Features

The Shoujo Beauty of X

July 29, 2012 by MJ 5 Comments

Those of you who have followed the evolution of the Manga Moveable Feast, and particularly the way in which subjects for the Feast are currently chosen (unlike the original democratic model, hosts now select topics on their own), have most likely assumed that, as the host of the CLAMP MMF, I’m a big fan of their work. This is a fair assumption, and it’s not exactly wrong, but the truth is a bit more nuanced. Though I count several of CLAMP’s manga among my very favorites (Tokyo Babylon, Cardcaptor Sakura, and xxxHolic are a few I’ve praised vocally over the past few years), my feelings for others range anywhere from general indifference to extreme impatience and even dislike.

One of the titles that originally registered with me somewhere between “impatience” and “dislike” is the very popular and tragically unfinished X (X/1999 when it was originally published in English), the first of CLAMP’s series to officially reach American shores. As a huge fan of Tokyo Babylon, my initial reaction can probably be chalked up to the fact that CLAMP waits several volumes before introducing Subaru into the story. But once I’d finally forgiven X for not being Tokyo Babylon II, I still found myself growing impatient with its sprawling cast, its convoluted plot lines, and its maddeningly repetitive exposition. Fortunately, VIZ’s new omnibus releases of X have not only reintroduced it into the North American market, they’ve also given me a second chance to try to grasp its charms—and grasp them I have, though they haven’t been at all what I expected.

Bloggers like my Manga Bookshelf cohort Kate Dacey have often referenced X‘s gory battles and body count as a major draw for readers. In one of her features for this month’s MMF, in fact, she likens X‘s apocalyptic imagery to the work of Katsuhiro Otomo (Akira), and goes on to conclude, “The battle scenes are kinetic and violent, executed with a gory zest that’s difficult to resist. The dream sequences, too, are suitably shocking: characters are dismembered, crucified, impaled, and engulfed in flames, often right before their loved ones’ eyes. I hesitate to suggest that X‘s body count is a victory for women, but it is a sharp and welcome rebuke to the idea that female readers strongly prefer conversation and character development to butt-kicking and carnage.”

She’s right, of course. X is filled to the brim with bloody battles that don’t shy away from gore. But I admit that my primary reaction to VIZ’s new, larger format omnibus editions has been the realization of how astoundingly, gorgeously shoujo it all is, especially in its imagery.

Here’s a sequence from X‘s first volume, in which burgeoning dreamseer Kotori receives a disturbing dream about her childhood friend, Kamui.

(click images to enlarge)

When I look at a scene like this… well, first of all, I think it’s freaking beautiful. With its flowing lines and minimal use of traditional boundaries, CLAMP creates a surreal, dreamlike landscape that manages to be remarkably easy to follow while also completely immersing the reader in Kotori’s state of mind. The evolution of the spherical images in her dream from a whimsical, globe-like ball to an apocalyptic nightmare is a genuinely striking progression, enhanced by the abstract panel placement—a collection of emotional slivers mirrored by the shattering of the earth itself.

That this type of page composition is quintessentially shoujo is no revelation of course. But its emotional resonance as well as its style of imagery reminds me immediately of other shoujo series from the same period.

Kotori’s initial descent into her dream reminds me of this section from Reiko Shimizu’s Moon Child, in which Teruto slides into the depths beneath a city fountain in order to make a deal to save his sibling’s life. Though Teruto’s journey is a waking one, in both cases, there is a sense that the main character of the scene is falling into a state that is both familiar and perhaps dangerous. Teruto’s and Kotori’s bodies are completely relaxed as they descend, while the water and the scattering fish around them create a sense of otherworldliness and tension.

The second spread of this sequence is dominated by the image of Kamui, holding and standing dominant over a representation of the earth, which reminded me immediately of this scene from Saki Hiwatari’s Please Save My Earth, in which Alice ponders the emotional state of Rin, whose previous incarnation, Shion, is pictured as if holding his world in thrall. Though the POV character in both series here feel love and affection for the subject of these images, there is also a sense that the person being pictured is potentially dangerous and capable of real harm.

The rapid, stream-of-consiousness images in the third spread of Kotori’s dream bears a similarity to this sequence from Keiko Nishi’s short manga Promise (note: Promise reads left-to-right). I find this particularly interesting given Promise‘s real-world setting, because it demonstrates so clearly how this type of mental imagery is just as much a part of our “real” lives as it is our dreams and fantasies. In both cases, these scattered, tumbling images create a sense of panic and impending emotional danger.

Though the content of the last bit I’ve chosen from Kotori’s dream bears very little similarity (at least in terms of plot) to what is happening in this spread (again from Please Save My Earth), Kotori’s and Mokuren’s states of mind are quite similar. They’ve both had a sudden realization about a loved one that results in complete horror. Kotori has been hit with the realization that her loved one, Kamui, may destroy her world, while Mokuren has been hit with the realization that she may be taken from the world before she’s able to tell Shion that she loves him in the first place. While the Kotori’s predicament may seem more serious and vital than Mokuren’s, the artwork tells us differently. Whatever the scope of the situations’ consequences, Mokuren and Kotori are equally devastated by their respective realizations.

This kind of emotional tension combined with abstract imagery is found all over in shoujo from the late 1980s and early 1990s (here’s a beautifully rendered scene from Naoko Takeuchi’s Sailor Moon)—which is part of why it’s become my favorite era for shoujo artwork.

Though I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention that the very first scene that came to mind while pondering artwork for this article came from Moto Hagio’s They Were Eleven, which was published in the 1970s (note: these pages read left-to-right). The accelerated tumbling of the elevator buttons at the top of the first page has stuck with me since I first read this manga several years ago, and I immediately associated it with Kamui’s tumbling earth. There’s something about shoujo and circles…

It doesn’t get better than this, my friends.

Time will tell, of course, if my new infatuation with the shoujo spectacularness of CLAMP’s X will help me weather its narrative messiness in the long-term, but I’m certainly enjoying myself so far. Kudos to VIZ for presenting this unfinished series in a format that finally shows it off to its best advantage. I think I may speak for all fans of 1990s shoujo when I say, “Thank you. I thank you with all my heart.”

Let’s hope this becomes a trend.

Chobits: Deconstructing the Love Story

July 29, 2012 by Brett Stockmeier 9 Comments

Chobits is usually one of the more divisive of CLAMP’s series. Mankind’s interactions with the advanced technology of the setting has the potential to spark important philosophical (as well as moral) debate. Unfortunately, not everyone is able to appreciate the finer details of the plot as many find the story of Chobits, that is to say, the romance, distasteful. Part of this has to do with CLAMP’s target audience. Despite their often attributed ability to appeal to both genders, CLAMP has often been classified as a Shoujo manga circle, writing with the intention of appealing to girls. Chobits marked an experiment for the group with the intention that the work be classified as seinen, meant to appeal to young men. Because of this departure from their traditional market/genre, I believe many fans of the group were alienated by the content and progression of the plot, and some of the questions raised by the work may be overshadowed by the antipathy it garners.

It was only recently that I came to the realization that what first appears to be one of the most tasteless and tacky love stories can also be viewed as a commentary on the visual novel genre, harem romance stories, the mythical magical girlfriend, and seinen romance as a whole.

CLAMP themselves waste no time setting Chobits up according to standard visual novel cliches: The protagonist is a young adult male, a ronin (he failed to get accepted into college), has lived a sheltered life in the country away from such luxuries as computers and the big city of Tokyo. He has no girlfriend, and is very vocal about his sexual frustration (he’s a virgin). Basically, he’s a bit of a loser, and he fits the mold perfectly for the protagonist of most visual novels and seinen romance stories. He’s remarkable only for the fact of being unremarkable, and on paper, the only trait he has going for him is you can say he’s a nice guy (though as the manga itself is quick to point out, not the guy who gets the girl).

These are common traits for a seinen protagonist because often these stories are marketed towards users that view themselves in much the same way: as being hapless, unfortunatate or lacking redeeming qualities to put it bluntly. Such stories offer a world and a narrative where they, stepping into the shoes of a main character, can suddenly have a complete reversal of fortune, giving them the chance to experience a life different from the one they perceive in the real world. One where perhaps a chance event or encounter can enable them to be successful and have a pretty, doting girlfriend (or a selection of the to choose from). It’s a genre primarily made up of wish-fulfillment.

Okay, so we have an unremarkable protagonist, but there’s always a catalyst that sets him on the journey that changes his fortunes from bad to good. Often, this happens with the chance meeting of a magical girlfriend archetype. Maybe she’s just a spunky and free-spirited classmate he happens to run into (usually quite literally) on the way to school, maybe she’s an alien from outer space and he’s just the first native human being she happens to encounter. Or maybe she’s a discarded robot set out with the trash.

Hideki, being poor, and by this point shown to be envious of those fortunate enough to own persocoms, doesn’t let the opportunity slip by, and he hurries to take his new possession home. Possession is also a common theme in seinen romance: in the popular Ah! My Goddess!, a young college student binds a goddess to him with a wish to the goddess hotline. (Ah! My Goddess! isn’t harem romance to my knowledge, but it is wish-fulfillment.)

Hideki at this point only thinks of Chi as a machine, albeit a cute one (the one you’re destined for is never who you first suspect, is it?), and so he’s already picturing the things he can do with Chi. Email, chat, web browsing, but mostly porno websites. (and if he knew a little more about persocoms and their standard capabilities, he might have been expecting to lose his virginity as well)

He appears initially to be entirely self-serving. He gleefully thinks on his good luck and conjures up references to figures like Doraemon, a character from a popular Japanese children’s cartoon that typically starts adventures and bestows gifts to a particularly unlucky Japanese boy. “It’s like a story”, he thinks to himself. And it seems like it really might be: the persocom he picked up for free from the garbage is repeatedly hinted at being a legendary persocom… one of the Chobits series, which is rumored to have programming so advanced it faithfully recreates real human emotions, technology on a level we can only dream about today.

A magical girlfriend that can do things no ordinary human girl can do? An ageless robot body in the form of a cute young girl? Real human emotions? And you own her?! I don’t doubt that many young men don’t have to look very deep to know this situation is a dream come true in more than one aspect.

Of course a common feature, and indeed the sole distinguishing characteristic of the “harem” genre is that it features multiple women who may serve as a match for the hero, and Chobits once again has that covered in the most cliche manner CLAMP could think of, relying on handful of the most overused “types” of women common to the seinen genre. You have the bubbly high school kohai Yumi, the mature and sexy teacher Shimizu-sensei, and the cute, doting young landlady Chitose Hibiya. Upon first meeting each of these women, Hideki’s mind races with the possibilities of a life with each of them. And for their part, the girls are each suprisngly tolerant of Hideki’s perverse habits. Yumi, prompted by his staring, casually gives out her bra size without hesitation. Shimizu-sensei dismisses his pornography as him being a boy after all (I guess boys are all seen as being sex-crazed in Japan?), and Hibiya constantly overlooks his audibly perverse inner monologue.

Indeed, the story itself actually seems to endorse each of these women as a potential match for Hideki with a number of events between that seem to deepen his relationship with each of them. Yumi takes the initiative to invite Hideki out on a date, Miss Shimizu shows up out of the blue to stay the night, and Hibiya… well she’s just a doting landlady, giving Hideki perhaps more attention than is usual of her guests. It’s easy to see why Hideki might get the wrong impression.

Outside the unexceptional cast filled with Seinen romance tropes, the rest of the story remains faithful to standard form: the “comedy” of this romantic comedy comes primarily from awkward ero situations and Hideki’s over-the-top reactions. There’s plenty of fanservice and straight-up soft-core pornography. The outfits Chi and the other persocoms take on often titillate with nearly exposed panty shots and Minoru’s vast collection of persocoms exclusively wear maid uniforms. In the anime, entire filler episodes were added devoted exclusively to panties and a trip to the beach that somehow manages to include the show’s entire cast of available women (in swim suits of course), disconnected though they might be.

So CLAMP spent a good chunk of Chobits setting up a cast and characters that would fit right into any seinen romance, and I think a lot of people, especially when drawing from CLAMP’s audience would be put off by that. There’s a notable lack of any strong female characters like Sakura, Hokuto, or Misaki. (That isn’t to imply the females are necessarily weak, but all of them seem to start the series slightly broken, suffering deep emotional scars) Instead we get to see a cast of stereotypes focusing on a main character that hasn’t really earned the attention he gets. It all seems incredibly un-CLAMP and indeed the traditionally shoujo group hadn’t really tried to market itself to a male audience until that point. It seems natural to assume that their established primarily female audience might lose interest or even be offended and denounce Chobits for its the content. I might have been included with CLAMP’s alienated fan base if CLAMP didn’t work to tear down and undermine the stereotypical seinen romance narrative they had created as quickly as (and even before) they had built it.

Things get off to a rocky start for Hideki right from the first time he activates Chi, as he quickly realizes there was a reason he found her in the garbage. The magical girlfriend-figure he had pictured is disappointingly incapable of the tasks he had planned for it, and initially can only mimic his movements and speak only “chi”. This is in stark contrast to the goddesses from Ah! My Goddess! who can magically procure an empty house the size of a small mansion when the protagonist of that series is evicted from his dormitory. Chi on the other hand seems unable to even connect to the internet, and is rarely or never seen to consciously do anything remotely computer like, as you never see her being used as Hideki originally intended: as a tool, able to open the way to the wonders of the internet and computers. Instead, she behaves closer to that of an ordinary human girl, reading and learning from picture books rather than the internet, which should be readily available to any persocom. In fact, there are a lot of things Chi seems unable to do as a computer, though eventually she’s perfectly able to learn the same way any human being can, and can even achieve some level of independence from Hideki, taking on a job and responsibilities apart from him. Even there, as a human being, she is limited, and a crucial capability of both human and persocom is denied to her… that is, the ability to have sex.

It seemed as though Hideki might have gotten a dud when it came to his legendary persocom: rather than stumbling onto a super human devoted to making him happy, he instead finds himself with a burden and responsibilities he is not sure he can afford, quite litterally. Even Chi’s being a legendary Chobit turns out to be irrelevant or a disappointment in the context of human relationships: her “legendary programming” able to replicate human thought patterns and emotions on par with a real human being is nothing but a myth, and her only real magical feature, the ability to affect other persocoms has no practical applications in the realm of a relationship.

With the illusion of the powerful wish granting girlfriend shattered, CLAMP then proceeds to move through the list of other potential candidates in Hideki’s would-be harem and systematically remove them as potential matches. The cute young kohai with the big boobs that invited you out that one time in a maybe date? She’s been hung up on her old boyfriend since long before we came into the story. The sultry teacher that stayed over at your place in her underwear late that one night? A married woman having an affair running away from the pressures of her relationships. The doting land lady? Well, hooking up with Hideki was the last thing on her mind.

The side characters in Hideki’s harem may not have stood out initially as being incredibly liberated or strong (they’re actually all kind of broken really) like CLAMP’s other notable characters, but they (both the characters and CLAMP) deserve recognition for having a life/story/purpose outside of competing for the affections of Hideki, while traditionally interest in the protagonist is all consuming for the harem in seinen romance. Likewise, Hideki deserves some credit for his demeanor in the rejection of his fantasies. When he found out the truth of Yumi and Ueda’s past, he spoke up in the defense of the people he knew to be good, honest and kind. He listened without judgement to the confessions of an adulterer, and showed genuine regret that he was unable to lend his friend more support when he became involved with her. And he was happy, rather than bitter that these people found happiness, despite the fact that once he imagined himself playing a more active part. Lots of characters are described as being “nice guys”: Hideki is the only one in my opinion to ever take true ownership of that title in a story like this.

With the standard narrative built-up only to be summarily torn down, the universe seems to have delivered a grim shot of reality to Hideki. That persocom he found in the garbage really was broken, and yet it was also something that could become very special to him if he puts in the work required (which is true of anything really). The idea of a legendary persocom (the magical girlfriend stand-in) is in actuallity a myth, just as the idea is a myth in real life. The concept of a machine with real emotions is actually just wish-fulfillment, in a cold allusion to reality and the entire market of wish-fulfillment. It isn’t real, and exists only in the minds of those who desire and dream of such things.

But while Chi may not be a magical persocom, she is still a persocom: beatiful, ageless, and capable of many things an ordinary woman (or man. also could be a man) just can’t do or compete with. But CLAMP even here dismisses the magical girlfriend myth with their repeated insistence that there are just the same some things that only a real flesh-and-blood human being can do that persocom just can’t. Supporting this, persocoms, once portrayed as being almost superhuman, also have their vulnerabilities revealed and discussed in length. They can be easily manipulated through their programming, their cherished memories can be erased with a few computer commands, and just like human beings, they can break beyond repair and die. As an interesting side-note, these problems are also very real ailments that can afflict human beings, and thus by making persocoms imperfect, they are shown to be more like human beings than ever before, with the similarities running far beyond our shared humanoid features.

The women in his life he was focusing in on as it turned out all had lives of their own, and really never gave Hideki a second thought, if they gave him any thought as a potential match at all. What’s more astounding is that CLAMP perfectly mirrors real life when they reveal to both the reader and Hideki that he doesn’t necessarily know everything that’s going on around him. The story doesn’t stop being told just because Hideki isn’t around, and indeed it was being told even before he entered into the picture. Before even the first chapter of Chobits. And while the story follows Hideki, Shimbo, his best friend lucky enough to gain the eye of his teacher, is in the middle of his own story, and in contrast to standard form, doesn’t exist merely to root for Hideki on the sidelines: he has his own cares and his own concerns, and like the people around you in real life he can choose not to enlighten you to them. Chobits drives home the message perhaps the best in any of CLAMP’s work that you are not special. Your story is not the only one that his being told, and everybody is dealing with their own issues that may be every bit or more frustrating than your own.

This is the exact opposite of the message communicated by a visual novel where you can win anybody or anything based solely on the effort you put in and the knowledge you possess. Of course there is some truth to this world view as well, but a visual novel system exaggerates the amount of control a person has over his own life and the universe: there will always be some things you just can’t do. A visual novel also cannot take into account the fact that other people are living their own stories right along side you. Perhaps a true Chobits visual novel would be massively multi-player (and be called “real life, but with persocoms”, except that’s not very catchy).

The coup de grace though comes with Chobits‘ simple yet powerful ending when Hideki is confronted with the reality that there are some things Chi just can’t (and for all we know, never will be able to) do. Not just procreation, but sex itself, which has been a driving motivation throughout Chobits. While Hideki hasn’t exactly been on the prowl looking to lose his virginity through the series, it’s safe to say he’s always been self-conscious of his status as a virgin. The universe itself sees fit to remind him with the casual acceptance and reactions in the face of sexuality displayed by the people around him, and the gentle teasing Hideki endures by his friends Shimbo and Minoru (of all people! How can someone as young as Minoru be more sexually mature as someone as old as Hideki? Actually I might have some theories) More evidence is seen in the number of times pornography makes an appearance in the story. Porno websites dominates his fantasies of the advantages of owning a persocom, and it’s clear he has a sizable collection erotic magazines. And it must be a sexually liberated world when Manager Ueda can casually relay the story of his marriage to a persocom, and the fact that there are many people that, yes, have gone so far as to have sex with their persocoms.

Thus to be confronted with the reality that in order to be with Chi, he will never be able to be “with” Chi is a major revelation, especially given that human persocom relations aren’t really that unheard of at all. The very real possibility exists that Hideki will die a virgin, never getting to experience one of life’s greatest pleasures to be shared by two people in love. Sex has always played a large role in a seinen romances, and yet Hideki, the supposed protagonist of such a story, is being asked to live a life of abstinence. In my opinion it’s a marvelous way to draw a distinction between Chobits and other romantic comedies in the genre, and even Chobits‘ own early story, in order to show just how much the story has evolved.

I could not comfortably bring this essay to a proper close if I didn’t mention the inherent contradictions in my ideas, the most prominent of which come to light from two official Chobits sources (regardless of whatever input CLAMP had in their production). The first is the anime, which has a vastly different ending from the manga. In the anime, key plot details are changed, which fundamentally alter who/what Chi is, even if her personality remains the same. The anime Chi really is a legendary and powerful persocom, with programming advanced enough to faithfully recreate the complexity of human emotions. This new Chi completely undermines my theory that CLAMP intended to undermine the myth of the magical girlfriend by making their own character incredibly ordinary and even defective compared to other persocoms.

Furthermore, anime Chi and Hideki then undergo a trial where Chi has her memory erased, yet is able to recover the deleted data somehow through the power of the love she and Hideki feel for each other, with little in the way of a technical explanation given: it’s just a miracle of love! What’s more, after this, Chi proceeds to update every other persocom in existence so that they might all share the advanced programming she posesses. And so while the message of the manga seems to reinforce the complexity and complications of real life, the anime reinforces the myths and ideals of the magical girlfriends and that miracles do exist and all you need is love and everything will be happy in the end. Fluffy, traditional shoujo ideals, but something CLAMP has always shied away from (and been stronger for, in my opinion)

The other element that undermines my ideas is the existence of a licenced Chobits visual novel, completely typical for the genre. The user is free to pursue and win other women outside of Chi in exactly the way I have been alluding to throughout my essay.

I have reservations about declaring CLAMP set out with Chobits to debunk these visual novel universes and their tropes. From what I have glimpsed of the group and their unique way of creating, it’s impossible to say what their goal was in its creation. It may be that their intent was more innocent: to bring a touch of shoujo to the seinen market. Chobits just may have been the unique product spawned by this fusion. On the other hand, if they might possibly have had no involvement with the visual novel and the changes to the anime (as has been suggested to me), it could be that I have glimpsed a small part of their intentions in creating Chobits. I understand why the story might put off their traditionally female dominated audience, but I do believe plot itself (and not just the philosophical questions it brings up) has serious merit to it, and I hope that my ideas may help to redeem the series in the eyes of others.

I’d like to thank you for taking the time to read my thoughts, and unknownusername for taking the time to give me input while I was writing this.

To submit your contributions to the CLAMP MMF for inclusion in this month’s archive, please send your links by email to mj@mangabookshelf.com or via Twitter to @mjbeasi. If you would like your contribution(s) to be hosted at Manga Bookshelf, please email them to MJ, along with any included images.

Let’s Get Visual: A Tale of Two Series

July 28, 2012 by Michelle Smith and MJ

MICHELLE: You didn’t think we were going to let a CLAMP MMF go by without devoting a special Let’s Get Visual column to it, did you? (Insert a Hokuto Sumeragi “ho ho ho” laugh here.) It’s an absolute must for a group like CLAMP, whose output is so diverse, not merely in the realms of story and demographic, but also artistically speaking. In fact, I had a pretty tough time choosing which images to talk about today. How about you, MJ?

MJ: Yes, there’s so much to choose from! Though CLAMP is nearly always clearly distinguishable as CLAMP, they manage to do that while also significantly varying their style from series to series, especially when they’re writing for different demographics.

MICHELLE: I wish I had the artistic vocabulary to really thoroughly describe these subtle variations, but I’m afraid I don’t. Still, this diversity inspired MJand I to compare two CLAMP series with different art, but similar stories. Legal Drug has been described as a prototype for xxxHOLiC, as it features a hyper protagonist (Kazahaya) and his more stoic companion (Rikuo) who are asked to perform various odd, supernatural-related jobs by the precognitive manager of a store (Kakei). Kazahaya is quick to proclaim that they’re not friends, but is forced to begrudgingly thank Rikuo for several timely rescues. This is a setup very similar to the initial relationship between Watanuki and Doumeki in xxxHOLiC.

MJ: Personally, I think you could even make an argument for Kakei’s companion Saiga as a weird prototype for Mokona.

MICHELLE: Yeah, I guess he does spend the majority of his time either sleeping or pulling off surprising domestic tasks.

Anyway, how about you start us off with the pages you’ve chosen?

MJ: Sure! I’ve picked out a couple of different scenes from volume twelve, and the reason I chose that volume is that it’s really where Watanuki’s reality starts to fall apart. At first, he’s simply having a series of strange dreams, but by the end of the volume, dreams and reality are melding into each other, one after the other, to the point where it’s impossible for him to tell the difference between them.

(Click on images to enlarge.)

xxxHOLiC, Vol. 12, Pages 30-32 (Del Rey)

The first scene I’ve chosen comes in early in the volume, and it’s very obviously a dream world. The ever-present blossoms in the wind, Yuuko’s train of butterflies, the wind in the air, and even just the sense of space feels entirely like a dream–like something clearly outside our waking reality. It’s beautiful, but it’s expected, and even when there’s a sense of eeriness, it feels friendly and familiar.

xxxHOLiC, Vol. 12, Pages 138-141 (Del Rey)

The second scene, on the other hand, comes in much later, when Watanuki is being shuttled from dream to dream to dream, never knowing if he might finally be awake. The scene starts out simply with the kind of lunch picnic he might have with Himawari any day of the week. The backgrounds are sparse and the panels sort of matter-of-fact. The only hint at first that something might be off, is the hole Watanuki notices in the wall behind Himawari. And even though the scene becomes comedic, with the scaly hand popping out of the hole to steal Watanuki’s sherbet, it feels very sinister to me–not just because Himawari never notices what’s happening, but because it’s intruding on what feels to Watanuki like normal life, letting him know that he’s somehow *still* not awake. Unlike the earlier dream scene, which feels so perfectly dreamlike, this one reads as something more like madness, which is much scarier to me as a reader.

MICHELLE: My first reaction when I saw the scaly hand stealing the sherbet was to deem it “cute” but that’s because it’s been so long since I read xxxHOLiC that I had utterly forgotten the context of this scene. Now that you’ve informed me, I read it as sinister. It’s definitely something that could look like “Watanuki’s everyday life” to the casual reader as much as to Watanuki himself, at first.

MJ: I probably am letting the context influence me, which maybe makes this not the greatest example for a Let’s Get Visual column! But I do think it’s interesting how differently CLAMP treats these two scenes, when they’re both representations of Watanuki’s dream world.

MICHELLE: Oh, I think they’re fine examples! What you’re basically showing here is that in xxxHOLiC, or at least in these scenes, CLAMP draws the supernatural in a way that blends in with the everyday world. It’s a very simple approach, free of some of the bells and whistles that my images from Legal Drug possess.

MJ: Well, let’s take a look at those, then!

Legal Drug, Vol. 2, Pages 40-43 (TOKYOPOP)

MICHELLE: These pages are from a scene in the second volume of Legal Drug. Kazahaya and Rikuo have just rescued a magical kitty, and in gratitude, the kitty has led them to the park where its powers are strongest and transformed into the images of the person each boy wants to see most.

What struck me strongly here is the way the kitty begins to unravel. Seriously, the fact that it’s just one little toe of his little paw really gets to me somehow. Somewhat like xxxHOLiC, there’s that feeling of “You thought things were normal, but really they are not.” As the transformation is underway, we get several reaction shots from the boys (with a bevy of speedlines), resulting in a page layout far busier than xxxHOLiC. The two-page spread is quintessential CLAMP: two slim and lovely ladies with long flowy hair speckled with white ink. The tight panels of the boys’ eyes include more speedlines to help convey their shock.

Honestly, besides the slightly more ornate style here, it’s the speedlines that really convey the biggest tonal difference between these series to me. It’s presumptuous to declare that CLAMP “matured” between the two series, but it really does feel as though they realized they no longer needed to rely on such tricks to convey the protagonist’s feelings. Less is more!

MJ: Well, I think it’s probably worth bringing up the fact that Legal Drug ran in a shoujo magazine, where those kinds of flourishes might have been expected, unlike xxxHolic, which had to fit in to the style of a seinen magazine. I mean, CLAMP is always CLAMP, but there’s always a clear sense of what demographic they’re drawing for–even in two series as similar as these.

MICHELLE: That’s a good point. I certainly don’t mean to disparage the style of Legal Drug or insinuate that it’s inferior, but in terms of personal preference, I simply like the cleaner, restrained style of xxxHOLiC more. I mean, just check out how the panel shapes themselves are different. It’s really neat to compare them!

MJ: Oh, I completely agree! And though I also have a preference for the artwork in xxxHolic, I do appreciate the shoujo flourishes for their classic flair. More and more, I find the differences fascinating, and I was really surprised, actually, at how easy it was to tell which demographic CLAMP was writing for simply by looking at the artwork of their series in preparation for this Feast. I don’t think I expected it to be so obvious.

MICHELLE: I wouldn’t have, either. But going forward I’ll be making a special point to notice how they adapt their style to the magazine!

Fanservice Friday: The Fujoshi Heart of CLAMP

July 27, 2012 by MJ 8 Comments

Welcome back to Fanservice Friday!

For those of you who may be wandering over from less manga-obsessed corners of the internet, the term “fujoshi” (“rotton girl”) is used in Japan to describe fans of BL or “boys’ love” (also known as “yaoi”) manga, which is to say women and girls who enjoy stories featuring male characters in romantic and/or sexual relationships with each other, created for a female audience, usually by female writers and artists.

You can find a lot of internet speculation (and a few academic studies) regarding why many women and girls like stories about two men falling in love and/or making out (and so forth), but there’s little doubt that they do like them, and that “they” includes me. I’m a romance junkie and, to hear some tell it, perhaps a perv. (Though for what it’s worth, I get the same enjoyment out of stories featuring a man and a woman or two women making out, so I’m at last an equal opportunity perv.)

Anyhow, given that CLAMP spent some time creating yaoi doujinshi (kinda like slash fanfiction, but comics) before they went pro, it’s likely that they may have once considered themselves fujoshi, And whether they ever did or not, that sensibility is certainly present in their professional work, regardless of its intended demographic.

So now that we’ve gotten all that exposition over with, let’s talk about….

The Fujoshi Heart of CLAMP

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Scenes such as the one above from Legal Drug fall into a type of female-aimed fanservice pretty common in shoujo (and even shounen) manga these days. I like to call this type of fanservice “the tease.” A scene like this is a tease, because it features two male characters caught in a compromising position that ultimately turns out not to be at all what it seems. In this scene, for instance, Kazahaya and Rikuo are posing as clandestine student lovers to facilitate their investigation of a supernatural event at a secluded all-boys’ school, and Rikuo gets mushy for a moment when he realizes they are being watched. Often, this kind of tease is used for comedic effect, like in these pages from Black Butler, but in this scene, CLAMP avoids going for the easy laugh, keeping the mood heavy to intensify the readers’ already-established interest in these characters as a potential couple (and believe me, there’s interest).

Fortunately, humorous BL fanservice is not CLAMP’s specialty… well, fortunately for me, anyway, as it’s by far my least favorite type—both as shoujo fanservice and in actual BL manga as well. Legal Drug is particularly generous with its BL overtones, and it’s also one of the group’s few series to pull some of those overtones out of the subtext and right into the text. It’s made pretty clear throughout the series’ first three volumes, that shop owner Kakei has something going on with his hulky companion, Saiga.

Though anything other than come-hither looks and suggestive embraces is kept pretty much off-screen, I’ve read manga published as BL (Wild Adapter, for instance), that treats its relationships more ambiguously.

Another of CLAMP’s shoujo series to contain a canon romance between two male characters is, of course, Cardcaptor Sakura, and though Toya and Yukito’s relationship is even more chaste on-screen than Kakei and Saiga’s, it’s still notable given the young age of Nakayoshi’s core audience. And frankly, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to melt just a little in the presence of romantic sweetness like this.

This kind of pure-hearted devotion is at the core of most of CLAMP’s best romances, even those that remain ambiguous throughout their entire runs, and I admit that’s part of what works so well for me. Even in a relationship steeped in rivalry or dry humor, I like to be able to see that sincerity at its core, and this is one of CLAMP’s greatest strengths. It also lends itself to some very touching moments, often with a serious tone.

Even in Tokyo Babylon, where the initially jokey relationship between 16-year-old Subaru and veterinarian Seishiro takes a decidedly dark turn, our hero’s feelings are very innocent and undeniably sincere.

Which is not to say that CLAMP doesn’t ever go for the laugh.

Oh, Watanuki and Doumeki… *sigh*. Probably my favorite of CLAMP’s subtextual BL couples, Watanuki and Doumeki spend most of their time visibly at odds, with Watanuki flailing in protest every time the two of them are paired up (which is often), and Doumeki making dry comments about Watanuki in the background. Much is made of their supernatural compatibility—Doumeki’s pure spirit is constantly necessary for keeping Watanuki safe, while Watanuki’s cooking provides Doumeki with nearly the only food pure-intentioned enough for him to enjoy eating. There’s also the fact that by halfway through the series, the two of them basically share both blood and an eye. It’s a CLAMP staple, of course, but man, it always works for me.

I’ve used this scene as an example before, but really nothing beats it for the perfect combination of prickly banter, dry humor, and undeniable personal intimacy. These characters know each other so well, and even though most of their outward behavior is designed to conceal that as thoroughly as possible, it still shines through, clear as day.

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Perhaps the snarky nature of Watanuki and Doumeki’s BL-heavy relationship is due at least in part to xxxHolic‘s demographic (seinen), though they take a much different tack with the shounen-aimed series Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle, in which the characters Fai and Kurogane—though beginning as fairly reluctant comrades—eventually develop a deep loyalty and warm friendship that reads very much like romantic love. I once referred to them as something like “the most obvious couple since Remus Lupin and Sirius Black,” but I think they may be even more obvious (or perhaps obvious to more people) than that.

Here’s another quote from my fannish journal when I first began reading Tsubasa: “Oh. Kurogane. If anyone tries to tell me that CLAMP does not ‘ship Fai/Kurogane, I will laugh harder than I have ever laughed in my life. I really will. They might as well put it on a billboard. Almost makes me wish it was a shoujo manga instead, but then there would probably be more flowers and fewer fights, and I admit I kind of like the fights.”

Having read a lot more shoujo manga since then—and particularly shoujo manga by CLAMP (*cough* X *cough*)—I’d have to take back my assertion that a shoujo version of Tsubasa would necessarily contain fewer fights, but I’d still bet money on CLAMP ‘shipping Fai/Kurogane, whether they’ve ever admitted it or not.

Though Tsubasa‘s shounen sensibility lends itself more toward heroic demonstrations of affection (Kurogane gives up his blood and an arm for Fai over the course of the series) than meaningful touches and stolen glances, it does have its moments.

For the record, Fai punches Kurogane on the next page (good-naturedly, of course), ’cause, y’know, that’s how they roll.

I’ve often wished that CLAMP would just go ahead and publish a BL manga—not because I’m dissatisfied with what they’ve already offered up in both canon and less-explicitly-canon male/male romance, but because I think they’d write it very well, and that they’d be likely to give me the kind of epic, plotty BL manga I so wish there were more of—in the English-language market anyway. In the meantime, I’ll take what I can get.

Readers, what are your favorite CLAMP BL pairings?

3 Things Thursday: Favorite CLAMP Women

July 26, 2012 by MJ 9 Comments

It has been a while, but welcome back to 3 Things Thursday! As you know, this week is the CLAMP Manga Moveable Feast. CLAMP has written a lot of terrific female characters, like Sakura, Yuuko, Hikaru, and the list goes on. I’ve always gravitated towards supporting characters, though, especially when they’re as awesome as some of CLAMP’s. And so, this Thursday, let’s talk about my…

3 Favorite CLAMP Women

1. Hokuto, Tokyo Babylon – I already went on and on about Hokuto in yesterday’s roundtable, but really I could talk about her all day. While she’s pretty great in her capacity as “Subaru’s twin sister,” she’s even better on her own, and I’m thrilled that CLAMP decided to break away from the manga’s primary thread long enough to let us see that. Volume two’s final chapter, in which Hokuto steps in to rescue another woman from her male pursuers, is one of my favorite moments in the entire series. She’s like a superhero in this scene, and it’s impossible not to fall in love with her.

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2. Himawari, xxxHolic – One of the characters who seems to get the least love from fans in xxxHolic is Himawari, Watanuki and Doumeki’s schoolmate who was born with the unfortunate characteristic of bringing bad luck to the people around her. But Watanuki adores Himawari, and so do I. I love her understated insights, her sweet good nature, and the smile that covers up her loneliness. This scene in which Watanuki finally realizes what’s really going on with Himawari is a favorite of mine, partly because of Watanuki being who he is, but also because of Himawari’s cheerful acceptance of what she is certain must be the end of their friendship.

3. Tomoyo, Carcaptor Sakura – Oh, Tomoyo, Tomoyo… if Cardcapter Sakura is the absolute dearest of all dear things in the world, Tomoyo is even dearer. Her complete devotion to Sakura is adorable of course—Tomoyo is a true friend—but it’s more than that. She’s a completely original little person, and it’s just a joy to watch her exist. She’s as dear as can be here, but I think my favorite moment is in the last panel, when she greats the fairly terrifying true form of Cerberus with, “Have we met?”

So, readers… who are your favorite CLAMP women?

Manga the Week of 8/1

July 25, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

It’s August 1st! Or, as Diamond likes to call it, July 32nd! In other words, expect another lean week for comic shops.

Dark Horse, which has been fairly quiet as of late, comes out with not one but two new titles! Vol. 25 of the perennial classic Blade of the Immortal, which not only features snow, but also dawn. Two separate things that make for great manga. There’s also Vol. 2 of Drifters, Hirano’s attempt to follow up on Hellsing. Those watching the current anime season will be saddened that, though this manga features Oda Nobunaga, he is not a cute young girl.

Sure it came out everywhere else two weeks ago, but Diamond is above such petty things as street dates! Vertical, however, is merely content with getting you some quality Moyoco Anno manga. This one in particular is a period piece examining a young woman’s rise as an Oiran, and how that’s not really as heartwarming and empowering as it may sound. It’s fantastic reading.

Lastly, and with perfect timing, we have some X hitting shops just in time to miss the Manga Moveable Feast. Vol. 3 of the omnibus contains the original Vols. 7-9, and things get even more apocalyptic. Well, I imagine they do, things got entirely too depressing for me around this point. But more on that tomorrow…

Another small week, but it’s got some quality. What appeals to you?

Why you should read Cardcaptor Sakura

July 24, 2012 by MJ 6 Comments

It’s been quite a while since I sat down to write one of my “persuasion posts.” I’d nearly forgotten that my very first of these was for another work of CLAMP’s. Of course, the two series are about as different as they could be, yet both exhibit some of my favorite CLAMP-y traits, particularly CLAMP’s ability to create warm, believable relationships within an unbelievable setting. With that in mind, let’s talk about…

Cardcaptor Sakura was CLAMP’s second series (after Magic Knight Rayearth) to be published in the shoujo anthology Nakayoshi, and the first created from the start with Nakayoshi‘s sensibilities specifically in mind. Thus, the series’ heroine, Sakura, was written to be the same age as the magazine’s core readership and also as a magical girl, though CLAMP had little experience with the genre. Of course, CLAMP being CLAMP, they’d do this in their own way.

The Premise:

“Sometimes, when you read too much manga, you get jaded. You think you’ve seen it all; you think that a whole genre sucks, like battle manga or Boy’s Love manga or four-panel manga. At times like these, sometimes you just need to read one really good manga to realize that a good enough artist can make even the most stereotypical premise seem fresh. For me, when it comes to ‘magical girl’ manga, that manga is Cardcaptor Sakura by CLAMP.”

– Jason Thompson, ANN/Jason Thompson’s House of 1000 Manga

Fourth grader Sakura Kinomoto lives with her older brother Toyo and her widower dad in the fictional town of Tomoeda, Japan, not far outside Tokyo. Sakura is afraid of ghosts, hates math, is great at sports, and loves to eat pancakes. She’s also the official collector of the Clow Cards, a deck of magical cards accidentally released from a book Sakura found in her father’s study. She’s guided in her task by a cute, winged, teddy bear-like creature named Cerberus (usually referred to by Sakura as “Kero-chan”), guardian of the book and, like the cards themselves, a creation of the long-deceased sorcerer Clow Reed. Sakura is also generally accompanied by her best friend, Tomoyo, who designs and sews elaborate costumes for Sakura to wear on her magical girl adventures—and captures it all on video.

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If the above paragraph alone represented the entirety of Cardcaptor Sakura, it would already be the absolute dearest of all dear things in the world. But of course, there’s more.

Just as Sakura’s really getting the hang of the whole cardcaptor business, along comes Syaoran Li, a Chinese transfer student and direct descendent of Clow Reed, who has traveled to Tomoeda to capture the cards himself. Certain that an ordinary girl like Sakura is in no way up for the task, he follows her on all her adventures, sometimes helping out, but as time goes on and Sakura becomes more confident in her role, Syaoran spends more time simply being struck by the awesomeness of Sakura’s developing power which is ultimately far greater than his own.

Then there’s Yukito—a sweet, bespectacled young man who happens to be both Sakura’s brother’s best friend and (unbeknownst to Yukito) the “temporary” human form of Yue, second guardian of the Clow Cards and one thorny supernatural dude. Yue is also skeptical of Sakura’s abilities and unwilling to accept a new master of the Clow Cards, which forces Sakura into the position of having to win the right to his loyalty by defeating him in a fight—one that potentially poses grave consequences for Sakura and everyone she holds dear.

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But in Cardcaptor Sakura, even the most dire of dire situations is something that can be overcome. Sakura’s mantra, “I’m sure I’ll be all right!” is more than just an uplifting quasi-magical spell, it’s a philosophy of the manga as a whole. Scary circumstances may arise, possible villains appear, but the world is a warm and generous place, and even our deepest wounds can be healed with the help of loving friends.

The Relationships:

Sakura’s got a huge crush on sweet, unaffected Yukito who is (sadly for Sakura) already pretty well hung up on her brother. But Toya’s not the only rival for Sakura’s affections. Prickly Syaoran also becomes quite bothered in Yukito’s presence, much to his own dismay.

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Meanwhile, new British transfer student Eriol is showing lots of interest in Sakura, just as Syaoran begins to realize that Yukito may not be his heart’s desire after all. And rounding out all the romantic complication is smiling, devoted Tomoyo, whose best friend is oblivious to her affections—a reality that kindhearted Tomoyo is mature enough to take in stride.

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If this is all sounding kind of relationship-y and not all that magical-girl-y, well… it should. Though CLAMP makes fun and stylish use of Sakura’s supernatural journey, it’s her emotional journey that’s really the point of it all. Throughout the series, Sakura finds herself needing to re-evaluate her feelings for most of those nearest and dearest to her, as she becomes aware of the many different kinds of love she feels for them. This is the heart of Cardcaptor Sakura, and it’s one that absolutely shines.

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One of the things you’ll note, even just from reading this description, is that this series tends to treat its same-sex crushes and romantic relationships pretty much the same as its heterosexual crushes and romantic relationships—which is to say that they’re all pretty chaste, and all very readily accepted by Sakura, who for the most part acts as the series’ moral center.

Even in a CLAMP manga, this is pretty refreshing, for although CLAMP has several series that portray same-sex romantic love (Tokyo Babylon and Legal Drug spring immediately to mind), there’s a purity to Cardcaptor Sakura—and to Sakura herself—that keeps these relationships from ever reading as deviant or exotic, as they so often do in manga (including CLAMP manga like, say, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland). And while it would be inaccurate to attribute anything we might recognize as actual gay identity to the series’ portrayal of its same-sex pairings, this straightforward, innocent approach rings true for a character like Sakura, whose ideas about love are being formed, slowly but surely, right before our eyes.

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There’s a scene early in the second of the Dark Horse omnibus volumes, in which Sakura and a very embarrassed Syaoran are discussing their mutual feelings for Yukito. At the end of the conversation, Sakura arrives at this simple conclusion: “We can’t help it. We just… like him.” This is Sakura’s romantic worldview in a nutshell. She doesn’t know why people love who they love, or what any of it might mean in the eyes of her school, her town, Japan, East Asia, or humankind as a messy, divisive whole. She just knows that they do, and that’s more than enough for her. And with Sakura at the helm, it feels perfectly natural for her clear, unspoiled perspective to permeate the series overall.

Of course, romantic love is not the only variety on the table, and that’s one of the series’ strengths as well. Even the story’s romantic couples are decidedly friends first, and whatever “floaty” feelings may be buzzing around, it’s clear that those friendships stand strong, with or without anything more heart-throbbing behind them. Family relationships stand out as well, particularly Sakura’s relationships with her brother and her father—both of which are every bit as charming and throughly-written as her budding romantic adventures.

The Adorableness:

In our anniversary edition of Off the Shelf, David Welsh writes of Dark Horse’s first Cardcaptor Sakura omnibus,

I’ve already used the word “adorable” twice in this review, and you should gird yourself for me using it again, because this book is adorable in all of the best ways a thing can be adorable. The character designs? Adorable. The jokes and romance? Adorable. The sparkly, easy-to-read art? Adorable. It’s cheerful, heartwarming stuff that still manages to be thoughtful and exciting, and I can’t wait to read more of it, because, beyond being very endearing magical-girl manga, it seems like it might be heading interesting, even daring places.

As usual, David is not wrong. Cardcaptor Sakura is endlessly adorable. And by that I don’t mean “precious” or “saccharine” or anything like that, because Cardcaptor Sakura is none of those things. Nor is it any kind of grand satire or comment on the genre. It doesn’t need to be, because it’s just so skillfully created as exactly what it is. Cardcaptor Sakura is straight-out adorable—warm, heartfelt, genuinely cute, smart when it needs to be, and often funny.

Sakura? Adorable. Tomoyo and her costumes? So freaking adorable. Toya and Yukito? Dreamy and adorable. Syaoran crushing on Yukito and Sakura? Absolutely, positively adorable.

And while the main cast is, as I’ve said, extremely adorable, CLAMP doesn’t skimp when it comes to supporting characters, either. Most of Cardcaptor Sakura‘s minor characters are just as charming and idiosyncratic as its leads. Particular favorites of mine, for instance, are Sakura’s classmates Chiharu and Yamazaki. The two have been a couple since kindergarten, and much of their page time in the series is spent with Yamazaki conveying completely made-up facts to the other children while Chiharu rolls her eyes affectionately. Later, British transfer student Eriol joins in, much to Yamazaki’s delight. Observe:

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The Books:

The out-of-print TOKYOPOP books are becoming difficult to find, but fortunately as of September 26th, the entire series will be available in Dark Horse’s beautiful omnibus editions—worth the wait if you don’t already own the series (and probably even if you do). The omnibus editions come in a wonderful large trim size, printed on beautiful, smooth, white paper that shows off CLAMP’s delicate line work to its greatest advantage. Each volume contains beautiful color pages, including bonus images at the end of each omnibus, like these lovely drawings of Yue and Cerberus in their true forms.

I’m looking forward to changing out my older copies of the last three volumes for Dark Horse’s shiny new omnibus, and I plan to reread the entire series as soon as that volume is released.

Won’t you join me?

It Came From the Sinosphere: Autumn’s Concerto

July 24, 2012 by Sara K. 3 Comments

I have no idea why this drama is called Autumn’s Concerto in English. I much prefer the Mandarin title Xiàyīzhàn, Xìngfú (Next Stop, Happiness).

Anyway, this is widely considered to be one of the best idol dramas ever filmed.

The Story

Liang Mucheng is an orphan raised by her aunt and uncle-in-law who run a lunch box business on a university campus. Her uncle-in-law tries to peek at her whenever she changes her clothes, secretly takes sexual pictures of her, and seems to be waiting for an opportunity to sexually abuse her in a more severe way. Meanwhile, Mucheng encounters one of the university’s most brilliant law students, Ren Guangxi, who is also the son of one of the univerisity’s trustees. He acts like a playboy, but has actually lost sight of the point of life. His mother wants him to marry the daughter of a business tycoon, He Yiqian, who also happens to be a brilliant medical student herself. Mucheng is also friends with another law student, Hua Tuoye, who secretly has a crush on Mucheng. Sadly for Tuoye, there is no doubt in the viewers’ minds who the main couple is going to be as soon as Mucheng and Guangxi meet each other.

It is hard to say more than that without getting into spoiler territory, but the above feels a bit too incomplete to me, so I feel the need to say [SPOILER WARNING] Ren Guangxi loses his memory. Six years later, a village hires him as a lawyer to defend them from the corporation that wants to buy them out and evict them. This happens to be the village where Tuoye grew up, and Mucheng also happens to live there with her son, Liang Xiaole. The mayor asks Mucheng to act as Guangxi’s host while he stays in the village. He has instant rapport with Xiaole, but he is unaware that he had previously met Mucheng and finds her behavior really strange. Little does he know that he is, in fact, Xiaole’s biological father. [END SPOILER WARNING]

“I already told you, the lawyer from Taipei is not your father.”

Then Mucheng sees who the ‘lawyer from Taipei’ actually is …

Cue music.

Connections to Other Idol Dramas

First of all, there are quite a few connections between The Outsiders and Autumn’s Concerto. The most obvious is that the female leads of both dramas are played by Ady An … but it’s more than that. For one thing, in both dramas, she plays a character who knows how to play the piano. And Autumn’s Concerto recycles some of the soundtrack from The Outsiders (since The Outisders has one of the best idol drama soundtracks, it is a good source for recyclable material).

On the other hand, Vanness Wu, who plays Ren Guangxi, played one of the F4 in Meteor Garden (the Taiwanese version of Boys Over Flowers), which is the mother of all idol dramas. Meteor Garden launched the acting careers of three of the most prominent idol drama stars (Barbie Xu, Vic Chou, and Rainie Yang), but Vanness Wu rose to acting stardom relatively late for a Meteor Garden actor … in fact, he didn’t become a proper acting star in his own right until he was case as Ren Guangxi. Fun fact about Vanness Wu: he was born and raised in California and is a native English speaker who learned Mandarin as a second language, just like me.

Tiffany Hsu, who plays Ren Guangxi’s fiancee He Yiqian, also performed in It Started With A Kiss (Itazura na Kiss), where she also played the male lead’s alternative romantic interest.

Other connections to other idol drama is right in script, or cinematography. At one point, one of the villagers mentioned that they can resist the corporation just like the village that resisted the Senwell corporation, and another villager points out that they don’t have a cuckoo flower. This is, of course, a reference to the story Prince Turns Into Frog in which the Senwell coproration’s plans to buy out a village are foiled by the discovery of the endangered cuckoo flower within village limits. Prince Turns To Frog is one of the most popular idol dramas ever made. At one point in the story the Ren family gets inquiries from iFound, where My Queen’s Shan Wushuang works. Yet another My Queen connection is that, in the last episode, there is a magazine featuring He Yiqian as a star doctor … the other doctor featured is Lucas, My Queen’s male lead.

Location, Location, Location

Many of the early scenes seem to take place in the fishing villages on the north coast (probably in Shimen or Sanzhi) where Mucheng has to help her uncle-in-law at a fish market. I suppose it might be in Danshui, though it seems a bit too sparsely populated to be Danshui to me (I happened to mention Danshui’s Fort San Domingo last week).

Some scenes are also set in Minsheng Hospital which is in … Taoyuan City. Hey, I’m in Taoyuan City too! While I’ve never entered Minsheng Hospital, I have shopped at the Carrefour across the street. Minsheng Hospital is, among other things, a medical tourism hospital, and generally caters to people willing to pay a little extra money for nicer care (me, I go to Taoyuan Veterans’ Hospital for my medical needs, which is quite close to one of the locations where My Queen was shot).

Mucheng holds Xiaole in a flower field in Cihu.

This has got to be Dasi Flowering Oasis.

And at least some of the village scenes were shot in Daxi township which … is in Taoyuan county. Daxi has such an interesting history that I do not have space to discuss it in full detail, but I have to mention that Fong Fei-fei was born and raised in Daxi township. Like the village in the drama, one of Daxi’s main industries is growing ornamental flowers. The “flower fields” in Autumn Concerto look like they were filmed at the Dasi Flower Oasis, which is “the holy land of idol dramas” and a tourist trap farm. Dasi Flower Oasis is in a part of Daxi called Cihu, which has a lot of interesting history in its own right. Personally, I think the coolest thing about Cihu history is that there is a former secret military headquarters which was built in case People’s Republic of China troops ever landed in Taiwan (the headquarters was built to be difficult to detect so that military leaders could direct troops in safety).

A Few Words About the Opening

Unlike most idol dramas, Autumn’s Concerto does not have an opening per se. Right after the recap of the previous episode, it jumps straight back into the action. It has an opening song, but it’s always played in the background as the story gets moving. “I Love Him” is a beautiful, haunting song which fits the theme of the drama very well.

The Symptoms of Idol Drama Jadedness

While watching this drama, I kept on thinking “this is just like what happened in drama x.” There is ONE basic standard idol drama plot which all but a few dramas follow. Autumn’s Concerto follows it so closely that when somebody told me about some of the later events before I got that far in the drama, I could not even claim that it was a spoiler. I have seen so many idol dramas that any drama which follows this plot too closely—unless it puts a truly fresh spin on the plot or is very well suited to my tastes—will trigger Idol Drama Jadedness Syndrome in me. Autumn’s Concerto is so well-made that it maintained my interest in spite of seeming completely unoriginal to me, but my jadedness is so deep that I could only like it, not love it. It seemed more like going through a ritual drill than discovering something exciting or new. The very fact that I am spending so many words discussing the location and other meta instead of the actual story is a symptom of Idol Drama Jadedness Syndrome.

Then Xiaole appeared.

At the time I was watching the drama, Xiaole was the only thing which made the drama seem truly alive to me and not just the product of skilled story-crafters. Xiao Bin Bin is a delightful child actor, and … well, I love kids. Xiaole’s scenes are definitely the ones I enjoyed the most, and the only ones which did not make me think about other idol dramas or make me think more about the meta than the actual storyline. Well, that’s unfair, I did get involved in the story, I just did not lose myself to it.

The last story arc irritated me, mainly because Ren Guangxi turned into an asshole, but Mucheng was annoying stubborn too. If you must turn your male lead into an assole, at least make him a gloriously fun asshole (I am referring to one of my favorite idol dramas, which handles the male-lead-turns-into-asshole gambit a lot better).

But the last story arc still has Xiaole, so I shouldn’t complain too much.

Much as Xiaole was the most enjoyable part of the drama for me at the time, reflecting back on the drama, Xiaole is not what stays with me the most. It’s the theme.

The Theme

It took me a while to consciously realize it, but Autumn’s Concerto has a very consistent theme, which is: it is better to tell the painful truth than to cover it up with lies. Aside from Xiaole (who is too young to lie), pretty much every main character (and some minor characters) at some point lies in order to “protect” someone from a harsh reality. In fact, Xiaole’s simple honesty serves as a sharp contrast to the adults’ contorted thinking. Mucheng’s aunt tells herself that Mucheng seduced her husband so she won’t have to admit that she’s married to a sexual predator; Guangxi tells Mucheng that he doesn’t love her so that her heart won’t be broken when she finds out that he is going to die in a month; the corporation tells the villagers that it needs them to leave their lands so the villagers won’t find out that the corporation poisoned the water; Mucheng tells Xiaole that his father is an extrateresstial so she won’t have to tell him about what really happened with his father; and if I tried to list every lie told in the course of the drama, this list would be really long (and extremely spoilerful). And the lying … generally does not work out well. I can only think of one lie in the entire drama which has a partially positive outcome. On the other hand, when the characters choose to come clean, even though there is initial pain, things tend to improve. This is the theme which keeps the story glued together, and makes the difference between a series of soap operatic events and a memorable story.

Anyway, that’s rather serious, so here is some more Xiaole as an antidote.

Availability and Accessibility

Autumn’s Concerto is available for streaming with English subtitles in North and South America via Dramafever.

If you don’t live in North or South America, YesAsia sells the Malaysian DVD set which supposedly has English subtitles.

Also, for Chinese learners … I have to disagree with Jade and say this is actually good for Mandarin practice. I would say only 10-15% of the drama is in Taiwanese (I don’t know why Jade says half of it is in Taiwanese), and I think anybody whose Mandarin-listening ability is at B2 or higher would do just fine.

Conclusion

I favor idol dramas which are either a) mischevieously screwbally or b) seriously dark. Autumn’s Concerto does not fall into either category, therefore it is not one of my personal favorites. Still, even though I’ve only seen the drama straight-through once, I re-watched many parts in the process of preparing this post, and some scenes are more enjoyable the second time around. I have to admit that this is indeed one of the finest idol dramas out there. Even if you suffer from Idol Drama Jadedness Syndrome like me, you should watch it. Recommended.

Now I Have a Dilemma…

Ever since I started this column, I’ve really wanted to discuss [Drama A]. In fact, I planned to make it the second idol drama I reviewed after The Outsiders. [Drama A] happens to be legally available with English subtitles. But then I decided I had to discuss My Queen because it was a new addition to Dramafever, then I felt I had to discuss Autumn’s Concerto because it was another new addition to Dramafever, so my post about [Drama A] got delayed twice. Even though [Drama A] is not a personal favorite, I think [Drama A] is up there with Meteor Garden among one of the most important idol dramas ever made—certainly more important than The Outsiders, My Queen, and Autumn’s Concerto, and I really want to discuss it. It was next on the list … until I just discovered that [Drama B] one of my favorite idol dramas has JUST BEEN LICENCED!!!! I want to celebrate the licensing of [Drama B] by putting it next on the list and finally squeeing about it and getting the Manga Bookshelf community to watch it … but I am loathe to delay discussing [Drama A] yet a third time. So here is the question for you…

Do you want the next idol drama post to be about [Drama A], or [Drama B]?

Next time: The Fox Volant of Snow Mountain (novel)

Readers of this column might be under the impression that Sara K. speaks good Chinese. They can disabuse themselves of this notion by signing up at Lang-8 and reading Sara K.’s Chinese-language journal entries (even people who don’t know Chinese can see how much her Chinese needs to be corrected). To the best of her knowledge, she is the only Lang-8 user who talks about gardening in San Francisco. Manga Bookshelf readers who are brushing up their Japanese, please note that Lang-8 has many Japanese users.

CLAMP MMF: Introduction & CLAMP Directory

July 23, 2012 by MJ 10 Comments

Whether you’re a devoted fan of the four-woman creative team known as CLAMP, a vehement anti-fan, or somewhere in-between, one thing that’s difficult to deny is CLAMP’s enduring presence in the North American manga market. Of their twenty-something commercially published series (and who knows how many single volumes and short stories), a whopping twenty-two of them have seen their way to North America, by way of American manga publishers TOKYOPOP, VIZ Media, Del Rey Manga, Yen Press, and Dark Horse Manga.

CLAMP began as an eleven-member doujinshi circle in the mid-1980s, creating fanworks of Masami Kurumada’s Saint Seiya and Yōichi Takahashi’s Captain Tsubasa before being discovered by an editor from Shinshokan’s idiosyncratic shoujo anthology, Wings. Wings began publication of the group’s first professional work, RG Veda, in 1989, followed by Tokyo Babylon in 1990. Genki Comics and Kadokawa Shoten’s Monthly Asuka also jumped in early on the CLAMP bandwagon, with titles like Man of Many Faces, Duklyon: Clamp School Defenders, CLAMP School Detectives, and Tokyo Babylon‘s epic (unfinished) spinoff series, X.

Since then, the group’s final configuration of four—writer Nanase Ohkawa and artists Tsubaki Nekoi, Satsuki Igarashi, and Mokona— have had their work serialized in such disparate publications as the otaku mish-mash Newtype, the shoujo classic Nakayoshi, the seinen cheesecake-mag Young, and the popular shounen anthology Weekly Shōnen Magazine, among others.

Much has been written in English about CLAMP since their 1995 North American debut (VIZ’s X/1999 six-issue miniseries), and the English-language blogosphere contains far more learned CLAMP scholars than I, so I’ll avoid simply paraphrasing their work. Instead, as an introduction to the CLAMP Manga Moveable Feast, I’ll provide here an overview of CLAMP’s works in English, with quotes and links to reviews from around the manga blogosphere and beyond.

Manga Bookshelf’s CLAMP Directory

RG VEDA (Wings, 1989 – 1996) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, RG Veda was CLAMP’s first professionally published manga, though it did not make its way to North America until 2005. Complete in ten volumes, RG Veda is a sprawling fantasy-adventure steeped in Vedic mythology. Currently out of print. From Carlos Santos at Anime News Network, “Even in their first book, CLAMP’s florid art style is already fully developed, filling each page with broad-shouldered men, sharp facial features and expressive eyes. Principal artist Mokona Apapa shows great confidence in her linework, rendering the characters with dramatic expressions and poses. These characters look awfully alike, though—”that dude with the dark, wavy hair” could be any one of three or four possible candidates. In fact, it might not even be a dude. RG Veda has its share of androgynous characters, and while Ashura has the excuse of being a young child, Kujaku is just plain confounding. On the other hand, there’s no confusion with the page layouts, which take a straightforward storytelling approach. Even as the panels change in size and shape to fit the action, it’s easy to see what’s going on. Occasional full-page spreads add impact to the artwork, as do the lush backgrounds and exotic outfits that define the land of Tenkai.”
MAN OF MANY FACES (Newtype, 1990 – 1991) Inspired by the works of Edogawa Rampo, this short series (published in English by TOKYOPOP) chronicles the adventures of nine-year-old master thief Akira Ijyuin. Complete in two volumes. Currently out of print. From Michael Hopcroft at RPGnet: “All in all, ‘Man of Many Faces’ is a simple case of a team that usually writes more serious fare setting out to create a manga that just plain fun to read. The artwork is brilliant as usual, the storyline is as serious as a herd of weasels (i.e. not very serious at all), and there will be times when you will be tempted to laugh out loud in places where laughing out loud might not be such a good idea. But CLAMP’s gift for characterization has not deserted them either. Akira and Utako are very interesting characters who have an extremely interesting Romeo-and-Juliet dynamic, especially for their age (Utako is 6, Akira is 9). This is evidently going to be a short series – only two volumes long – and while the second volume has not been translated yet, it will apparently finish the series with the characters much older. An interesting trick, but if anyone can pull it off it’s CLAMP.”
TOKYO BABYLON (Wings, 1990 – 1993) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, Tokyo Babylon is a supernatural detective series about a young onmyōji, Subaru Sumeragi, and the consequences of his learning to love. Complete in seven volumes. Currently out of print. Licensed (but not yet available) for omnibus release by Dark Horse Manga. From MJ at Comics Should Be Good: “With its beautiful, clean imagery and striking use of black, Tokyo Babylon is unmistakably CLAMP’s work, though again, it doesn’t show the maturity of their later work, or even X/1999 which began its run before Tokyo Babylon was completed. As early as this work is, however, the visual storytelling is extremely effective, with the same intuitive panel layouts and creative use of space that makes all of CLAMP’s work both a pleasure to look at and easy to read. The artwork shines in black and white, capturing perfectly the stark drama and lurking melancholy of the series, and the story’s seven volumes feel truly epic, largely on the strength of its visuals … For fans of CLAMP’s newer work, Tokyo Babylon provides a glimpse into the group’s past which will be both compelling and familiar. For new readers, it is a great introduction to the CLAMP universe, in all its complex beauty.”
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CLAMP SCHOOL DETECTIVES (Monthly Asuka, 1992 – 1993) Published English by TOKYOPOP, Clamp School Detectives is a humorous, episodic series about three elementary school boys and their quest to improve life for their school’s female population through their clever detective work. Complete in three volumes. Currently out of print. From Lissa Pattillo at Kuriousity: “Overall, CLAMP School Detectives delivers heart-filled mysteries and charming interaction that’s great for a happy-day pick me up. As far as mysteries go, it’ll leave readers more full of warm feelings than edge of their seat suspense, so to each their own in that regard. It’s a definite must read for CLAMP fans who’ve enjoyed any others of the era, such as Man of Many Faces and Dukylon, as the pages are full of relevant character introductions and background cameos. Readers of their newer series, Tsubasa, may find interest in seeing where some of the characters there came from too. This series is one of my favourites and I was delighted to go back to it after all this time. I’ve reread it what feels like a hundred times and it never ceases to bring a smile to my face!”
DUKLYON: CLAMP SCHOOL DEFENDERS (Kadokawa Shoten, 1992 – 1993) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, this series once again takes place at the Clamp School, this time featuring teenaged superheros Kentarou Higashikunimaru and Takeshi Shukaido, who are called upon to fight dangerous foes. Complete in two volumes. Currently out of print. From Megan Lavey at Mania.com: “The adventures are pretty standard – so standard that they get old very quick. Each chapter consists of Kentaro and Takeshi goofing around, the General saying there’s a mission, Duklyon transforming and encountering the Imonoyama Shopping District Association, fighting some weird monster and then a short epilogue. All of the chapters are self-contained and, frankly, if you read the first chapter, you’ve pretty much read the entire book … There are some bright spots in here. The last chapter pits Duklyon against the Man of 20 Faces (aka Akira from Clamp School Detectives and his own book), and it’s a very funny fight … If you’re going to read this book, take it for what it is – poking fun at general manga storylines and as a foray into the ultimate childhood dream.”
SHIRAHIME-SYO: SNOW GODDESS TALES (Haru Pretty, 1992) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, this single-volume manga contains three quite tragic short stories revolving around the “Shirahime” (“white princess”), told in the style of legend. Complete in one volume. Currently out of print. From Katherine Dacey, in an interview with David Welsh at the now-defunct Comic World News, preserved here by Fandemonium CLAMP: “I’m also very fond of Snow Goddess Tales. The images in that volume bear traces of eighteenth and nineteenth-century Japanese scroll painting techniques. They’ve got a beautiful, spare quality that serves the folkloric subject matter and tone perfectly. It’s a great book to give an adult reader who associates manga with Pokemon or Gundam because it really showcases the expressive possibilities of the medium … another one-volume wonder that just doesn’t get enough love from all those Card Captor fans”
(click image to enlarge) © 2001 CLAMP, English edition © 2003 TOKYOPOP
THE LEGEND OF CHUN HYANG (Hakusensha, 1992-1994) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, The Legend of Chun Hyang is loosely based on a popular Korean folk tale, though reviewers have mentioned that little is retained from that tale but the name. Only three chapters long in Japanese, this manga was released in English in a single volume. Currently out of print. From Dusky Fey at Anime Planet: “As expected on CLAMP, all the people all lean and tall with detailed clothing. The highlight of this volume is, without a doubt, the rain dance of the priestesses. It’s absolutely gorgeous! There are some pretty solid fights in here, and the way that magic and enchanted weapons are woven into the cultural fabric is exquisite.The connection between Chun Hyang and Mong Ryong doesn’t fully develop in this volume. Their relationship, or the hint of it that we see, reminds me of Sango and Miroku in InuYasha, though I think Chun Hyang uses violence a bit too easily … I wish there was more here! One volume is not enough to really appreciate the growing love, but the manga that’s presented here is amazing.”
(click image to enlarge) Chun Hyang image from Clamp no Kiseki, © 2005 CLAMP, English edition © 2008 TOKYOPOP
X (X/1999) (Monthly Asuka, 1992 – unfinished) Published in English by VIZ Media, originally as a six-issue miniseries, followed by serialization in their Animerica and Animerica Extra magazines, a full release of the graphic novel series, and currently as a new series of lush omnibus editions, X (sometimes X/1999) began as a spinoff of Tokyo Babylon, featuring a large cast, elaborate battles, and an epic, complex struggle between good and evil. Unfinished at 18 volumes. Older editions are out of print, but VIZ’s omnibus release is currently ongoing. From Shaenon Garrity at ANN/Jason Thompson’s House of 1000 Manga: “Of all CLAMP manga, X just may be the CLAMPiest … Relentlessly dark, intense, and humorless, X disturbed many readers—not to mention parents who flipped through their daughters’ copies of Asuka. From the beginning, the magazine received complaints about the manga’s content … X often seems like a catalog of characters and arresting images in search of a story. The thin plot thread is in constant danger of getting totally lost amid the characters and their countless side stories, and it’s never clear if all the symbolism means anything, or if it’s just there because it looks good … In the end, the central theme of X is the nature and need for human connection.”
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MAGIC KNIGHT RAYEARTH, Magic Knight Rayearth II (Nakayoshi, 1993-1996) First published in English by TOKYOPOP, and recently re-released in omnibus form by Dark Horse Manga, Magic Knight Rayearth (and its sequel Magic Knight Rayearth II) tells the story of three schoolgirls plucked from their ordinary lives in order to become the Legendary Magic Knights, the only beings capable of saving the magical world of Cephiro. Though the original TOKYOPOP editions are out of print (complete in six volumes), Dark Horse’s complete two-volume omnibus is currently available. From Katherine Dacey at The Manga Critic: “Shonen manga in drag — that’s my quick-and-dirty assessment of CLAMP’s Magic Knight Rayearth, a fantasy-adventure that adheres so closely to the friendship-effort-victory template that it’s easy to forget it ran in the pages of Nakayoshi. A closer examination reveals that Rayearth is, in fact, a complex, unique fusion of shojo and shonen storytelling practices … Fuu, Umi, and Hikaru prove just as adept at repelling surprise attacks and killing monsters as their shonen manga counterparts; though all three girls experience pangs of self-doubt, they show the same steely resolve in combat that Naruto, Ichigo, and InuYasha do.”
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MIYUKI-CHAN IN WONDERLAND (Newtype Magazine, 1993 – 1995) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, Miyuki-chan in Wonderland is a collection of short yuri manga set loosely in the world of Lewis Carroll’s Wonderland. Complete in one volume. Currently out of print. From Erica Friedman at Okazu: “Miyuki-chan is a collection of 6 short, service-filled stories of hapless high school girl Miyuki, as she wanders through dreamscapes loosely based on Lewis Carroll’s iconic works, games and CLAMP’s own work. All of these are filled with primarily female characters, mostly adult, and almost all focused on feeling Miyuki up or stripping her down. A psychological reading of the book could easily attribute all sorts of pent-up lesbian feelings to Miyuki but, as she’s completely fictitious, we have to just assume that CLAMP really likes drawing women in underwear … The Yuri in this manga is really Yuri – there are no lesbians here. Just fictitious female beings groping a fictitious female character. There’s no emotion at all involved, unless you count titillation as an emotion.”
THE ONE I LOVE (Kadokawa Shoten, 1995) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, this set of twelve short manga stories and essays follows various female characters through their experiences with falling in love. Complete in one volume. Currently out of print. From Mikhail Koulikov at Anime News Network: “From a purely technical standpoint, if looked at as an exercise in visual storytelling under very restricting conditions, this is an extremely interesting work. The task that needs to be accomplished is simple: tell a complete story in no more than seven pages. Of course, manga as a visual medium is uniquely suited to accomplishing such a task, since within those seven pages, there are no limits on panel number, shape, or layout. Some pages feature a simple and straight-forward layout of rectangular panels—but there are plenty of others where the layouts are much more dynamic, almost cinematic … Many readers will find it charming, not necessarily funny or memorable, but an enjoyable read nonetheless, but there are plenty of others for whom it will hold no interest whatsoever.”
CARDCAPTOR SAKURA (Nakayoshi, 1996 – 2000) Originally published in English by TOKYOPOP, and currently being released in omnibus format by Dark Horse Manga, Cardcaptor Sakura is a magical girl manga about a fourth grader named Sakura, as she works to collect all of the mysterious Clow Cards that have been accidentally released into the world. The original twelve-volume release from TOKYOPOP (divided into two parts—Cardcaptor Sakura and Cardcaptor Sakura: Master of the Clow), is out of print, with the new Dark Horse Omnibus releases still ongoing (four in total). From David Welsh at Manga Bookshelf’s Off the Shelf: “I’ve already used the word “adorable” twice in this review, and you should gird yourself for me using it again, because this book is adorable in all of the best ways a thing can be adorable. The character designs? Adorable. The jokes and romance? Adorable. The sparkly, easy-to-read art? Adorable. It’s cheerful, heartwarming stuff that still manages to be thoughtful and exciting, and I can’t wait to read more of it, because, beyond being very endearing magical-girl manga, it seems like it might be heading interesting, even daring places.”
(click image to enlarge) © 2010 CLAMP, English edition published by Dark Horse Manga by arrangement with Pyrotechnist Co., Ltd.
WISH (Asuka Comics DX, 1997 – 1998) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, Wish is a whimsical tale of angels, demons, humans, and love. Complete in four volumes. Currently out of print. From Jennifer Tanko at Better Read: “… there will always be one book series that I hold in the highest regard, and that’s “Wish” from the people at CLAMP … ‘Wish’ to me exemplifies exactly what’s best about the genre with a complex storyline that combines elements of the monotheistic structure of Christianity with the nature-based spiritualism of Shinto and boasts some of the most stunning art I’ve ever seen … Beauty, trees, the four elements; “Wish” combines the cooler parts of Eastern and Western to create something stunning. Turning a page is like being at a stylized art exhibit. Since the series is so short and thus requires less commitment, I really recommend it for anyone. If you’re looking for something new and different or just haven’t stumbled onto in your encounters with this particular genre, ‘Wish’ is more than worth it.”
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CLOVER (Amie, 1997 – 1999) Published in English by Dark Horse Manga, Clover was left unfinished in Japan after the demise of Amie magazine. The story is a dystopian fantasy involving government control of children with special powers. Originally licensed by TOKYOPOP, but never completed, the license was rescued by Dark Horse Manga, and is currently available in full in one omnibus edition. From Deb Aoki at About.com: “With its dramatic use of black and white, typography, innovative page compositions and plot structure, Clover is a story that seduces and perplexes. It’s undeniably gorgeous, but clarity can be elusive … Clover rewards repeated readings, because your first encounter will leave you dazzled by its visual artistry and slightly confused by its unconventional story. Your second read will allow you to sort out the intertwined relationships and see how each characters’ tragic destiny is revealed, then echoed in subsequent chapters … Elegant and poetic, Clover is more than a sci-fi / romance manga; it’s a fascinating experiment in visual storytelling that seduces the eye and touches the heart.”
ANGELIC LAYER (Shōnen Ace, 1999 – 2001) Originally published in English by TOKYOPOP, and licensed (but not yet released) for omnibus editions by Dark Horse Manga, Angelic Layer is a science fiction manga about a game in which humans compete using man-made dolls called “Angels.” It is set in the same universe as their later series, Chobits. Complete in five volumes. Currently out of print. From Alison Kotin at Teenreads: “CLAMP’s drawings of the angels of Angelic Layer are riveting — beautiful captures of speed, agility, and dancer-like grace. Next to them the human “deus” controllers seem young and awkward. Don’t be fooled, however — these girls’ powers of concentration and imagination are honed to razor-sharpness! The world of Angelic Layer is enticing for its glamour and excitement, but also as a place where anyone can become a fantastic sports competitor without possessing any special physical prowess. In these fights quick thinking and street smarts are what separate the winners — if only things had been the same on my 7th grade basketball team!”
SUKI: A LIKE STORY (Monthly Asuka, 1999 – 2000) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, Suki is the story of a childlike teen named Hina who lives along with two teddy bears. The title refers to the Japanese phrase, “Suki, Dakara Suki,” “I like you, that’s why I like you.” The series explores the complications that arise as naive Hina develops a crush on her 20-something homeroom teacher. Complete in three volumes. Currently out of print. From Johanna Draper Carlson at Manga Worth Reading: “Hina’s innocence is well portrayed without becoming stupid or cloying … The three books in this series trace her growth from liking to love, as she explores the emotion her neighbor raises in her. We also learn why she lives alone and how her neighbor is more than he seems. Her childlike innocence protects her from the very real dangers she faces, and her joy of living inspires those around her. Suki is a modern fairy tale, but it’s affecting all the same. If only more people could be so honest and open with themselves and others.”
LEGAL DRUG (Monthly Asuka, 2000-2003) Published in English by TOKYOPOP, this BL-tinged supernatural mystery series set in a pharmacy has been unfinished in Japan since 2003. It has resumed serialization under a new name (Drug and Drop) and for a new demographic in the seinen magazine Young Ace. The new version has not yet been licensed for North American release. Originally released by TOKYOPOP in three volumes. Currently out of print. From MJ at Manga Bookshelf: “As Kazahaya and Rikuo give off a definite Watanuki/Doumeki vibe, so do Kakei and Saiga evoke visions of Tsubasa‘s Fai and Kurogane, though in this case, what many readers see as subtext in the relationship between the later incarnations of these character types is clearly text in Legal Drug. … Sadly, with the series unfinished (perhaps indefinitely), there is an incredible amount of mystery left unsolved in this story. The art, as always, is fantastic, though more plain than something like xxxHolic. The clarity of CLAMP’s panels, with their generous white space and striking use of black, is one of the reasons I love reading their manga so much.”
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CHOBITS (Young Magazine, 2001 – 2002) Originally published in English by TOKYOPOP, and re-released in omnibus format by Dark Horse Manga, Chobits follows the story of hapless student Hideki Motosuwa, who accidentally comes into possession of a beautiful young android called “Chi.” Though TOKYOPOP’s original 8-volume release is out of print, Dark Horse’s omnibus editions are currently available and complete in two volumes. From Sean Gaffney at A Case Suitable for Treatment: “There’s a whole lot of philosophizing in this 2nd volume of Chobits, and it would be interminable (it verges on it already) were it not for the fact that the quartet do make me succeed in pondering whatever it is the characters talk about, at length, in the 2nd half of this series, be it the nature of humanity, what love really means, or simply how much of this is a metaphor about otaku and their love for toys. As I noted in the review of the first omnibus, this was an experiment for CLAMP, their first seinen series geared towards young men, and as such it’s a bit of a flawed success.”
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XXXHOLIC (Young Magazine, 2003 – 2010, Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine, 2010 – 2011) Published in English by Del Rey Manga, xxxHolic tells the story of Kimihiro Watanuki, a teenager who makes a deal to work as a part-time housekeeper for a woman who grants wishes, in order to one day be free from his ability to see spirits. Complete in 19 volumes. Currently available in full. Note: xxxHolic crosses over with Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle. From Ed Sizemore at Manga Worth Reading: “I love XxxHoLiC. Of the currently running manga, this is, hands down, my favorite. I confess to being completely emotionally invested in the series. CLAMP has created wonderful characters and a rich fascinating universe. … Good occult comics are hard to come by and XxxHoLiC ranks among the best. CLAMP have proven time and again they are master storytellers. XxxHoLiC is further proof of how meticulously they craft every aspect of a manga. This is one of few comics I would call perfect. Mysticism is not everyone’s cup of tea. Still, I recommend everyone pick up at least one volume of this series to experience the comic art form at its best.”
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TSUBASA: RESERVOIR CHRONICLE (Weekly Shōnen Magazine, 2003-2009) Published in English by Del Rey Manga, Tsubasa repurposes its hero and heroine from Cardcaptor Sakura, placing them in an alternate universe in which Sakura is the princess of the Kingdom of Clow, loved by her childhood friend Syaoran, who must help reunite her with her lost soul. Complete in 28 volumes. Currently available in full. Note: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicle crosses over with xxxHolic. From Michelle Smith at Soliloquy in Blue: “It’s not a surprise that when CLAMP does shounen, they don’t do it like everyone else. In most shounen series I’ve read, characters aren’t allowed to undergo such fundamental changes as have occurred in these last couple of volumes of Tsubasa. There’s also lots of rather subtle character growth and interaction, too, especially between Fai and Kurogane. I love every scene where these two are together—okay, part of it may be “squee, they’re so in love!” but there’s a lot more to it than that. Fai’s struggle to stay remote and unconnected is particularly fascinating to me … Again, I urge people not to judge this series based on its early volumes—I think it’s starting to become one of my favorites by CLAMP.”
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KOBATO. (Newtype, 2006 – 2011) Published in English by Yen Press, Kobato is a sweet, pretty girl with a very big secret. She’s under contract with a mysterious supernatural power, and must fill a bottle with the hearts of people whom she’s healed. Kobato is watched over by her dog-like companion, Ioryogi, who is more fierce than his form would imply. Complete in six volumes. Currently available in full. From Snow Wildsmith at ICv2: “Manga powerhouse group CLAMP kicks off a comedy series with this volume, but fans will need to hang on for the next one to get the full grasp of where the story is going. Kobato’s tale dives right into the thick of things, without any explanation of who Kobato or Ioryogi are or why Kobato doesn’t really understand the rules of human behavior. Along the way hints are dropped, drawing readers into the story. The humor is light and very silly, fashioned a little like manzai, the traditional Japanese comedy style … The art is as airy as the story and Kobato’s clothes will have fashion-minded readers drooling. References to alcohol and prostitution, as well as some language, make this for teens.”
(click image to enlarge) © 2008 CLAMP, English translation © 2010 Hachette Book Group, Inc., rights granted by arrangement with KADOKAWA SHOTEN, CO., LTD.
GATE 7 (Jump Square, 2011 – ongoing) Published in English by Dark Horse Manga, Gate 7 tells the story of Chikahito Takamoto, a high school student with hidden spiritual powers, who finds himself mixed up with a strange set of people as he travels to Kyoto to pursue his interest in Japanese history and folklore. This series is currently in serialization in Japan, and two volumes have been released so far in English. From Rebecca Silverman at Anime News Network: “If you have never read a Clamp series before, you have more of a chance of enjoying this one. It features many of the things that have contributed to their enduring popularity as mangaka: beautiful, androgynous characters, mystic overtones, cryptic commentary, and devotion to detail. If you’ve been a reader of the group for a while, however, you may find yourself less thrilled, as Gate 7 really does nothing new and with its emphasis on Kyoto, noodle dishes, and historic figures isn’t the most easily accessible series for Western audiences. It may be too soon to really judge, but as of the end of volume one, Gate 7 is a healthy dose of more of the same done the same way Clamp has always done things.”
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CLAMP resources online:

Wikipedia
Chibi Yuuto’s CHRoNiCLEs (LiveJournal)
Anime News Network
CLAMP-Net (Japanese)

Let the Feast begin!

Manga the Week of 7/25

July 18, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

The last week of the month has always been the quietest since Tokyopop left us, and this month is no exception. Let’s see what we’ve got.

Kodansha has two titles hitting Diamond. Arisa reaches volume 8, and finds that her love may be a building which is on fire. Meanwhile, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney wraps up with Vol. 5, saddening all the fans of the game who aren’t aware that the Edgeworth manga is apparently due out later this month. (Despite having no cover art online yet.)

And, because it’s such a small week, I’ll note that Udon has a new volume of its Apple artbook, featuring more pinups from the best Korea has to offer.

Aaaaaand that’s it. So? Any titles for you?

It Came From the Sinosphere: Creative Comics Collection

July 17, 2012 by Sara K. 8 Comments

Pretty, isn’t it? Before you learn more about it, here’s some history for you to read!

A Brief Demographic History of Taiwan

Tens of thousands of years ago, Taiwan was not an island, and stone age people walked from Fujian to Taiwan. Then, when sea levels rose, Taiwan became an island. Thousands of years ago, Austronesian people showed up in Taiwan. It is unknown what relationship they had with the people already living in Taiwan, but the most likely scenario is that they married each other and had kids.

In the 17th century, Europeans (primarily the Dutch and Spanish) colonized Taiwan. They never arrived in sufficient numbers to have much direct impact on Taiwan’s demographics. But the era of European colonization was the first time Han Chinese (mainly from Fujian and Guangdong) arrived in Taiwan in large numbers. And since the vast majority of the Han Chinese migrants were male (at least during the early waves of migration), if they wanted to marry or have babies, pairing up with the women who already lived there was often their only option. The same applied to the few Europeans who showed up in Taiwan, of course—at all points in Taiwanese history there have been far more white males than white females present on the island (including today).

The next time a different outsider group showed up in Taiwan was when Japan took over Taiwan in 1895. Strangely, unlike all previous migrations, the Japanese did not have lots of babies with the people already living in Taiwan, though they did of course have a few babies, which is why some Taiwanese people claim Japanese ancestry. After WWII, almost all of the Japanese people living in Taiwan left.

Then after WWII many people fled from China to Taiwan, and unlike previous waves of Han Chinese migration, these immigrants were not primarily from Fujian or Guangdong. They brought a new language, Mandarin, to Taiwan (previous Han Chinese migrants spoke Minnan or Hakka). Like most immigrants to Taiwan, they married the local people and had babies.

The most recent wave of migration to Taiwan has been coming from Southeast Asia—Phillipines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, and Cambodia. And I recall reading somewhere that 20% of all marriages in Taiwan today are between a Taiwanese person and a Southeast Asian immigrant. It seems the Southeast Asians are carrying on the old Taiwanese tradition of immigrants having babies with locals.

It should be apparent by now that Taiwan is really different from Korea and Japan. Korea and Japan can point to centuries of unified, independent rule, whereas Taiwan has never been an independent and unified nation, not even today (at least not officially). If you ask a Korean or Japanese person what ethnicity they are, they will answer “Korean, obviously” or “Japanese, obviously.” If you ask a Taiwanese person what ethnicity they are, the answers can get really complicated.

And this raises the question … what is Taiwanese culture? Is there something unique about Taiwanese culture which cannot be found in any other culture, or is Taiwanese culture just an extension of some other culture?

I cannot tell you what Taiwanese culture is, and I have heard Taiwanese people answer this question in many different ways. But I see a lot of parallels between Taiwan today and the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries. Much of the work of artists in the United States from that era was to hash out what exactly the culture of the United States was. And today, many Taiwanese artists are hashing out the question of what Taiwanese culture is. Which finally, finally brings me to the main topic.

Creative Comic Collection

Creative Comics Collection is Taiwan’s best-selling manhua magazine-anthology. By “best-selling” I mean “it sells a lot more copies than the Taiwanese edition of Shonen Jump.” I am not sure there are any American comic book magazine-anthologies which out-sell the American edition of Shonen Jump (please correct me if I’m wrong). While I don’t have sales numbers, I heard that Creative Comic Collection even out-sells the collected volumes of some of Shonen Jump‘s flagship titles, such as Bleach (though I must note this not mean there are more Taiwanese people reading Creative Comics Collection than Bleach—the vast majority of Taiwanese manga-readers would rent, not buy, Bleach, whereas Creative Comics Collection is generally not available for rent).

And, I will say this for Creative Comics Collection—it is unlike any other comic book magazine-anthology I know about. Star Girls, which I discussed in a previous post, is clearly modeled on Japanese shojo magazine-anthologies. However, Creative Comics Collection is not modelled on anything I know of. It is an entirely different beast than the entire universe of Japanese magazine-anthologies (at least based on reading Magazine no Mori—I suppose there might be Creative-Comics-Collection–esque magazines in Japan which Erica simply has not discussed).

So what is this model? It’s very simple—presearchers at the Academy Sinica team up with young artists and illustrations, and make illustrations and manhua together.

How an Issue is Set Up

Each issue of Creative Comics Collection (which from now on I’m just calling CCC) has a theme—for example, Myths and Legends, Labor, Seasonal Festivities, and so forth. Most or all of the content of that issue uses that them.

The first section of an issue of Creative Comics Collection is dedicated to color illustrations and various articles about the theme. Often, there is a color manhua or illustrated story followed by a collection of illustrations from different artists around a theme. This is actually my favorite part of the magazine because of the color, the variety of styles, and the various ways they express the themes. For example, there was one color feature where the artists had to depict various historic sites in Taiwan as comic book characters.

This is Fort San Domingo in Danshui as a comic book character:

Fort San Domingo was used by the Spanish, Dutch, and British … in other words, it has European colonization written all over it (in fact, the two puppets the character is holding represent Holland and Spain fighting each other).

This is a residence built for the Japanese imperial family in Taichung:

The writing and the diagrams explain the drawing and which aspects of the drawing represent which aspects of of the original building.

After the comics comes the bulk of the issue—black and white comics accompanied by articles from the Academic Sinica.

The academics present some research to the artist, and then the artist bases a short manhua story on the research. The academic writes a short article to follow the short manhua. The manhua stories generally run about 30-40 pages long, and the articles run about 2 pages long. They explore various aspects of Taiwan—ecology, Austronesian heritage, Chinese heritage, Japanese heritage, and so forth. Each issue has about 8 manhua/articles.

Artwork

It is rather difficult to discuss the artwork, because even though there are some regular contributors, each issue has a different set of artists. However, there is a heavy Japanese influence everywhere. This is not surprising. Since Taiwan’s earlier manhua tradition was suffocated to death by censorship (ah, martial law), today’s manhua artists only have Japanese artists, not their Taiwanese predecessors, as their role models. Unlike the manhua found in Star Girls, which tends to track Japanese art styles so closely that I can date a Star Girls manhua by looking at the same things I would use to date a Japanese manga, the artists in CCC do not seem to be bound to following Japanese styles. Instead, they are exploring their own style.

Looking through the issues, I do notice a trend.

These are all from the first issue:

Notice that there are a variety of styles, with an experimental vibe running beneath most of them.

These are all from the most recent issue:

Not as much variety in style as in the first issue, and certainly not as much of an avant-garde atmosphere. It might be inevitable that as a magazine-anthologies matures, the art style settles down.

Overall, I prefer the art of the early issues because of the greater variety and the freshness, but I also appreciate that the magazine is building a stable of maturing artists—some of whom I like a lot—while still keeping room for more artists to come on board.

Stories

And …here is CCC‘s weak point. The stories are not terrible. They are generally just not, well, very memorable. The typical CCC story is ordinary person finds unusual thing, learns more about unusual thing, and then has an ephiphany (the unusual thing, of course, is the subject of the academic’s article). Even though I don’t particularly like Kokai’s drawing style (Kokai is one of CCC‘s regular contributors) I generally like her storytelling more than the other artists because she at least puts a little pizazz into the plot. But generally, I prefer the manhua where they throw the story to hell and just focus on drawing up Taiwanese esoterica in imaginative ways.

That said, the stories (being short) go by quite quickly and balance out the academic articles nicely. Light manhua – academic article – light manhua – academic article, and so forth, makes for a better reading experience than pure light manhua or pure academic articles.

Still, my favorite section is the still the color illustrations in the beginning because they often don’t bother with storytelling in that section, instead focusing on CCC‘s strengths—a variety of art and … Taiwanana? What am I supposed to call the Taiwanese equivalent of Americana?

Availability

Availability in English … ha ha ha.

Well, a few of the manhua stories don’t have dialogue, so I suppose somebody literate in English can read them just as well as someone literate in Chinese. Some manhua stories are “available” online at the CCC website, but the resolution is so bad that I can’t read them, so if you want to look, it does not matter what language you’re literate in (or not).

CCC is quite easy to acquire in Taiwan. I’m sure it’s harder to acquire elsewhere.

Conclusion

Like I said, this is a strange beast, so I am not going to say it should be licensed, at least not in the traditional sense. Nonetheless, I think it would be nice if they translated some of the manhua and features into English and put them online on the offical CCC website so that people outside of Taiwan could get a taste of what it’s like.

It is no secret that Japanese manga dominates the Taiwanese comic book scene, and most Taiwanese people are hardly aware of local manhua (this is partially because the most commercial Taiwanese manhua packages itself just like Japanese manga, so the casual reader may not notice the difference). However one thing Japanese manga cannot do for Taiwanese readers is reflect Taiwanese culture. While I think Star Girls manhua sometimes reflects Taiwanese culture in interesting ways, it’s generally subtle and would not satisfy somebody who really, really wants to see Taiwan embodied in comic book form.

And that is the craving that CCC fills. It is Taiwanese in your face. Taiwan practically drips from its pages.

An avant-garde depiction of a Formosa magpie in a sailor suit

Like this page, which depicts a badass Formosa magpie (the Formosa magpie is often used as a symbol of Taiwan).

It might be difficult for relatively privileged people to understand this. However, if you have had trouble finding stories which reflect people like you and the culture you live in, the craving for such stories can be quite powerful.

So, I have a question for you:

Would you like to discuss specific artists from CCC in future columns?

Next time: Autumn’s Concerto, AKA Next Stop, Happiness (idol drama)

One of the reasons Sara K. enjoys living in Taiwan is that it is the crossroads of East Asia. Japan, Korea, China, Phillipines, Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand … it all comes together in Taiwan. She thinks it is not a coincidence that Taiwan is both the crossroads of such different cultures … and is the most queer-tolerant and least-sexist place in Asia (that has more to do with Asia generally being homophobic and sexist rather than Taiwan being wonderful in that regard … but Sara K. does not know of any other place in Asia where the head of state publicly attended a gay pride parade).

Combat Commentary: Naruto (The Entire Series)

July 17, 2012 by Derek Bown 5 Comments

You know what the most disappointing thing is about Naruto?

It’s not the story that’s stagnated to the point of resembling a soap opera that’s passed its prime. Neither is it the considerably large female cast that gets absolutely no focus. Nor is it the fact that Kishimoto insists on focusing on the one character more mind-numbingly awful than the actual protagonist.

No, it’s that Naruto used to be good.

That isn’t to say that Naruto can’t be enjoyed by a very particular breed of person, but when considering the first three volumes of the manga I can’t help but wonder: What the heck happened?

As far as shounen fighters go, Naruto was something of a godsend in its early days. Rather than focus on two muscley men punching each other to death, Naruto had the audacity to focus on preteen children punching each other to death. With magic! And as anyone who has spent an extended amount of time around children can attest, this is an incredibly cathartic experience.

Rather than the admittedly much simpler, “Guy A punches Guy B very hard” repeated ad nauseum, Naruto instead had fights that were more about strategy and trickery. This led to a variety of intelligent ways in which Guy A could halt Guy B’s vital functions. Even with the addition of magic powers (Kishimoto can call it “chakra” and “chi” or whatever he wants, one’s inner energy does not give one the ability to shoot fireballs with one’s eyes!) Naruto remained intelligent and fast moving—a battle manga for the intellectual. Sort of.

(click images to enlarge)

But somewhere along the line Naruto lost its way. Focus was placed on the magic, rather than the clever ninja fighting techniques. Fights became longer and more repetitive. The biggest problem was the grave misuse of the sharingan powers. Rather than be satisfied with just two powers, Kishimoto decided at some point the sharingan needed to be so powerful that it made every other technique obsolete.

It’s a problem of escalation really. Dragon Ball experienced the same problem. After you introduce a villain that can destroy a planet, where do you go from there? By introducing a villain that can destroy planets—only he does it harder! The problem is found in most battle manga, and is a curse of the way in which manga is published. If a manga is clever and engaging then the readers will connect with it. And when they connect with it they want more. And when the readers want more the publishers squeeze the creator for everything he or she has, even if the creator’s best ideas dried out a long time ago.

It would be easy to dismiss Naruto as one of those comics that outstayed its welcome. The problem is that not only has Kishimoto never shown any signs of being close to done, but he’s single handedly responsibly for the downgrade in quality. Just like he decided Sasuke was the most engaging character anyone would want to read about, so he decided that magic eyeballs were the way of the future.

One of Kishimoto’s signature stylistic choices was having diagrams describing what happened in the action scene, as a kind of recap or to explain new techniques. I was never a fan of this, as it broke the flow of the story in favor of presenting information with more tedium than my entire undergrad program. For a while Kishimoto abandoned this—one of the only good decisions he’s made in the past few years I’d say. But as those who have been reading Weekly Shonen Jump Alpha know, Kishimoto recently brought that particular feature back—to describe yet another inane sharingan power. It’s as if Kishimoto realizes he doesn’t have that spark anymore, and so he’s reaching back to the early days of his manga. A note to the wise, perhaps try bringing back the engaging parts of your manga, not the one lousy thing that should have stayed buried.

As easy as it is to complain but not provide a solution to the problem, I’m afraid it’s too late for Naruto. The escalation has gone too far. Characters are capable of leveling mountains now—going back to throwing shuriken just won’t work. Which begs the question, why do they still bother carrying the things?

While I’m sure there are still those who read and enjoy the series, I for one have long since abandoned it to that depressing part of my mind where good manga go to stagnate. It seems that’s been happening far too often with current ongoing shounen manga. Bakuman had the right idea and got out while the getting was good.

My current negative opinion of the series isn’t going to stop me from reviewing later fights in, for some, excruciating detail. Please stay tuned, unless you like Naruto—might be a good idea to avoid those future reviews.

Manga the Week of 7/18

July 11, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

Diamond may still be shorting me on manga every single week, but despite that I continue to bring you this list of what’s out next week. This week I combine Midtown’s list (missing a title arriving at my store) and my own comic shop’s (missing one on Midtown’s list). Both, ironically, from the same publisher.

Kodansha has its usual list of titles Diamond gets one week later than everyone else, for some reason. We have Fairy Tail 20, which wraps up one arc only to send us barreling directly into another. Negima 35 continues to feature the giant final battle to save the magic world, with lots of posturing and counter-posturing. Sailor Moon 6 kicks off the S arc, and you know what that means… fans complaining about the romanization of the Outers’ last names, that’s right. (I’m joking, please don’t actually do so.) And Shugo Chara-chan 4 are no doubt more wacky and hilarious 4-koma adventures of the cast of Shugo Chara. (It’s harder to do these for titles I don’t read, I admit.)

Sublime has two new yaoi titles. Awkward Silence is by Hinako Takanaga, who has had everything in the world licensed over here. Honestly, this summary reads like it could be a generic shoujo manga, were the leads not both men. There’s also Punch Up! by Shiuko Kano, whose premise at least features grouchy construction workers. I’d go for the latter over the former (what with all my experience in reading BL, of course.)

In Viz’s regular line, we’re up to Vol. 21 of 20th Century Boys, as things pound relentlessly towards a climax.

And there’s July’s pile of stuff from Yen Press. Midtown doesn’t show The Disappearance of Nagato-Yuki-chan, but my shop’s getting it in, so I’m counting it here. For all those who want a kinder, gentler Haruhi series with less world saving and more adorable, this is for you. There’s also Durarara!! Vol. 3, which Midtown lists but my store does not. The striking covers of DRRR always appeal, but the manga artist has shown a deft touch with the plotting as well.

In other Yen series, Book Girl and The Wayfarer’s Lamentation is the 5th in the series, and may actually finally get into the mysterious past of Konoha’s in greater detail. 13th Boy hits Vol. 12, which dovetails nicely with 20th Century Boys hitting Vol. 21. Black Butler is up to double digits for this satanically popular series (see what I did there? I should write ad copy). There’s new High School of the Dead and Pandora Hearts, and the 2nd volume of Is This A Zombie? is there for those not driven off by Vol. 1. The other big debut this week is Vol. 1 of spinoff series Soul Eater Not!, which is serialized day-date by Yen Press as part of their Yen Plus online magazine. Should be fun. (Twilight Vol. 2 is also listed, but as this came out in October everywhere else, I’m not sure why.)

That’s a lot of great stuff! What are you getting?

It Came From the Sinosphere: Cheerful Wind

July 10, 2012 by Sara K. 3 Comments

About the Title

This film has quite a few titles in English. Cheerful Wind is the title used by the IMDB, yet Play While You Play is the English title on my DVD. The Mandarin title is Fēnger Tītà Cǎi (風兒踢踏踩) which roughly means ‘The Wind Tip-Tap Steps’.

Three People

I picked this film because it brings together three of the most important people in Taiwanese pop culture: Chiung Yao, Hou Hsiao-hsien, and Fong Fei-fei.

*****

Chiung Yao

Chiung Yao is the most popular writer of Chinese-language romance novels ever. I think she’s also Taiwan’s most popular female novelist ever. Many of her works have been adapted for TV, some of which are available on DVD even though they are over 30 years old. It is rare for a 30+ year old Taiwanese TV series to be available on DVD, which demonstrates just how popular Chiung Yao is. Furthermore, the 1998-2003 Chinese TV series adapted from her novel Princess Pearl, aka My Fair Princess, is the most popular Chinese-language TV series ever.

I’ll be honest; I haven’t read any of the novels or watched any of the TV series. Yet. But Chiung Yao’s position in Chinese-language pop culture is so important that I have to read at least a few of the novels and watch a few of the TV series if this column is to have any credibility. So I assure you, I WILL read some novels / watch some of the TV shows, and write about it here.

Naturally, none of her novels are available in English, because publishers apparently think there is no commercial potential in translating the works of the most popular romance writer in the Chinese-speaking world into English.

I am not clear what Chiung Yao’s involvement with this film is. The DVD claims that she is the original creator and that she ‘supervised’ the film, but this is not adapted from any of her novels, nor did she write the screenplay. Maybe she created the plot, or maybe she just let the film use her name to sell more tickets.

*****

Hou Hsiao-hsien

Out of all of the people involved with this film, Hou Hsiao-hsien is the best known outside of Asia. He is one of Taiwan’s most famous filmmakers. His best-known work is City of Sadness, set in the town of Jiufen (Jiufen also inspired Hayao Miyazaki’s Spirited Away, and thanks to City of Sadness and Spirited Away Jiufen is constantly packed with Taiwanese and Japanese tourists). Hou Hsiao-hsien’s films get discussed in film schools around the world, put on “films to see before you die” lists, and played at international film festivals.

This film was made very early in his career—it’s only his second feature-length film. Nonetheless, his distinctive, low-key style is already apparent.

*****

Fong Fei-fei

If you created a list of “Five Most Important Taiwanese Singers of All Time,” Fong Fei-fei would definitely make the list. Frankly, I think she would belong on the “Three Most Important Taiwanese Singers of All Time” list too. She also happens to be one of my favorite Chinese-language singers. It was a big deal in Taiwan when she died earlier this year, and I wrote my own blog post about it.

Unlike Chiung Yao and Hou Hsiao-hsien, whose families fled China after WWII, Fong Fei-fei’s family had been in Taiwan for centuries, and she herself had been born in Taoyuan county (hey, I live in Taoyuan county!). Even after becoming a star, she stayed in touch with her working-class roots, and that is part of why she is so beloved.

Even though she is best known as a singer, she got her big break in show business as an actress, not a singer. That break was being cast in the TV show A Pair of Swallows Fly (燕雙飛), for which she sang the theme song. Even after establishing her singing career, she continued to accept acting roles, including the leading role in this film.

The Story

Xinghui is a photographer. She lives with her boss/boyfriend, Luozi, a producer of TV commercials from Hong Kong. However, her feelings for him a bit … lacking. While on a trip to Penghu to shoot a commercial, Xinghui meets Jintai, a flute-playing medic who lost his eyesight in a car crash while driving an ambulance. The two establish a rapport which only deepens when they happen to run into each other in Taipei. After an operation, Jintai can see again, and follows Xinghui to the countryside when she has to act as a substitute teacher for her brother. There, Jintai asks Xinghui to marry him. Meanwhile, Luozi plans a trip to Europe with Xinghui—knowing that travelling in Europe has been Xinghui’s dream.

So, does Xinghui run off to Europe with Luozi, or does she stay with Jintai in Taiwan?

The Theme Song

I really like the theme song for this film (which, by the way, was sung by Pauline Yeung and Kenny Bee, NOT by Fong Fei-fei herself). There are several other songs in the film, but the theme song is the clear winner. In fact, I like this song so much I translated the lyrics into English:

The wind blows and blows,
The clouds float and float,
The branches climb outside the window,
The little orioles are all adorable.

The wind steps on by,
The clouds step on by,
Knocking on the doors, asking,
‘Is my friend there?’

Spring’s footsteps come leisurely,
Yet quickly will be tip-tap stepping,
Young friends are tip-tap stepping,
And the world brims with love.

Charm

This film excels at charm. The story moves quite slowly and quietly, focusing more on highlighting how playful life can be instead of driving a plot forward.

For example, in the opening scene, they are shooting a commercial at a place where it is written “TAKING PICTURES IS FORBIDDEN.”

Xinghui and some men by a wall which says 'Taking Pictures is Forbidden'

The writing on the left side of the picture says “Taking pictures is forbidden.”

This is actually quite common in Taiwan—there are many places where the use of cameras is restricted for military reasons. I imagine these places would be especially common in Penghu, where this scene is set, because it is one of the most fortified places in Taiwan.

Speaking of military locations, one of my favorite scenes is where Xinghui, Jintai, and some children are playing hide-and-seek in an abandoned fortification (I am guessing that it is from the Japanese era, but I’m not sure).

Right at the beginning of the film, there are children who are setting up a dung bomb as a prank to play on a passerby.

However, the kids get the timing wrong, so the dung bomb explodes on them instead.

This boy is a victim of his own dung bomb.

Then, it is revealed that this is actually being filmed for a laundry detergent commercial. And because there was something wrong with this shot, they have to look for a cow so they can get more cow dung for more shots.

The dung bomb scene turns out to just be a film set.

It’s all just a film in the process of being shot.

I also cannot help notice that Xinghui wears at least five different hats during the film. Fong Fei-fei is known as the “Queen of Hats,” and I am pretty sure that is why Xinghui is wearing so many stylish hats during the film.

On Blindness

I am not comfortable talking about this because a) I have been sighted my entire life and b) I do not know much about the experience of blind people in Taiwan, but I am also not comfortable ignoring this.

There are times in the film when people treat blind!Jintai as an object instead of as a person with agency. I find it plausible that some Taiwanese people treat blind people this way (there is a reason why Taiwan has disability rights activists), so I do not fault the film for showing this. However, the film depicts this as being cute … and I do not think it’s cute.

There is also, of course, the fact that Jintai regains his sight during the film. On the one hand, the film depicts Jintai being fairly content as a blind man, which is an improvement over stories where blindness is depicted as being TEH MOST TRAGIC THING EVAAAAR!!!! On the other hand, the film does not explain why Jintai decided to have the operation, since the underlying assumption is that all blind people want to be sighted. I have no objection to people having operations to restore their eyesight, or to having this happen in stories, but I do object to the underlying assumption that this is the only way to address blindness.

Speaking of blind people and movies … Tommy Edison is a good film critic.

Nostalgia

This film was made in 1981, so it gives me a chance to see how much Taiwan has (not) changed.

The scenes set in Taipei in particular brought feelings out of me. The Taipei scenes are set in and around Taipei Main Station, which is the same area I lived in when I lived in Taipei. The train station itself has been completely rebuilt since the movie was filmed … yet some of the trains are still the same! Yep, some train cars from the 1980s are still in service today in Taiwan.

Taipei Train Station does not look like this AT ALL today.

I was also impressed by how little February 28 Peace Park has changed since the 1980s, even though the name of the park itself changed (in the film, it is called “New Park”).

That bridge, on the other hand, looks just the same today as it did in the 1980s.

Availability

I have this film on DVD. My DVD does not have English subtitles. I suspect there is no DVD with English subtitles. That said, this is a Hou Hsiao-hsien film, so there may very well be a film society out there which has a copy of this film with English subtitles.

Conclusion

Is it a great film? No. Is it a good film? Yes. I enjoyed watching it. Part of my pleasure came from recognizing different parts of Taiwan and Taiwanese culture, but even if I couldn’t tell Taiwan from Thailand I think I would have still enjoyed this quiet, whimsical film.

Next Time: CCC Manhua Anthology

Sara K. rather enjoys going to abandoned military sites in Taiwan. Recently she visited the coastal town of Shenao where she went to an area formerly restricted by the military—and saw cool-looking network of tunnels left by the military within the unusually-shaped rocks (she did not go inside because the entrance to the tunnels said “Danger: Do Not Enter”).

It Came From the Sinosphere: Passionate Wastrel, Infatuated Hero (Part 2)

July 6, 2012 by Sara K. 6 Comments

On Tuesday, I introduced Passionate Wastrel, Infatuated Hero. Because there is very little information about the novel available in English, I split this post into two parts. This is part two.

The Style

First of all, this is a novel that MOVES. Before the reader is five pages into the novel, an innocent girl witnesses a murder. From that point on, the story does not slow down very much, and generally only when it needs to slow down. There are a few sections where the plot loses a little momentum—particularly when focusing on Ling Haotian’s moping over Zheng Baoan—but just when I think the plot might actually drag, a new plot twist bursts in with a BAM!

One reason the novel moves so well is its accessible writing style. I would not go so far as to call it a plain writing style, but the literary flourishes are generally playful in nature. For example, there is a scene where Zhao Guan and Ling Haotian seem to be in a competition to spit out the most chengyu. However, when Zheng Feng is not having fun with words, the language is very direct and to the point.

Fighting

The most enjoyable set of fights for me was the poisoners’ tournament. It has novelty—the contestants duel by trying to out-poison each other instead of using direct combat. It has all of the classic psychological appeals—our protagonist is the underdog (Zhao Guan is the least experienced of all of the contestants) and the stakes for him are really high. And because he is the least experienced of the poisoners, he needs to rely on his wits to win, which is a lot of fun for the reader.

Fighting is a central part of Ling Haotian’s development as a character. Training is how he (tries to) take his mind off of his problems, and as a wanderer he needs to fight to defend himself. It is when he wins a tournament—not of poisoners, but of the finest fighters in the martial arts world—that everybody, including himself, finally realises that he is himself and not merely the son or brother of so-and-so.

Feminism?

One of the reasons I was so interested in reading this novel was, being written by a female, I hoped it would be less patriarchal than other wuxia novels I’ve read. Is it feminist? On the surface, no. But there are some very interesting things beneath the surface…

The two main characters are male, and they both get lots of attention from beautiful women, which makes it seem like a typical harem fantasy wuxia aimed at straight males. However, the standard wuxia-harem-fantasy-for-straight-males tends to feature a man who, while strong, is not particularly handsome, and the women who fling themselves at him tend to be young chaste maidens (please note that I use the word “tend”—of course there are exceptions). Zhao Guan, on the other hand, is so gorgeous that the novel specifically states that 80% of the young women he encounters gets a crush on him. I have come to the conclusion that he probably looks like Hu Ge.

Two pictues showing off Hu Ge's prettiness.

Hu Ge, Chinese bishonen

Even with his looks, he still has to work at getting so many women, unlike the typical wuxia hero who basically has women fall into his lap. And, much as he does not like it, he often has to refrain from pursuing certain women for pragmatic reasons. Most wuxia heroes do not put so much thought into which women to pursue or not pursue—when they do refrain, it’s usually because of sexist cultural programming, not because they actually considered what might be in his or her best interests. Of course, if they actually thought about it before entering into certain problematic relationships, there would be less dramatic conflict, whereas making decisions based on sexist programming tends to increase, not decrease, dramatic conflict.

Zhao Guan of course prefers women who a pretty and not evil, but he does not care about their prior sexual history, or even if they have other sexual or romantic relationships (well, he does care about their other relationships … but in a “I won’t let him hurt her” sense and not a “how dare she have another man” sense). This lack of double standard is rather refreshing. He even takes a woman who had kidnapped and tortured him as one of his lovers. And while he does care about looks, the most beautiful women in the story are immune to his charms for some reason (*cough* the Ling brothers *cough*). This does not look so much like a fantasy for straight males to me. This looks like a fantasy for straight fangirls who want a hot guy who won’t turn them down.

What about straight fangirls who are not physically pretty? They have Ling Haotian. The most beautiful women in the story all fall for him or one of his brothers, not Zhao Guan. Meanwhile, Zheng Baoan, while not ugly, is said to be the plainest-looking young woman in the story. Yet she is the only woman that both Ling Biyi and Ling Haotian want. Even though they can get women who are far, far more beautiful. And they are both hot dudes. This is unambiguously a fantasy aimed at straight female readers.

Speaking of Zheng Baoan, she’s a cool character herself; she’s sweet, reserved, feminine, and tough as nails. Ling Haotian says she is far braver than he (I agree). Whereas Ling Haotian generally runs away from problems, Zheng Baoan confronts them. And while he’s busy angsting over his feelings for her, Zheng Baoan is too busy saving his life to indulge in angst. I like characters like this because they illustrate that courage is just as compatible with femininity as with masculinity.

And then there’s the gender-reversal in Zhao Guan’s story. First of all, instead of being a girl who has heard her parents say they wished she were a boy, Zhao Guan hears his mother wishing she had a daughter, and the other people who take care of him as a child keep on saying it is such a pity he is not a girl. Wuxia novels have no shortage of women who, for various reasons, dress and try to pass as male. No woman does that in this novel. Instead, it is Zhao Guan who sometimes tries to pass as female. His reason is very practical—he needs to hide from his enemies, and it is sometimes safer for him to present himself as female than male. However, he feels no shame in dressing as a woman. This reflects that he really, really does think females are equal to males—he has no reason to be ashamed of being perceived as female. Now count the number of straight men in your life who would not experience any shame or embarrassment if they had to dress up and pass as women.

And speaking of gender reversal, there’s Zhao Guan’s mother herself. She basically lives the live of a male wuxia hero without being male. She overcame childhood tragedy, mastered various martial arts skills, rescues the weak and innocent, punishes wrongdoers, became the leader of a martial arts faction, drinks alcohol, and has her own (reverse) harem. It’s a pity that she has to die so early in the novel … I’d be willing to read a novel which features her as the main character.

How the Novel Made Me Feel

Back in the later years of elementary school and in middle school, I voraciously gobbled up whatever decent-or-better fantasy novels came my way. I did it because it went beyond fun. I lived the exciting adventures of those characters.

Reading this novel brought that feeling back for me. I read this novel at a steady clip of about 145 pages per day—which may not seem like that much until you realize a) I didn’t start studying Chinese until I was in my 20s and b) I often had to put the book down to savor some bit which had captured my imagination. This novel dominated my life while I was reading it, and the story is still ringing through my mindspace.

And … CURSE YOU ZHANG FENG FOR WRITING THAT ENDING! YOU MADE ME CRY!

Availability

The only part of this novel that is available in English (or any other non-Asian language) is the excerpt I translated for this review. There is not even an unfinished fan translation.

I know the handful of wuxia novels which have been published into English or French have not been best-sellers (if any wuxia novels have been published into any non-Asian languages other than English or French, please comment—I want to keep track of all wuxia novels published in non-Asian languages). However, just as contemporary manga tends to be more commercially successful in English translation than classic manga, I suspect contemporary wuxia might be more commercially successful than classic wuxia in the English-speaking world. I think a publisher could make money bringing out this novel in English if they marketed it properly. Now, once enough people in the English speaking world are hooked on wuxia, the classic novels could come out, heh heh heh…

At the very least, it is available in both simplified and traditional characters. For those learning Chinese as a foreign language, I think this novel is a good pick because it has such an accessible style. Is it the easiest novel to read on linguistic grounds? No. But it is entertaining and fast-paced, which in my opinion is more important than whether the grammar or vocabulary are easy. And compared to many other wuxia novels, the vocabulary and grammar are not hard.

Conclusion

I think it’s pretty obvious at this point that I love this novel. It is a monumental artistic work that a literature professor would approve of? No. But much as I love high-brow culture, sometimes I want a story which will just suck me in. This story did that. If you can, you should give it a chance to suck you in too.

Sara K. used to be really into fantasy novels. Looking back, she wonders how she found time to read all those novels considering that she also had to go school, do homework, sleep, and so forth. It gives her hope that she might be able to actually find time to read many of the wuxia novels on her reading list. And she definitely plans to read Zheng Feng’s other novels.