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Manhwa Monday: A New Year!

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goong1Happy New Year, Manhwa Monday readers!

Last week at Manga Bookshelf, I invited some friends to help me build a list of our Favorite Manhwa of 2009. Now, to start the year off right, I’m giving away one copy of the first volume of the most popular manhwa on that list, Goong: The Royal Palace. If you’ve not yet been bitten by the manhwa bug, or if you just haven’t gotten around to this addictive girls’ manhwa from Yen Press, here’s your chance!

Just leave a comment to this entry and you’ll automatically be entered in the drawing! You may also enter by sending an e-mail to mj@mangabookshelf.com with the subject line: “Goong.” The winner will be announced in next week’s column. Note: You must be age 13 or older to enter.…

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Ludwig II, Vols. 1-2

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ludwig2Ludwig II, Vols. 1-2
By You Higuri
Published by Digital Manga Publishing
Rating: 18+ (Mature)

Repulsed by affairs of the state and obsessed with the beauty of the arts, young King Ludwig II of Bavaria would much rather attend the opera than discuss his country’s vulnerability to power-hungry Prussia. As his ministers struggle to turn his focus to politics, Ludwig seeks the company of kindred spirits, particularly attractive young men whom he also desires as sexual partners.

With his greatest love apparently unrequited (that for notoriously decadent composer Richard Wagner, who uses Ludwig’s patronage to conceal his affair with a married woman) and his effusive relationship with Prince Paul of Thurn and Taxis nearing its end, Ludwig becomes infatuated with his new stable boy, an attractive young blond named Richard Hornig, whom he soon appoints as his personal manservant. Despite numerous obstacles, including a criminal plot hatched by Hornig’s brother and Ludwig’s brief engagement to his devoted cousin, Sophie, their mutual love grows, threatened only by political enemies and Ludwig’s increasingly frequent hallucinations.

As a matter of historical fact, King Ludwig II’s tragic and unexplained death can hardly be treated as a spoiler, a point wisely taken by mangaka You Higuri, who uses the event to open the series while also introducing Ludwig’s cousin Elizabeth (Empress of Austria), with whom he shared an exceptionally close relationship. Elizabeth, whose restless spirit earned her the name “The Wandering Queen,” begins as narrator and is portrayed throughout the story as the only person capable of truly understanding her cousin, doomed (as he is) to a fretful life as penance for the sin of dreaming. Higuri also makes good use of Ludwig’s well-known obsession with Wagner and his controversial legacy as “The Mad King,” by giving him recurring visions of a beautiful male “Valkyrie” (mythical Norse maidens who act as angels of death, portrayed extensively in Wagner’s opera Die Walküre) who draws him slowly into darkness and away from Hornig.

Though early on, Higuri tosses in a half-hearted reference to Ludwig’s lifelong struggle with religion and sexuality (as documented in his diaries), Ludwig’s imaginary Valkyrie is given most of the dirty work when it comes to tearing him away from his One True Love, Hornig, as well as the task of explaining his death. That Higuri’s story is highly fictionalized is not only obvious but intentional, yet it is its historical foundation that gives it much of its resonance, so much so that it’s tempting to wish she had gone just a bit further.

Higuri has set up a very attractive tragedy—its beautiful lovers doomed by circumstance, position, and mental instability. This premise, as stated, is perfectly primed for romantic fantasy and certainly a staple of the genre. What’s a bit sad is that the demands of boys’ love must take precedence over the opportunity to illustrate Ludwig’s true tragedy—one better told by historians and biographers. Much more heartbreaking than a tale of star-crossed lovers is that of a sensitive and artistically inclined young man, shackled by position and ruined by wealth, tortured by the impossibility of reconciling his deeply ingrained religious beliefs with the reality of his own sexuality, and doomed to lose lover after lover to disenchantment or, worse, matrimony.

Not only does Higuri romanticize Ludwig’s famously mysterious end, she also carefully leaves out his pain over Hornig’s real-life marriage, which took place years before. Though the true tale, of course, fails to provide the stuff of romantic fantasy, it reveals far more poignant truths about life as a gay monarch in the nineteenth century.

Even the New York Times, in their 1886 obituary, described Ludwig as a man born “too soon or too late”—a reclusive lover of the arts burdened with the weight of deep feeling, and ill-suited to an environment of politics and war. That Ludwig’s loneliness is palpable, even in the coldest historical accounts, is painfully revealing and unfortunately far removed from the world of boys’ love manga, as is his eventual decline into obesity. Given Ludwig’s aesthetic tastes, it is likely that Higuri’s ending for him—young, beautiful, and adored even in his final moments—would better satisfy his sensibilities than the one he came to himself.

One aspect of Ludwig’s personality that Higuri captures quite well is his devotion to his own fantasies—bestowing lavish gifts on those who pleased him and pouring his personal fortune into the construction of a series of elaborate castles—something that caused strife amongst his ministers but inspired considerable loyalty in the Bavarian people. It is Ludwig’s increasing retreat into fantasy that Higuri uses to justify his romantic and beautiful demise, something Ludwig himself would no doubt have appreciated.

Historical inaccuracies aside, Higuri’s tale is undeniably engaging and honestly romantic, despite her tendency to sentimentalize some disturbingly imbalanced bedroom dynamics which, granted, may not be far removed from class-based sexual politics of the day. The series’ detailed artwork and lush, period setting provide a feast for the eyes as well, with special attention given to the emotional tone of each scene. Ludwig’s inner world is especially well established, both visually and otherwise, and Higuri’s ability to portray him equally well in ecstasy as in despair gives him the range necessary to rise above the melodrama as a genuinely poignant character.

With just enough fact behind the fiction, Ludwig II manages to be more than a stylish costume piece, and if it inspires yearning for a deeper look at history, this can hardly be a bad thing. Succinct yet satisfying in two double-sized volumes, this series provides enough substance to please even casual fans of the genre.

Review copies provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

Love*Com, Volume 14

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Guest Review: Love*Com, Vol. 14
By Aya Nakahara
Published by VIZ Media

Review by Deanna Gauthier

love*com14
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In this volume, Risa and Otani’s relationship is once again under attack. To Risa’s horror, her own grandfather has hired a woman to seduce Otani and break them up. Even worse, Otani believes the sob story he’s been given by the beautiful, buxom Hitomi and accuses Risa of lying to him about her grandfather’s scheme. When the truth comes out will it matter who was wrong and who was right now that a jealous and conniving Hitomi has tricked Risa and left her at the mercy of two yakuza thugs?

This is a romantic comedy so of course a plotline like this will never end as tragically as it could. Still, it is the darkest plotline (and Hitomi, the character with the blackest heart) to appear in Love* Com. Being the gullible reader I am, I believed Risa was in real danger. The threat of rape just doesn’t sit right with me as fodder for comedic misunderstanding. Love*Com has always delivered liberal doses of fluffy silliness along with angst as Risa and Otani discover what they mean to each other and learn what it means to like someone, let alone be in love with them. The mangaka, Aya Nakara, has characterized her manga as intended to bring a smile to the faces of her readers and give them even a moment of enjoyment in their lives. In that regard she has always delivered in spades. I found plenty to laugh about in this volume as I have in the volumes that preceded it–not to mention warm and fuzzy moments to make me smile. Risa and Otani are such innocent and awkward leads–two loveable stumbling idiots who are absolutely made for each other. I do not mean to pick on Nakahara too much for this storyline. It just struck me as too serious and dark a dilemma for an otherwise non-threatening shojo romantic comedy.

Speaking of non-threatening, this volume marks the return of the clownishly-drawn, not-too-bright punks who Risa’s brother nearly came to blows with in the previous volume. Nakahara’s artwork is strongest when it comes to facial expression, especially the eyes. Yet the facial features of her yakuza are drawn with very thin lines and no shading, reducing them almost to doodles that look like they don’t quite belong in the same universe as our main characters. I don’t particularly like the design and execution of the yakuza characters. It feels sloppy in comparison to how beautiful (or at least human) the rest of her characters look most of the time. However, I do feel Nakahara successfully uses this same technique of reducing the facial features of the rest of her cast to thin lines that stretch or contort into odd shapes to comically express certain emotions more strongly. It’s funny, but it’s only just now, fourteen volumes into the series, that it occurs to me: Nakahara uses this instead of drawing chibis!

I really am enjoying this series. It has given me reason to smile when I have really needed it during the dreary fall and winter days, and it holds up well to re-reads. It is definitely one for my keeper shelf. I look forward to the final three volumes!

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Memories of the Future 1 by Wil Wheaton: B

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memfuture1From the back cover:
The away team returns from the planet with some very good news: it’s clean, it’s beautiful, it’s populated with friendly humanoids… and they really like to do the nasty.

“At the drop of a hat,” according to Geordi.

“Any hat,” Tasha says knowingly.

Picard sends a second, larger team down to the planet to see exactly how many hats they’re going to need.

From “Encounter at Farpoint” to “Datalore,” relive the first half of Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s unintentionally hilarious first season through the eyes, ears, and memories of cast member and fan, Wil Wheaton (Wesley Crusher) as he shares his unique perspective in the episode guide you didn’t even know you were dying to read.

Review:
I came a little late to Star Trek: The Next Generation. I don’t come from a family of Trekkies and didn’t know anyone who watched the original show, so I was not glued to my set for TNG‘s 1987 debut (like I’d later be for Deep Space Nine‘s). Instead, I got into it in 1992, when my brother was watching the episodes in syndication every afternoon and hanging TNG action figures (still in the package, of course) on his walls. I began watching with him and was soon hooked, acquiring Larry Nemecek’s The Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion so that I could read all about the making of the episodes and keep track of the ones I’d seen. (Side note: I still haven’t seen 1.5 of them, but I kind of like it that way. It makes it seem like it’s not quite over.)

Although I eventually came to prefer DS9, TNG still holds a place in my heart. Like many people, I never did much care for the character of Wesley Crusher, but when I spotted Wil Wheaton’s episode reviews on TV Squad, I did read a few of them. In his introduction to Memories of the Future, Wheaton explains how the site lost a chunk of its funding and, therefore, the ability to pay him, but that he wanted to at least complete reviews for the first season, and so this book was born.

If you’re looking for a tawdry tell-all book, you’re not going to find it here. Wheaton doesn’t talk specifically about his castmates much, but when he does, he has nothing but positive things to say about them. Instead, his vitriol is reserved for the writers; he critiques the way various characters are written (Wesley, primarily, but also Worf and Troi, who are particularly one-dimensional during the first season) and points out many logic flaws and other problems with episode construction. I found his arguments to be compelling—especially how, contrary to many fans’ beliefs, Wheaton himself was in no way responsible for Wesley’s tendencies to save the day and be smug about it—and insightful.

There’s a chapter for each episode including a synopsis, quotable dialogue, obligatory technobabble, behind-the-scenes memory, bottom line, and final grade. The synopses are very snarky, though occasionally he’ll break from that mold to praise a particularly nice piece of acting. Many, many pop culture references abound—Strong Bad, Pulp Fiction, Animal Farm, et cetera—which is okay when I get them but rather annoying when I don’t. I have a feeling I was supposed to find some of the snark funny, but I never did, though I think there was a pretty clever/esoteric shabu shabu joke in there.

Memories of the Future is published by Monolith Press, which was founded by Wheaton “on the idea that publication should not be limited by opportunity.” I’m not sure, therefore, whether anyone else ever read and edited the book before its release. There are a few instances where an incorrect but not misspelled word is used—“marshal arts” or “when Picard apologies or something”—and a lot of inconsistency in the treatment of words that come after colons (don’t capitalize them unless they’re proper nouns!). Also, the header for each episode is accompanied by some grey bars with a lot of random numbers on them. I could never figure out whether they have any significance; perhaps they’re supposed to look like an Enterprise computer display or something? In any case, some tighter editorial controls would’ve provided a bit more polish.

(Update: After realizing that the numbers never go above 26, I tried my hand at cryptanalysis. All I could figure out is that the letters for the Introduction spell “Wesley.” Beyond that, it’s either gibberish or a code too complex for a lazy person like me to bother with.)

Ultimately, while I had some complaints I still wished I had volume two immediately on hand after finishing this one and I wish, too, that Wheaton will continue beyond the first season. While he is occasionally (and rightly) critical of some aspects of the show, his perspective is undeniably interesting and, above all, affectionate.

Additional reviews of the first volume of Memories of the Future can be found at Triple Take.

Vampire Knight, Volume 8

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Guest Review: Vampire Knight, Vol. 8
By Matsuri Hino
Published by Viz Media

Review by Megan M.

vampireknight8
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Cross Academy is divided into two groups of students: the Day Class, made up of seemingly normal high school students, and the Night Class, whose members are actually vampires. Protecting the human students from the vampires are Yuki Cross (the headmaster’s foster daughter) and her childhood friend, Zero Kiryu. Yuki has always had a strange relationship with the head of the Night Class, Kaname, on whom she must rely to explain the mysteries of her past. Fortunately for Yuki, circumstances have reached a point where Kaname has no other choice but to do so.

I read the first three volumes of this series when they first came out in the U.S., but eventually dropped it. While I found the main plotline interesting and liked Yuki and Zero, I found Kaname to be extremely creepy and his relationship with Yuki even more so. The real deal breaker for me, however, was that the entire cast (excepting Zero) behaved as if Yuki was one of Kaname’s personal possessions. Having now read this volume, there is virtually nothing I can say on this topic that would not be considered a major spoiler, but suffice it to say that the story itself now appears to support this view of Yuki. Not only has Kaname been firmly established as a love interest, but we also learn that Yuki was literally created purely for the purpose of being Kaname’s bride. There are other plot elements that briefly appear–the mythology of the vampire hunters and the dangers of twin hunters, for instance–but these items are clearly secondary.

In addition to giving life to the creepiest implications of the story’s core premise, the overall quality of the series seems to have declined. In early volumes, I recall that Yuki had quite a bit to do. In this volume, she literally does nothing but run around in a nightgown. In addition, Zero does nothing but point his gun and angst. Only Kaname has anything of real substance on his plate, which unfortunately consists of obsessing over Yuki and seeking revenge. Had I not read previous volumes, I would wonder if Hino’s characters were capable of anything but angst (alternately tragic and angry), aside from some supporting characters, whose range extends to ominous, mysterious, and tragic.

The series’ art has also suffered a serious decline. In the past, I’ve found Matsuri Hino’s art to be too cluttered for my taste–more focused on looking pretty than storytelling–but her designs and backgrounds were interesting and appealing, and her art very detailed. Unfortunately, she has degenerated to substituting backgrounds with white space or hazy textures and her characters have become so generic that they are difficult to tell apart except by hairstyle.

I decided to give Vampire Knight another try thanks to a growing fondness for other gothic shojo titles over the last two years. Unfortunately, whatever it is that CLAMP, Higuri You and Kaori Yuki have, Matsuri Hino doesn’t.

Review copy provided by the publisher.

Serenity 2: Better Days by Whedon, Matthews, and Conrad: B

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serenity2From the back cover:
When the Serenity crew uncovers a heaping pile of cash—marking their first successful heist—they divulge their most outlandish fantasies, and look forward to a little R&R in a tropical paradise. Unfortunately for these space cowboys, someone is hot on their heels in search of a prize more precious than money.

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, joins Brett Matthews and Will Conrad—the team that brought you the smash hit Serenity: Those Left Behind—with a new chapter in the lives of Malcolm Reynolds and his roving band of space brigands in Better Days.

Review:
While Serenity: Better Days is the second comic miniseries based on the TV show Firefly to be released, I am not sure whether its events take place chronologically after the end of the show or not. The one thing that would help establish its place in the timeline—Inara’s decision to depart the ship—is not mentioned at all, nor is any reference made to Shepherd Book’s wish to leave (first stated by him in Serenity: Those Left Behind). While the story works just fine without knowing when it happens, this still bugs me a little bit.

The plot of Better Days is extremely simple. For once, things go well and the crew of Serenity is suddenly rich. Several members share the way they plan to spend their money in scenes that nicely capture the warm, family-like times the crew occasionally shares. Meanwhile, the Alliance is looking for Mal (when are they not?), though this guy is special in that he’s one of Inara’s clients, and a builder whose drone Mal stole is out for revenge. I must admit that this peril did not interest me very much, though I’m used to looking past occasionally lame plots in Whedon shows in favor of character interaction. The best character goodness happens here between Inara and Mal, especially in their final scene together, though there’s also some nice continuity between Wash and Zoe as well as an intriguing tidbit regarding Inara and Simon.

Will Conrad is back as the artist for this miniseries, and seems to have a little better feel for the characters now. The likenesses are more consistent and Inara is vastly improved, finally meriting some impressively realistic close-ups of her own. Although a new cover was created for this trade paperback, the original covers of the three comic issues—forming a triptych that depicts the crew lounging atop sacks of money—are reproduced within.

I have now read all of the Firefly-inspired comics currently in existence and enjoyed them a good bit. Any time Dark Horse would like to make more, I’ll be happy to give them my money.

Sayonara, Zetsubou-Sensei, Vol. 4

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zetsubou4By Koji Kumeta
Del Rey, 192 pp.
Rating: OT (16+)

Suicidal schoolteacher Nozomu Itoshiki (Zetsubou-sensei) and his students are back, with a satirical take on such topics as Christmas, leftovers, societal hierarchies, cooling-off periods, second opinions, and how to deal with dead space. Even exam students are taken to task in this volume, as Zetsubou-sensei despairs over their ability to get away with nearly anything–a privilege he attempts to recapture for himself by engaging in a series of increasingly ridiculous certification programs. Easily passing tests for certifications in flower arrangement and animal breeding (and scraping by in subjects like “love”), he finds himself ultimately unqualified for either “life” or “death” (a certification that requires numerous sub-licenses, such as “writing a suicide note” and “how to leave your shoes”), leaving him trapped ever further in despair.

Since this series has been dismissed by some as relying too heavily on inside jokes and obscure cultural references to be effective with North American readers, it is important to note that volume four is easily the most accessible in the series so far, requiring very few trips to the translator’s notes provided in the back (and virtually none for readers familiar with Japanese manzai characters—the only cultural reference in this volume absolutely required for the understanding of an entire chapter). Smooth reading facilitates smooth comedy, making this volume more universally hilarious than its predecessors as well. For those who have loved this series from the beginning, volume four is yet another fabulous treat provided by tireless translator/adapter Joyce Aurino and the folks at Del Rey Manga. For those who have yet to warm to the series’ charms, perhaps this is the place to start.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at PopCultureShock.

Ciao Ciao Bambino by Momoko Tenzen: B

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ciaociaobambinoI think I must be a Momoko Tenzen fan, because this is the second time I’ve been impressed by her ability to create compelling characters in a short story format (the first being Unsophisticated and Rude). Not only that, she’s able to write stories about romance between middle schoolers and teachers that aren’t completely icky (only mildly icky).

There are five stories in this volume, though the first four focus on the same set of characters: Kaname, a lecturer at a cram school; Yuuta, Kaname’s student, seven years his junior; and Kei and Mako, friends of Yuuta’s who have feelings for each other. What I liked about these stories is that Kaname and Yuuta take several years to get to a point where love is openly discussed, and although Yuuta is still too young (in my opinion) when they finally sleep together, his character is developed enough that it’s clear he’s not being taken advantage of by an adult in position of authority.

The fifth story, “Brand New Wednesday,” is about a tall kid named Kana—and seriously, both he and Yuuta must attend one of the junior highs from Prince of Tennis, because they’re far bigger than any ninth graders I’ve known—who is in love with his home tutor. I found the tutor’s perspective especially poignant here, as he realizes how fragile a love like this can be when the younger person has so much changing left to do in their life.

I admit to feeling a little guilty that I liked these stories as much as I did, given their subject matter, but Tenzen’s approach is not salacious whatsoever. If you can get past the squick factor, these stories do offer some truly touching moments.

Review copy provided by the publisher. Review originally published at Manga Recon.

Special Edition: Favorite Manhwa of 2009!

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goong7Welcome to a special year-end edition of Manhwa Monday! With “best of” lists popping up all over the manga blogosphere, I thought it might be fun to put together a manhwa-specific list of favorites for the year. Then when Michelle Smith expressed dismay over the lack of a manhwa category in this year’s Manga Recon round-up, it seemed like a perfect opportunity to invite some other bloggers along! So I asked a few of my favorite manga bloggers, Michelle Smith (Soliloquy in Blue, Manga Recon), Danielle Leigh (Comics Should Be Good), and Connie C. (Slightly Biased Manga) to talk about up to five of their favorite series for the year, with one special mention, one special discussion topic, and a few words about what they’d like to see in 2010. To see what they came up with (and how we broke the rules), read on!…

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Serenity 1: Those Left Behind by Whedon, Matthews, and Conrad: B+

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serenity1From the back cover:
Here’s how it is—in a universe filled with hearts and minds as cold and dark as the reaches of space, one small Firefly-class starship named Serenity takes its ragtag crew of mercenaries, outlaws, and fugitives in search of a job, any job, that’ll earn them enough cash to afford that most elusive commodity—peace.

Joss Whedon, creator of Buffy the Vampire Slayer, unveils a previously unknown chapter in the lives of his favorite band of space brigands in this prequel to the Serenity feature film—the blockbuster follow-up to Whedon’s cult-hit TV show, Firefly.

Review:
Serenity: Those Left Behind takes place shortly after the final episode of Firefly, “Objects in Space.” Inara has not left yet; while the ship is en route to her destination, they’re taking jobs along the way and though Mal proclaims this is necessary it’s Wash, who’s well acquainted with doing stupid things (like working a dangerous job when he could make a cushy living) to remain near the woman he loves, who realizes that he’s just trying to keep her around a while longer.

After one such job, a bank heist, goes poorly, the crew is offered another job by Badger: to retrieve a stash of cash left at the scene of one of the bloodiest battles in the war. Meanwhile, Dobson (the federal agent who appeared in the first episode of the series) is teaming up with the hands-of-blue fellows to track them down. It’s unclear whether Badger is in on this or not, but it all boils down to an ambush in a field of spaceship debris, no payoff, and Dobson’s death. Too, in the final page, we seem to be witnessing the moment that the Operative (from the feature film) receives the assignment to bring in River. Another important thing that happens here is that Book decides he needs to leave the ship. He’s an active participant in helping the crew escape at one point and later hits Mal, something that the Captain is ready to forgive but which Book is not.

For the most part, Will Conrad’s art is decent. In some panels, the characters don’t look much like the actors who played them—Simon and Inara fare pretty poorly in this respect—but Conrad is an absolute ace at close-ups. There’ll be a page, for example, with a vaguely Kaylee-looking person in a few panels and then, once you zoom into her face, it’s “Oh, now she looks like Jewel Staite!” This happens with Mal a few times, too, and there are also a few outstanding close-ups of River. Different artists have also contributed some color portraits of members of the crew. Again, Simon and Inara get the short end of the stick—are their actors just too pretty to be drawn easily or well?—while Book (drawn by Tim Bradstreet), Jayne (Brian Hitch), and Wash (Sean Phillips) look fabulous! Honorable mention goes to Jo Chen’s Kaylee who, while she doesn’t really look like Jewel Staite, is positively adorable.

All in all, while this isn’t as good or as fulfilling as an episode of the show, it’s really great to see all of these characters again and fill in a little background for where we see them in the movie. Now on to the second comic miniseries, Better Days!