Dear readers,

A few months ago, I read the first volume in this wonderful series by Fumi Yoshinaga. The premise is deceptively simple: What would happen if a plague wiped out the majority of the male population in Tokugawa era Japan? How would that affect Japanese society and culture? The answer proved to be thoroughly engrossing and fascinating.

At the end of the previous volume, we were introduced to the newest shogun to ascend the title, Yoshimune. Unlike her predecessors, Yoshimune has very strong opinions about how the country should be run, particularly with regards to its financial sector. She’s strict and frugal, and I thought she was an absolutely awesome interpretation of one of the Japan’s most beloved historical figures. Volume 1 ended with Yoshimune delving into the history of the Redface Pox and how it changed the course of Japan forever.

Volume 2 opens several decades before, when the Redface Pox was beginning to spread through Japan and before Yoshimune assumed the title of shogun. In this early pages, we witness the death of Iemitsu, the third Tokugawa shogun, at the hands of the plague. For a bit of historical context, such an event would have catastrophic had it happened in reality. As being only the third shogun, it was his task to continue solidifying Tokugawa rule. His death in such a precarious time would have been disastrous.

In the pages of Ōoku, this is a fact that hangs over everyone. You see, Iemitsu had no interest in women much to the dismay of his nursemaid-turned-attendant, Lady Kasuga, and left no heir. With the death of the last male shogun and no claimant to the title, the country was left without a ruler. Considering the chaos that consumed Japan while the Tokugawa clan fought to gain control of the country, everyone dreads what would happen if the general populace were to find out what had happened.

Several years after Iemitsu’s death, the monk Arikoto travels to Edo castle to present himself to the shogun before assuming his new role as an abbot. Unfortunately, he soon finds himself held hostage in the castle, barred from leaving. And it is here that he learns the truth: Iemitsu died six years ago, a fact that was kept secret from everyone and the person who sits in his place now is his illegitimate daughter. It is a masquerade carried out for one purpose alone — for Iemitsu’s daughter to live long enough to conceive and give birth to a male heir, who will then be a legitimate bearer of the shogun title. The reason why Arikoto has been barred from leaving the castle is because Lady Kasuga intends for him to enter the Ooku and become a member of the meager harem to encourage Iemitsu’s daughter to carry out her duty.

If I thought the first volume was amazing, the second volume matches that and goes beyond. Desperate times lead to desperate actions and while I have no doubts that Lady Kasuga’s motives for taking Iemitsu’s daughter and having her assume the identity of her father were less than stellar, it doesn’t change the fact that it was one way to keep the country under orderly rule. Japan was already in chaos due to the Redface Pox. Society was already facing upheaval because of the large numbers of men dying; to add the destruction of shogunate rule after such a short period of time would have been more than the country could have beared.

At the same time, we also see how such measures completely destroyed the people involved in its schemes. Despite being of noble birth, Arikoto wanted nothing more than to be a monk so he could bring succor and peace to the general populace. But even more so, my heart wrenches for Iemitsu’s daughter — in order to fulfill Lady Kasuga’s plan, she’s had to throw away her femininity and be forced to assume that of a man. She doesn’t even have her own name anymore; people call her Iemitsu, which is sure to be damaging. No one cares for her as a person either. They only care for the fact that one day she will hopefully bear them a son who can bring back the order they’re used to having.

Much of the plot in this volume delves into the ways people cope. Arikoto bears it as best he can, with the gentle strength that is his trademark. But there is doubt that deep inside, he is bitter and angry at what has happened to him, particularly when it becomes apparent that his noble family has abandoned him to this fate. Along those lines, Iemitsu is angry and bad-tempered, unleashing it upon everyone around her. But deep inside, she is deeply hurt and wounded and terribly sad. It is a love story that may not fit the traditional definition as such, but it is one nonetheless.

In this volume, we also learn the origins of the customs we were introduced in the previous one, such as why the Ōoku exists and why the secret swain meets the fate he does. It was interesting to see how such things get altered from their actual origin to the ritualized practice we saw demonstrated in volume 1. The origin of the secret swain, for example, was horrifying and yet all too believable for me and to see how its roots led to the practice subverted by Yoshimune was a sad one.

I still recommend this series to fans of historical and political manga as well as to readers interested in stories that comment on gender dynamics. The first volume set a high bar and it pleases me to say that this one meets that standard and exceeds it. A-

My regards,
Jia

This book can be purchased at Amazon.

I first heard of Ōoku about a year ago from a friend.  The premise, she said, was that due to a disease that targets only men, the power hierarchy in Japan was genderflipped.  Women filled roles that had, up until the disease struck the male population, been traditionally done only by men — including that of the Tokugawa shoguns.  It sounded completely like something I would like but since I’m unable to read Japanese, it was one of those things I resigned myself to never having access to.  Thankfully, other people thought it sounded interesting too and it’s now available in English.

In Ōoku, a strange new disease breaks out among the Japanese male population.  It’s characterized by a high fever that’s then shortly followed by red pustules that spread all over the body.  These pustules soon fester and the victim dies within a few days.  Because of these symptoms, the disease is dubbed the Redface Pox.

Although the Redface Pox originated in a small farming village, it becomes apparent that the plague is highly contagious and virulent as well.  It spreads from one village to the next, striking down only the men.  And unfortunately, no cure is ever found so it becomes a common disease that’s simply a part of life.

Eighty years after the Redface Pox first appeared, the male population has stabilized at 25% that of the female.  Because of their low survival rate, men are carefully protected as seed-bearers while women took over the labor in the land.  Another result of the decreased male population is that marriage as an institution collapses.  Poor women had no hope of ever taking a husband, a right now reserved only for the samurai class, wealthy merchants and government officials.

The only exception to this, of course, is that of the Tokugawa Shogun.  As the supreme leader of Japan, she alone is allowed the luxury of keeping an interior palace populated solely by 3,000 beautiful men (this number later turns out to be an extreme exaggeration) and from which all other women are banned from entering.  This interior palace is called the Inner Chamber, or the Ōoku.

One thing I didn’t expect when I started reading this first volume was that while the gender roles are inverted, the Japanese history portrayed in Ōoku is pretty much identical to that of our own.  For example, when the sixth shogun dies, her daughter assumes the title.  But the seventh shogun is merely a child, and a sickly one at that.  When she dies, so does the main bloodline of the Tokugawa clan, which means the mantle of shogun falls onto one of the three branch bloodlines, ushering in the era of the eighth shogun, Yoshimune.  How it plays out in Ōoku is nearly identical to how it happened in our history, right down to Yoshimune’s background.  I found that I really liked this choice because in keeping the major details the same, readers can focus on the alterations that inverting the gender roles causes and the social critiques that I believe Yoshinaga is making about traditional gender roles.

That said, I was initially put off for the first half of this volume.  The main story begins with Mizuno, the handsome son of a poor hatamoto (shogunate retainers) family who is in love with his childhood friend, O-Nobu.  O-Nobu, however, is the daughter of a rich merchant family and thus, Mizuno is an unsuitable marriage match for her.  Spurred on by the fact that he can never marry the one he loves, he chooses to enter the service of the Inner Chamber.  To be honest, I actually have no problem with this storyline in and of itself.  It’s just the manga is about a historical Japan in which the gender roles are switched but yet we still begin with a man and his angst.  That isn’t exactly what I signed up for.

But through Mizuno’s eyes, we catch a glimpse of the Inner Chamber and the politicking that’s a daily way of life for the men who live there.  It’s a fascinating contrast to see the coping mechanisms and machinations of men in a situation that, traditionally speaking when it comes to fiction, has belonged to women.  This fact alone is what carried me through the first (80-page) chapter.

Thankfully, the second chapter introduces Yoshimune and with her entrance, my interest substantially increased.  In our history, Yoshimune is widely considered to the best of the Tokugawa shoguns, instituting a lot of financial reform during his reign.  The female Yoshimune of Ōoku is no different.  Because she comes from a far province, she finds the excesses of the Inner Chamber distasteful, particularly when Japan’s financial situation is in dire straits.  I’ve seen various portrayals of Yoshimune over the years, in period dramas and movies, but I really enjoyed this version of a no-nonsense, pragmatic female Yoshimune who refused to put up with any B.S. And not only that, but one who is unapologetic about her sexual appetite.

Knowing what I knew about the historical Yoshimune Tokugawa and the decisions he made during his reign, I was really interested in seeing how his decisions would play in the manga via this alternative female version — particularly with regards to the Inner Chamber.  The translation of Yoshimune’s historical decision to the female Yoshimune’s edict in the manga takes on a completely different note given Ōoku’s premise.  It’s a brilliant reimagining in that sense.

I do think I should point out to potential readers that the dialogue used in this manga might take some getting used to.  It is accurate because the manga does take place during the Edo Period and most of the characters belong to the upper classes.  Even so, the old-fashioned formality might be a shock at first, especially when compared to other manga set during this time period and which show virtually no difference between the dialogue depicted and that of our own.

Because this is a Viz Signature title, the production values of the actual manga itself are beautiful.  Both the front and back cover have fold-out flaps, and the first page in this volume is black with translucent lettering for the title. I initially thought it was vellum but under further examination, I don’t think it is.  All of this frames Yoshinaga’s artwork, which is lovely.  The chapter pages are gorgeous.  I wish my scanner was working so I could include a sample.

So despite a rocky start, I really ended up enjoying this volume and I look forward to the next.  I do wonder how the publisher intends to handle the English release since Ōoku is infamous for having a slow release schedule in Japan — one volume per year versus the multi-volume releases that characterize other manga series.  I checked the release date for the next English volume and it’s at the end of this year.  That’s already half of what’s available in Japan.  This might pose a problem in the future but for now, I’ll look to volume 2.  I can’t wait to see what Yoshimune learns about the history of the Redface Pox and how the transition between male shoguns to female ones occurred.  B+

My regards,
Jia

This book can be purchased at Amazon.

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.

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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.

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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-.

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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)

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

Iris Print:

Iris Print is a Yaoi publisher who apparently closed up shop and failed to tell its authors. Giapet.Net first reported this on May 17:

Something I didn’t mention in my Yaoi Press report was that Yamila Abraham, when asked about publishing yaoi novels as well as comics, said that it tends not to work very well, and pointed to Iris Print as an example– saying that the company has actually closed up shop.

Emails to the owner of Iris Print have seemingly gone unanswered. From an Iris Print author:

Well isn’t that swell? Iris Print closes up shop and doesn’t bother to tell the creators they have under contract. Nice. So what about our books? What about our titles? :/ I don’t know what to say about this, except that I’m truly disappointed. I’m beyond pissed; I wonder though, where is Amazon getting their re-stock if Iris is out of business? What about all those people who paid pre-orders for Queer Magic? It would’ve been nice to know if she was filing for bankruptcy.

Another author hasn’t had her first quarter 2008 sales report even though she’s written 3 times now.

I can’t get through to my publisher. I haven’t heard anything about my first quarter 2008 sales, so I’ve written 3 times now. Nothing. Nada. Zilch. Not even a ‘I got your email, am working on it, please be patient.’ Not even bounce messages, so I can only assume my email is getting through and being ignored, or that something very awful has happened to my publisher. I can’t express how frustrating that is. Seriously, any response is better than silence. Even ‘eff off and die, you annoying author b***h’ would be an improvement. ‘Nuff said for now, but there may be more on this topic if things don’t improve. –Rebecca Day

Doesn’t sound good. A non responsive publisher is not a good sign.

Toyko Pop

Tokyo Pop has a Manga Pilot Program wherein an aspiring author or an established author can create a 24-to-36 “pilot” of a manga to convince Tokyo Pop that it is worth continuing into a full fledged manga. The contract for the program has the comic world up in arms over this. Some of the terms are draconian and some of them seem very standard to me (i.e., the indemnification clause). What is unusual is that you sign over your rights to the Manga Pilot for a flat fee (no royalties) and only get your rights back if TP rejects you.

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.

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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

]]> http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/24/first-impressions-4-honey-and-clover-and-swan/feed/ 23 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/14/manga-first-impressions-3-land-of-the-blindfolded-ion-sand-chronicles/ http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/14/manga-first-impressions-3-land-of-the-blindfolded-ion-sand-chronicles/#comments Mon, 14 Apr 2008 20:40:17 +0000 ��?��߄ɺ��?(J��n) http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/?p=4270 Dear Readers,

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

]]> http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/14/manga-first-impressions-3-land-of-the-blindfolded-ion-sand-chronicles/feed/ 12 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/09/manga-first-impressions-wild-ones-and-fairy-cube/ http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/09/manga-first-impressions-wild-ones-and-fairy-cube/#comments Wed, 09 Apr 2008 17:00:35 +0000 ��?��߄ɺ��?(J��n) http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/?p=4250 Dear Readers,

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

]]> http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/04/09/manga-first-impressions-wild-ones-and-fairy-cube/feed/ 11 http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/03/03/review-manga-romance-with-a-capital-r-from-far-away-by-kyoko-hikawa/ http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/03/03/review-manga-romance-with-a-capital-r-from-far-away-by-kyoko-hikawa/#comments Mon, 03 Mar 2008 17:00:18 +0000 ��?��߄ɺ��?(J��n) http://dearauthor.com/wordpress/2008/03/03/review-manga-romance-with-a-capital-r-from-far-away-by-kyoko-hikawa/

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)

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)

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)

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 that Japan has 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)

My blogging partner Jan reviewed this series earlier and I was so impressed by the review and by the artwork she included that I posted to her review. She graciously offered to loan me the volumes of “Sorcerers and Secretaries.” I’ll be honest and say that I’d never tried any manga and in fact hadn’t read any type of comic or graphic arts book since childhood. Yep, manga has swept the world but hadn’t swept me. That is until I read this book. Now I begin to understand the appeal. I might not be a convert but this is one novel I might just have to search out.

I’ve included ‘manga’ tags on this review so it will show up on our website along with Jan’s original review but I’m not reviewing it as manga. Since I don’t know the genre enough to speak with any authority on it, I’m talking about it as a romance. And a delightful romance it is. Nicole and Josh have to work through their problems as any romance couple I normally read about do. Nicole is one smart cookie. Though she initially likes Josh, she quickly becomes discouraged from continuing their growing relationship by his pursuit of any woman with enough breath to write out her phone number. She might not have the most self confidence in the world but she knows she deserves better than this.

Josh is a young man still infatuated with the idea of being wanted by everyone. When Nicole repudiates his efforts to add her phone number to his growing collection, he decides he wants her just for the challenge. His roommate, also a ‘love ‘em and leave ‘em’ lothario, urges him on and Josh has to learn some hard lessons before he gains the confidence to be honest about his desires for a relationship with Nicole. I like that his growing feelings for Nicole are mirrored by his dawning admiration for her writing gifts.

And then there’s Nicole’s fantasy story which is wonderful on its own. It’s a story and world so real to her that it intrudes into her everyday life demanding to be told. The girl’s got real talent but feels that she has to put it aside in order to get a degree in business to help her family. She’s miserable in her studies but determined to stick it out. Realizing that she might be able to study and do what she really wants is a major growth step for her. I love that her family rallies to her side and supports her decision. Remembering back to when I was in college, I recall a meeting with my freshman advisor who said he saw so many students, struggling through business and accounting studies, who were miserable, all because the parents wanted their children to have a marketable degree. Yes, the world needs English, history, philosophy and classics majors too.

I will say something about the illustrations in “Sorcerers and Secretaries.” They’re fabulous. Though I’m not sure about the high-heel boots that Ellon wears. I am in awe of anyone who can tell a story not only in writing but visually as well. It’s a talent and you have it. This gets a solid A from me and I want a cute little familiar who sits on my shoulder too!

~Jayne

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)

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)

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)

Dear Mr. Thompson,

I can’t even imagine the effort it took to put this book together. I heard that you read one to two manga series a day, and upwards of 900 of them total to write the reviews within. The result is frankly an indispensable book for anyone interested in Japanese manga that has been published in English, not only for manga fans, but also for parents wanting to know what their little manga fans are reading. Every bookseller and library should keep one of these at their information desks. It’s just that useful.

I love the header information you give for each series: the mangaka, the original publisher and year, the English publisher and year, the age rating, and the length. It’s what I typically want to know at a glance. The reviews I scanned through in the main section were to the point, even if I didn’t always agree with the number of stars the series were granted. The insert sections on things like yakuza or sports manga were also quite informative, and I love that it gave a summary of series at the end to look up.

My only quibble, and you know there had to be one, was in having you do half the reviews for the yaoi series. Frankly, your focus here seems to be on the technical and the clinical. There just doesn’t seem to be any notice of the emotional in the reviews, and in yaoi as in romance novels, emotions are what it’s all about. This is probably why there was a kind of disconnect for me with most of your yaoi reviews and ratings, and so that portion of the book will not as useful to me as it could have been.

But really, everything else about the book is just top notch, and I can tell I’ll be using this frequently to get quick overviews of series, and for hints when I’m looking for something new to read. It is a reference everyone interested in manga should have.

Sincerely,

ジェーン
(Jān)

Here are some suggestions for slightly spooky romantic manga for Halloween.

Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino: I enjoy this one even though in many ways it’s a very typical shoujo (girls) romance series. The very polished artwork raises it a notch above many series, and there’s something about the main characters’ love triangle that won’t let me stop reading: The pureblood vampire prince manipulating everyone within reach to bring a peace between vampires and humans for the sake of the young woman he loves; the vampire hunter, bitten and in the process of turning into a mad vampire, who can only control it by drinking the blood of his rival or his love; the young girl with the missing past, family killed by one vampire even while she was saved by another, loving both the one who saved her, and the one she has to save. There are many typical things about it, but because of the characters I cannot stop reading it. B, 15+

Beyond My Touch by Tomo Maeda: OK, this one isn’t spooky at all, but it’s the sweetest ghost romance between two boys, one who is very cold and the other who is very much in love with him. Unfortunately the one in love dies before being able to get the one thing he wanted in life, a kiss from the other, and he won’t let go of this world until he does. I can’t describe in words how sweet this story is except to say it kept making me go “Awwww.” It is, by the way, a single volume story and the only complete one on this list. B+, 13+

Blood Alone by Masayuki Takano: This is a story about love but not really a romance. Kurou is a writer whose eyes were injured when he attacked the vampire killing his sister, so that now he can see things hidden from humans. Misaki is a girl whose father was killed by that same vampire, and she was turned into a vampire at the same time, though that side of her is mostly dormant for now. Kurou and Misaki now live together, occasionally getting involved in supernatural cases, which gradually reveal that Kurou is more than meets the eye. This is an unusual English language manga for several reasons: The artwork is very subdued but beautiful (a look at the cover shows the lovely style), and appears quite Western with its block panels. It is seinen, aimed at young men, yet about love at heart. It has horror episodes, but also “slice of life” chapters, in which the only thing that develops is character. These types of manga are common in Japan, but rarely do we get to see them licensed in the US and translated to English.

Some people will be disturbed by the fact that Misaki is a young teenage girl living with an older unrelated man. She seems to have been a vampire for several years though, and Kurou obviously sees her as a substitute for his sister. Their relationship is not sexual, but Misaki does have a crush on him, and they sleep in the same bed (because she has terrifying nightmares of the vampire that only he can stop). The story is very much about her love for him, and her coming to terms with being a vampire while preserving as much of her humanity as possible through her relationship with him. And it’s a love that is allowing him to regain his humanity as well. It’s a lovely story. Also, this book from Infinity Studios is a quality presentation, and a joy to hold. A, unless the ages would bother you. 15+

Ghost Hunt by Fuyumi Ono, art by Shiho Inada: This is a strange series that can be surface read for those looking for light to medium scares, or it can be read for what is eventually found to be an intricate plot. Everything that looks like a plot hole or loose thread or gaffe, or even just catches your eye as seeming odd, is later found to be a clue as to what is really happening in this story. The story on the surface is a basic form, a group of ghost hunters with various talents go from case to case solving supernatural problems, some pretty scary, some sad, some silly, and can be read simply for that too if the reader wishes. But it’s fairly average if read that way. Note: This series is not so romantic, though there is an odd sort of romance in it; I’m just not sure if they’re going to handle it the way they did in the novels. I’ve really enjoyed this one though. It’s a personal A, though to be honest most people would find it to be a B/B+ or so (as can be seen on Amazon); it all depends on how you read it, and if you like the puzzle it presents (or are even aware of them… ). 13+

And finally, a spooky (OK downright frightening) mangaka (manga creator) to look for if you really want the pants scared off you:

Junji Ito: Ito-sensei writes in the tradition of psychological horror masters like Shirley Jackson and HP Lovecraft. His books use the fantastic and terrible to show that the real horror is within mankind. He is responsible for stories like: Tomie (within the Museum of Terror collection), in which a young woman causes every man she encounters to become obsessed with her and dismember her, but because she’s not human she keeps coming back to life; and Uzumaki, in which a town slowly goes mad in the presence of strange spirals which start appearing everywhere. I have to be honest and say I couldn’t finish either of these two because they disturbed me so much, I mean they seriously creeped me out. He’s a master (and these books are not for kids, except maybe teens 16 and up).

There are many other series out there you might enjoy, from the really disturbing Parasyte, to the ultraviolent vampires in Hellsing and Blood+, to the supernatural thriller Death Note, to the Gothic Victorian horror of the Cain Saga/Godchild, to the incredibly eerie yet beautiful Mushishi, to the snarky horror of a pissed off Chinese nature god, Petshop of Horrors, to the downright silly romantic comedy about a guy who’s a werewoman, Full Moon Ni Sasayaite. I could go on about each one of those, but then this would take up the entire page and the Ja(y)nes might throw me down a well, and the next thing you know I’d be crawling out of your televisions, and none of us really wants that especially since I can barely fit my jeans much less a 13 inch screen (and if that double dose of horror doesn’t sound familiar, you may want to try The Ring).

Have a spooky Halloween!

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

Dear CMX,

I think you are my favorite shoujo manga publisher. I’ve only tried a few of your series, and I love Emma and Seimaden, but even your average ones are better than everyone else’s. Cipher is a case in point.

The series initially interested me for a couple of reasons. One is that it was written in 1985, which I’m told is often considered the Golden Age of Manga. I’ve not read much from the period and wanted to try more. I thought the artwork looked pretty. It reminded me of paintings of children from the early 20^th century, despite the new clothing, and I thought I might enjoy the change of pace. Also, it was set in New York City, and I always find manga set in NYC to be amusing for all they get wrong, though in this case the mangaka wasn’t that far off even though she drew a kinder, gentler NYC.

I expected the series to be like the few other shoujo I’d read that were decades old. They’re often like Barbara Cartland romances, though some are at least good at what they do and enjoyable. Cipher’s first volume surprised me though by throwing in some dark things many of those manga wouldn’t have touched. The possible dark side of it intrigued me enough that I bought volumes 2-6 (and just snapped up vol 7 when I saw it was out today).

The series, for all that it’s dated by the author’s worship and homage to the Thompson Twins LOL and 80s fashion, addresses issues I wasn’t used to seeing in an older shoujo manga: the heroine’s puberty, which we experience in detail through her periods, and tampons, and wanting to wear a bra, and the darker things hinted at: the 2 heroes’ sexual proclivity, cocaine use that leads to addiction, child abuse, the death of loved ones, depression, parental divorce. It’s strange, seeing these beautiful characters having to deal with some harsh realities. But the story doesn’t stay harsh too long. There’s an undercurrent of sadness, but much of the story is standard shoujo in its positive outlook and humor. Still, it is different, and I can see why you decided to publish this.

There is one annoying thing in the first book that you did, and that’s write words vertically, letters in upright position stacked on top of each other. It works in Japanese but in English it’s very hard to read. Please never do it again. I understand a lack of space, but that wasn’t the case in most bubbles. Smaller fonts would have worked. I’ve not noticed the problem with subsequent volumes, but the first one gave me a headache. It is, however, the only complaint I have about the English production of this.

The story, for those reading, is about Anise, and the identical twins Siva and Cipher (stage names). Siva and Cipher have a secret (several actually), but Anise finds out straight off that they switch off going to high school, and they’re spooked enough about it to have a contest with her. If she can tell them apart after a month, they’ll tell her why they do it. If she can’t she’ll never tell anyone that they do it. But she comes to realize that there’s a lot of pain behind the secret, and is content with becoming their friend. And they’re surprised into liking her honesty and positive outlook. After the contest, the story turns to how the friendships develop, then love, and we see all three grow up into adulthood and face all the consequences, including some painful ones, of their actions.

I don’t know where the series is going. I have no clue. I think I know which of the twins the heroine ends up with. But to be honest, I’m not entirely sure she’ll end up with either. It’s pleasant, reading a romance that keeps me guessing.

I can’t say the series has blown me away. It’s good, but not great. Not yet at least. I think it has to potential to. I think perhaps in the 80s the series might have shocked me. But right now in 2007, at the halfway point, it’s more a case of having something enjoyable to look forward to every few months when the next is released.

I think you chose a good series though. Teenage girls seem to love this one, and I think most intelligent teenagers would enjoy this if their parents are comfortable with them reading about some darker issues which aren’t glorified at all. There’s no sex in the series to date, just some talk about it. Anise is a young girl at heart and doesn’t even feel the inclination for romance for a while, and now she’s falling in love and wanting kisses. The guys are no strangers to sex, but we don’t see it. They keep their wickedness reined in around her, because they like the way she sees them. The story is more about developing honest relationships, growing into yourself, being happy with yourself, all while struggling to grow up.

So, in the end, for whom I recommend this? I recommend it for romance manga fans, after they buy up all the Emmas and Paradise Kisses and Ichigenmes and they still want more. Grade A series are hard to come by, so between volumes, they’ll be wanting the next best thing. I think that would be Cipher. Teenagers will enjoy the angst and humor and some relevance to their lives, and if readers remember the 80s like I do, they’ll giggle at how silly we all looked, even those cute Thompson Twins. ;P

CMX, the series you choose always seem to draw me in. They aren’t all great, but they are all interesting. I’m looking forward to trying another. B.

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)

Fushigi Yuugi by Yuu Watase. Published by Viz. Retail: $9.99 18/18 Volumes released in Englis. Rated T+ for older teens (sexual situations, attempted rapes, pretend rapes, lots of death). D-.

Dear Readers,

Imagine if you will being stuck in the middle of the Gobi desert, thirsting for anything to drink, when you come upon a spring of clear water. You fall to your knees gratefully and begin to drink, only to choke when you find it tastes like camel piss (you know this because you drank your camel’s piss in desperation before it died the previous day). It is, however, the only water you’ve got. You drink it, ignoring everything that makes you shudder, and live to walk out of the desert. And when people ask about your journey, you praise the spring to high heaven.

That spring is Fushigi Yuugi.

You see, there didn’t used to be any shoujo manga, manga for girls, released over here. “Everyone” knew, “everyone” being male comic book sellers, that girls didn’t read comics. Then Sailor Moon came along and kicked some sense into them, and the smarter ones started seeing the light. Viz was one of the smarter ones, and brought over an extremely popular girls’ title from Japan, Fushigi Yuugi. It was a hit here as well, and is one of those series someone always recommends to new readers. It’s a fantasy about a girl transported via a library book to a magical land where she’s a priestess with 7 beautiful men serving her. What’s not to love?

Well, it turns out, a lot.

The initial premise is a fun one, even if done to death in Japan. There are still series today that make use of parts of it, and do it in a smart, entertaining way, Saiunkoku Monogatari for instance, or even Fruits Basket might be considered one. But the execution of that premise in Fushigi Yuugi is just plain bad.

Miaka, the heroine, and Tamahome, the hero, love each other. Well, love by their warped definitions. This is pure bodice ripper. They split up and get back together using every cliché in romance. There’s a friend who loves Tamahome, so Miaka martyrs herself for the girl (don’t get me started on her martyr complex). Split up. Tamahome gets magical amnesia. Split up. Miaka thinks she’ll die and doesn’t want to hurt him by staying with him. Split up. Tamahome play-acts liking someone else to get crucial information and Miaka believes it. Miaka thinks someone else deserves him. Tamahome thinks he doesn’t deserve her. Miaka thinks she doesn’t deserve him. Split up. Split up. Split up. The entire series consists of this. Oh sure there’s some farce of a plot about recovering some artifacts so a god can be summoned and save the world, but it’s all there so we can have this uber-melodrama.

Miaka is also TSTL, and that’s being kind to her. She acts rashly. Miaka trusts enemies after countless betrayals and distrusts her boyfriend / fiancé / husband(!) at every opportunity, even when he has proven himself time and again. Miaka ignores the advice of those wiser than her (i.e. everyone) and dashes off to act on her own plans, countless times. This usually results in the deaths of some innocents, soldiers, villagers, children, you name it. By the end of the story, she’s responsible for the deaths of thousands, because she has to do things her way.

Does anyone blame her? I can’t tell you the number of times I hoped that someone would get around to slapping the stupid off her face, but my hopes were crushed every time. All they did was fall in love with her, and say “You’re a brave little girl, you have it so tough.”. Yeah, tell that to the massacred farmers. By the end of the series [MAJOR SPOILER] Everyone except about 10 people in that world are dead. Everyone. E.v.e.r.y.o.n.e. And it’s basically her fault for trying her stupid schemes and being wishy washy. [/MAJOR SPOILER]

I must confess that the only reason I made it through the entire series was my hope of seeing her, at some point, die a death as painful as what she was putting me through.

I suppose all this might appeal to the sort of 12 year old emo girl who thinks the world should revolve around her and her angst. But I have trouble wanting to read about Miaka’s and Tamahome’s angst over not being together when it’s their own damned faults, and when the kingdom is falling apart around them because of their idiotic alternating martyrdoms!

The manga is 18 volumes long. Even at a discount that’s about $150 for the privilege of brain rot. Do yourself a favor. If death is your aim, spend the money on a cheap pistol instead.

Fushigi Yuugi used to be the only game in town. Now it’s not. I understand people being sentimental about it, and it gets half a point from me for its historical significance. But if you want this reader’s honest opinion, it tastes like camel piss. D-

Sincerely,

ジェーン

(Jān)