written in present tense), and because I felt that Midori was living in the “now” and trying to dissociate herself from her roots. But some readers won’t like the choice because it’s odd to the Western ear.

Also, I think some might not enjoy the romance as much because Midori approaches it in a very reserved fashion. She’s quite outspoken in Japan, but compared to San Franciscans she has a long way to go. She still keeps much to herself, and the feelings are subtle, maybe too much so. The same goes for Shinji, who actually has an American girlfriend for much of the book, though you show them as being an odd fit that drifts apart because there was nothing much there to hold them together to being with. And, we don’t get to see Shinji’s point of view, which will also be a negative for some readers. So I think this might be a hard sell with the average romance reader.

But I’m one who got into reading manga because I found English romances to be stale, and I wanted something new. This is definitely a different experience, and it really rings authentic to me. Sure, the heroine has some lucky breaks, but this is a romance. I think anyone who truly wants to experience romance and a Japanese woman’s experience in America from a different point of view would enjoy reading it, but they need to realize that’s what they’re in for. B+

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

This book can be purchased in trade paperback. No ebook format found. Jane’s Note: Just as an FYI, you might want to call ahead to see if your bookstore has it. I called three before I could locate a copy.

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Dear Readers,

This is my favorite manga release of 2007. There are some with loftier ambitions that I might admire more, like Town of Evening Calm, but when it comes to pure enjoyment of a book, The Crimson Spell wins hands down.

The story is a fairly simple one. Prince Vald’s country is overrun by demons and there’s only one way to save them, to take up an accursed family sword. For the sake of his people he does so, but the sword’s demon begins to take him over. At first it’s only at night, when he changes into an erotic beast-like version of himself (and whoo boy is he one erotic looking beast). His country’s wizards are able to give him ensorcelled shackles that keep the change at bay each night. But he knows it’s only a matter of time until the demon takes over, endangering everyone, so he sets off to find the one man who could remove the curse, the sorcerer Halvir.

Halvir (Havi) is beautiful, but he isn’t what I’d call an upstanding citizen, being greedy and lascivious. He not only wants the magical sword for himself, but once he finds the demon-controlled version of Vald at night and realizes he can absorb its power (through sexual contact of course), he begins an affair with the beast-half of Vald that the human half doesn’t know about (read right to left as usual, and don’t worry, I stopped right before the naughty bits)(sorry for my crappy scans):

<- start

To gain the sword and keep Vald nearby, he makes a deal with him. He’ll break the curse if Vald helps him gain certain magical objects. Vald agrees and they set off on a journey.

However, the journey, like in all good books, isn’t just a trip from here to there, but one of change for both the characters. Halvir is immediately touched by the prince’s beauty and spirit, and he’s captivated by the beast’s sensual nature, and he begins to fall in love with both. For the first time in a long time, he starts to think of another. The changes to Vald aren’t all that pleasant. His demon and human forms slowly begin to meld as the change approaches a time when it will become irreversible and control him completely. But this also brings a growing realization of an attraction to his companion, one that at this point he still pushes away in denial as a human but which he fully embraces as a beast.

Concerning the sex in the book, I’ve never heard anyone complain about it, but the fact that Halvir is having sex with the beast half of Vald while keeping it a secret from the human half might bother some people. Also, while the first sexual encounter between Halvir and the beast verges on non-con, that primal side of Vald loves his sex and jumps Halvir if he isn’t getting enough. The beast Vald doesn’t have the inhibitions of the human half and thoroughly enjoys himself no matter what they try. One side note, there is an extra story in the volume that has that staple of hentai, tentacle sex, when Vald encounters an aphrodisiac plant that works on him in more ways than just chemical. One friend labels that chapter “Tentacle Sex Done Right”. …. There’s really nothing I can add to that.

While sex and romance are an important part of the story, there are a lot of parts to the story that are just plain funny. Yamane-sensei has a way of drawing humor from the characters: Halvir’s greed and utter lack of concern for anyone but himself and Vald; Vald’s naivety about what’s happening to him each night. And then there’s Rulca, a very sexy spiritual being who likes to take the form of a bunny, and who delights in annoying Halvir and in trying to seduce Vald. This adds up to a story that’s much lighter in tone than the other work of Yamane’s released stateside, the Finder series.

Then there’s the artwork. Yamane-sensei is renowned in yaoi circles for it. The attention to detail makes each panel gorgeous to look at. She obviously revels in drawing the trappings of fantasy. (click for a bigger view)

Yamane’s men are breathtakingly beautiful and masculine. No emasculated ukes (bottoms) here, as happens fairly often in yaoi. Vald has fire and strength in both his forms, enough to make me suspicious that he’ll be turning the tables on Halvir before the end of the series.

Finally, the book’s quality deserves recognition. In the past Kitty has put out volumes that are on par with TokyoPop, quite average though great value for their low price. But for this book they worked directly with Ayano Yamane, and at her direction turned out a top of the line volume. This book is gorgeous with color plates, a high paper quality, and an exceptional translation. There were one or two typos, but really this is a premium piece of manga that’s a pleasure to hold and read. Honestly, the only thing that will be nicer than having this book in my hands will be to have this book plus volume two (hint hint, Kitty).

So, who is this one recommended for? Any adult who wants to see a great example of the sexier side of yaoi manga as done by one of its most popular mangaka. It’s beautiful to look at, a pleasure to hold, full of engaging characters, and funny and sexy to boot. That’s why it is my favorite of the year. Grade: A.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

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Dear Readers,

Some long running romance manga series are drawing to a close this month, and all deserve mention here.This column is for the first, Basara, a shoujo manga classic that is Romance in both the old and new senses of the word.

Basara is a sweeping saga of 27 volumes, the tale of the death and birth of a nation, epic in length and scope.It’s also an involved love story that is as heart-rending as anything you’ll read (but *hint* it is a romance manga when all is said and done).The main story ends in volume 25, which is just out this month.The last two volumes are side stories.

The gist of the story is thatJapanhas had an apocalypse that’s sent society back into more primitive times, and it’s now ruled by a dissolute king and his four wicked sons.One of these is Shuri, the Red King, a hard and sometimes cruel young man; it’s been foretold that he’ll kill his father so he’s been banished to rule the wastelands in the South.There’s a small village in his territory where a “child of destiny” is born.His name is Tatara, and he’s the people’s messiah of sorts, supposed to lead them in a revolt to reclaim their country.But when Tatara is killed in a raid by the Red King, his twin sister Sarasa vows revenge and to see her brother’s vision through, so she takes his identity and begins to build the revolution.

Sarasa carries an incredibly heavy burden, and spends her few spare moments at a nearby oasis where she meets Shuri in another guise, and they eventually fall deeply in love and promise to marry.Neither knows who the other is, and this is where all the trouble starts.Shuri is constantly battling himself over the harshness necessary in his job as king, his position as the son of his none too charming parents, as Sarasa’s lover, and as Tatara’s sworn enemy especially after Tatara/Sarasa kills his best friend.

Sarasa too has a lot to contend with, other than the warring factions she has to bring together.There’s a war within her about her love once she finds out the truth, but she also fights to keep her self intact, which becomes increasingly difficult as her vow leads to new repercussions at every turn.She has to dive into the politics and learn to survive, and none of it’s easy as betrayal waits around every corner.

What makes Basara special to me is the huge cast of characters, all of them three-dimensional and human, most of them with interesting stories and points of view.Shuri and Sarasa’s story is the main thread, but there are countless others that are well-developed, as is the world itself, and in reading it I can’t help but become swept away and a part of it.I love both heroes and villains and agonize at every wrong decision and applaud all the right ones on both their parts, and best of all, watch them grow.Everyone here is grey.No one is right and perfect.No one is a cardboard villain.Some are more flamboyant than others, but they’re all people nonetheless.

For instance, you know how romances often say that the hero is bad, but you never see it?Not here.Shuri rules with an iron fist and makes decisions that shock you and leave you wondering how the heck this romance could possibly work out in the end.But because the characters grow and change for knowing each other, it becomes possible.

Now, are there bad points to the series?Sure there are.At 27 volumes there are going to be missteps along the way, and there are some plot lines that just bored me.Occasionally cliche reared its ugly head, sometimes the side stories were about characters just I didn’t care about.But when taken in comparison to the whole, there weren’t that many and I didn’t mind them much.

The proliferation of characters can get confusing too.At times I felt the need to keep a cheat sheet.Luckily, they all have different Flock of Seagull’s hair so they’re all easy to tell apart.

Also, some people may not like the art.I have to say the first time I saw it I thought “Eww, I don’t want to look at that for 27 volumes.”It’s very sketchy.But then it grew on me and I now find it ethereal and beautiful, contrasting with the harshness and strength of what she portrays.She draws a bit like watercoloring. From her Basara artbook:

From the manga itself (fan scans since I didn’t want to ruin my book). This is the scene right after Sarasa has seen her brother killed and she recalls his words to her. (read right to left, in sequence and on the page):

<-start

Lovely, even though they all have 80s hair.And Sarasa looks like a guy in drag, but then she would have to, to pass for her brother.Some things you just have to accept.

So should you buy this?I suggest trying it from your library or by buying a couple of volumes before you jump in.27 volumes is a huge investment.Personally, I rarely buy any manga series this long but I have bought Basara.It’s a classic story that can be read time and again.Regarding the age ranges for this, in my opinion it’s for high school and up. It contains graphic violence because it is about a war.Also, the characters have adult relationships, though they aren’t anything close to sexually graphic.But sex is there and a normal part of life.

I’ll end with a quote from a reader on Amazon named Peter Oksman who summed up my feelings on this series so much better than I, that I have to share what he said:

“It [Basara] is vividly imagined and populated with characters that you will remember for a long time. From glittering palaces to howling winds in the desert, full of primal emotions of love and revenge, villains with a tender side and conflicted heroes. It is a story of prophesy, a messianic story, and as such has a primal, direct impact – a feeling that the characters and events are part of a larger tapestry of history, that they are caught up in a flow beyond their control.”

Now really, do you want to miss that?

Sincerely,

ジェーン
(Jān)

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Dear Readers,

Two long running romance series have drawn to a close this month, and both deserve mention. This one is different from what I normally review because it’s a shounen harem story, written for boys. Oddly perhaps for those of us in the west, while the other series, Basara, was written for girls it concentrates on warfare and politics albeit emotionally; this series however concentrates on love and relationships. It’s called Ai Yori Aoshi.

Ai Yori Aoshi is, through much of the story, a typical harem manga. That means a young man finds himself living with a group of young women, generally stock characters, all of whom fall in love with him. Circumstances always keep him and the one he truly loves from being together until the end. There’s also a lot of “fan service” included. That means he happens to accidentally walk in on the women bathing, or bending over and revealing a little too much pantie or bra, etc. After all, it’s written as fantasy romance for teenage boys. I typically can’t stand this kind of series unless something lifts it out of the muck and something does for me here, the romance between the main couple, Aoi and Kaoru.

Aoi is the quiet daughter of a very wealthy and powerful family, and she has been promised to Kaoru since she was tiny. She only met him once when they were children, but she fell in love with his kind and caring nature. Her whole life has been centered around preparing to marry him and make him happy; she’s very old-fashioned Japanese.

Kaoru is also the son of a very powerful and wealthy family only he’s a bastard, and when his mother died due to neglect by the family, he disowned them and entered the university determined to make his own life. Unfortunately, that made Aoe’s family break off the engagement. He hadn’t remembered it so he never cared, until Aoe showed up and told him who she was. Despite all the temptation around him, he falls in love with only Aoe and does his best to make himself someone worthy of her. Kaoru, unlike many harem heroes, is a great guy with a steel core when it comes to his love.

Aoi is a very traditional woman in that she’s quiet and determined to serve those she loves. But she has a streak of stubbornness and strength running through her that makes her the strongest character in the series. She leaves home to find Kaoru because she will be his wife, whatever it takes. It turns out it takes a lot. Everything tries to come between them, friends, family, you name it. But because their love is so strong and they try so hard, they overcome all obstacles to gain what they want. (This really isn’t a spoiler since it’s a romance manga, and that requires a HEA. As usual it’s the journey that’s worth reading.)

One of the things that I love about this manga is that it is read and loved by men and women alike. The last volume has just come out, and comments and reviews by boys talk about how they cried at the end, and they say that it’s the best romance they’d ever read. That’s just too cute. I wouldn’t go that far and say it’s the best. It’s probably the best shounen harem romance I’ve read, but that’s not saying much. It’s got a lot of shenanigans throughout that are terribly clichéd, and for the most part I skim over them. The only parts of the story I’m interested in are those with Aoe and Kaoru. I cried several times at their part of the story, good tears, because they had so little but treasured it so much.

For a sample of the artwork, one of the quieter scenes at the beginning of the story, where Kaoru first tells Aoi he loves her (as usual, please read right to left):

<– start here

I honestly prefer older-looking characters, but these two were so sweet I didn’t mind. The reader should note that in typical shounen fashion, all the characters appear quite young, though most are adults, but some of the members of the household are young indeed. Nothing really untoward happens, though there is suggestive comedy along the lines of slapstick. There is, in the final volume, a consummation of the relationship between the hero and heroine and nudity and tasteful sex are shown so it’s rated Mature. The other volumes are 16+ because of the fan service.

Is it worth dropping the $150 or so to buy a set? Maybe if you’re Bill Gates. But now that all 17 volumes are out, I recommend it as a library loan, using speed reading at the annoying parts. It’s about a C+ for me (D- for all the fan service parts, A- for Aoe and Kaoru).

Sincerely,

ジェーン
(Jān)

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1. REVIEW: Manga review: Emma: A Victorian Romance by Kaoru Mori

Dear Readers,

I’m cheating today. This blog is for book reviews, things you read. And so I’m going to review an absolutely terrible manga adaptation so that I can also review the anime of the same name, because it’s just a wonderful series that’s so overlooked, and it would make a great Christmas present for anyone who loves storytelling, ballet, or classical music.

First, the manga. I’m not even linking to it. It’s terrible. It takes an enchanting story and wipes all emotion and excitement and meaning from it. Take, for example, the climax of the first story arc of the series. This is a tremendous episode in the anime, with the “light” and “dark” ballerinas battling through dance for the heart of their prince. In the manga, when the light ballerina comes and dances with the prince and his knight tells the dark ballerina those two belong together, what does the dark ballerina do? Does she get up and fight like she has for the entire book? Does she even try for the man she loves deeply? Does she at least weep in anguish and gnash her teeth? No, she says “Yeah I guess you’re right.” End of conflict. Boy, there’s some drama for you. So, the whole manga is like this and I hate it. F.

Now for the anime. Where the manga is flat and lifeless the anime dances and soars and teases your preconceptions and reshapes all you think you know, and it’s set to some of the most beautiful music written in history.

The story is almost completely different from the manga, framed by a storyteller of dubious motives and frightening powers, modeled after the manipulative uncle in The Nutcracker. He tempts a duckling who dares to dream of dancing with a prince and who says she would give her life to make him smile, and she accepts the storyteller’s bargain and amulet. Duck is given the form of a human girl in order to restore the prince’s heart which was shattered in a battle with a Raven. And whenever she’s near a fragment, she senses it and can change into Princess Tutu, a ballerina of highest caliber, able to touch the hearts of everyone she dances with.

Here’s the opening song of Princess Tutu, to give you a feel for it:

Notes of whimsy are added by a great collection of side characters, including the marionette with a heart, a variety of anthropomorphic animal students, like the anteater girl who also falls in love with the prince and especially Mr. Cat. Mr. Cat, almost creepy at times, is the school’s ballet teacher and a real cat. He threatens his students with marriage if they fail, almost hoping that they will so he might find love. He’s one of the oddest characters I’ve ever seen, dispensing wisdom one minute then licking himself the next.

Duck’s quest for the prince’s heart comprises the first arc of 13 episodes of the story, a beautiful standard fairy tale.

The second arc of 13 takes this story and rips it to shreds, examining what it means to be a hero and heroine, a story-teller and one within the story, and all the assumptions we as readers make about all of those. This section can just be seen as simple continuation by those who are too young to grasp otherwise, or it can be enjoyed by adults as a beautifully done exploration what it means to live at the whim of others.

The story is marvelous. The way it’s told makes it even better. The music in Princess Tutu is all classical ballet and orchestral pieces, mostly from the 19^th century. Its drama and romance lends itself perfectly to setting the moods for all the episodes. This music has stirred audiences for decades, and it doesn’t fail to do so here where the musical selection is paired so well with the storyline.

A note about the extras. ADV came up with some great ones and they’re all included in the thinpak. There are animated shorts about ballet terms and the music in the episodes, as well as films of the voice actors in the studio. There are commentaries and interviews, as well as extra shorts about things like how to watch ballet, and notes about how Princess Tutu came about. These DVDs are loaded.

Drawbacks: There are two in my opinion. One, a couple of the episodes are repetitious, seeming like filler, completely skippable. Two, when side characters are involved, Princess Tutu almost always solves problems the same way, and the footage of Duck changing into Tutu is stock used in every episode (a standard anime practice). But while she might easily dance away the problems of the side characters, her own problems and those of the other three leads aren’t dealt with as easily, and it’s there where the series excels.

The saddest thing about this is how little this series is watched. No one seems to know about it. So I’m spreading the word. This one is for children who will love it for its excitement, beauty, scariness and humor, and especially the emotion I think. And it’s for adults who’ll love it for those same things, along with the cleverness and satisfaction of seeing something well told. And I have to say I literally sobbed for joy at the last episode, which was just perfect, and that really stunned me to be so affected by, well, anything.

Here’s an award-winning AMV (anime music video) created by a fan named Marisa Panaccio who calls this Princess Tutu in Three Minutes. The music is not from the anime, but it’s very cool.

OK, if you’re not convinced now you won’t ever be. But pick up the anime if you’re the least bit interested, or if you know someone who might be, because sadly it will probably disappear soon from shelves, and this is a series you would truly regret missing. Manga: F. Anime: A.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

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Sorcerers and Secretaries by Amy Kim Ganter. Tokyopop. $9.99. Ages 13 and up (kisses). Reads left to right. 2 volumes, complete.

Dear Ms. Ganter,

I don’t try much Original English Language (OEL) manga or American graphic novels, because the stories don’t normally appeal to me, and one big reason is that they’re often written for men. Now, I like stories written for men, but after a constant diet of them in comics ever since I stopped reading stuff like Archie in third grade, I prefer stories written for women. So I was quite delighted to find your romance, Sorcerers and Secretaries.

Many readers are sure to identify with your imaginative but lonely and bored heroine Nicole, who carries a notebook and likes to spends all her spare time writing stories of another land and a sorcerer Ellon, who is more real to her than most of the people in her life. Her neighbor Josh is the perfect foil for her, a playboy of sorts who collects girls’ phone numbers that he keeps in a jar under his bed. He is determined to collect Nicole’s. But Nicole isn’t so lost to imagination that she doesn’t have his number right away, and the dialog between the two of them is wonderful as they fall for each other and learn each isn’t quite what they’d seemed.

This is also a story that perfectly blends art and words, using both to show things in a way that words or pictures alone could not. These pages have become some of my favorite because they show this so well. This section takes place early in the story when Nicole meets Josh for coffee, and she’s writing while waiting for him. Her world won’t leave her alone, and demands to be written even in the face of real life interruptions (reads left to right) (sorry for the poor scan quality):

I think it is no coincidence that your book reminded me of Eva Ibbotson. You both have a gentle sweetness to your stories, and a way of bringing magic into the mundane. And as most of her books are appropriate for young adults, so are these. I think anyone who loves reading and especially those driven to write will love this sweet little story (complete in two volumes!) about making two kinds of love fit into your life, and how both change you.

I’m trying to think of something bad to say about this to balance this review but I really can’t. I was utterly charmed, and I look forward to your next work. My grade: A.

Sincerely,

ジェーン
(Jān)

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