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Manga Bookshelf

Discussion, Resources, Roundtables, & Reviews

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My Week in Manga: August 19-August 25, 2013

August 26, 2013 by Ash Brown

My News and Reviews

Well, the biggest news from last week (at least for me and Experiments in Manga) is that I have officially joined the Manga Bookshelf family of blogs. I posted an introductory post for new readers and anyone else interested in learning a little more about me or Experiments in Manga. I’m still getting used to WordPress, and I still have some cleaning up to do, so if you notice anything amiss, I’d appreciate you letting me know!

I also posted a review of Edogawa Rampo’s collection of short stories Japanese Tales of Mystery and Imagination. Originally released in 1956, the volume was Rampo’s English-language debut. I had previously read and enjoyed Rampo’s novella Strange Tale of Panorama Island which is why I sought out more of his work. (And on a related note: Suehiro Maruo’s The Strange Tale of Panorama Island is also marvelous.)

I also had the opportunity to help out manga critic Jason Thompson last week (who I credit as one of the major reasons I became so interested in manga.) If you’re in Vancouver, Washington this coming Sunday, Jason is presenting “Manga Hell: The Worst Manga Ever Translated” at Kumoricon. It should be pretty great. I was able to provide some images of choice pages from Kazuo Koike and Ryoichi Ikegami’s notorious manga series Wounded Man. (I first learned about Wounded Man thanks when it was selected for Kate Dacey’s Manga Hall of Shame.)

On to a few interesting things found online! I either completely missed this when it was first announced or simply forgot about it, but Bento Books has licensed five novels from Hayakawa Publishing: Hiroko Minakawa’s Pleased to Dissect You, Yuka Nakazato’s Silver Wings of the Campanula, Yu Godai’s, Quantum Devil Saga: Avatar Tuner, Volume 1, Akimaro Mori’s The Black Cat Takes a Stroll, and Issui Ogawa’s Many Many Sheep. It’s an intriguing mix of fantasy, science fiction, and mystery and quite a change of pace from Bento’s first release Math Girls.

In other licensing news, Sean Gaffney has a roundup of the Japan Expo announcements from this weekend. Finally, if you have the time I recommend giving the most recent ANNCast episode a listen–Super Manga Pals Forever. The always marvelous Deb Aoki and Rebecca Silverman join host Zac Bertschy to talk about the manga they’ve been reading and discuss the use of rape and taboos as plot elements in entertainment media. (Warning: Spoilers for the ninth volume of Yumi Unita’s Bunny Drop if by some chance you haven’t been spoiled already.)

Quick Takes

Attack on Titan, Volume 6 by Hajime Isayama. Despite the issues that I have with the art in Attack on Titan, which admittedly has been improving, I continue to be utterly absorbed and engaged by the story. The sixth volume picks up right where the fifth volume left off with the appearance of a new, seemingly intelligent, but still incredibly dangerous titan. It’s mostly one long action sequence as the titans tear through the ranks of the Survey Corps. Unsurprisingly, there are quite a few messy deaths. However, there’s a bit of character development as well. In particular, more is reveled about the members of the Special Operations Squad charged with guarding Eren who are also responsible for killing him should he get out of hand. The ending sets things up nicely for some major plot reveals in the next volume. Fortunately Kodansha has sped up the series release, so it won’t be too long of a wait to find out what happens next.

Awkward Silence, Volumes 1-3 by Hinako Takanaga. I tend to be fond of Takanaga’s boys’ love manga and so was happy when SuBLime picked up one of her ongoing series. Normally, I’m annoyed by manga where the plot hinges on a problem that would immediately be solved if the characters would just talk to one another. But in the case of Awkward Silence I didn’t mind as much because there is a very good reason that the characters don’t–Satoru has a difficult time expressing himself. It’s an integral part of his character and integral part of the story. One of the points of the series is that he and his boyfriend Keigo learn to overcome this. Their relationship is really quite sweet. Beginning with the third volume Awkward Silence starts to focus more on two of the secondary characters. (At least they started out as secondary characters.) Personally, I don’t find their relationship to be nearly as interesting. While still enjoyable, it feels more generic. Unlike the main couple, so far it’s missing something to really set it apart.

Saiyuki Reload, Volumes 4-6 by Kazuya Minekura. Although I was a little disappointed with the first three volumes of Saiyuki Reload, much preferring the earlier series Saiyuki, I think that Minekura has started to find her stride again. These volumes finish up the long flashback/backstory segement which included a look at Gojyo and Hakkai’s past when they were living together. (I’m a sucker for Hakkai, so I rather enjoyed that.) From there, Saiyuki Reload starts in on a new story arc, giving the plot the focus and direction that it needed. While the first few volumes of the series didn’t seem to be going anywhere, with the introduction of Hazel things are starting to get a bit more interesting. Sanzo and crew are faced with several moral conundrums and suddenly their journey west has some urgency behind it again. And speaking of The Journey to the West–the influences of the original work can definitely be seen. They aren’t always particularly prominent and Minekura is often very free with her interpretations, but The Journey to the West can still be found in there somewhere.

Tough, Volumes 1-6 by Tetsuya Saruwatari. Only six volumes of Tough were ever released in English. The series is actually a translation of Saruwatari’s Kōkō Tekken-den Tough and shouldn’t be confused with its sequel series which in Japan was called Tough. The fights are by far the best thing about Tough. Although the martial arts are taken to the extremes there are some legitimate styles and techniques being used. The manga is ultimately over-the-top, although dubious plausibility is maintained. Tough is violent and frequently brutal. The fighters deliver and sustain immense amounts of damage. Saruwatari doesn’t hesitate to show the resulting blood and broken bones. The few women, too, are shown to be martially capable. (Unfortunately they don’t make much of an appearance after the first volume.) The story, on the other hand, is nearly nonexistent and the attempts at humor fall flat. For the most part the plot is just an excuse to have men beat each other to a pulp. The actual fights are much more interesting than the weak justifications behind them.

X, Omnibus 6 (equivalent to Volumes 16-18) by CLAMP. Well, here it is, what is very likely to be the last volume of X. The series went on hiatus in 2003 and it doesn’t seem that CLAMP will be returning to it anytime soon. I read the first volume of X a few years ago but didn’t think much of it. I gave the series another try when Viz began to release the omnibus volumes and I’ve been hooked ever since. There are many fans frustrated by the series’ lack of ending, waiting for the final battle which may never come; I suppose I can now be counted among them. Still, I thoroughly enjoyed X in all of its epic, melodramatic, twisted, and tragic glory even if it can be a bit ridiculously excessive at times. CLAMP also uses some of the most intriguing page layouts that I’ve seen. They are very effective in conveying the emotional and dramatic moments in the story, of which the series has more than its fair share. Love and death are very closely intertwined in X and there is plenty of heartbreak to be had.

FujikoMineLupin the Third: The Woman Called Fujiko Mine directed by Sayo Yamamoto. This series has style–the animation is distinctive but appealing, the jazz-influenced soundtrack fits it perfectly, the storytelling is mature and has both darkness and levity. Familiarity with the Lupin III franchise isn’t necessary to enjoy the series; The Woman Called Fujiko Mine is a different take on the characters and story and can stand alone. Fujiko Mine is a thief and femme fatale. She is very much in charge of her sexuality and is more than willing to use it to get what she wants. It shouldn’t be too surprising, but nudity is a fairly frequent occurrence in the anime, but it is handled tastefully and artistically. In the last four episodes, things take a surprising turn for the strange when the revelation of Fujiko’s backstory really beings. Up until that point the series seemed largely to be an episodic collection of the various heists with which Fujiko was involved. There were hints of what was to come and most everything is tied together rather nicely in the end.

Filed Under: FEATURES, My Week in Manga Tagged With: anime, attack on titan, awkward silence, clamp, Hajime Isayama, Hinako Takanaga, kazuya minekura, Lupin III, manga, Saiyuki, Tetsuya Saruwatari, Tough, X

Off the Shelf: Destruction, Despair, & Other Stories

November 11, 2011 by MJ and Michelle Smith 5 Comments

MICHELLE: Hey, MJ! Did you hear about the fire at the circus?

MJ: Why, no, Michelle. What about the fire at the circus?

MICHELLE: It was in tents!

MJ: Ba-dum-dum *chick*. Wow. That one was especially painful. And I mean that in the most complimentary way possible.

MICHELLE: I take it as such!

So, read any interesting manga lately?

MJ: Indeed I have! First of all, I was finally able to dig into one of my most eagerly anticipated releases this year, Osamu Tezuka’s The Book of Human Insects, out recently from Vertical.

I chose Human Insects as a Pick of the Week just over a month ago, and at the time my expectation was that it would “be one of those books that blows me away with its artistry while simultaneously killing me with its outlook on humanity.” I’m pleased to say that the latter was actually not the case at all, which made this an even more enthralling experience than I expected.

Just barely into her twenties, Toshiko Tomura is already a revered and accomplished artist in more fields than most of us will even dabble in over the course of our lifetimes, let alone master. She’s won prestigious awards in both writing and design, after already having achieved notoriety as a dazzling stage actress. What Tezuka soon reveals, is that she’s acquired all of these accomplishments by attaching herself to brilliant mentors and absorbing their talent and creativity to the point of effectively making them her own. She’s a gorgeous, seductive monster, consuming the lives of everyone she touches and leaving them (sometimes literally) for dead.

I often have difficulty enjoying a story in which I don’t like the protagonist, so what was particularly astounding about Toshiko for me, is that Tezuka was occasionally able to make me root for her, as horrifying as that seems. There’s no thought of “redemption” here—no romantic transformation or even mercy to be found in Toshiko’s trajectory. She’s more Becky Sharp than Cordelia Chase, and Tezuka is far more brutal to his anti-heroine’s victims than Thackeray ever was. Yet she’s so full of life and the brilliant spark of desire, it’s impossible not to fall for Toshiko just a little bit, even against one’s own will.

The book is every bit as scathing as I expected, but there’s an exuberance to Tezuka’s writing here that keeps it from sinking into real darkness. You get the sense that he’s been seduced by Toshiko too, and in the end, he treats her with more respect and even affection than, say, a character like Ayako, who is (presumably) intended to evoke our sympathy. It’s complicated, and certainly not as morally straightforward, but much more compelling overall.

Coming at Tezuka’s work from a modern, feminist point of view can sometimes be difficult, but The Book of Human Insects was a true pleasure for me, from start to finish. I highly recommend it.

MICHELLE: Wow, that Becky Sharp comparison really sums up her character in a nutshell. I am immensely pleased that you enjoyed this so much because I’ve been eying it with some trepidation since Ayako proved to be so misanthropic. Maybe I’ve no need to be wary after all!

MJ: I think you’ll enjoy this, Michelle, I really do. And I find myself even more excited now to dig into Princess Knight, not because I expect it to be remotely similar, but because I’m finally convinced that I can trust Tezuka with a female protagonist.

So what have you been reading this week?

MICHELLE: Nothing so deep as Tezuka, but enjoyable reads nonetheless.

First up is the eleventh volume of Koji Kumeta’s Sayonara, Zetsubou-sensei, a shounen comedy about a perpetually despairing teacher named Nozomu Itoshiki and his students, each of whom is possessed of a specific plight or personality trait (indebted housewife, fujoshi, etc.).

I know you’ve read a fair amount of this series, so you’re familiar with its pattern. Essentially, each chapter opens with the characters spending a couple of pages in a particular scene. Like, for example, going to the beach on summer holidays. Then something triggers Itoshiki and off he goes, ranting about this or the other, eventually spewing out lists of transgressors until he is interupted by Kafuka, a student with a more positive outlook on things. There are recurring visual gags as well, like how Itoshiki’s sister is always first glimpsed with her back to the reader, or the absolutely miserable-looking dog with a stick in its butt.

Zetsubou-sensei is at its best when focusing on universal issues, and there are definitely chapters in that vein in this volume. Alas, there are also quite a few that seem very Japanese-centric, with the result that I enjoyed this volume somewhat less than its immediate predecessors. Still, it’s fun and I will keep reading and hoping that someone will help that wretched dog.

MJ: It’s nice to know that you’re still enjoying this series, Michelle, even if you found this volume less accessible than some. I’m always torn when it comes to gag manga, because I find it difficult to remain engaged when nothing really changes for the characters over time. But this series weathers that issue better than most for me. I’m glad you’re having a similar experience.

MICHELLE: For me, too. I tried reading Dr. Slump, for instance, and though I liked Toriyama’s COWA! and Sand Land quite a lot, the all-gag-all-the-time nature of Dr. Slump was just too much for me. Zetsubou is somehow different. Maybe it’s because it gradually evolves a little; I always like when a face is added to another student in the class, for example. This latest school year (Itoshiki’s students are doomed to perpetually repeat their second year of high school) saw a boy transfer into the class and much has been made of his outlandish fashion sense, so that’s pretty fun. And, of course, the art is attractive and the covers are gorgeous, so there’s that in its favor as well.

What else have you been reading?

MJ: My second read this week was in a completely different vein than the first, though it’s also been a Pick of the Week. I am speaking of the latest re-release of X (formerly X/1999), CLAMP’s ambitious, action-packed follow-up to my favorite of their series, Tokyo Babylon.

Now, as I’ve mentioned previously, I’m a much bigger fan of Tokyo Babylon, which I read long before I ever started X, and I think on some level I’ve always blamed X for simply not being Tokyo Babylon. These new 3-in-1 volumes are so gorgeous to look at, though, I hoped the fresh look might grant the series a second chance to impress me on its own terms.

While I’m not sure I’ve been fully impressed by the series this time around, I’m certainly enjoying it much, much more, and not just because it looks so pretty (though it really, really does). What’s really happened for me, though, is that Viz’s bigger, better presentation has given X a level of physical grandeur that finally matches its tone. X is a sweeping, epic production in every way possible. Everything in the story—emotion, action, plot—all of it occurs on a grand scale. It’s a never-ending symphony of love, hate, creation, and destruction. There are no half-measures in X, for better or worse.

Reading Viz’s “shojo” editions (and even their slightly larger original editions), I found this level of melodrama a bit hard to take. It was dark and sweeping, sure, but I found myself rolling my eyes at much of the grander drama and becoming impatient with its slow-moving plot. The stark intimacy of Tokyo Babylon was nowhere to be found, replaced by endless philosophizing on world destruction that appeared hollow at its core, at least to my eyes.

Now, with the series’ drama laid out in a visual form at least as grand and sweeping as its multi-layered plot, the entire pace of the manga has changed for me, and with it, its heartbeat, which I could barely discern before. Suddenly I’m able to deeply immerse myself in the world CLAMP has created, and enjoy the melodrama from within, rather than watching it from above. And honestly, it’s made all the difference in the world. Suddenly I care about these characters and their epic conflict, and I’m not just waiting around for Subaru to turn up so I’d have someone to give a crap about.

X may still not be my very favorite of CLAMP’s work, but I feel that I finally understand its charm. Bravo, Viz. I look forward to more.

MICHELLE: You know, I watched the X anime and really liked it, but when it came to the manga, I never got beyond the first volume. Maybe it was physical grandeur that I was missing! The anime could capture the epic sweep but some out-sized, flipped-art manga volume just didn’t do it for me. I did buy the Shojo editions when they came out, but I am pretty sure the art in those was still flipped.

Anyway, I am really looking forward to approaching X in this new format (and I believe with a new translation or at least new adaptation, as well). One day you and I will be caught up on it and can join the lamenting masses over its unfinished status.

MJ: The translation is credited to Lillian Olsen, who is also credited in both of the earlier editions, but I haven’t compared them to see what might be different now that Leyla Aker is editing. In any case, the new edition has a much grander impact!

So what else do you have to share with us this week?

MICHELLE: After a long wait, NETCOMICS has released the third and final volume of Small-Minded Schoolgirls by toma. Having loved the first two volumes, I had to check it out.

In this online exclusive, two career women in their early thirties must balance their professional and personal lives as they seek to find “the one.” Miru Na is a novelist, and as the third volume begins she has embarked upon a casual relationship with a hairstylist named Wontae. Meanwhile, it’s obvious that her brother’s friend, Jigwan, has serious feelings for her. The other protagonist, Somi Han, is working as an editor and dealing with her attraction to a coworker, despite the fact that she has a boyfriend (who has put their relationship on hold for a year to go to art school, where he has also found someone else who interests him).

If you’re thinking this all sounds pretty complicated, you’re right, and I haven’t even mentioned the part where Miru’s brother has relationship woes or Jigwan’s former girlfriend wants to make up and get married! As I read this volume, I kept thinking that this is prime material for a k-drama. I’m honestly surprised such an adaptation doesn’t exist yet!

So, on the one hand, this is a satisfying conclusion to the series. On the other, though, I found all the back and forth a little tiring. At one point Miru and Jigwan are discussing his ex, and she says, “At our age, when two people lose something special it’s hard to get it back.” That’s kind of how I feel about this series. I just couldn’t connect with it on the same level I did before. Part of the problem may be the translation/adaptation, which is sloppier than I remember it being in the first two volumes.

Ultimately, I am thrilled to have had the chance to read this series, which is the closest thing we have in English to Korean josei. And I’d still recommend it heartily, especially since reading all three volumes at once will probably yield better results than I have personally experienced.

MJ: I really enjoyed the first two volumes of this series as well, so I admit I’m disappointed to hear that the third may not live up to the their standard. I expect you may be right in assuming that reading all three together may be more satisfying, but it’s still a bit of a blow. There are a number of other grown-up ladies’ manhwa I enjoy at NETCOMICS, though, so I don’t feel entirely lost.

MICHELLE: I hope I didn’t give the impression that it’s bad, because it isn’t, it’s just hard to get back into after all this time. And speaking of other ladies’ manhwa, NETCOMICS is planning to resume online serialization of Please, Please Me this month after a hiatus of over a year. Looks like that’ll be the final volume, too. Then maybe they’ll resume The Adventures of Young Det!

MJ: Oh, good news indeed!

MICHELLE: Forsooth! I’m so happy to have NETCOMICS back in play!

Filed Under: OFF THE SHELF Tagged With: Book of Human Insects, sayonara zetsubou-sensei, small-minded schoolgirls, X

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