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3 Things Thursday: Thanksgiving

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It’s Thanksgiving day here in the US, a day in which we consume a great deal of pie. It’s also a time for us to focus on the gratitude we feel for the people and things that most enrich our lives. Over the past few years, manga has been a significant part of that enrichment in my life, along with the many friends and colleagues I’ve accumulated in its wake.

One of the greatest gifts bestowed upon me regularly by the people I’ve met through manga is, of course, the introduction to new manga, and there are a few of those introductions that stand out, not only for the manga themselves, but also for the role they’ve played in defining my tastes and even who I am as a manga blogger. So for this week’s 3 Things, I’d like to talk about three manga (or two manga and one manhwa) that have defined me as a blogger and the wonderful ladies who introduced me to them.

3 influential comics and the women who gave them to me:

1. Hikaru no Go | Viz Media | Aja Romano – I’ve told this story countless times, about the friend who finally convinced me to read manga and the elegant shonen series with which she achieved this truly incredible feat. What I often leave out of the story, though, is that she accomplished this by giving me some of her own Hikaru/Akira fanfic to read which, regardless of its canon-ness (or lack thereof) was filled with the same detailed characterization and deep sense of optimism that makes the series so very appealing.

I mentally thank Aja nearly every day as I gaze at my towering shelves of manga, and even more often as I engage with other manga bloggers on Twitter, in blog comments, and occasionally at conventions. I’ve thanked her directly many times as well, but there really isn’t any amount of thanks that could truly suffice. So today, I’ll thank her again.

Thank you, Aja!

2. xxxHolic | Del Rey Manga | The lady at Anime Ink – I was a bit lost after my original introduction to manga. Since I’d come into the medium through a shonen sports manga (sort of), I tried a few others of that kind, but none of them really grabbed me. I had better luck with shonen fantasy like Fullmetal Alchemist and Black Cat, but when I stood in the aisles of our local manga/anime shop, I was pretty much at a loss.

The shop was called Anime Ink, and one afternoon as I stood there staring helplessly at the shelves, the owner of the shop (whose name I regrettably don’t know) asked me what manga I liked so far. When I told her, she pondered for a moment, and then led me over to the end of the aisle. “I don’t like much CLAMP,” she said, “But this one is different.” She pointed at the first volume of xxxHolic, which I picked up and bought that day. The rest, of course, is history. Anime Ink is closed now, so I guess I’ll never know her name. But I’d like to thank her anyway.

Thank you, lady at Anime Ink!

3. One Thousand and One Nights | Yen Press | Katherine Dacey – At the end of 2008, in preparation for her departure from PopCultureShock, Kate Dacey cleared out the last of the manga review copies she had in her possession, sending out boxes to each of the site’s remaining writers. My box contained, among other things, the first six volumes of Han SeungHee and Joen HinSeok’s One Thousand and One Nights, one of the first Korean manhwa series I’d ever actually seen, and definitely the first I had the opportunity to dig into in bulk.

I was immediately enchanted by the series, which somehow managed to balance brutal violence, heady romance, and old-fashioned storytelling in a way that perfectly satisfied my most basic personal tastes. This not only began my love affair with the series, but also with manhwa in general, which has become a significant part of my comics collection as well as my identity as a blogger.

Thank you, Kate!

So, readers, what are some manga that have influenced who you are as a fan? And who introduced you to them?

Breaking Down Banana Fish, Vols. 9-10

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Hello readers, and welcome to the fifth installment of our roundtable, Breaking Down Banana Fish!

This month we take on volumes nine and ten, in which Ash faces Arthur in their final showdown, Eiji is nabbed by the fuzz, Yut-Lung reveals his vulnerable side, and government conspiracy runs amok.

I’m joined this month by Michelle Smith (Soliloquy in Blue), Khursten Santos (Otaku Champloo), Connie C. (Slightly Biased Manga), and Robin Brenner (No Flying, No Tights). Eva’s taking a break this time around, but she’ll be back with us in January as we head into the second half of the series!

Just a note: We’ll be moving to three volumes per installment beginning in January, so if you’re following along, be sure to read up through volume 13!

I would like to take just a moment to thank everyone on the roundtable for working to make time for this project. Nineteen volumes is a large commitment to make, and I have a great deal of gratitude toward these women for sticking it out, especially Eva who will have to marathon five volumes to catch up next time around! Thanks also to Viz for printing this series in its entirety. Perhaps if we’re very lucky, it might receive an omnibus treatment somewhere down the line, to put it all back in print.

Read our roundtable on volumes one and two here, volumes three and four here, volumes five and six here, and volumes seven and eight here. On to part five!
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3 Things Thursday: The Daily Grind

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For a woman in her early forties, I’m relatively new to the traditional workweek, and from a former outsider’s perspective, I can recognize that it has its pros and cons. On one hand, I’ve found it fairly restrictive–imposing an alarming level of structure and routine on parts of one’s life it seems as though it shouldn’t even touch. On the other, having spent years churning out eight shows a week on a pretty steady basis, the vast bulk on Saturdays and Sundays, I’ve come to fully appreciate the previously unknown wonder that is “the weekend.”

Either way, whether it’s the theater, the office, the restaurant, or any of the other seemingly infinite number of workplaces operating daily in the world, the one thing nearly all of us have in common is the imperative of work. And that imperative ensures that we will encounter any number of long, difficult days.

Most of us have our own ways of dealing with the stress of the daily grind. For instance, I usually play music in my office while I’m working, which helps me to stay focused and (hopefully) relaxed. I also bring my lunch to work, so that I can spend my lunchtime hanging out on Twitter or writing midday blog posts, like 3 Things Thursday, which has become a nice noontime break for me each week. Then there are days like today, of course, where my workload is so overwhelming that even lunchtime becomes a forgotten luxury.

So. Since it was the workday, today, that kept me from posting 3 Things in a timely manner, I thought I’d pick out a few favorite manga that center on the workplace! Too bad I wrote about Antique Bakery just last week!

3 favorite manga that take place at work:

1. Ristorante Paradiso | Natsume Ono | Viz Media – It’s a rare workplace, of course, that offers up such a smorgasbord of distinguished older gentleman, and isn’t it a shame? A short summary from my discussion at Off the Shelf: “A young woman, Nicoletta, seeks out her mother (who abandoned her for love) with the intention of outing her as a divorcée to her current husband. But things immediately become more complicated as she finds herself torn between resentment over her mom’s happiness and a desire to be a part of the life her mom has built for herself. Meanwhile, everyone else is similarly conflicted over something–the mom, everyone at the restaurant she runs with her husband, and the much older man Nicoletta develops feelings for. No easy solutions are presented, but nothing becomes overly-dramatic either. It’s a fairly quiet story about a bunch of people just being people, for better or worse.”

If only restaurant work was always as elegant as the world of Ristorante Paradiso!

2. Suppli | Mari Okazaki | Tokyopop – I’ve fallen behind on this smart story about a twenty-something office lady and her trials in work and love. I’ve also never reviewed it.

Here’s a quick summary from the lovely Michelle Smith: “When Minami’s boyfriend breaks up with her, she realizes she has no friends, and so instead throws herself into the only thing in her life—her job at an advertising agency. Gradually, her eyes open to the people around her, and she gets to know them. Two of her male coworkers are also interested in her, one who kind of ineptly pines around and says the wrong thing all the time and another who has suffered his own heartbreak and attracts Minami by virtue of his neediness.”

Far too little of this type of josei has made it over this way. I cross my fingers for more!

3. Black Jack | Osamu Tezuka | Vertical, Inc. – It’s an unconventional choice, perhaps, but the world is Black Jack’s workplace, and I can hardly think of a another manga character as consumed by his work as he is. From my discussion of volume ten: “Though Ode to Kirihito provides the kind of overarching narrative I generally prefer, the sheer length of Black Jack allows for a more intense study of a single character than you’re likely to find almost anywhere. Black Jack is absolutely, gorgeously ambiguous in just about every way … He’s not really above anything, including lying, cheating, and outright revenge. One of the most riveting stories in this volume, for instance, is one in which he’s approached by his estranged father who begs him to perform a vital facial reconstruction on his current wife (the woman he left Black Jack’s mother for). Black Jack agrees to do the surgery, but he wreaks his vengeance in a truly coldblooded fashion.”

Aaaaand, that makes my day seem really not so bad. :D

So, readers, what are some of your favorite work-centered manga?

BL Bookrack: Juné in November

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Welcome to November’s installment of BL Bookrack, a monthly feature co-written with Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.

This month, we take a look at four offerings from Digital Manga Publishing’s Juné imprint, Endless Comfort, Kiss Blue (volume two), Seven Days: Monday-Thursday, and Stay Close to Me.

Endless Comfort | By Sakura Sakuya | Published by Juné | Rated Mature (18+) Buy at Akadot – Two years ago, when Masaki Kuzumi’s sickly mother finally succumbed to illness, his primary emotion was relief. Not wanting to confront these feelings, Masaki immersed himself in business in Hong Kong. Now, just shy of the second anniversary of her death, he has returned to the manor home he inherited a changed man. His friends remark that he is no longer as cold as he once was, and he is soon intrigued by Yuu Kanai, a seemingly easy-going dog trainer with some inner darkness of his own.

The path that Masaki and Yuu’s relationship takes is fairly straightforward and predominantly sweet. Yuu is good-natured when awake, but at night suffers terrible nightmares brought on by sexual abuse perpetrated by his stepfather when he was an adolescent. Masaki wants to help Yuu get over this, and very gently puts himself in the position to provide support when necessary, also achieving sufficient closeness to confess his own feelings about his mother’s death. Through the power of Masaki’s love, Yuu is able to overcome the terror of physical closeness, and an absolutely adorable epilogue chapter (featuring the show-stealing dogs) suggests a happy future.

There are definitely good things about Endless Comfort. Masaki is quite secure in his homosexuality and is upfront about it with Yuu, giving him the option to speak up if he ever feels uncomfortable. And, as mentioned, the dogs have a lot of personality. Unfortunately, quite a lot of the middle is pretty dull. The characters initially seem stiff, and some moments that should be dramatic—Yuu freaking out and crying, “Father, no, I don’t want to!”—are so stilted as to almost be comedic. Additionally, a side couple consisting of a pair of Masaki’s coworkers doesn’t add much to the story. The status of their relationship is confusing and I think the story would’ve been better off without them.

If I had to pick one word to decsribe Endless Comfort it would be “nice.” It’s a gentle story and a worthwhile read, but you might want to load up on caffeine first.

-Review by Michelle Smith

Kiss Blue, Vol. 2 | By Keiko Kinoshita | Published by Juné | Rated YA (16+) | Buy at Akadot – The first volume of this short series introduces us to Tomosaka, a quiet high school student who realizes he’s in love with his womanizing best friend, Noda. Though his eventual confession to Noda lands the two of them in bed, Noda’s inability to take their new romantic relationship seriously makes the encounter a regretful one for Tomosaka. Anxious to salvage the relationship they once had, Tomosaka asks that they return to just being friends.

As volume two opens, it becomes quickly apparent that this new arrangement is a strain for both of them. Struck with the impossibility of returning things to normal and unable to swallow his jealousy over Noda’s female conquests, Tomosaka waffles between repressed anger and forced apathy, leaving Noda confused and frustrated by his passivity. Complicating things further, Tomosaka is faced with romantic attention from both a female classmate and his openly gay boss, neither of whom he’s interested in. Can even accidental lovers ever return to being friends?

This series’ first volume was remarkable for its understated, intimate look into its characters’ emotional world and a sort of quiet ambiguity more characteristic of Bildungsroman than straight-out romance. Though the story’s premise is certainly nothing new, its thoughtful execution set it apart from showier romances. Thankfully, nothing has changed. Now in its second (and final) volume, Kiss Blue remains as intriguingly introverted as its protagonist, Tomosaka, favoring awkward kisses and inner monologue over sex and emotional theatrics–a sensibility enhanced further by Keiko Kinoshita’s sparse, wispy artwork.

“Intimacy” is still the series’ major characteristic, both in its style of storytelling and the relationship between its main characters, whose estrangement from and affection for each other are both driven by their keen awareness of each other’s personalities, for better or worse. Deeply flawed characters are usually the most interesting, and that goes for relationships as well, so it’s no surprise that the series gets its greatest mileage out of its characters’ failures, both as friends and lovers.

It’s taken over two years for this volume of Kiss Blue to appear, thanks to the first volume’s poor sales performance, according to this thread at the DMP user forums. Let’s hope that the release of its second volume will encourage new readers to take a look at this thoughtful little manga. Recommended.

-Review by MJ

Seven Days: Monday-Thursday | By Rihito Takarai & Venio Tachibana | Published by Juné | Rated YA (16+) | But at Akadot – Each Monday morning, without fail, high school freshman Touji Seryou will agree to date the first girl who asks him, only to break up with her by the week’s end. Despite this unusual reputation, Seryou’s respectful treatment of his endless string of girlfriends keeps them in fresh supply. One Monday morning, curious about Seryou’s motivations, upperclassman Yuzuru Shino jokingly offers himself up as Seryou’s date for the week, only to be surprised when his proposal is accepted. As the volume continues, both carry on with the motions of their arrangement, neither quite sure of the other’s intentions.

Much like Kiss Blue above, what really makes this story work is its characters’ flaws and hangups, and how these affect their ambiguously developing relationship. As it turns out, Seryou’s hung up on his brother’s ex-girlfriend, whose aggressive pursuit of Seryou (both before and after the breakup) keeps him concurrently hooked and wracked with guilt. Given this, it’s unsurprising to discover that Shino’s domineering personality is striking a chord with him as well, awakening within him the first shreds of real attachment he’s felt since he began his bizarre dating ritual.

Meanwhile, Shino finds ways to make light of any burgeoning feelings on his part, while using his new influence over Seryou to make him show up to archery practice, forcing Seryou into displaying commitment for something in his life, while also possibly working through his own ambivalence for a discipline at which he once excelled.

There are a lot of layers to this odd little story, and though it’s unclear at this point how anything might be resolved within (presumably) just three more days, writer Venio Tachibana provides more than enough reason for us to want to find out. And though that reason includes school club drama, at least two love triangles, one wonderfully tough female character, and, of course, attractive archery uniforms, it’s still the story’s idiosyncratic leads who steal the show with a mountain of mixed signals, persistent defensiveness, and awkward moments of affection.

Rihito Takarai’s artwork is a mixed bag of expressive movement, dully similar facial designs, and moments of real beauty. Fortunately, the visual storytelling is strong throughout, making the most of Tachibana’s offbeat tale.

There’s still a lot of story to be told in this two-volume series. I, for one, can hardly wait ’til “Friday,” to see how it plays out. Recommended.

-Review by MJ

Stay Close to Me | By Yaya Sakuragi | Published by Juné | Rated Mature (18+) | Buy at Akadot – I don’t always fare well with BL comedies, which too often revolve around a bigger guy trying to manhandle a littler one at every opportunity. Happily, Stay Close to Me is not that kind of comedy.

Yuzuru Shibata and Issei Yogi have been close friends since elementary school, when Issei stepped in to save Yuzuru from bullies. Yuzuru has pretty much been in love with “Icchan” since that day, whom he regards as princely, and is “in training to be a homemaker.” Alas, a growth spurt has stymied Yuzuru’s efforts to feel like the proper princess, since at 6’0” he towers over the 5’8” Issei.

The couple stars in a quartet of episodic stories that derive their comedy more from the characters than wacky hijinks (though those do ensue). First, Yuzuru is oblivious to the true reasons the captain of the karate club is pursuing him, even though the guy has some terrifically cheesy lines like, “Today is the day I will seduce you… I mean… convince you to join the karate club!” Then he’s drafted to participate in a school play, receives a love letter from a girl, and finally is prevented from spending quality time with Issei when the latter’s brother moves back home. Each time, blunt but kind Issei ends up saving him in one form or another, though he informs Yuzuru he won’t be treating him like a princess, since he can handle himself.

I can easily see such a storyline irritating me if done poorly, but both Yuzuru and Issei are very likeable, and Sakuragi’s art is quite attractive, as well. The end result is a manga that is often silly—indeed, in her author’s notes Sakuragi writes “Please don’t think too hard while reading it”—but at the same time incorporates scenes of genuine emotion. A pair of similarly lighthearted stories featuring a ronin and a gambler round out the volume, and though our time with them is brief, it’s still enjoyable.

Stay Close to Me balances humor and emotion to become one of the few BL comedies I have genuinely liked.

-Review by Michelle Smith

Review copies provided by the publisher.

3 Things Thursday: Guilty Pleasures?

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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!

3 Things Thursday: Going Digital

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Everyone’s excited about digital manga these days, with more companies jumping on board all the time. TOKYOPOP teamed up with comiXology in September (and with eManga just a short while later). Last month’s New York Comic Con elicited announcements from both Dark Horse and Yen Press, with Viz Media‘s new iPad app emerging just this week. And I’m sure I’m not the only manhwa fan anxiously following iSeeToon.

These announcements are unquestionably exciting, of course, and even those of us who far prefer our beloved ink on bound paper can’t reasonably deny the importance of this shift. Thing is, there’s been digital manga available for quite some, much of which has received little attention up to this point.

With that in mind, I’m dedicating this week’s 3 Things to digital manga (and manhwa)’s early players.

3 digital comics you may have been missing:

1. Small-Minded Schoolgirls | Toma | NETCOMICS – This digital-only offering comes from Korean artist Toma, better known for X-Diary, the basis for a feature film currently in production. The series follows the lives of two women, Miru, a successful novelist, and Somi, a would-be writer who makes her living securing talent for a literary magazine. The women become acquainted through Somi’s magazine, and as the manhwa progresses, we see their lives contrasted as they each struggle with issues of career, love, and family, thwarted, more often than not, by their own self-made obstacles. Toma’s simple, expressive artwork is a highlight of the series, and serves as nice counter to complaints of manhwa artists emulating Japanese style.

Check out Michelle Smith’s review of the series’ first two volumes for more.

2. Kiss Blue | Keiko Kinoshita | Juné – For BL fans, I recommend Kiss Blue, a quiet story of friends-turned-lovers that explores this common yaoi trope in a particularly thoughtful way. The manga provides an intimate look at the feelings of its characters, without relying on melodrama to move the story forward. This isn’t a flashy title by any means, but it’s one of those that has stuck with me since my very first digital read. Though also available in print, of course, it’s hard to beat the bargain at eManga, which offers a rental price of 200 points (about $2) with the option to “keep” for just double that. That’s less than a third of the book’s retail price. And with a second volume finally slated for release next month, this is a great time to check out the first online.

Read this review from Leroy Douresseaux for more.

3. 10, 20, and 30 | Morim Kang | NETCOMICS – Also from Korea, this seven-volume series revolves around three generations of women, teenaged Rok, her twenty-something cousin Belle, and her widowed mother, Krumb. The story follows each of them through school, career, and romantic trials, devoting significant time to both their individual hopes and pursuits as well as their dynamic as a family. Though the first two volumes were made available in print, even these may be hard to find (both volumes, for instance, are currently out of stock at Amazon), and despite a lack of permanence, NETCOMICS’ online rental price–a total of $7 to read the series in its entirety–is more than a bargain.

Look to Kate Dacey’s review of the series’ first volume for more.

Though it was tempting to consider some of Viz’s SigIKKI titles for this list (House of Five Leaves, in particular, springs immediately to mind), the removal of early chapters as new volumes are released in print makes them imperfect as digital options. You, readers, however, may choose whatever you like. :)

So, how about it, readers? What are some of your favorite early digital adopters?

3 Things Thursday: Ghost Hunters

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It’s no secret that manga (like all media) has its share of overused plots, premises, and characters. This is, of course, inevitable. There is nothing new under the sun, and after 35,000 years or so of human storytelling, it’s important to accept that execution, not conception, is the real key to originality in fiction. What makes a story special is the skill and passion behind its telling, not the story itself, nor the surprisingly finite number of character types available for an author to work with.

That said, I think each of us has our favorites–our “bulletproof” stories, if you will–those particular plots and character types we love indiscriminately, regardless of their objective success. I discussed one of mine in last night’s Off the Shelf, but it’s hardly the only one I have.

While pondering a Halloween-appropriate theme for this week’s 3 Things, it occurred to me that one of my very favorite overused manga premises involves the ghost hunter–someone who, whether for cash or moral duty, has the job of communicating with and expelling spirits from the world of the living. Now, this premise can be pretty broadly applied. Even a story like xxxHolic will sometimes delve into the world of exorcism and the like, but for the purposes of this column, I’m going to require that this be the primary occupation of the series’ protagonist(s).

So, for this week’s 3 Things, I give you three favorite comics about ghost hunters!

1. Tokyo Babylon | CLAMP | TOKYOPOP – Though the (unfinished) apocalyptic epic X/1999 gets more fan attention overall, my own preference is for its shorter, more quietly heartbreaking predecessor, Tokyo Babylon, which tells the story of pure-hearted onmyōji, Subaru, and the events that lead him towards his role in the darker, angrier X. Though the series is far from perfect, the plight of its gentle protagonist is one that continues to haunt my heart. From my review of the full series:

“The primary message CLAMP drives home in Tokyo Babylon is that no person can ever truly understand another person’s pain, and that the kindest thing people can do for themselves and each other is to recognize and embrace that fact … Subaru leads an oddly passive existence, dutifully fulfilling his calling as directed, though his personality is obviously ill-suited for the job … his naturally compassionate nature allowing humanity’s darkest corners to erode his seemingly incorruptible heart.”

2. Rasetsu | Chika Shiomi | Viz Media – Whether it be books, television, or film, sequels are rarely looked upon with much respect, so imagine my surprise when I discovered how much genuine emotion this manga sequel (to the popular shojo series Yurara) was prepared to bring to the table. From my recent review of volume six:

“What keeps this series compelling is that it is profoundly unsettled, and this applies to both the hearts of its characters and to their individual circumstances. There’s more to everyone than meets the eye. Furthermore, though each of the story’s characters is deeply conflicted, they still manage to band together into an unexpectedly warm, self-made family unit … Though this series gets off to a lukewarm start, over the course of six volumes it has become one of my favorite of Viz’s shojo series currently in release.”

3. Time and Again | JiUn Yun | Yen Press – As the newest ghost-hunting series on the list, this manhwa, with three volumes currently in English, has the potential to become my very favorite of its kind. Though its first volume displayed some significant narrative weakness, it continues to become stronger with each new release. Deeply damaged characters are often the most interesting, and boy does this series provide. I’m long overdue with a follow-up review, but for now, my take on volume one:

“Though this volume’s storytelling is somewhat uneven, especially in terms of character development, there is more than enough to chew on for readers interested in ghost stories, or even eighth-century Chinese culture … The stories are steeped in a solemn stew of religion and folklore, finding their inspiration in Chinese poems… and other sources of varying East Asian origin …Though the result of all this inspiration is not nearly as profound or thoughtful as one might expect, the book is intriguing and emotionally affecting all the same.

And now I leave it to you! Readers, what are your favorite ghost-hunting manga or other Halloween-flavored tropes? Respond in comments or in your own blog!

3 Things Thursday: Love in Disguise

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Yesterday, Deb Aoki posted a transcript of a panel from this year’s New York Anime Festival, Gay for You? Yaoi and Yuri Manga for GBLTQ Readers, featuring Erica Friedman (Okazu/ALC Publishing), Leyla Aker (Viz Media), Alex Wooflson (Yaoi911), librarian Scott Robins, and Christopher Butcher (Comics212), moderated by author/super-librarian Robin Brenner. It was the most compelling and informative panel I attended all weekend, and the only negative thing I can say about it was that I wish it had been scheduled for two hours instead of one.

One of the things I found most surprising during the panel, was how willing its panelists were to recommend yaoi and yuri manga to GBLTQ readers here in the west. Though I can’t speak much to the yuri question (not too surprisingly, I guess, since Erica’s recommendations make it pretty clear that most of the best yuri has yet to be translated into English), I’ve been a guilt-ridden BL fan for several years now, enjoying more than a few books within the genre while cringing at its frequent elements of misogyny and a level of fetishization that sometimes even reads as homophobia. But while the panelists made it clear that they wouldn’t recommend every BL series (as Chris Butcher said, “I recommend comics, but i don’t recommend shitty comics.”), it was clear that they felt that representation, even representation without identity, was too important and too rare to scoff at.

At one point in the panel, Robin, who had conducted quite a bit of research for an upcoming publication, said, “One of my favorite responses that I got from the survey was from a young gay man who said he liked reading yaoi because it made him think that one day he’d get a cute boyfriend too.” It’s pretty hard to argue with that.

Panelists also made it clear that cultural differences could not be ignored, that there were reasons behind the way that BL and yuri are presented as they are in Japan, and that we can’t expect those things to change anytime soon. Still, as a reader, I found myself wishing–wishing that the kind of stories I’d like to see might one day come to be. I love romance, don’t get me wrong. I want romance. But my favorite kind of romance is also so much more. I want action, adventure, mystery, fantasy, or even just really good epic soap-opera. Thing is, these kinds of stories already exist, and some of them even appear to be same-sex love stories of one sort or another. They just don’t quite go there, at least not yet.

So finally, I get to my point. :)

For this week’s 3 Things, I’d like to talk about three same-sex love stories I wish would actually go and BE LOVE STORIES.

1. Banana Fish | Akimi Yoshida | Viz Media – Listed just last week as one of my three favorite “classic” shojo series, it’s too late for 1980s manga Banana Fish to become the love story it might have been, but that doesn’t stop me from indulging in the dream. Though the series doesn’t necessarily shy away from discussion of homosexuality, the close, tender relationship between its two male leads remains chaste and ambiguous to the end.

Yoshida attempts to clarify things a bit in her later side-story Garden of Light (“But they did love each other…maybe the way lovers do”) and her Angel Eyes art book is not terribly shy about it either. But what kind of story might she have written if she’d been comfortable enough (or allowed) to turn Banana Fish‘s generous subtext into actual text? I’d have liked to read that story. I’d have liked to read that a lot.

2. Wild Adapter | Kazuya Minekura | Tokyopop – “But wait!” you protest. “Wild Adapter is BL! It’s published in a BL magazine!” Sure, that’s true, I’d respond, and certainly there’s more overt sexuality in WA than in something like Banana Fish, but six volumes in, I still haven’t seen it. I’m not talking about sex, either. I’m talking about any kind of genuine acknowledgement of the apparently romantic relationship between its two leads.

Obviously this series is still running (and there may truths already revealed in the Japanese chapters that haven’t yet made it over), and its presence in a BL magazine does give one hope. But from what we’ve seen in English so far, Wild Adapter is still a love story that refuses to admit it’s a love story.

So bring it on, Minekura. I’m dying to see it.

3. NANA | Ai Yazawa | Viz Media – Now, most of us who love this series have long reconciled with the fact that we’re never going to see its two title characters finally shake off the screwed-up men in their lives and really shack up together (and at this point, frankly, we’re just hoping against hope we’ll see it finished at all). Still, there’s a corner of every NANA fan’s heart that wishes it might be so. Don’t get me wrong–I adore some of those screwed-up men. But Nana/Nana is the ultimate ‘ship that will never be, leaving us to subsist only on a few voiced fantasies and some super-romantic narration.

“The hand that I was holding then… was the only one I wanted to hold… that night… and forever.”

I mean, come on. *Sigh*

So, time to open up the floor! Readers, what are your favorite love stories in disguise? Respond in comments or in your own blog!

BL Bookrack: October Mix

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Welcome to the October installment of BL Bookrack, a monthly feature co-written with Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.

First up this month, I take a short look at two one-shots, Baseball Heaven from BLU Manga and Deeply Loving a Maniac from DMP’s 801 Media. Then Michelle provides the real meat of this installment, with a thoughtful look at DMP/Juné’s In the Walnut.

Baseball Heaven | By Ellie Mamahara | Published by BLU | Rated Mature – Tokyo Elephants shortstop Chiaki Ogata is concerned when otherwise friendly rookie pitcher Eiji Uno seems to like everyone but him. It comes as a surprise to Ogata, then, when he discovers that Uno actually believes himself in love with him. Unable to consider getting involved with a much younger teammate, Ogata declares he won’t sleep with Uno until he pitches a perfect game, hoping to delay any need for decision. Can Uno stay interested under these conditions?

Romance manga is a tricky thing. Even the most realistic example of the genre must contain some element of fantasy in order to fulfill the expectations of its readers. On the other hand, the genre also provides an opportunity for complete immersion in a fantasy space for authors who wish to explore their readers’ more unlikely desires. Where writers most often stumble is in achieving believability within the construct of this fantasy, and unfortunately that is exactly the problem with Baseball Heaven.

Though there are plenty of scenarios, even in the workplace, in which an author might reasonably insert middle-school-quality romantic comedy, complete with wacky misunderstandings, wide-eyed confessions, chaste kisses, and blushing embraces, the world of professional baseball is simply not one of them.

Had Mamahara chosen a lighter, more commonplace fictional universe–a restaurant, perhaps, or a supernatural detective agency (for that fantasy touch)–her sweet (if mundane) romance might have gained a little traction. As it is, however, the incongruity of the story’s setting and its characterization is just too great to be satisfying for anyone. Readers looking for fantasy will be distracted by the intrusion of stony-voiced baseball announcers, while those with any knowledge of or interest in baseball will just feel embarrassed and sad.

Could there be a great BL baseball manga out there? I surely hope so. Unfortunately, Baseball Heaven is not it.

-Review by MJ

Deeply Loving a Maniac | By You Higashino | Published by 801 Media | Rated Mature (18+) – Morita is a dedicated otaku, who up until recently had spent all his waking hours buried in magazines filled with drawings of scantily-clad anime girls. This was before he met Sakura, a sexy, gay classmate and his first true love. Though trading in endless 2D girls for one hot 3D boy comes pretty naturally to Morita, he’s worried about what Sakura must think of him as a sex-obsessed otaku with no interests other than him. Can joining the track team make him into a more desirable man?

The answer is, hilariously, “yes,” a sentiment that might be applied to nearly everything in this oddly realistic piece of cracktastic pornography. Though perhaps this is due more to the high school yaoi genre’s predisposition to saccharin romance than it is to You Higashino’s actual skill, there is something incredibly refreshing about a story featuring two high school guys who simply admit to being total horndogs.

Really, though, it’s not just that. While the manga is steeped in explicit sexual fantasy, even from its very first pages, it is, overall, one of the most realistic depictions of actual high school boys I’ve yet to see in this genre. Though they each have their own urgent emotional concerns (Sakura’s worried that Morita’s new athletic-induced hotness will turn him back onto girls, and Morita wonders whether his obsession with a Sakura-like anime figure constitutes “cheating”) they are unable to communicate any of it to each other in a remotely coherent way. Sakura rages, Morita spaces out, and if they’re not really successful at anything but sex, that’s okay, since it’s all they’re really thinking about anyway.

Higashino’s artwork is filled with over-the-top BL imagery that manages to be genuinely sexy even as it pokes fun at the genre’s most ridiculous tropes. Her voice is satirical but never cutting, and she’s careful to skewer her characters (and readers!) with love. And for that we love her right back.

For suprising mix of otaku humor, hot porn, and unexpected realism, check out Deeply Loving a Maniac.

-Review by MJ

In the Walnut, Vols. 1-2 | By Toko Kawai | Published by Juné | Rated YA (16+) – The back cover of In the Walnut‘s second volume describes the series as “light and quirky.” While both are true at times, that makes it sound a lot more frivolous than it really is.

In what is a welcome departure from the typical BL formula, the leads are an established couple: sloppy and enigmatic Hideo Tanizaki, who has inherited a gallery (the titular In the Walnut) from his grandfather, and Sohei Nakai, a cheerful aspiring filmmaker. In the Walnut is known as a gallery that doesn’t ask too many questions, so Tanizaki is constantly fielding requests that seem a bit shady.

In the Walnut reads more like a mystery than a romance, as Tanizaki encounters a new art-related puzzle each chapter and must figure out what’s going on. Coincidence plays a huge factor in these “cases,” like when Tanizaki is asked to restore a battered old painting only to have a customer offer him its twin later the same day, or the way Tanizaki solves the mysteries—in a manner reminiscent of the TV show House—thanks to Nakai saying or doing something that sparks a realization.

While the cases themselves really are not that interesting, the same can’t be said for the characters. Eventually we do go back in time to see how Tanizaki and Nakai met, and while their current-day relationship seems rather casual, the depth of their feelings for one another becomes more clear as the series progresses. I also love that they talk to each other about things other than their relationship—if there were such a thing as a BL Bechdel Test, this would pass! True, Nakai, being the cheerful one who “grew up among goats” in Hokkaido, doesn’t really get fleshed out too much, but Tanizaki is a delightfully complicated character.

In early chapters, Tanizaki does a few things that might be construed as wrong but which have beneficial results for his customers. From this, we conclude that he’s a good man. Nakai reaches the same conclusion, and when he tells Tanizaki so, the latter is surprisingly affected, thinking, “I needed to know that I’m not evil.” But! It turns out things aren’t so cut and dry after all when, in the second volume, Tanizaki sells a painting to a young woman who lacks artistic knowledge for nearly six times its worth and later fails to tell another customer the full story behind what appears to be a cheap souvenir. He does do good, but sometimes his actions are spurred by greed rather than benevolence, which is a dichotomy I find intriguing.

Ultimately, I enjoyed In the Walnut quite a lot and it’ll be a sad wait until the third volume (just released in Japan earlier this month) finally makes its way here. Hopefully then we’ll learn more about Nakai!

-Review by Michelle Smith

Review copies provided by the publishers.

3 Things Thursday: Shojo Manga

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Welcome to a brand new weekly blog feature at Manga Bookshelf, 3 Things Thursday! For the inaugural edition, I’m going to begin by breaking the rules straight off.

In a recent Manga Out Loud podcast, one of my favorite manga critics, Ed Sizemore, mentioned casually that he hadn’t read much good shojo. While the definition of “good” is likely to vary greatly from critic-to-critic on a topic so subjective, I figured I’d start my 3 Things off by listing three currently running shojo manga I think are especially worthwhile. And since so many of my favorites are older manga, I’ll cheat a bit by also listing three “classic” manga I recommend as well. These are not to be taken as my “TOP ThrEE FAVORITES OF ALL TIME” by any means, but rather three of each that simply spring to mind. I do think it’s interesting to note that every single one of them is/was published by Viz Media. So here goes!

3 favorite current shojo series:

We Were There | Yuki Obata | Viz Media – Few manga out there have affected me on a personal level as deeply as this one has. From my review of volume one:

“What’s nice about this manga is its simplicity and quiet honesty … The characters’ greatest obstacles are themselves, just like in real life … To achieve this, We Were There takes popular manga stereotypes and turns them into real people. In place of the clumsy, helpless shojo heroine, we have Nana, who is exactly as awkward as any average girl entering a new school, no more, no less … In place of the brooding, dangerous love interest (or its inverse–the shining, popular prince), we have Yano, who is often thoughtless, occasionally kind, and though he is definitely hiding some real pain behind his carefree image, is mostly just confused about his feelings, much like most teenaged boys.”

More reviews here.

Crown of Love | Yun Kouga | Viz Media – This dark, complicated tale of ambition and obsession will be complete in four volumes as of November 2nd. From my review of volume one:

“Crown of Love is the retelling of an older series by mangaka Yun Kouga, originally serialized in 1988. That series was only two volumes long, with an ending described by the artist as “abrupt.” … where Kouga succeeds, and stunningly so, is in her characterization. There are no shojo stereotypes here, despite appearances … The fact that the characters seem to know just how screwed up they are is what rescues them from being too disturbing to bear … As always, Kouga’s art is a highlight of her work. There’s something essentially cheerful and straightforward about her layout and designs that gives a story like this an even darker tone than it might have with a more overtly sinister look. Also, though the story is far from light-hearted, there is a clarity to Kouga’s visual storytelling that keeps it from becoming mired in its own weight.”

More reviews here.

The Story of Saiunkoku | Sai Yukino, Kairi Yura | Viz Media – A brand new favorite, this series got my attention immediately with its complicated characterization and strong female lead. From my discussion of volume one:

“Despite the fact that I’d heard positive buzz about this series … I admit I was more than skeptical. The manga’s opening chapter didn’t do much to sway me, either, with its gag sensibility and creepy romantic overtones … Fortunately, it quickly became clear that my first impressions were just wrong … though the story first seems to be crafted out of the same, tired tropes … each of these standard elements–the happy-go-lucky heroine, the over-the-top humor, the contrived matchmaking–becomes fresh and even insightful in Sai Yukino’s hands … Like all of us, the roles they each play with each other are the result of everything they’ve had to do to survive their lives so far. Nobody is perfect (or even perfectly evil, at least from what we’ve seen), and since flawed characters are generally the most compelling in any story, this makes for a very rich experience overall.”

Full discussion here.

3 favorite “classic” shojo series:

Basara | Yumi Tamura | Viz Media – This multi-volume epic is a must-read for any fantasy/adventure fan. It also features a fantastic female lead who manages to be both vulnerable and kick-ass throughout. From Michelle Smith’s review of volume 25:

“I admit it: I cried. At things happy, sad, and both at once. I’ve invested three years in this series and can happily say that it was worth it. I’m not going to give any details on how things go down, so suffice it to say that the ending is very satisfying. I must’ve reread the last few pages three times to savor all that Sarasa had accomplished … Basara is probably the best manga I have ever read. Thanks, Viz, for taking a chance on it.”

Does any more need to be said?

Expect a full-out ode to this series here sometime in the near future.

Banana Fish | Akimi Yoshida | Viz Media – I probably have written more about Banana Fish than anyone ever should, but this story of gang wars, organized crime, drug trafficking, and government intrigue actually is one of my favorite series of all time. From Making the case for Banana Fish:

“Sure, this story is about street gangs, organized crime, blah blah blah, but what it is really about is this relationship between Ash and Eiji, and how it changes them both throughout the course of the series … I finished volume 19 (and the post-series one-shot, Garden of Light) months ago, and it still sticks with me, the story of these two, haunting the back of my mind in some way all the time … My husband once asked me, “Is Banana Fish yaoi?” and my immediate response was, “I wish”. . . What I meant was that I wish I’d ever read a boys’ love manga as interesting and well-plotted as Banana Fish. I’ll take that a step further. I wish I’d read more manga in general as interesting and well-plotted as Banana Fish, and I read a lot of manga.”

More posts here.

Please Save My Earth | Saki Hiwatari | Viz Media – Everything I need to say about this series I’ve said before. “A group of teenagers who share collective memory through their dreams about their former lives as alien scientists observing earth from the moon?? You could not possibly come up with something more appealing to the twelve-year-old me.” From History of a Daydreamer:

“Four volumes in, I said to friends, “It’s like they removed my teenaged brain and stuck it on paper for all of Japan to read.” This only became more true as I continued through the series. The plot is dense and complicated, mostly revolving around the tangled relationships and jealous rivalries that extend far beyond the characters’ past lives and in to the present … What’s really stunning about this story is how well and how believably the young characters carry their adult past-selves. As far-fetched as some of the plot manages to get, I absolutely believed every word and look from these characters…”

Read it all here.

Readers: What are three of your favorite shojo series? Tell me in comments or in your own blog!

Breaking Down Banana Fish, Vols. 7-8

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Hello faithful shojo fans, and welcome again to our roundtable, Breaking Down Banana Fish!

This month we take on volumes seven and eight, in which Ash brings his war straight to Arthur’s doorstep and Papa Dino’s bank account, playing both cutthroat businessman and cold-blooded killer, while Eiji does his best just to keep Ash human. Blackmail, introspection, and an epic subway battle ensue.

I’m joined again in this round by Michelle Smith (Soliloquy in Blue), Khursten Santos (Otaku Champloo), Connie C. (Slightly Biased Manga), Eva Volin (Good Comics For Kids), and Robin Brenner (No Flying, No Tights).

Read our roundtable on volumes one and two here, volumes three and four here, and volumes five and six here. On to part four!
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BL Bookrack: Four from DMP

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Welcome to the September installment of BL Bookrack, a new, monthly feature co-written with Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.

This month we take a look at four manga from Digital Manga Publishing, Cafe Latte Rhapsody, Garden Sky, and The Tyrant Falls in Love from their Juné imprint, and Double Cast from DokiDoki.

Cafe Latte Rhapsody | By Toko Kawai | Published by Juné | Rated 16+ – Freckled and good-natured Hajime Serizawa works at a book store. One day, while attempting to fill an order, he comes across a huge customer with a piercing glare. Serizawa’s scared of him at first, but when the customer kindly fetches a book that the diminutive Serizawa can’t reach, he wonders if his first impression was mistaken. Further observations reveal that the huge customer is the kind of guy who tidies up books misshelved by other customers and saves abandoned kittens in the rain. In other words, not scary at all!

Serizawa learns that the customer’s name is Keito, and they strike up a friendship initially based upon finding the kittens a home. Keito discovers that Serizawa is gay when the latter’s no-good former lover comes by to hit Serizawa up for money, but it doesn’t seem to bother him. Little by little, they fall in love and it’s just about the sweetest, cutest thing on the planet.

Rather than the story fizzling at this point, it actually gets even better. Serizawa, at 23, has been in relationships before but none ever worked out. Even now, when it seems he’s finally found a fairy-tale love, he’s thinking of the day when it’ll all have to end. As readers, we also get to know him better when it’s slowly revealed that he’s not actually as cheerful as he appears—he has some deep-seated insecurity, especially about his looks, which prevents him from expressing annoyance when the girls at work start to show an interest in Keito. He feels like he’s so unattractive, it wouldn’t be fair to ask Keito not to notice them, and instead he goes in the opposite direction and almost seems to encourage their hopes.

Sweet, cute, complicated in a very human way… these are the ingredients of some of the best BL! Toko Kawai also has a gift for staging some very natural-feeling conversations between her characters. They’re not always talking about their feelings—sometimes they talk about coffee or food they dislike, and even seem to be a pair of science nerds, though that’s not dwelt upon too much. The one complaint I could really make is that the art is a little rough, but it’s not in any way detrimental to a truly charming love story.

I’ve read a few things by Toko Kawai now and there was not a one among them that I didn’t like. In fact, I think Café Latte Rhapsody has solidified my status as an honest-to-goodness fan.

-Review by Michelle Smith

Double Cast | By Ellie Mamahara & Takana Mizuhashi | Published by DokiDoki | Rated 16+ – Yuki Yamamuro is a charismatic idol whose stage work in a modern adaptation of Goethe’s Faust is just a way of killing time while he waits for his stalled television career to revive. When he fears that the young actor double-cast in his role may be making moves on his producer (and occasional lover), Otaki, he tries to manipulate his rival into falling for him instead. Unfortunately for Yuki, the other actor, Sawaki spots his efforts a mile away, setting up a level of rivalry between them that Yuki is neither emotionally nor artistically prepared to face.

The promotional copy for this manga is filled with phrases like “seemingly innocent” and “game of love.” With words like these in mind, one imagines a cast of sexy idols sharing arch glances and little substance–at best a sly, humorous romp. What Double Cast actually offers, however, is a surprisingly insightful and even touching exploration of insecurity, confidence, ambition, and art.

Initially portrayed as an arrogant player (both for the story’s audience and in the character’s own mind), Yuki’s emotional deterioration is swift and true, betraying the inherent vulnerability of anyone whose self-worth and livelihood are both reliant on the approval of strangers. Both the challenges he receives from his better-trained rival and the truths revealed by his nurturing producer are perfectly calculated to either ruin him or save him, depending on your point of view. Meanwhile, Sawaki’s bitterness over the natural charisma of his less-educated (and arguably less-talented) co-star is palpable, manifesting itself as both resentment and desire, neither of which conforms to his high ideals or his careful career plans.

That the story’s theatrical setting is one of a handful in which a cast of characters made up almost entirely of gay men seems genuinely plausible surely adds to its realistic feel, but there is really very little fantasy involved here at all. Aside from whatever liberties may be taken with the workings of the Japanese entertainment business, the characters’ emotional journeys feel very authentic to their necessarily self-centered careers.

Mamahara’s artwork is attractive, if uneven. Though the visual storytelling flows well, her male characters in particular feel stiff and awkward, with expressionless faces outside of their occasionally haunted eyes. She has better luck with her few female characters. Yuki’s ambiguous girl friend, Kaho, is downright luminous (as is her adorable pet cat) offering a refreshing contrast to the stony-faced leads and perhaps deliberately creating sympathy for a girl who is ultimately destined for heartbreak.

And “refreshing” is really a key word here. Emotionally complex and surprisingly thoughtful, Double Cast falls into the all-too-rare category of single-volume yaoi I’ve truly enjoyed reading. Recommended.

-Review by MJ

Garden Sky | By Yuko Kuwabara | Published by Juné | Rated 13+ – Garden Sky is technically a short story collection, but the stories within focus on just two sets of characters. In the first, the child-like Kami-sama (God) is lonely. While watching the pond of human lives one day, he spots an idiotic fellow who has just been shot by a jealous lover and is about to die. Figuring that bringing a dead person back as a companion does not violate the laws barring him from interfering in the lives of humans, he rescues the man, dresses him in white clothing, and dubs him Shiro (white).

Shiro’s crazy for chicks and when there aren’t any in Heaven, he convinces Kami-sama to let him pick a woman friend and, together, the three of them will become a family. As luck would have it, the woman Shiro picks turns out to be a ninja with the magical ability to change genders and she is really he, whom Kami-sama dresses in black clothes and names Kuro (black). While spazzy Shiro initially pesters reserved Kuro to adopt his feminine form, he somehow realizes that Kuro still does it for him even though he’s a guy. They seem to be growing closer and then… the story’s over.

The next set of stories, “Go East,” is more of a typical fantasy. Raiho and Yukito are students at a training school for taimashi, or fighters who combat the bevy of monsters roaming the countryside. In looks and personality, they are nearly identical to the protagonists of the earlier stories, but while Raiho is exuberant and rather clueless and Yukito is more serious, both are driven to achieve their goal of being sent to vanquish a dangerous dragon god. A decade before, a group of taimashi were dispatched to the dragon god’s lair, including Yukito’s father, thus providing Yukito’s motivation. Raiho just likes fighting monsters. They complete the task assigned by their boss to test whether they’re worthy to undertake the journey and then… the story’s over.

See a pattern here? Both tales are very light on substance, feature the same types of characters, and go absolutely nowhere in the end. They’re pretty boring while they’re underway, for that matter. The one aspect I did like is the art—it’s not groundbreaking or anything, but it’s clean and easy to read and there’s just something about the way she draws profiles that I find appealing.

Garden Sky is a disappointment. Even if you’re in the mood for a bit of fluff, surely there exists some in which stories actually conclude in a satisfying manner!

-Review by Michelle Smith

The Tyrant Falls in Love, Vol. 1 | By Hinako Takanaga | Published by Juné | Rated 18+ – Tetsuhiro Morinaga is a university student with long-held feelings for his vocally homophobic sempai, Souichi Tatsumi. Though he’s grateful that Tatsumi is willing to remain friends with him even after discovering his feelings, their close relationship actually makes the situation more difficult for Morinaga, until finally he loses control and takes Tatsumi by force.

It’s no secret how little I enjoy rape as a catalyst in BL manga, and in most cases, a premise like this would turn me off of a series completely. The frequency with which rape is used as a precursor to romance in this genre is enough to make my head spin. What makes The Tyrant Falls in Love stand out in the din, however, is how expertly the relationship between its characters is developed from the beginning, and how that changes the tone of the whole story–even the dreaded rape. To be clear, this scenario is no less disturbing to me than in any other BL rape fantasy, but far more interesting in its development and execution.

Takanaga’s skill as a writer is evident from the beginning. With sure, broad strokes she paints her main characters, letting us know exactly who they are in the very first pages, and cementing their relationship with little more than body language and a few pieces of dialogue. Her drawing is expressive and the humor is spot on. The rape itself happens less than two chapters into the volume, but even by then, and even with the use of a device so ridiculous it basically boils down to a love potion, these characters have been so firmly established, it’s not at all difficult to believe the scene as played.

It’s all sickeningly believable–Morinaga’s careful manipulation of his own thoughts to justify actions he knows are deeply wrong, the sheer horror on Tatsumi’s face as he realizes that he’s not safe with the person he trusts most–every piece of this scene rings true. And even afterwards, as Morinaga withdraws from the school in shame, the relationship between the two of them has been so well-drawn, it’s not at all unbelievable that Tatsumi might feel devastated at the loss, to the point of offering forgiveness to the person who has betrayed him in the worst way he can imagine.

Unfortunately, it’s after this that Takanaga gives in to cheap fantasy, satisfying her readers’ immediate romantic desires but sacrificing her characters in the process. Given the deep relationship between her main characters, there may indeed be a way to believably move them towards actual romance, but pushing them into a never-ending predator/prey cycle as she does here (one that is played for humor, no less) is definitely not it.

Though Takanaga’s expressive artwork and deft characterization are a significant draw, this volume ultimately disappoints. For hard-core fans only.

-Review by MJ

Review copies provided by the publishers.

Introducing Let’s Get Visual!

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A bit of news on this Saturday evening: It’s time to head over to Soliloquy in Blue where Michelle Smith and I have posted the first installment of our new monthly feature, Let’s Get Visual!

Inspired by our own lack of background and training in the visual arts, Michelle and I decided to take some time each month to choose a few panels from our favorite manga to analyze and discuss.

Are we really just embarrassing ourselves by revealing our ignorance in public? Perhaps. But by making ourselves think harder about how to express what we see in the manga we read every day (and with, hopefully, some gentle guidance from more knowledgeable readers) we hope we’ll become better manga critics!

My choice for our inaugural column is four pages from volume fifteen of Hikaru no Go, one of my favorite series, drawn by an artist I admire quite a bit. …

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Let’s Get Visual: Warm-Up Exercises

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MICHELLE: Welcome to a brand-new Feature here at Soliloquy in Blue: Let’s Get Visual! Each month, Manga Bookshelf‘s MJ and I will select a page or sequence of pages from our recent manga reads that we find intriguing and attempt to develop our visual-critiquing muscles by sharing our thoughts about it. Neither of us is particularly adept at this, but it’s our hope that by a little regular exercise, we’ll get better.

MJ: Should we talk a little about why we each decided to do this?

MICHELLE: Personally, I’ve always felt that my attempts to discuss comic or manga art have been desultory at best. Usually, they take the form of an afterthought paragraph tacked at the end of the review after I’ve said everything I have to say about the plot and characters. I’ve read a few things about pacing and paneling online and, in general, would simply like to be stronger in this area and train myself to think more about it while I read.

MJ: I think my motivation is very similar. I know what works for me as a reader and I can even take a stab at expressing why, but I don’t really have the vocabulary necessary for discussing the visual aspects of comics, despite my love for them. I’m hoping I’ll get some help with that from the folks who read this column, and that it might give me a greater understanding of this medium that I spend so much of my time thinking and talking about.

MICHELLE: Yes, I’m hoping we’ll get some (hopefully benevolent) guidance, too! With that, shall we get started?

MJ: Yes, let’s!

MICHELLE: For our first attempt, we’ve started simply; I’ve picked one page from volume three of Rei Hiroe’s Black Lagoon while MJhas chosen a sequence of pages from the game-changing fifteenth volume of Yumi Hotta and Takeshi Obata’s Hikaru no Go. All images can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Black Lagoon, Volume 3, Chapter 17, Page 112 (VIZ Media)

MICHELLE: A little background information is required to explain why I found this page from Black Lagoon so interesting. The protagonists of this series are the Lagoon Traders, operating in the waters of South Asia. They routinely accept dangerous jobs, but the one they’re currently on—attempting to deliver detailed Hezbollah plans to a CIA agent—is more fraught with peril than most. They’re being pursued by a number of other vessels and their chances of getting away are slim.

The basic layout of this page—two long horizontal pages on top, one long vertical column on the far right, then some shorter panels on the bottom left—is one that Hiroe has used a few times in the series so far. What struck me in this particular instance is how the flow of the panels directs one’s eye, and how that direction mirrors the characters’ spirits.

In that vertical panel in the bottom right, Rock is dejected. He has finally acknowledged that they’re doomed, and the trailing bottom edge of that panel and placement of Dutch’s dialogue bubble pulls our eyes just about as low as they can go, just like Rock’s hopes. But then Revy has an idea, and our eyes locate her halfway up the page, like a cautious rebound of hope. The rest of the page involves the whole team expanding upon her plan, including the mention of the explosives that will be their ticket to escape.

This may look like a very simple page, but its execution is nothing short of elegant.

MJ: Oh, that is nicely done! I’ll make a comparison here using a medium I do have the vocabulary to discuss intelligently. Your observation here reminds me of something I frequently talk about with my voice students (I used to be a singer, and I still teach) regarding various composers’ level of skill in writing for singers. The best composers tell you everything you need to know about what you should be feeling in any particular moment—whether you’re singing opera, art song, musical theater, whatever—using music only. Pitch, rhythm, dynamics–everything is there if you just pay enough attention, and as long as you use those tools given to you, your audience will understand, whether they speak the language you’re singing in or not.

This visual language reminds me very much of that, and I feel like even if we were looking at this in Japanese, though we’d certainly lack specifics, we’d still comprehend the emotional trajectory of the story here.

MICHELLE: That’s a very apt comparison. Rock’s body language being so easy to read helps, too.

MJ: So, what else do you like about this? I was wondering if you had particular thoughts about the final panel, which suddenly zooms high above them.

MICHELLE: I think this is meant to emphasize how much of a team solution it is. I also love that although the original suggestion about the Semtex does not have a tag on it to designate the speaker, the way everyone else is turned toward Revy suggests that she was the one who spoke.

MJ: Oh, you’re much smarter than I am, though I did have a thought as well. I was thinking about what you said in your original paragraph about the rest of the panels being about the whole team expanding on Revy’s idea, and I thought “expand” was just the word I’d use to describe that final panel. Most of the rest of the page is made up of close-ups, and then that one just zooms way out, suddenly lending a real sense of space.

MICHELLE: Ooh, that’s a very clever point! Go you! Anyway, that’s all I’ve got this time. Why don’t you tell us about the pages you chose?

Hikaru no Go, Volume 15, Chapter 124, Pages 74-77 (VIZ Media)

MJ: Okay, so I’m not even going to introduce these pages, because part of what I think is so brilliant about them is that I don’t have to.

So, you’ve got Hikaru, who is obviously really tired, in that sort of raw way that can only really exist when you’re forcing yourself to be awake. His entire body expresses this, and he’s pretty much holding up his head with his hand. Someone’s talking to him (readers of the series will understand it to be Sai), but Hikaru’s so out of it, he’s not even really with him. Hikaru’s unmoving, frame after frame, in a kind of zone of nothingness.Then something happens at the bottom of the first page and *wham* the door behind Hikaru is sharp again, like the world has shifted from a half-dream state into the harsh light of day.

The real awakening, though, happens on the next page, when Obata widens the lens to make the empty space in the room the focus of panel. This is accented perfectly by the curtains blowing the breeze and the bright sun lighting up the room. Everything is set to evoke a feeling of wide, empty space in this tiny little room. I can almost hear the sounds of everyday life outside that might be wafting in to this quiet room through Hikaru’s open window.

My favorite touch, though, is the way this ends. That wide shot could have easily been the last image in the chapter, and probably it would have had even more impact if it had been. But rather than leave readers with the dramatic lack of Sai, the next two panels bring us back to the *presence* of Hikaru. He’s small, he’s bewildered, and he’s just been awakened in a really harsh way, but there’s a warmth and poignancy in those last two panels that reminds me why I love this series so much.

MICHELLE: There are two things in what you’ve said that really resonate with me. Firstly, I’m struck with the import of the door. I almost feel like I’m back in tenth grade, analyzing poetry, but now that you’ve mentioned its abrupt clarity, I’m convinced that there’s some pretty heavy symbolism behind that door being so conspicuously and firmly shut.

Also, I had the exact same reaction to the open window and billowing curtain—I felt like I could hear the sounds of everyday life carrying on even after something immense has happened. This reminds me of the scene in “The Body,” the fifth-season Buffy the Vampire Slayer episode in which Buffy comes home to find her mother dead on the couch. At one point she steps outside and there’s the world, carrying on as normal while she is going through something devastating.

Lastly, the one thing in that scene that draws my attention in a strange way is the reflection of the books on the floor opposite Hikaru. It’s such a small detail, yet it seems to emphasize the emptiness even more.

MJ: I actually thought of that scene from “The Body” when I was writing here, and I wondered if you’d bring it up! Yes, that’s exactly the kind of thing I mean. I love your observations about the door and the reflection of the books, too. I think you’re absolutely right on both counts.

MICHELLE: I can always be counted on to reference Buffy! It’s interesting that we both chose examples wherein someone has their back to the audience; it seems like that’s something that may not happen too often, though I’ll have to pay more attention from now on to see whether that’s really true. Why do you think Obata decided not to show Hikaru’s expression right away?

MJ: I think he didn’t need to. I think Hikaru and the reader are feeling the same thing in that moment, so illustrating it is totally unnecessary, and doing so might actually lessen the panel’s impact.

MICHELLE: I think so, too. It would place a limit on Hikaru’s comprehension of the situation, as well.

MJ: I also like the fact that when we do see Hikaru’s face in the next panel, it’s not straight-on. The vantage point and slight distance makes it clear that he’s still processing what’s in front of him (or not) . It also makes him appear small and vulnerable, but not in an overly cartoonish way. It’s perfect.

MICHELLE: I agree! Well, how do you think we did, our first time out? We might be a bit sore tomorrow, but it certainly felt good to stretch some little-used muscles.

MJ: I think we did all right… hopefully scoring relatively low on the scale for potential embarrassment. Heh. I’m really looking forward to seeing what kind of wisdom we might glean from our more knowledgeable readers!

MICHELLE: As am I. We look forward to your feedback, and hope that you’ll join us again next month for the next installment of Let’s Get Visual!

BL Bookrack: August Mix

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Welcome to the second installment of BL Bookrack, a new, monthly feature co-written with Soliloquy in Blue‘s Michelle Smith.

This month we take a look at series from BLU Manga and Digital Manga Publishing, specifically
Calling and Scarlet from BLU and Midnight Bloom and Under Grand Hotel from DMP.

Calling | By Miu Otsuki | Published by BLU | Rated Mature | Buy this book – Kazuaki is a mild-mannered young salaryman in a passionless job whose world is turned upside-down when he (literally) runs into Kira, a successful porn actor, who is filming in a nearby park. Kira falls for Kazuaki in the moment, and though Kasuaki initially rejects his romantic advances, the two pursue a friendship that gradually turns to love.

At first glance, this one-shot seems much like any other, with two pretty-boy male leads who look more like teenagers than working adults, and who fall predictably into typical seme and uke roles. Even the premise (a porn actor? really?) seems like an unbelievable construct put into place simply to facilitate easy sex scenes.

In truth, however, Calling is a surprisingly sweet story about two lonely young men discovering love for the first time. Even the story’s obvious cliches are handled with nuance and care.

Though inexperienced Kazuaki is a classic uke in most ways, his conflicted feelings as he begins to understand passion for the first time in his life bring a sense of poignant reality to his journey that is quite refreshing. Additionally, the contrast between the hours he spends hanging out with Kira and the dull apathy he feels all day at his job help make the rapid progression of their relationship genuinely believable.

Meanwhile, Kira’s stark surprise over the realization that he can actually feel love, a concept he’d long abandoned, makes the relationship easy to root for from the very beginning.

Both characters are well-developed in a remarkably short period of time. And though the volume isn’t at all ambitious in terms of plot, it’s nice to see the mangaka address the complications of Kira’s job, particularly its impact on his relationships with both his lover and his parents. The manga doesn’t delve too deep here, and perhaps Kira’s conflicts are resolved a bit too easily, but it’s a nice touch.

Despite an overuse of wide, tear-filled eyes and pouting lips, Miu Otsuki’s artwork is nicely expressive. Her understanding of body language, in particular, helps to highlight the story’s emotional depth.

If Calling is more warm than it is profound, that’s really not something to complain about. It’s the story’s focus on small moments that make it work so well in just a single volume. In a sea of disappointing BL one-shots, Calling is a welcome oasis indeed.

-Review by MJ

Midnight Bloom | By Rico Fukiyama | Published by Doki Doki | Rated 16+ | Buy this book – I don’t always like the stories Digital Manga Publishing issues under their DokiDoki imprint (like, say, Millennium Prime Minister), but I usually do. That’s where less explicit boys’ love stories reside and, indeed, the title story of this collection, “Midnight Bloom,” fits the bill quite well.

It’s the story of Tatsuki, an actor, and Haruka, the florist with whom he falls in love. The author’s end notes reveal that Tatsuki was originally a character in another story who was jilted in the end. “Midnight Bloom” exists chiefly to give Tatsuki a happy ending, and this it does. He and Haruka fall in love quickly, swiftly divulge their deepest feelings, and work companionably to put Tatsuki’s painful past behind him. Although everything’s a little too easy, it’s still pretty cute and I liked that the characters were finding true happiness with other than their first loves.

Alas, the rest of the stories in the collection are quite disappointing. “The Big Shiba” is about a spoiled rich kid named Hana whose father never let him have a dog. When his umpteenth step-mom kicks out her chauffeur/lover, Shirou, Hana takes him in. After a few weeks of Shirou playing nice doggy his more wolfish instincts take over. I’m sure you can guess where this goes. “Now and Then, My Heart Pounds” tells the story of an eighteen-year-old heir to a family inn who’s sort of apprenticed to another inn as appeasement for an arranged marriage agreement gone wrong and ends up in a relationship with a pervy thirty-year-old guy.

As if that wasn’t bad enough, the absolute worst story in the volume is “Scratch That Itch,” a particularly creepy student-teacher romance. Sometimes these kinds of stories can be handled without ickiness—perhaps only when the student is physically mature, self-assured, and the instigator—but that is definitely not the case here. The teacher entertains extremely off-putting thoughts like, “I want to see him shamed and filthy” and “All I have to do is catch him off-guard” and makes the first move on his student. I always wish for the kid to be properly traumatized when an older authority figure suddenly turns the tables on them in this way, but no, his only objection is that they should wait until they’re officially dating. Fukiyama writes that this scenario was especially requested by readers, that but she put the kid in a baseball uniform to spice things up. Ugh.

In the end, Tatsuki and Haruka’s story is bland but inoffensive and everything else is even worse than that. This one’s not worth your time.

-Review by Michelle Smith

Scarlet | by Hiro Madarame | Published by BLU | Rated Mature | Buy this book – When I reviewed Hiro Madarame’s Cute Devil back in May, I mentioned that while I liked her frequently cute (and amusing) art, I’d like to see what she could do with more sympathetic characters. Scarlet is actually her first comic but it ended up providing the answer.

Technically, this is a collection of short stories, but since only three couples are featured it feels less disconnected than others of its ilk. The title story and its follow-up, “Scarred,” depict the love story of Akio and Ryo. Ryo’s a transfer student whose European good looks make him somewhat of an idol at school, but he’s actually very lonely, very impressionable, and not too bright. He becomes attached to his first friend, Akio, and soon declares his love. The two begin a relationship, but Ryo is unable to refuse advances from others and cheats on Akio often. Obviously, Akio’s not happy about this, but Ryo is so genuinely, abjectly sorry every time that Akio keeps forgiving him.

When Ryo falls into the clutches of a manipulative girl who wants Akio out of the way for good, Ryo goes along with her plans, resulting in a disturbing attack on Akio. Nonconsensual scenes are lamentably de rigeur in boys’ love, but I do have to give kudos to mangaka who don’t shirk from depicting how awful the act truly is. Some will be infuriated by what happens next with this couple, but I don’t think it’s necessarily supposed to be romantic. At least, I hope not.

In addition to two merely decent stories about a couple with seemingly mismatched personalities, the volume is rounded out with a pair of stories called “One Night Stand” and “One Night Stand Again,” which are my personal favorites. Harumi is a gay man working in a repressive environment where he does his best to fade into the background. Every morning he rides the elevator with Toki, a charismatic coworker for whom he pines helplessly, but never speaks to him. One night, when Harumi spots Toki at a gay bar, he can’t believe his luck. Seizing the chance, and confident that his bar-hopping appearance is different enough from his workplace garb to avoid being recognized, he proposes a one night stand and the curious Toki accepts.

It’s a bittersweet evening for Harumi, and he has regrets afterwards. Toki does not and it doesn’t take him long to equate the guy from the bar with the guy in the elevator. Because Harumi’s so shy, however, Toki is content to take things at his speed. “Take all the time you need to get close to me,” he narrates as their tale comes to a close. Really, their story is simultaneously mature, sexy, and sweet, which is pretty impressive feat for a first-time mangaka!

I mentioned Madarame’s cute art, and it’s certainly put to good use here. True, sometimes her art can be a little messy-looking, but there are quite a few passages with great comedic timing and an amusingly simplistic style. Most often this appears in “Scarlet” and “Scarred,” used in good effect to depict how Ryo lights up when Akio looks his way, but there’s a really cute sequence between Toki and Harumi as well in which the latter dares to dream they might actually go out for lunch together. I also appreciate that the explicit scenes don’t feel as if they’ve simply been shoehorned in to fit some quota; they’re steamy without feeling smutty, if that makes sense.

All in all, I’m very impressed by Scarlet, though it’s rather disappointing to realize she followed this up with Cute Devil, a story of a power-imbalanced couple. Oh well. Can’t win ’em all.

-Review by Michelle Smith

Under Grand Hotel, Vol. 1 | By Mika Sadahiro | Published by 801 Media | Rated 18+ | Buy this book – Having been convicted of murdering his lover’s husband, Sen is sentenced for life to an underground prison buried in the depths of Long Island, nicknamed “Under Grand Hotel” by those who live there. It’s a rough introduction for Sen, who is beaten, raped with mop, and stuffed in a dryer by a child-molesting cannibal (no, really) all within the first 24 hours or so of his imprisonment.

He’s rescued from all this by Sword, a prison badass who has a reputation for dominating guys like Sen. The two become cellmates, and eventually enter into a sort of strange, desperate relationship.

Okay, let’s be honest here. Under Grand Hotel is a fantasy in the most complete sense of the word. It is, from its very first pages, elaborately constructed to sweep yaoi fans off their feet in the most dramatic way possible. It is violent, melodramatic, deeply unbelievable, and one of the most effective examples of romantic pornography I’ve ever seen.

This thing is epic, no less so than the likes of Korean favorite Let Dai, but without any flowery speeches or extended internal monologues standing in the way of its true mission–a whole lot of rough, manly sex. “Manly” really is the key here. This story isn’t populated by any of the wispy little bishonen found in most of the BL manga that’s been imported to the west. These men are big, heavily-muscled, and actually kind of terrifying much of the time. They are also angry and aggressive, regardless of whatever roles they play in the sack.

What’s most impressive about this manga in a narrative sense is how intense its world is, and how real Sadahiro is able to make it feel, at least while immersed. Reading this manga is like falling into the thrall of a very strong painkiller–the world reduced to a feverish bubble that both heightens and dulls the senses at the same time. It’s a dark world, to be sure, but one so far from the reader’s reality, it simply whets the appetite for more. “More darkness!” the mind cries out. “More pain!” Even the constant barrage of rape is somehow acceptable and even enticing in this utterly fantastical world.

Does that sound like hyperbole? Well, it may be. But this story begs for ridiculous description, just as it begs to be read, at least by the genre’s hard-core fans.

-Review by MJ

Review copies provided by the publishers.