Today’s Saturday morning cartoon is Story of Saiunkoku! So many pretty men! So much wind blowing flower petals!
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Follow Friday: The Reliable Reviewer
Welcome to November’s Follow Friday! This month, I’m going to focus on The Reliable Reviewer. You know the one I mean… the critic whose priorities and tastes in fiction match up so closely to yours, that you know you’ve got at least a 95% chance of liking anything he/she likes. Most of us have a few of these amongst our daily reads, and they’re likely to be different for everyone. Today, I’ll focus on mine.
David Welsh (The Manga Curmudgeon) – I can count on one hand the number of David’s opinions I’ve disagreed with over time, that’s how reliable he is for me as a reviewer. If he likes something, that’s a good signal for me to buy, with little to no risk involved. He tends to shop in the same genres and demographic categories as I do (which is to say, nearly all of them), offering up reliable opinions in shojo, shonen, seinen, josei, and boys’ love manga. He’s also got quite a way with the English language. You can follow David on Twitter @MangaCur.
Michelle Smith (Soliloquy in Blue) – Much like David, Michelle is an omnivorous reader with genre tendencies very similar to mine. We have a few contentious series between us (Nabari no Ou, anyone?) and some contrasting pet peeves, but for the most part, her recommendation of a series is all that’s required for it to earn a place on my to-read list. She’s also a smart, witty writer whose reviews are worth a read, regardless of the quality of their subjects. You can follow Michelle on Twitter @swanjun.
Katherine Dacey (The Manga Critic) – Though Kate is frequently critical of series I like quite a lot, when she makes a recommendation, I can take that to the bank. Kate is a very particular type of Reliable Reviewer for me, because, though we have different priorities when reading a work, her overall assessment of a series she actually likes is 100% reliable for me–something that can’t even really be claimed by critics with tastes that more closely match mine. She’s sharp and perceptive, and her standards are impeccable. You can follow Kate on Twitter @manga_critic.
Ed Sizemore (Manga Worth Reading) – Unlike the three critics listed above, Ed’s typical demographic/genre range overlaps less with mine. He reads primarily seinen and mature shonen (with some dabbling elsewhere). He’s a man’s critic, but with an especially thoughtful tone that draws me in to his reviews nearly every time. Though I’m less likely to be able to refer to him for opinions on the latest Shojo Beat release, his thoughts on the books he chooses to review always resonate with me deeply, even on the rare occasion in which we disagree. You can follow Ed on Twitter @edsizemore.
Readers: Now that you have a list of reviewers I count on, who do you turn to for your reliable reviews?
Bunny Drop Volume 2
Bunny Drop Volume 2 by Yumi Unita
I’ve had the second volume of Bunny Drop for several weeks, and when I finally picked it up I was reminded of how charming this low-key josei series is. Daikichi and Rin have settled in to their new lives together, but trouble looms ahead as Daikichi starts to try to track down Rin’s real mother. He also has to deal with school enrollment for his new charge, and the societal implications of his choice to voluntarily downsize his job.
One of the things that I like about this series is that despite the premise of a batchelor suddenly having to take care of his five year old aunt, it isn’t overly sentimental. Daikichi isn’t drawn to look particularly handsome, and most of the time he his expressions look just like what you’d expect from an overburdened new father. Fortunately for Rin, Daikichi’s family has started to warm towards her, and she’s able to enjoy visiting with them. Daikichi’s mom starts going into full on crafting mode, making school supply bags and digging out old handknit sweaters for Rin. It was fun seeing the subtle ways Daikichi and RIn have bonded as a family. When she has something to say to him that she’s afraid of saying out loud, she just stares at him until he leans down so she can whisper in his ear.
I was surprised at how quickly the mystery of Rin’s mother was solved. Daikichi figures out who she is and goes to meet her. As befitting the subtle ways Bunny Drop handles character and plot development, she isn’t a monster who abandoned her child. She’s a very confused young woman who seems to have brainwashed herself to discard any maternal instinct whatsoever. Daikichi decides not to feel guilty about stepping into the role of Rin’s parent, because he’s clearly the only person in her life who actually is trying to take care of her interests.
Bunny Drop isn’t a series with extreme highs and lows. It has a measured approach to storytelling that feels very naturalistic, and the way Unita portrays Rin’s milestones like getting a new school backpack or being able to help in the kitchen seems like an accurate portrayal of a young girl slowly beginning to grow up.
3 Things Thursday: Guilty Pleasures?
On midweek holidays like today (link provided for readers outside the US) I find myself clinging to each precious moment of free time, too anxious even to allow myself to get lost in a delicious book, lest the time waste away too quickly. Thing is, between the demands of my full-time day job and the demands of the job I wish was full-time, it’s days just like this that offer me my only real chance to slack off.
With that in mind, I thought I’d use today’s 3 Things to identify some ideal reads for days just like this one–what some might describe as “guilty pleasures.” This is a term I’m frankly uncomfortable with, since I rarely feel guilty about anything I read, but in this case I will use it to draw a sketchy line between re-reads I can justify for “work” reasons, and those I clearly can’t. For instance, though I’m currently re-reading Banana Fish, a series I enjoy very much, this is easily justified as “work” thanks to the upcoming installment of Breaking Down Banana Fish. Other series may still be currently running, allowing me to justify those reads as preparation for discussion of new volumes. Still others may offer “classic” or literary value necessary for my growth as a manga critic.
In short, my “guilty pleasures” can be identified as completed series that I would re-read purely for my own enjoyment, no more no less. For me, that breaks down to Korean boys’ love manhwa and Fumi Yoshinaga. Observe:
3 “guilty pleasures” for a cold November holiday
1. Totally Captivated | Hajin Yoo | NETCOMICS – It’s no secret that I have a weakness for Korean BL, and Totally Captivated is one of my all-time favorites. Here’s a short synopsis from my review of volume six: “Ewon Jung is a 23-year-old scholarship student in Seoul, whose curiosity over whether or not it is possible to have great sex without love (“It was possible.”) leads him to cheat on his boyfriend, Jiho. Devastated and yearning for revenge, Jiho persuades his new boyfriend, a small-time loan shark named Mookyul Eun, to force Ewon into service at his office where he is expected to run errands, clean, and balance the books, all without payment. Unfortunately for Jiho, Mookyul soon develops an interest in Ewon, and it isn’t long before Jiho ends up shunted aside once again.”
Like a lot of the Korean BL I’ve seen published, the story is often violent, but unlike most Japanese BL with an element of rape fantasy, the little blond guy can give as good as he gets. It’s smart, funny, genuinely sexy, and one of the few BL series I keep in my overflowing library.
2. One Thousand and One Nights | Han SeungHee & Jeon JinSeok | Yen Press – Speaking of Korean BL, though I’ve never felt the slightest guilt over my obsession with this series, now that it has completed its run, I have little excuse to revisit it. Trouble is, I just want to. From my review of the first six volumes: “Loosely based on the original tales told by Scheherazade to her mad Persian king, in this version of One Thousand and One Nights, “Scheherazade” is a bookish young man named Sehara who has joined Sultan Shahryar’s harem in his sister’s place, in order to save her from being raped and beheaded like a string of young women before her … It is then that Sehara asks to be allowed to tell Shahryar a story, after which Shahryar may kill him as he pleases.”
Though the overarching tale of Sehara and Shahryar is, honestly, to die for (it’s also a rare BL story written by a man), this series’ real draw is in Sehara’s stories-within-the-story, pulled from various cultures, including those far outside the story’s timeline. Both as a romance and as a celebration of human storytelling, this series is PURE WIN.
3. Antique Bakery | Fumi Yoshinaga | Digital Manga Publishing – Nobody should ever feel guilty for reading Antique Bakery, but until the Manga Moveable Feast finally sets its sights on Yoshinaga (pleeeeeease), I have absolutely no excuse to do so. Still, I’ve re-read this series multiple times, and I intend to do so again. From my review of the full series: “Yoshinaga utilizes all her greatest strengths in this manga, rich characterization, rambling dialogue, and a deep love of food. The descriptions of the bakery’s various specialties is enough to make any pastry-lover swoon (enhanced by DMP’s scratch ‘n’ sniff covers). Her gift for gab brings this corner of Tokyo alive–especially the bakery’s customers, who wander in from all walks of life. Where Yoshinaga really outdoes herself, however, is with her delightful quartet of male leads.”
I love this series for its over-the-top characters, its rambling dialogue, its stunning artwork, and its gorgeous humanity. I could read it a thousand more times. And I just might read it today.
So, readers, what are your “guilty pleasures”? Please feel free to define that however you want (as I have). Respond in comments or in your own blog!
Off the Shelf: “Too Many Books”
Welcome to another edition of Off the Shelf with MJ & Michelle! I’m joined, once again, by Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.
This week, we take a look at a few favorites from Viz Media, Tokyopop, and Vertical, Inc.
MICHELLE: Ne, ne, MJ? Know what’s awesome? Manga is awesome. I was experiencing the slightest sense of “meh” about manga last weekend, and then I read House of Five Leaves and I am cured.
MJ: Oh, those moments of renewal are so fantastic, aren’t they? And House of Five Leaves is certainly up to the task.
MICHELLE: Definitely. I hope you feel similarly about what you read this week!
MJ: You know, I do. Maybe not as dramatically, but I’ve had a very good week in manga so far.
MJ: My first read this week is the final volume of Yun Kouga’s Crown of Love, a fairly dark josei romance, published here under Viz’s Shojo Beat imprint.
What’s been fascinating about this series from the beginning is the starkly intimate view Kouga provides of her characters’ darkest impulses, particularly those of the story’s protagonist, Hisayoshi. His stalker-like obsession with teen idol Rima has been consistently riveting, mainly because we’ve been privy not only to its creepiest aspects, but also to Hisayoshi’s own reflections on just how creepy they really are. This heightened self-awareness on the part of its characters is what makes the story really work. It also forces us to acknowledge our own creepiest thoughts, which, though perhaps not exactly desirable, is certainly effective.
When I discussed volume three back in July, I expressed some concern that the story might be headed for a more conventional conclusion. And though this does indeed come to pass, I’m happy to report that it doesn’t really make things any less complicated, even to the end.
What this series ultimately succeeds at pointing out is that love is essentially a pretty creepy thing. And though I’m not sure that’s a philosophy I’d personally want to live by, it’s not exactly wrong, either. Despite its obvious emotional focus, this is a series that analyzes itself and its characters constantly, from the inside out. The fact that its conclusions are disturbing is pretty much undeniable. They’re also uncomfortably (and remarkably) true. :) …
Pick of the Week: Twin Spica
I like to avoid repeating series here at Pick of the Week, but this week’s somewhat lackluster showing at Midtown Comics contains just one standout item that I can’t rightfully ignore.
I doubt if anyone still needs me to tell them to buy Twin Spica, but just in case, I’ll shout it far and wide.
I haven’t got my own copy of volume four yet (for shame, MJ, shame!) but here’s what I had to say about volume three:
I’ve already named this as my favorite new series this year, so my expectations were pretty high, but this volume managed to exceed them anyway.
Volume two ended with some drama that I expected would overwhelm the series for a while, but though it was certainly the focus of the first chapter or so here, the way it worked itself out was fresher and more poignant than I could have imagined.
Everyone in this series has suffered loss of some kind, but what is rare in a story with a teenaged protagonist is that the pain and loss of the story’s adult characters is given the same weight as the pain of its teens. And though the series is being marketed heavily to YA audiences here in the US, I think this is one of the aspects of the series that most reveals its originally intended demographic.
“I wonder why all grown-ups smile so sadly,” Asumi ponders, though she nearly answers her own question as she goes on, “I wish Miss Suzunari, Mr. Lion, Dad, Mr. Sano… I wish everyone could go up there.” That so many before her have already failed to achieve the very dream she now pursues may be a realization that still eludes Asumi, but it is not at all lost on readers, who are struck with this painful reality with the same force as the story’s ambitious teens put into trying to ignore it.
That said, there is just as much here for teen readers as there is for adults. The devotion the students in this story demonstrate toward each other, even as they compete for seats on the same spacecraft, is beautiful to behold. By the end of this volume, I had tears running down my face, and I challenge any reader to avoid the same fate, adult or teen.
Tears RUNNING DOWN MY FACE, people. What I mean to say here is BUY TWIN SPICA. You won’t regret it.
Library Wars: Love and War Volumes 2 and 3
Library Wars Volume 2
The plot in Library Wars might not be the most serious, and the art might not be the best out of all the shoujo series that I’m currently reading but this manga about a militarized task force of librarians seems tailor made for me. In the second volume Iku struggles with her relationship with new recruit Tezuka, whose excellence at academics and marksmanship cause him to look down at his bumbling female classmate. Iku’s roommate Shibasaki figures out that there might be a mole in the library corps. Iku’s team comes together in an attempt to foil the evil temporary head librarian. Dojo continues to act hot and cold, throwing himself over Iku to prevent some shelving from falling on her, then flicking her in the face after he tends to her wounds. When the Media Betterment Committee executes a raid on library corps headquarters, Iku’s quick tactical thinking and physical courage cause her to finally win Tezuka’s respect and he asks her out. She isn’t sure what to do.
One of the things I find amusing about Library Wars is the more intelligent members of the supporting cast are all aware that Iku and Dojo are in love with each other, even if the hapless future couple are determined not to confront their feelings. Shibasaki runs to Dojo with the news that Tezuka has asked out Iku and mockingly proposes herself as his replacement girlfriend. Dojo tells her “I don’t think I can take the competition. There are going to be a lot of jealous men.” Dojo doesn’t try to prevent the recruits from going out, but he warns Tezuka that if he goes out with Iku, he better take it seriously. Iku and Dojo continue to grow closer, and when Iku finally answers Tezuka it is clear that the two trainees are much better off as friends.
Library Wars Volume 3
This volume puts romance aside to focus on censorship, specifically the very common “Think of the children!” type of censorship that often results in book challenges at school libraries. Not surprisingly, children aren’t happy about having their access to their favorite series limited, and a pair of boys touches off an incident when they try to set off fireworks at a pro-censorship rally. Dojo sends Kasahara to grab the perps, and her super speed results in their capture, much to Tezuka’s dismay. Kasahara ends up bonding with her two juvenile delinquents when they reveal that their favorite series is going to be censored. She yells “It’s a great series! Why would they do that?” Dojo quickly warns “Don’t conspire with suspects!” After being lectured by the frightening Major Genda, the boys decide that they’ll fight censorship with research, designing a survey and compiling the responses from the other kids. The kids’ book censorship problem ends up getting solved in an unsubtle way, but I still enjoyed the way the library corps members worked together in an attempt to solve the problem
Dojo confronts Iku over her habit of romanticizing her mysterious library corps prince who helped her when she was a child and her favorite book was about to be censored. Dojo says “If he hadn’t mislead you by overstepping his authority, perhaps you would have better respect for the rules.” Still not realizing Dojo is talking about himself, Iku fires back “If it had been you in that bookstore, I wouldn’t be where I am today!” Iku’s life is complicated further when a reporter wants to profile her, and her parents announce that they are going to come for a visit.
Since everyone but Iku and Dojo know that the couple is going to end up together, there isn’t a whole lot of suspense in Library Wars: Love and War. In some ways, the lack of suspense translates into a cozy and stress-free read. It is easy to see where the plot is going, but I enjoy the characters and the militarized library setting so much the shortcomings of this series don’t bother me at all. I tend to read Library Wars for the scattered moments when Iku and Dojo seem like they’re getting close to an emotional breakthrough, and the fighting scenes as librarians battle censorship are a bonus.
I do hope that Iku comes into her own soon though. It seems to me that she lacks the life experience to leverage her gifts to her advantage. Dojo says to Iku at the end of the second volume “Your honesty and sense of justice, they’ll become your strength in the future.” I think that Iku’s quick reflexes and tendency to leap into action have been hindering her so far, but for someone who appears to be not very intelligent about alphabetizing books, she has some soldier’s instincts that can’t be taught. So far Dojo and Iku have been locked into a mentor/mentee relationship, so I hope they’re able to function more as equal partners by the end of the series.
Review copy of volume 3 provided by the publisher.
Two by Natsume Ono
For my latest column at Comics Should Be Good, I reviewed the debut volumes of two (relatively) new Natsume Ono series: House of Five Leaves and Gente: The People of Ristorante Paradiso. I really loved House of Five Leaves, with its story of a hapless samurai drawn into the schemes of a fascinating criminal. Gente is more a collection of low-key short stories than a single narrative, which means it’s slightly less awesome but still very entertaining.
You can find those reviews here.
Both House of Five Leaves and Gente are published in English by VIZ. The former is still ongoing in Japan, where it is up to eight volumes, but the latter (a “delightfully whimsical continuation” of Ristorante Paradiso) is complete with three volumes.
Review copy for Gente provided by the publisher.
Manhwa Monday: Manhwa comes to iOS
Welcome to another Manhwa Monday! This morning’s big news is the official launch of the Magician app from new webtoon publisher, iSee Toon, available now for the iPhone and the iPod Touch. Here’s an excerpt from the announcement that appeared on the company’s blog early this morning:
“[Magician] App is released. (Direct Link)
You could search [Magician] at iPhone App Store. With this App, you could read until Vol. 2 for free, purchase until Vol. 5. You could purchase additional volumes $0.99 each. We will update this App for better experience of users.”
Though iSee Toon’s blog needs some urgent help from a native English speaker, I think you get the gist.
The app requires iOS 4.1, which means that iPad users (like me, this morning) who race to the App Store to pick up Magician will be bitterly disappointed. Perhaps we’ll be able to pick it up after the upcoming release of iOS 4.2? We live in hope.
iSee Toon has picked up a bit of buzz lately, including a mention in the official KOCCA (Korea Creative Content Agency) blog, which quotes company spokesperson Kim Jin Sung, and an enthusiastic shout-out from Daniella Orihuela-Gruber, who worked on Magician‘s English adaptation.
This week in reviews, a couple of back volumes of popular Yen Press manhwa are getting some attention. First, at Slightly Biased Manga, Connie checks out volume seven of Goong. Then, at Manga Village, Justin Colussy-Estes takes a look at volume nine of One Thousand and One Nights, observing that even with no knowledge of the series early volumes, its stories-within-the-story still make the read well worthwhile. “I highly recommend you find a volume of this rich, exciting, consuming epic series and get lost in all the stories it has to offer.”
In new (and upcoming) Yen Press releases, at Manga Xanadu, Lori Henderson runs through the October issue of the new, digital Yen Plus, which includes new chapters of Time and Again, Jack Frost, and Aron’s Absurd Armada. I also take a look at the upcoming fourth volume of Time and Again in last week’s Off the Shelf column at Manga Bookshelf.
And reviews continue to pile up for the first volume of Japanese-produced, Korean-created March Story (Viz Media), with takes from Bill Sherman at Blogcritics.org and Chris Zimmerman at CBS4. (Thanks to Brigid Alverson for both those links!)
That’s all for this week!
Is there something I’ve missed? Leave your manhwa-related links in comments!
The Stellar Six of Gingacho Volume 1
The Stellar Six of Gingacho Volume 1 by Yuuki Fujimoto
The Stellar Six of Gingacho is set on a busy market street district, where the “Stellar Six” of the title are all middle school students who have grown up together while working at their family businesses. The main couple in the book are Mike, who is the daughter of a greengrocer and Kuro, a boy whose family runs a fish shop. At the opening of the market Mike and Kuro stage an acrobatic mock battle where they fight over what is better – fresh fish or daikon. The display reels the customers in to the market street. Mike and Kuro used to run together in a pack of children. There’s Sato, an otaku girl whose parents run a Yakitory stand. Iba’s parents run a rice stand, and she can heft an impressive amount of rice bags. Ikkyu uses his good looks and womanizing ways in his role of delivery boy for his family’s soba restaurant, and the group is rounded out by the oddly withdrawn Mamoru whose parents run the local liquor store. The group hangs out at the local bar before it opens officially, running up a tab for sodas and tea.
Mike is feeling wistful, but she’s not certain why. When the group of friends entered middle school they began to grow apart after being assigned separate classrooms. When everyone accidentally gets together in the bar, Mike realizes it has been a long time since the group has been in the same place at the same time. She embarks on a campaign for a group bonding activity – entering the traditional Japanese dance contest at the upcoming street festival, with her eye on the second place prize of free food. When the neighborhood bar gets vandalized, the group pulls together with the idea of winning the cash prize to help pay for repairs and their tab.
Mike isn’t yet facing up to the reality of adolescence and the possibility of her childhood friendship with Kuro changing into something else. The neighborhood setting of The Stellar Six gives it a different feeling than the many school-related shoujo series. While the antics of the kids are funny, the manga is also filled with a feeling of nostalgia about leaving childhood behind. All the adults on the street look after the children, and the children in turn keep tabs on residents that might need extra help or encouragement. This gives Stellar Six more depth and narrative interest than similar workplace shoujo manga like Happy Cafe. One of the greatest complements I can pay this series is that it feels a lot like a CMX title, with the same type of sweetness and deceptive simplicity that I found in their best shoujo titles. This isn’t a surprise since The Stellar Six was published by Hakusensha, source of many CMX and Tokyopop manga. The Stellar Six has a ton of heart, and while it might not be flashy, it is a perfect feel-good read.
Review copy provided by the publisher.