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BL Bookrack: Best of 2012

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MJ: As BL discussions have cropped up in comments over the past couple of weeks, both in the 2012 fannish highlights thread and in this week’s Manga the Week of, Michelle and I thought we’d use this month’s BL Bookrack column to open up some official discussion on our favorite BL of the year. We’ve seen a wealth of new BL titles hitting the shelves in 2012, though our “shelves” have been largely virtual, thanks to new digital publishers like SuBLime, JManga, and the Digital Manga Guild. So before we get down to naming favorites, let’s talk a little about the genre’s move to digital.

Given the North American BL industry’s overall shift to digital distribution over the past year, I admit I was a bit surprised by the level of vitriol aimed at Hikaru Sasahara’s recent announcement regarding DMP’s print hiatus. Though comments run the gamut from reluctant understanding to pointed rage, at least half of the fans who took the time to weigh in specifically mentioned how little they like the company’s digital releases.

Part of my surprise, I think, is due to the largely positive feedback from BL fans regarding Viz’s SuBLime Manga—a mostly-digital imprint whose print releases make up a relatively small portion of their catalogue. In our “fannish highlights” thread, for example, a reader named Lee named DRM-free digital BL as her most significant fan experience of the year, crediting SuBLime as the leader of the pack. So does fan disappointment with DMP stem from the quality and delivery method of their digital releases, or digital in general?

I’m inclined to believe it’s a little of both, and I agree pretty strongly on the first bit. Though I haven’t been a fan of SuBLime’s licenses, they crush DMP so far in terms of both visual quality and ease of delivery. While manga delivered by way of DMP’s iPad app looks like a million bucks, their Kindle releases are far from it (see this article for an example), and eManga’s built-in reader is an incredibly limiting choice for those of us who don’t enjoy reading comics on our computers. I’ve been endlessly frustrated by the fact that I can’t read books from my eManga account in the iPad app (and vice-versa), and though downloadable PDFs wouldn’t be my first choice for delivery, they are at least transferrable from one device to the next. I have high hopes for the upcoming revamp of eManga—and I hope easing off their print schedule is helping to move that along more quickly—but for the moment, SuBLime is absolutely in the lead.

And then there’s JManga. Though not specifically (or even significantly) a BL publisher, JManga’s BL releases have been some of my favorites this year. They’re also behind in terms of delivery—their flash-based reader doesn’t work on my tablet, and though their Android app has been live for a month or so, their iOS release lags behind. And the potential for downloadable PDFs is not even on the table, to my knowledge.

As far as digital distribution in general… I never thought I’d be a convert. I love the look and feel of print books, and I really dislike reading comics on my computer. But I’m absolutely in love with my tablet. Reading on the iPad—both prose books and comics—is a real pleasure. I mentioned to someone at New York Comic Con—Robert Newman, maybe—that if I could read all the manga I wanted on my iPad, in high quality, I’d never buy a print book again. That’s probably not entirely true. High-end hardcover releases from companies like Vertical, Fantagraphics, and (recently) Yen Press would always have a place on my bookshelves. But my space for books is increasingly limited, and it would be relief to be able to just carry them all with me on one small device.

MICHELLE: My experience is pretty different, as I own neither smartphone nor tablet. All I have is a Kindle—which, as mentioned, is useless for manga—and a personal computer. Still, I am not peeved at all by the move toward digital distribution.

True, reading manga on my computer is not nearly as comfortable as curling up on the corner of the couch with a printed volume. However, when doing so gives me access to books I may like to read but not own permanently—as is largely the case with BL, I’m afraid—I have no complaints whatsoever. And when doing so has the additional bonus of giving me access to books that may never have seen the light of day in a printed edition—JManga’s licenses, some of the DMG ones, as well—I really have no complaints at all.

Honestly, what it boils down to for me is company survival. If this is what DMP thinks they need to do to stay afloat as a company, or to revamp their site, or whatever their aims are, then I am fine with it. Would fans rather have no BL at all if they can’t have printed copies?

MJ: So, let’s get to our favorite titles, shall we? I probably read fewer BL releases this year than last, but time constraints ensured that I was pickier about what I read, which means I liked more of them overall.

My greatest BL highlight of the year was absolutely JManga’s release of Setona Mizushiro’s Dousei Ai, an eleven-volume epic that has everything I want in a romance story—complicated, slow-building relationships, thoughtful characterization, and a multi-layered, soap-opera plot.

From my review: “This is no casual one-shot or simplistic BL romance. Setona Mizushiro has carefully crafted a complex emotional drama with some of the best-written characterization I’ve ever seen in this genre and a long game that is pretty obviously going to offer up significant payoff for the reader. I mean, going into this it’s clear that we’re in for a killer of a ride, along the lines of something like Sooyeon Won’s manhwa epic Let Dai, only better—much, much better.”

I’m four volumes in now, and just absolutely hooked. This is my kind of romance, for sure, and Mizushiro’s old-school shoujo artwork is just icing on the cake for me.

JManga was a particularly solid source of BL for me this year, also offering up the intensely charming series My Darling Kitten Hair (more, please, more!), the adorably awkward Doukyusei, est em’s awesome Apartments of Calle Feliz, the infectiously cute My Dear Prince, and Keiko Kinoshita’s fantastic set of short manga I Love You, Chief Clerk!

Speaking of Kinoshita, she’s been a favorite of mine since I read the first volume of Kiss Blue several years ago, but her work is suddenly all over the place here, thanks mainly to the Digital Manga Guild, who brought us (among others) You and Tonight and The Boyfriend Next Door—two of my very favorite BL reads this year. Elsewhere from DMP, their Juné imprint did me a solid by re-releasing the BL “classic” Only the Ring Finger Knows, which I honestly adored.

And if my biggest disappointment this year as a BL fan has been my lack of connection with SuBLime’s licenses in general (I talk about this a bit in our roundup this week, which has been continued in comments), books I did like from them include the sweet one-shot Honey Darling, and one of the only BL comedies I’ve ever been able to tolerate, Oku-San’s Daily Fantasies, which was a huge surprise for me.

What about you, Michelle?

MICHELLE: Despite buying several of JManga’s BL titles—mostly those you mentioned above—the only one I actually managed to read this year was The Apartments of Calle Feliz which, as usual for est em, was terrific. And thanks to DMP, I was also able to read another highly enjoyable est em short story collection, the sports-centric ULTRAS.

Like you, most of SuBLime’s licenses don’t really appeal to me, but that doesn’t mean I haven’t been able to find titles to enjoy. The Bed of My Dear King was a quirky and memorable set of stories, The Scent of Apple Blossoms provided yet more proof that Toko Kawai writes my kind of BL, Honey Darling was absolutely flippin’ adorable, and Punch Up! was unexpectedly intriguing, given that it’s more explicit than my usual fare and not adorable at all.

DMP was also responsible for some of this year’s favorites, starting with the engrossing, yakuza-themed Men of Tattoos (which technically came out in 2011). Mangaka Yuiji Aniya does some clever things with this interconnected set of stories that make this a title I’d recommend to any manga fan. Another title I wouldn’t hesitate to recommend is Only Serious About You, whose second volume portrayed the evolving relationship between its main characters with sensitivity and realism.

But my favorite DMP offering, and my overall favorite BL release for the year, is Momoko Tenzen’s Flutter.

In my review, I wrote, “There are so many things to recommend this manga. The atmosphere is sort of… elegant and languid, which suits mysterious Mizuki well and makes an earnest everydude like Asada stand out all the more. The growing friendship between the men is believable—and they’re both completely professional adults, I might add—as is Mizuki’s wary reaction when Asada confesses his feelings.. It’s lovely and complicated, and when the guys do finally get together physically it’s wonderfully awkward.”

Looking back, it sure has been a good year for BL!

MJ: It really has!

Readers, we’d love to hear from you! What were your favorite BL titles this year? Where do you stand on digital distribution? Let us know in comments!

Disclosure: MJ is currently under contract with Digital Manga Publishing’s Digital Manga Guild, as necessitated for her ongoing report Inside the DMG. Any compensation earned by MJin her role as an editor with the DMG will be donated to the Comic Book Legal Defense Fund.

Excel Saga, Vol. 24

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By Rikdo Koshi. Released in Japan by Shonen Gahosha, serialized in the magazine Young King OURS. Released in North America by Viz.

Given everything that’s been happening over the last few volumes of Excel Saga, this volume might read at first glance like it’s a bit of a breather. Miwa barely appears, and the same can be said for Il Palazzo. A lot of time is spent trying to ‘fix’ Excel – or rather get her to realize the fix she’s in, but this doesn’t really happen either, mostly as relying on Elgala to bring this about is both hilarious and terrible. What we do see here, though, is a continuation of Rikdo’s ongoing deepening of the characterization. Excel, Hyatt, Misaki, Umi, Watanabe, and even Iwata get depth to them here that makes you sit back and think about just how screwed up their lives have become, and how it’s a lot less easy to accept that now that they’re not cartoon people who get blown up a lot but keep reviving.

For all that I didn’t care for the Teriha plotline, its effects continue to be felt by the group. Umi is still devastated by the disappearance of her friend, and a scene with Iwata (who, for once, gives helpful and useful advice – something he lampshades immediately) shows us how desperately she is clinging to Teriha, given the difficulty she has making friends. There’s a rather startling monologue where she notes that her mother initially thought she was a prodigy, but then she met Shiouji and figured out how far from his heights she was. It’s heartbreaking, in that, although it reminds is that Umi isn’t really dumb, just a klutz and a bit ditzy, there’s also the feeling that she could have been more – at such a young age, finding yourself so limited must be crushing, and I think it helps to explain a lot of her personality, as well as why she’s so devoted to Shiouji. I wonder if he ever thinks about any of this?

As for Iwata, he starts off with minimal memories of the last several years, but thanks to an outbreak of mysterious plot (was this Miwa? It doesn’t quite have the same feel), he seems to be back to himself, physically and mentally (albeit still in an indestructible robot body). In fact, as I noted above, he seems to be a bit less thoughtless and jerkass-ish than before, though that might change at any moment (his variable personality continues to be a sign that he may not live past the series). He’s also the one who knows immediately how to get through to Excel, something Elgala has to be coached to say: mention Umi. As for Misaki, she has less to do here, but is getting more distrustful of everything – and I can’t really blame her, given what’s going on with Iwata and what Shiouji isn’t really telling her. Her emotions are becoming more visible by the day.

Watanabe and Hyatt, meanwhile, seem to have resolved their own plot – and I say seemed because things could turn on a dime at any time. This does lend itself to one of the funnier bits of the volume, where Watanabe attempts to stalk Hyatt but keeps getting distracted by things that require a superhero – which, as Kabapu notes, sort of defeats the purpose of a secret identity, even if its intentions are ultimately good. As if to reward him for doing good deeds (as opposed to being the uncaring sleazy louse he’d morphed into during the Teriha arc), he actually does get to catch up with Hyatt and have a conversation with her. And… it doesn’t go his way, as expected. What surprised me was that Hyatt basically confirms here that she does have feelings for Watanabe, and does now remember him again. The only thing holding her back is her loyalty to Il Palazzo. Hyatt is by her nature one of the most opaque of the Excel Saga bunch, so it’s good to see her getting some depth as well.

And then there’s Excel. She now has an indestructible robot body as well – one that doesn’t even need to rest and power up, to Shiouji’s surprise – and can now finally keep up with Il Palazzo in every way. But it doesn’t seem quite enough, and even constantly heaping abuse on Elgala isn’t the same. It doesn’t help that both Iwata and Elgala remind her of Umi, that being the only thing that might distract her from ACROSS. Indeed, we get to see a rare shot of Excel acting tsundere, still attempting to deny that the Teriha memories are not quite as gone as she’s like them to be, and that she may need Umi’s friendship as much as Umi needed hers. (After all, Excel’s two closest female friends, Hyatt and Elgala, are not really all that close.) My favorite moment of the entire volume, though, was when she reported to Il Palazzo, making his only appearance in this scene. It’s arguable whether it’s really him, but let’s not go there right now. Instead of his usual abuse, he invites her to sit down by his side in the chair next to him. Hardly believing it, she does so – and the look on her face is possibly the cutest we’ve ever seen her, as Carl Horn remarks in his notes. For all that Excel’s devotion to Il Palazzo is used for humor, at its core is a deep, unconditional love. And it’s shown here at its purest, making you actually want to root for them to get together.

We now know that Excel Saga will end with Vol. 27. Luckily, Viz has sped up its release to twice a year again (probably as they now know it’s ending), so Vol. 25 will be out this April. Excel Saga has its faults, of course. The plot can get very confusing even if you do have the photographic memory required to deal with all the various subplots. And Rikdo’s fanservice fetish, now allowed to flourish after the series became a hit, can get very annoying to those who recall he used to draw girls with normal, if busty, proportions, and clothing that was a bit more modest. But there’s still no other manga series out there that has me as invested in its outcome as this (and yes, I have the last three in Japanese, but it’s not the SAME). Join me in April as I prepare to overanalyze Vol. 25 as well! And thanks to Carl Horn and Viz for continuing it to completion!

More on Digital’s print hiatus; what girls like about Shonen Jump

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I looked a bit deeper into Digital Manga’s announcement to suspend print publication for six months at Robot 6, and Alex Hoffman has some thoughts at Manga Widget as well.

Here’s a treat to kick off the weekend: Shaenon Garrity counts down five badass shoujo manga as guest contributor to the House of 1000 Manga column at ANN.

Tony Yao has an interesting piece up this morning with data from a recent article in The Nikkei Shimbun about the gender balance of Shonen Jump readers and what that means to the contents of the magazine. Good stuff!

The Manga Bookshelf team take a critical look at next week’s new releases in print and at JManga.

The next Manga Moveable Feast is a Thanksgiving dinner, and host Matt Blind issues the call for contributions.

Reviews

Kristin on vol. 2 of Jiu Jiu (Comic Attack)
David Gromer on vols. 3 and 4 of Maximum Ride (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vols. 1 and 2 of Negima (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 13 of Neon Genesis Evangelion (The Comic Book Bin)
David Gromer on vol. 3 of No Longer Human (Graphic Novel Reporter)
David Gromer on vol. 7 of Omamori Himori (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 4 of One Piece (Blogcritics)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Rosario + Vampire, Season II (The Comic Book Bin)
David Gromer on vol. 1 of Soulless (Graphic Novel Reporter)
Lissa Pattillo on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Kuriousity)

JManga the Week of 11/22

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SEAN: Most of what JManga is doing this week is catching up on some new volumes, so let’s look at those.

Crazy for You and Pride both have their Vol. 3s out. Both of these series were hits for me, so seeing more of them is a very good thing. Also, I love the way Kaoru Shiina draws grins.

MJ: I loved both of these, especially Pride! I kinda can’t wait for those new volumes. I’m seriously anxious over here. I would read them right now if I could.

MICHELLE: Me too! I am very happy about both of these, but since we’re talking about shoujo from Shueisha here, I will shamelessly exploit this opportunity to beg JManga to “please get Cat Street!”

SEAN: Elemental Gelade hits Vol. 2, and we are thus one-ninth of the way through this fantasy series! (Sorry folks, I got nothin’.)

MICHELLE: I can muster no enthusiasm for Elemental Gelade.

MJ: Clearly, neither can I.

SEAN: Despite the lack of a translated title (apparently some publishers just don’t want titles changed), Edo Nekoe Jubei Otogizoshi is one of my all-time favorite JManga releases, simply as it’s a supernatural mystery cat manga from a cat manga magazine. Its very existence here in North America for sale justifies digital manga.

MJ: I’m completely ignorant on this one, and now I feel I should be ashamed! More cats!

MICHELLE: I bought a couple of volumes of this but confess that I haven’t read them yet.

SEAN: There are also two new titles. Eleven Soul is a long-running shonen series from Mag Garden’s Comic Blade, and has an intriguing premise of futuristic samurai trying to battle a genetically engineered enemy that has taken over half the world.

MJ: That sounds… well, a little bit “meh.” But I’ll give it a shot.

MICHELLE: I will split the difference and say that it’s a premise that is teetering on the precipice between intriguing and meh. Could go either way.

SEAN: I am presuming that The Narrow Road to the Deep North is not the play by Edward Bond, but the classic Japanese work Osu no Hosomichi, a travel diary through Edo Japan. The original text is quite famous, consisting of both prose and haiku verses, and I wonder how Variety Art Works have managed to convert it to manga.

MJ: I hope this is exactly what you think it is, because that sounds really intriguing. I’m definitely on board for that.

MICHELLE: Me too!

It Came from the Sinosphere: Princess Pearl (Pt. 2)

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Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi

Yet another screenshot from the TV adaptation.

So, last Tuesday I talked about the super-popular novel Princess Pearl. Now I’m going to keep talking about it.

The Friendship/Sisterhood of Ziwei and Xiaoyanzi

I don’t know whether to call them “friends” or “sisters.” As I mentioned in the previous post, Chinese-speaking cultures tend to value family relationships above romantic relationships, and this also applies to friendships. But what happens is that, especially in stories set in historical periods, whenever two people become close friends, they become sworn sisters/brothers. In a way, in Chinese, a “brother” or “sister” is anybody from the same generation with whom you have a close relationship. This can even apply to romantic couples, which weirded me out until I got my head around the fact that in Chinese-speaking cultures, calling one’s lover “sister” or “brother” does not imply anything incestuous.

Okay, I’m calling them “friends.”

One of the things which makes Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei’s friendship so entertaining is that they are opposites. Ziwei is well-educated, has an excellent understanding of the high arts, is a beautiful singer, an excellent chess player, etc. Xiaoyanzi is illiterate, and can’t follow proper etiquette even when her life depends on it. Ziwei, while healthy, is physically weak … whereas Xiaoyanzi is quite good at hand-to-hand combat, jumping over walls, and other physically-demanding feats. Ziwei can’t lie, but she’s very good at staying quiet. Xiaoyanzi can’t stay quiet, but she’s an excellent liar.

And it’s hilarious that Xiaoyanzi has to pretend that she is a princess, while Ziwei has to pretend that she’s not.

What they have in common is their passionate feelings. I think this is ultimately what brings them—and keeps them—together. Xiaoyanzi is willing to brave any danger to keep Ziwei safe … and Ziwei is willing to sacrifice anything for Xiaoyanzi’s well-being. When someone feels that way about you, it’s hard not to respond, and when it’s mutual, it’s hard to break apart. No wonder Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei care more about each other than the charming young men they fall in love with. Ultimately, they even come to the conclusion that their relationship with each other is more important than their relationship with their father, Emperor Qianlong. This is a classic example of how the more one gives, the more one has.

Princess Pearl and Goong

Cover of volume 20 of the Taiwanese eidtion of Goong

Out of all of the Asian comics I am familiar with, Goong feels the most like Princess Pearl. They are both about a teenaged girl from the commoner class who finds herself inadvertendtly becoming a princess, locked away inside the royal court. Neither Xiaoyanzi nor Chae-Kyung are very good at being refined, well-behaved princesses, and it’s their very roughness and lively spirit which eventually wins over the love of almost everybody in the palace.

Princess Pearl and Goong are entertaining for some of the same reasons. There’s plenty of opportunity for comedy as the commoner way of life and the royal way of life clash with each other, yet underneath all of the amusing escapades a potential tragedy is brewing (notice that I say *potential* … I am not trying to imply that either story actually is a tragedy).

Prince Shin is, in some ways, the opposite of Emperor Qianlong. Prince Shin is a big jerk at first, and only later reveals his tenderness; Emperor Qianlong is all sweetness and tenderness at first, and only bares his fangs once the novelty of having a new daughter wears off.

And of course, some of the major details are really different … Goong really is a romance, and Princess Pearl scores way better on the Bechdel test (come to think of it, it’s very rare for two male characters to talk about something other than a woman in Princess Pearl), not to mention the whole time period/location thing. But I think it would be fair to call both of them soap operas.

I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Princess Pearl and Goong feel so much alike. The 1998 TV adaptation of Princess Pearl was extremely popular in South Korea (where it is called “Emperor’s Daughter”). Goong started serialization just a few years later in 2002. I don’t know whether or not Princess Pearl inspired Park SoHee, but considering what I’ve read about the impact Princess Pearl had on South Korea, I think it must have at least been an influence.

Availability in English (rant)

This novel has never been published in English or in any other European language as far as I know. I can’t even find a TV adaptation with English subtitles (though I suspect that it just might be possible to get Singapore DVDs with English subtitles—I haven’t turned over every stone).

This … irritates me.

I do not buy the argument that non-Asians can’t understand the oh-so-mysterious Chinese culture. I think somebody who had never even heard of China before could love this novel. Understanding what it’s like to be a human being is all that’s required, as far as I’m concerned.

And considering that this story has proven extremely popular in places with such different cultures as Mongolia and Indonesia, I don’t see why this couldn’t have been a worldwide hit … aside from reluctance on the part of the media to even try.

*sigh*

Maybe they should make a comic book adaptation … manhua, manhwa, manga, whatever (the original novel and the 1998 TV adaptation are available in both Korean and Japanese) and then get that licensed overseas.

But this is one of the reasons I bother writing this column. I want to help the works which do get translated into English get more attention, and I want to discuss things which don’t get translated into English so that English-speakers at least have a clue about what they’re missing.

Conclusion

I figured that, since this is one of the most popular Chinese-language novels ever, that it would at least be readable. What I didn’t expect is that it would become one of my personal favorites. It’s really a very simple story, yet the simplicity makes me love it harder. Actually, it’s so simple that I’m even a bit embarrassed that I love it so much.

I think one of the fundamentals of human existence is that we crave love and affection from others. The flipside is that we are all afraid of losing that love. This is true whether we are a street urchin or the emperor of China. To some extent, it doesn’t matter where that love comes from—a parent, a sibling, a child, a lover, a friend, a stranger. That craving, and that fear, can drive us to both wonderful and terrible things.

I think this is the chord that this story has struck in a billion people.

Sara K. …. has completely forgotten what she wants to say. Oh well. When she remembers, she can stick it at the end of a future post.

Manga the Week of 11/21

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SEAN: After a very, very busy first two weeks of November, you’d think the manga industry would let us off easy before Thanksgiving, but no. There’s an awful lot to bite into this week.

First of all, Midtown seems to have caught up with Diamond Comics. If you’re looking for the 2nd week Viz releases or the Seven Seas titles, we discussed them last week.

That still leaves a lot. Starting, as ever, with Dark Horse, who are bringing out the first of their Trigun Maximum volumes. While I always tended to prefer the anime adaptation of this story, I do still have a soft spot for Vash and company, and if you haven’t tried the title out yet, you might want to. Meryl and Milly are a stitch!

MICHELLE: I never have been able to muster much enthusiasm for Trigun, even though I have vaguely good feelings towards it.

SEAN: Digital Manga Publishing has one BL titles and two non. Starting with the BL, we first have Honey Smile, a title from Nihon Bungeisha’s Karen Magazine. Aside from appealing to women named Karen, the premise sounds quite sweet, and the cover only adds to that impression.

MJ: It’s so rare that I like the cover for a BL manga (even when I end up liking the manga), but for once this actually does look like My Kind of BL, right from the start. I’ll definitely be looking out for this.

MICHELLE: Oh, that *is* pretty adorable-looking!

SEAN: I had thought that Lovephobia, Vol. 2 of which is out next week, fell into the BL category as well, mostly as it runs in the hideously named Comic B’s Log KYUN!. But it’s apparently a regular old shoujo title that features vampires. As you know, Congressional Act Pub-L 111-369 decrees that all vampire manga must be licensed for North American audiences, so here we are. Do they sparkle?

MJ: Hmmm, I’m torn between my love for the words “old shoujo” and my increasing weariness with vampires. Which feeling will win?

MICHELLE: I keep mentally conflating Lovephobia with Toko Kawai’s Loveholic, so I’ve been thinking of it as BL as well.

SEAN: I’m not used to seeing DMP dipping its toes into the waters of Media Factory’s Comic Alive, which is usually the purview of our friends at Seven Seas. Here they are, though, with Vol. 1 of Hentai Prince and the Stony Cat. It apparently features a perverted protagonist *and* a tsundere, but we’ll give it a shot anyway.

MJ: This sounds like it could either be awesome or horrible, and I’ll probably wait for someone else to read it first. I’m looking at you, Sean.

MICHELLE: Ugh. Not for me.

SEAN: 3 titles next week (well, this week, but it’s Kodansha, we know the deal) from Kodansha Comics. Animal Land has hit Vol. 6. For some reasons, I always assume this title is geared towards little kids in Japan, but it runs in Monthly Shonen Magazine, also home to Flowers of Evil and Attack on Titan, so I could be wrong. Are there at least animals? In a land?

MJ: There are, but I couldn’t even make it through the first volume, so that’s about all I can tell you.

MICHELLE: I made it through the first one, but never did continue. It’s got tons of poop jokes, so you’re probably right about its intended audience.

SEAN: Love Hina’s omnibus re-release hits Vol. 4, and introduces two of its most controversial plot points. a) Kanako Urashima, Keitaro’s younger sister, and b) Keitaro’s leave-of-absence from the series, and subsequent return with a personality transplant. Still, it has a new translation, and probably better scans, so Love Hina fans (like me) will get it anyway.

Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations hits Vol. 3, and sadly still lacks most of the cast of the games themselves, being content only with Dick Gumshoe. Still, even though Edgeworth is not as silly as Phoenix, he surrounds himself with silly suspects.

Apologies to BL fans: when porting over Viz’s 2nd week releases last week, I missed the two SubLime BL titles. So here they are. Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love has Vol. 2, with a cute feminine little guy trying to attract the grumpy, chain-smoking big manly guy. (I really need to come up with better ways to describe BL.) As for the cover of Vol. 2 of Starting with a Kiss… do necks even BEND like that? Oh my God!

MJ: I admit I’ve been pretty wishy-washy on SuBLime releases in general. I love what they are doing and how they’re doing it (Viz has proven they really get digital distribution, including how it works best for particular audiences—in this case, BL fans), but for the most part, their licenses are simply not to my taste. I am not the BL fan they are publishing for, and titles like Bond of Dreams, Bond of Love really drive that point home. Given the response I’ve seen from BL fans at Manga Bookshelf (and elsewhere), I’m pretty sure they’re making strong choices for the larger fanbase, but I just really don’t care for these titles.

MICHELLE: I have genuinely liked at least one (The Bed of My Dear King) and was unexpectedly intrigued by another (Punch Up!), but on the whole I must agree. I prefer a kinder, gentler sort of BL. And egads, that Starting with a Kiss cover is creepy!

SEAN: Viz also has a few 3rd week releases. Bokurano: Ours has hit Vol. 7, and is still doing what Bokurano does quite nicely. Its uplifting and life-affirming message requires the reader to sit through piles and piles of trauma, and thus I’ve given it a miss.

MJ: Oooh, I bet Michelle has a response to this!

MICHELLE: There’s no denying Bokurano is grim, grim, grim, and that one doesn’t get to learn much about the cast of kids until it’s their turn to pilot the robot and subsequently die. But it’s the mystery of why this is all happening that keeps me fascinated.

SEAN: REAL is still ongoing in Japan, albeit at a very slow rate, and now North America gets Vol. 11. This volume actually promises to feature Nomiya, the delinquent protagonist who got most of the beginning of the series before the focus moved away from him. Still a good story well-told, as you’d expect from Inoue.

MJ: Hurray! Seriously, that’s the only possible response to a new volume of REAL.

MICHELLE: I disagree. I think “Huzzah!” works equally well!

SEAN: And Saturn Apartments, one of the quieter SigIKKI titles, has hit Vol. 6. I think 7 is the last, so it must be getting close to wrapping things up.

MJ: Wow, I’m behind in this series. I need to remedy that, pronto.

MICHELLE: Me, too. I really like it, but I’ve fallen behind by several volumes now.

SEAN: There’s a new omnibus out for CLAMP’s classic shoujo series X, containing Vols. 10-12, and more preparation for the complete and total apocalypse that we still haven’t actually quite seen yet. Still, the preparation is absolutely gorgeous.

MJ: Despite my lukewarm feelings for this series, these omnibus releases are a must-buy. If there’s one thing I really do love about X, it’s the gorgeous, shoujo-tastic artwork, and these volumes show that off to its best advantage.

MICHELLE: I still have yet to read beyond volume one of this series, despite owning it in its entirety and having the first two omnibus editions. I’ve seen the anime, though.

SEAN: Lastly, I had wondered why Diamond didn’t ship it this week with the rest of Yen’s titles, but no matter: The long awaited Thermae Romae Vol. 1 (a two-volume omnibus) is out next week in glorious hardcover. Far more than just a take of Roman baths, this series is another reason why North Americans keep wanting more and more from Comic Beam (also home to Emma and Wandering Son).

MJ: I can’t wait to read this!

MICHELLE: Me, neither! Coming soon to an Off the Shelf near you!

SEAN: It’s Thanksgiving Week for The U.S.! What titles are you thankful for?

Digital Manga goes all-digital for six months

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Here’s a startling bit of news: Digital Manga, Inc., has put all their print titles on hiatus for six months, from January through June 2013. In a message on the company blog, Digital president Hikaru Sasahara said, “Please be advised that none of our licenses are cancelled, simply postponed. We will be resuming the distribution of our print editions in June, 2013.” The move affects all Digital imprints, including June, 801, and DokiDoki, but not the two Tezuka books ; behind the scenes, the company has been revamping its emanga digital manga site.

The latest addition to the Shonen Jump Alpha lineup is the romantic comedy Nisekoi, by Naoshi Komi, who is best known for his Double Arts manga.

Lissa Pattillo looks at this week’s new manga releases in her latest On the Shelf column at Otaku USA.

Where’s Deb Aoki? She’s in Tokyo, at the International Comics Festa, where a group of Canadians has put together their own doujinshi anthology. She’s taking pictures and chronicling her adventures on Twitter, so if you don’t follow her already, now would be a good time to start.

Reviews

Rebecca Silverman on vols. 9 and 10 of Oresama Teacher (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 44 of Case Closed (ANN)
Ken H on vol. 1 of Heroman (Comics Should Be Good)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 59 of Naruto (The Comic Book Bin)
Alex Hoffman on vol. 1 of Pupa (Manga Widget)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 10 of Rin-ne (The Comic Book Bin)
Lesley Aeschliman on vol. 8 of Sailor Moon (Blogcritics)
Anna on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Manga Report)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Rebecca Silverman on Wolf (ANN)

Strobe Edge, Vol. 1

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By Io Sakisaka. Released in Japan by Shueisha, serialized in the magazine Bessatsu Margaret (“Betsuma”). Released in North America by Viz.

As many readers of this blog know, give me a choice between a new series that’s daring, bold, experimental and avant-garde and a new series that’s more of the same as all the other series except with different bits, and I will go for the latter every time. I appreciate the value of alt-manga, but am far more happy reading Vol. 97 of Shoujo Girl X. Usually because every time I do, even if it seems like it’s going to be more of the same, there’s always something that ends up drawing me in. These series all have to compete in Japan with 7,000 other high-school romances. There needs to be something that stood out enough to have it be a success there and get licensed here. Which brings me to Strobe Edge.

The cover really says it all – it’s hard to look at and not feel ‘well, it’s a bit overly sweet, isn’t it?’ without even reading the content. And the first half of the book doesn’t seemingly do much to change that opinion. Ninako is naive and a bit flighty, but not overly ditzy. She’s got a group of close female friends (who so far have stayed her friends, yay!) as well as a male childhood friend that everyone assumes she is in love with, mostly as he is clearly in love with her and that’s how these things go. Ninako, however, isn’t sure what she feels for Daiki is love. And she has *no idea* what these feelings she has are when she runs into Ren, the school heartthrob and all-around mysterious guy.

As I said, so far so normal. If I told you Daiki was blond and Ren had black hair, I assume you’d be totally unsurprised. But gradually I started to realize that more thought was being put into the plot than I suspected. Ninako may seem flighty, but she thinks hard about everything, and once she realizes that what she’s feeling for Ren is love, all sorts of extra problems come up. As for Daiki, he is obviously the ‘unlucky childhood friend’ who is there to provide the love triangle, but this does not make his crush on Ninako any less weighty, especially as we see its origins. He’s a nice guy, as Ninako herself says, and we feel for him even as we root for Ninako to get together with Ren, because that’s how these things go.

The second half of this volume really picks things up, and I was quite startled a few times. Ren, for one, is not really the aloof loner type he presents… or at least not around Ninako, which is a good sign. Of course, things aren’t as simple as ‘if I just worked up my courage to confess, we’d be together’. Ren’s own life intertwines with Daiki’s in very unexpected ways, and as Ninako herself notes, when you fall in love with someone the feelings don’t merely vanish just because you get rejected. I suspect the plot of much of Strobe Edge will deal with that, given the large number of unrequited relationships we bring out here.

Strobe Edge begins with its heroine thinking about what it means to be in love, and I suspect that’s what the whole series is going to be about. It’s working with stock shoujo manga types, but what it’s doing with them is interesting. Which, as I said before, is exactly what I look for in ‘normal’ shoujo manga.

Blogging about the blogger

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If you’re curious to know what I really think about comics, manga, comics shops, and other stuff, as well as what it was like to be an Eisner judge (in a word: Awesome!), check out Carrie Shepherd’s interview with me at Girls + Comics.

The Manga Bookshelf bloggers discuss their Pick of the Week.

Noah Berlatsky looks at the role of women in ero and horror manga such as the works of Junji Ito and relates it to their role in society at the time these manga were being created.

Matt Blind looks at the top-selling manga from the past week.

Reviews: The Manga Bookshelf team kick off the week with a new set of Bookshelf Briefs. Ash Brown discusses a week’s worth of manga reading at Experiments in Manga.

Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 14-16 of Bakuman (Comics Worth Reading)
Lori Henderson on vols. 33 and 34 of Bleach (Manga Xanadu)
Phillip on vol. 2 of A Bride’s Story (Eeeper’s Choice)
Johanna Draper Carlson on vols. 6 and 7 of Bunny Drop (Comics Worth Reading)
Sean Gaffney on vol. 1 of Missions of Love (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Anna on Not for a Student and Hush A Bye Baby (Manga Report)
Kristin on vol. 1 of Strobe Edge (Comic Attack)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 15 of We Were There (The Comic Book Bin)

It Came from the Sinosphere: Princess Pearl (Pt. 1)

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The book covers of Princess Pearl

So, a while ago, I said I needed to read some Chiung Yao novels and try some of the TV adaptations. Well, I’ve been working on that, and it is with great enthusiasm that I present Princess Pearl (AKA My Fair Princess and Prince Returning-Pearl).

About Chiung Yao

Chiung Yao might be the most popular Taiwanese novelist ever (this is difficult to measure). She is without a doubt the most popular female Chinese-language novelist ever, as well as the most popular Chinese-language romance novelist ever.

Almost all of her novels were originally serialized in a magazine aimed at teenage girls, and with all of the cliffhangers, they read like serializations. The works I’ve read so far have an addictive melodramatic quality that reminds me of 70s shoujo manga.

Princess Pearl is her most popular novel, and was adapted into the most popular Mandarin-language TV drama ever (I am not exaggerating). But I want to talk about the novel, not the TV drama.

Story

This novel is set in 18th century China. Xiaoyanzi is a burglar and a swindler who grew up on the streets of Beijing. She encounters Ziwei, an educated and refined girl from Shandong. At first they rub each other the wrong way, but soon enough they bond and become sworn sisters. Ziwei left Shandong upon the death of her mother, and her mother’s dying wish was that she would go to her father in Beijing. Though Ziwei knows where her father is, getting access to him is a problem because her mother never had a chance to tell him that they have a daugther and … well, he’s the emperor of China. Of course, while Ziwei can’t break into the Forbidden City, Xiaoyanzi, as an expert burglar, can.

Upon breaking into the Forbidden City, carrying the evidence of Ziwei’s paternity with her, Xiaoyanzi is shot by an arrow, and eventually passes out. Emperor Qianlong, seeing the evidence, mistakes Xiaoyanzi for being his own daughter. By the time Xiaoyanzi is clear-headed again, it is explained to her that if he discovers that she is a fake, the emperor will cut off her head. Meanwhile, Ziwei remains outside the Forbidden City.

About Emperor Qianlong

Emperor Qianlong ruled for over 60 years, one of the longest reigns in Chinese history. I don’t know much about the historical Emperor Qianlong, but I remember one exhibit about his personal ceramics collection. In order to show his appreciation for ceramics, he would write poems praising their excellence, and then order people to carve the poems into the pieces. While I didn’t bother to read the poetry myself, apparently a common theme was that it was very important for an emperor to appraise ceramics, and therefore he was not neglecting his imperial duties by obsessing over his collection.

Emperor Qianlong wasn’t just interested in pottery. He also collected paintings, jade, ivory, and other works of art. He didn’t just appreciate Chinese art; he also collected art from Europe and Central Asia. In addition to visual art, he also loved music, poetry, and literature.

He is a very popular character in Chinese-language historical fiction … however most historical fiction focuses not on his love of art, but his romantic and sexual relationships with various women. Even though I’ve never seen (and probably never will see) The Legend of Qianlong, I do like the theme song.

This isn’t even the first time I’ve discussed him; he’s one of the main characters in The Book and the Sword.

In this particular novel, he is basically presented as a loveable spoiled brat who unfortunately (for everyone else) has absolute power over an empire. He loves art and culture, and feels entitled to having access to the best. He loves romance and sex, and feels that any woman he approaches ought to feel happy about it. And he has had so many relationships that it’s easy for even someone he likes a lot to slip from his mind (Ziwei’s mother specifically). He expects his children to continually shower him with affection and to do everything he tells them to do because a) he is their emperor and b) he is their father. And it is really, really easy to hurt his feelings.

I’m making him out to be a nasty character, aren’t I? Well, in his defense, he is also very loving. When he takes a liking to somebody, he is extremely gentle and kind, and he often gets heartbroken because a) somebody he likes got hurt or b) he feels betrayed by somebody he likes. It seems that he has, by nature, a sweet, warm, and sensitive personality, yet he has been warped by having more power than any human being ought to have.

In any case, it’s no wonder that he appears in so much Chinese-language fiction. He is a complex character who can be presented as a hero or as a villain, and he can fit well in anything ranging from a deep work of serious literature to a titillating pornographic film.

The Love Triangle

Zhao Wei as Xiaoyanzi

Okay, so sue me, I am using an image from the TV series

Since Chiung Yao is known as a romance writer, I was expecting this to be a romance. And there is some romance in the novel, but it generally happens in the sidelines. But while this novel is not about romance, it is definitely about love. There is even a (non-romantic) love triangle at the center of the action: Xiaoyanzi, Ziwei, and Emperor Qianlong.

Neither Ziwei nor Xiaoyanzi had any father-figure in her childhood, so they both crave the fatherly affections of the emperor. Neither is interested in political power, so when they compete for the status of princess, this is their motivation. Meanwhile, the emperor wants as much love as possible to come his way, and while he never consciously tries to break up Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei, one of the schemes he comes up with to get more of their love would have incidently separated them.

Daughters and Fathers

I would say that, in the culture of the United States (as well as in Britain, Canada, Australia, etc), romantic relationships are valued more than parent-child relationships. In the Chinese-speaking world, it’s the other way around.

It has been noted that one of the things which makes Taiwanese idol dramas different from K-dramas and J-dramas is that there tends to be a lot more emphasis on the romantic couples’ parents and other relatives. I don’t know enough about K-dramas and J-dramas to confirm this … but compared to shoujo manga, this is certainly the case. This is also reflected in my encounters with Taiwanese people; they are much more likely to ask questions about my parents and family than about my romantic life.

Off the top of my head, I can think of two Taiwanese movies—Cannot Live Without You/No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti and Seven Days in Heaven—that are primarily about the relationship between a daughter and a father (and IIRC neither movie has any romance whatsoever). I cannot think of any English-language movie that is primarily about a relationship between a daughter and a father. In the context of Chinese-speaking culture, the fact that Princess Pearl focuses on parent-child relationships does not make it an outlier.

So what does the novel have to say about children and parents?

On the one hand, even though Xiaoyanzi and Emperor Qianlong are not biological relatives, they come to care for each other very deeply. This implies that the bond between daughter and father is forged by shared experiences and people’s actions, not by biology. On the other hand, Emperor Qianlong also happens to become very attached to Ziwei, even though he does not know that she is his biological daughter. This implies that the genetic bond still counts for something. Then again, when he first meets her, he doesn’t notice her. It is her actions that finally catch his attention.

While I disagree with some of the ideas that Chinese-speaking cultures have about parent-child relationships, I think it is good that they value them so much and include them far more often in their mainstream media, and I think my own culture could stand to learn something from them.

I have plenty more to say, but I think that’s enough for now. So please come back on Friday for Part 2, when I will:

– discuss the friendship/sisterhood between Xiaoyanzi and Ziwei
– compare the novel Princess Pearl to the manhwa Goong
– rant talk about its (un)availability in English

Next time (not Friday): You Are the Apple of My Eye (movie)

When Sara K. was caught reading a Chiung Yao novel, somebody told her that they are for 16-year old girls. She replied that when she was 16 years old, she couldn’t read Chinese. Furthermore, Sara K. has discovered that Chiung Yao novels, particularly the second halves, are NSFW. If she read them, they might make her cry, and then she’d have to explain to everybody what was wrong.