Features & Reviews

It Came from the Sinosphere: Xuanji Tu

August 28, 2012 by Sara K. Leave a Comment

I realize that I’ve been writing a column on Chinese-language pop culture for months … without featuring a single creative work from mainland China. This was not on purpose.

More than anything else, it reflects that Taiwan is my vantage point. I have better access to Taiwanese media than other Chinese-language media and, knowing a few things about Taiwan, I’m also more comfortable commenting on Taiwanese media. If I were writing this column from San Francisco, it would probably be really different.

Taiwan, in some ways, has deeper cultural ties with the Chinese-speaking communities in south-east Asia than with China itself, and from the conclusion of the Chinese civil war up until about 15 years ago, contact between mainland China and Taiwan was limited.

Things are changing now, but they are changing slowly. Change is happening fastest in TV. Since Mandarin is understood in both China and Taiwan, many TV shows are based on stories popular in both China and Taiwan, and Chinese TV shows sometimes cast Taiwanese actors in order to get their fans’ attention. Change is happening slowest in print media, because there is the traditional characters/simplified characters barrier. Since many Taiwanese people do not want to learn to read simplified characters, it means that to bring Chinese literature over to Taiwan, a publisher has to produce a traditional-character edition. It’s not easy to persuade a publisher that this is worth the risk.

Nonetheless, a publisher decided to publish Wu Way’s novels in traditional characters, and a lot of Taiwanese bookstores decided to put her novels on their shelves.

Wu Way

Wu Way (吳蔚) is a writer of historical novels and has contributed to historical TV shows as well. She is originally from Hubei Province, China. She says that she finds her life in old piles of paper—in other words, digging through historical materials is her passion.

Recently, her novels have been published in Taiwan in traditional Chinese characters, and that’s how I got a copy of this novel.

Brief Story Overview

This novel is set towards the end of the reign of Wu Zetian, China’s only female empress regnant.

It is about five friends, all members of the upper class: Di Xiao, Wang Zhihuan, Wang Han, Li Meng, and Xin Jian. One night, Wang Han disappears … and then right after he comes back, he’s arrested for a brutal rape-and-murder. In order to clear his name, his friends investigate the crime to find the true culprit. There are more murders and even more mysteries, which all seem to revolve around the “Xuanji Tu.” The more they investigate, the more they become involved in intrigue right at the heart of the Tang court.

The Xuanji Tu

The Xuanji Tu is a famous and complex palindrome poem by Su Hui. For more details, read the wikipedia entry for Su Hui (note: normally I would not cite Wikipedia as a source, but I really cannot find any other website in English which describes the Xuanji Tu, and this is not an academic paper). I had no idea that the Xuanji Tu existed before reading this novel.

In addition to pursuing the Xuanji Tu, some of the characters are also trying to get an original copy of one of Wang Xizhi’s works. I can attest that Wang Xizhi is the calligrapher whom I hear of or read references to the most often.

Historical Background

I’ll be honest. My understanding of Chinese history is quite basic, and even that might be an overstatement. I get that the Ming dynasty ruled China more than a thousand years after the Han dynasty, but if you asked me how China under the Ming dynasty was different from China under the Han dynasty, you would get a blank stare from me.

Thanks to this novel, I know a heck of a lot more about the reign of Wu Zetian. Before, I just had a vague notion that she liked to collect attractive men to satisfy her desires—the truth about Wu Zetian’s sexual relationships is a bit more nuanced than that, and she did even more interesting things outside the bedroom.

And boy does this novel go into historical detail. Wu Way claims that 95% of the characters (including all of the main characters) are genuine historical figures. And the life of the upper class under the Tang dynasty is described in exhaustive detail. There are a lot of endnotes, which I eventually stopped reading.

I’m afraid much of the historical detail was lost on me.

On The Genre

Detective fiction happen to be one of my least favorite genres. Unless I can be convinced that it’s the most awesome detective story ever, these days it is almost impossible to entice me to read detective fiction that is not crossed with some other genre (science fiction, for example).

This book, of course, does cross genres. It bills itself as a “historical wuxia detective novel.” I’ve see it in both the historical fiction and wuxia sections (though some bookstores combine the wuxia and historical fiction section, I consider them to be as distinct as science fiction and fantasy). The “historical” part is definitely justified (see above). The “detective” part is also justified, since the first half or so of the novel is about finding out who the criminal is. The “wuxia” part … okay, yes, the characters often have to use their martial arts skills to climb over a wall or something. But there is precious little combat, and most of the characters don’t seem terribly concerned with martial arts, or with acting in a xia manner (they’re upperclass-types, not peasants seeking justice in an unjust society). So I don’t think labeling this novel as “wuxia” is justified.

As it so happens, I liked the story more after they found out who the true criminal is, because then it became less of a detective novel and more about intrigue in the Tang court, which is more interesting to me.

Brutality

While this novel is only gory once in a while, when it gets gory, it really gets gory. This is an example (which you should skip if you are not sure you can stomach it).

“On the steps before the gate there was a man hanging, dripping with blood, naked, his entire body covered with every kind whip lash, burns from hot irons … his hands and feet had already been cut off, his face had been reduced to a pulp, his eyes had been dug out, his ears, nose, and tongue had all been cut off. He looked, not like a human, but a demon that had risen from the depths of hell.”

I picked this example because it is relatively brief, not because it is the most horrifying (at least, not to me).

As readers may have noticed, I have a tendency to enjoy fiction with a lot of violence, but this novel managed to shock even me.

My Personal Reaction

I had to try reading this novel twice. The first time, I was overwhelmed because it wasn’t what I was expecting (I wanted a wuxia novel and got a detective story instead) and the language in this novel is particularly difficult (definitely a couple notches more difficult than a Jin Yong novel). The second time, I came in with a better attitude, and actually enjoyed it.

I rather like history, so while a lot of the historical stuff did go over my head, I did learn a lot, and found it quite interesting. When I have time, I really do need to do my homework on Chinese history.

And eventually, I did get caught up in the characters. I appreciate the development of the relationship between the five friends, and the various people they encounter. And the brutality is most shocking, not when it’s based on pure gore, but when it’s tied into personal relationships. For example, there is a husband who does something astonishingly cruel to his own wife. That particular plot line definitely got my attention, in a jaw-dropping way. And finally, while I can’t judge how historically accurate it is, I think Wu Way did a good job of personifying Wu Zetian and her family, and I got caught up in their side of the story.

Availability

Availability in English … ha ha ha.

It is, of course, available in both simplified and traditional Chinese characters.

Conclusion

This is one of those novels which I would not expect to like, but nonetheless I ended up being glad that I read it. It’s not to be taken lightly, due to the difficulty of the language and the copious historical details, but there are definitely things in the novel which have stayed with me. I don’t know if I’ll ever try Wu Way’s other novels, but if there’s a convenient opportunity, I probably will.

Next time: Pinoy Sunday (movie)

Sara K. loves history in general, but really getting to know history takes time, and she’s already spending a lot of time improving her Chinese. Her favorite way to learn history is travel—whether it’s walking the streets of San Francisco with a knowledgeable guide, or walking through an interesting corner of Taiwan and reading all of the signs explaining the local history.

Fated to Love You (Special Post)

August 24, 2012 by Sara K. 7 Comments

So, on Tuesday I made the case for why people should watch Fated to Love You. In this post, I assume you are already in bed … er … on board with the idea that this show is worth watching, so instead I am going to explain things which would not be apparent to viewers who are not familiar with the Chinese language and/or Taiwan.

Let’s start with that pun, in bed vs. on board.

Fun with Language

Fated to Love You is very playful with its language. The most commonly used pun on the show is shàng chuán (board a boat / on a boat) vs. shàng chuáng (get in bed / in bed). Some of the significant events in the story happens on boats (and in beds). I don’t think you need to know anything about Taiwanese culture to appreciate the comedic value.

There’s also a pun on Paris vs. Bali. In Mandarin, “Paris” is pronounced as “Bālí,” and “Bālǐ” is a district of New Taipei City (I talk more about “Bālǐ” below).

Fun with language can be difficult to translate. Take this scene for example:

Pinyin:

Anson: Wǒ dǒng le.
Cunxi: Dǒng shénme a!
Anson: Zhè jiù shì jiānghú shàng liúchuán yĭjiŭ de “mŭzhū sài Diāo Chán.”
Cunxi: “Mŭzhū sài Diāo Chán?”
Anson: Hĕn jiăndān de luóji, jiăndān de dàolĭ ma.

Translation:

Anson: I understand.
Cunxi: Understand what?
Anson: This is [a saying] that has been passed down for a long time in jianghu “the female pig overtakes Diao Chan.”
Cunxi: “The female pig overtakes Diao Chan”?
Anson: The logic is simple, the reasoning is quite simple.

Anson then goes on to explain that “the female pig overtakes Diao Chan” means that when a man hasn’t been around beautiful women for a long time, but he is around a plain-looking woman, he will start finding the plain-looking woman more attractive than the beautiful women he saw a long time ago.

First of all, what is jianghu? It is usually used to refer to the world where wuxia stories take place, but it also sometimes used to refer to the gangster underworld (for example, The Outsiders 1 & 2 are set in “jianghu”). It is a bit like the concept of “the wild west” in American culture—a place of adventure where laws aren’t exactly obeyed and people must struggle for their personal honor.

Now, who is Diao Chan? She’s is one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China (yes, there is an official list of the great beauties of ancient China).

Now, for those who are not familiar with Chinese, the language is full of chengyu—sayings (usually of four characters) often based on allusions to classical Chinese literature. If you’ve ever seen the Star Trek: Next Generation episode “Darmok,” think of Chinese as being a bit like that language. Good and frequent usage of chengyu demonstrates that one is well-educated, so some Chinese-speakers (both native and non-native) put a lot of effort into mastering them. What Anson is doing is that he is making up his own chengyu (at least I think it’s made up—I was not able to find it in any of my references), and since Cunxi doesn’t know it, he’s asking for an explanation.

So yes, this show has lots of fun with words. But so far I have been dealing with pure Mandarin (or Mandarin peppered with Classical Chinese). This show also uses quite a bit of Taiwanese, as well as a little English, and even a teensy bit of Cantonese.

Mandarin vs. Taiwanese

I think it would be fair to call Taiwan the “island of Babel.” Nonetheless, there are two dominant languages: Mandarin and Taiwanese. While there is a significant portion of the population that is not fluent in Mandarin and there is a significant portion of the population that is not fluent in Taiwanese, the vast majority of Taiwanese are fluent in at least one of those two languages. The choice of which language is used has serious social and political implications (high-profile Taiwanese politicians generally have to know both languages lest they offend voters) which I cannot explain here.

Most characters in Fated to Love You speak Mandarin. The most significant Taiwanese-speaking character is Chen-Lin Xishi.

Chen-Lin Xishi and one of her daughters.

The fact that most of her dialogue is in Taiwanese communicates that she is an older, rural woman. In Taiwan, Taiwanese tends to be the language of older people, and Mandarin tends to be the language of younger people. Furthermore, Mandarin tends to be an urban language, whereas Taiwanese tends to be a rural language. Mandarin is also associated with the elite, whereas Taiwanese is associated with the working class. There are significant exceptions, of course.

Chen-Lin Xishi also occasionally speaks in Mandarin. She speaks Mandarin with a heavy accent (coming from me, that’s the lump of coal calling the kettle black), but doesn’t seem to have any problem with conversational Mandarin. However, there’s one scene where she tries to speak in very formal Mandarin, and she trips over words so much that she needs her daughter’s help to complete sentences. It’s quite funny.

And then there’s Ji-Wang Zhenzhu, who happens to be one of my favorite characters.

It’s obvious from the way Ji-Wang Zhenzhu speaks that she grew up in China, not Taiwan. The biggest giveaway is that she speaks with an “erhua.” “Erhua” is a certain style of speaking Mandarin in which it seems that every other word ends with an “r” sound. “Erhua” is strongly associated with the Beijing area. In Taiwan, if someone speaks with an “erhua” it’s generally assumed that they came from China.

Now, as someone who grew up in a region of China where people speak with an “erhua,” Ji-Wang Zhenzhu would not be expected to speak Taiwanese (Taiwanese is actually a dialect of Hokkien, and Hokkien is spoken in Fujian province, but Fujianese people generally do not speak with an “erhua”). However, when talking to Chen-Lin Xishi, who was failing at formal Mandarin, Ji-Wang Zhenzhu does sometimes use some Taiwanese. I know very little Taiwanese … but the way Ji-Wang Zhenzhu uses Taiwanese seems a bit awkward to me. It was clearly a move to save Chen-Lin Xishi’s face, as well as to show respect to her.

In a later scene, Chen-Lin Xishi tries to show her respect for Ji-Wang Zhenzhu … by speaking with an “erhua.” Even to me, Chen-Lin Xishi’s “erhua” sounds really artificial (Ji-Wang Zhenzhu’s “erhua,” on the other hand, sounds quite natural). And it’s funny because Chen-Lin Xishi is the last person in the drama who would have a genuine “erhua.”

Indeed, one of the many wonderful things about the drama is subtle development of the relationship between Chen-Lin Xishi and Ji-Wang Zhenzhu, two older women who come from very different walks of life. I’m afraid there’s no way to prevent a little of that from being lost in translation.

Music

The characters will occasionally burst into song spontaneously. No, Fated to Love You is not a musical. Instead, the characters burst into song the same way that people might start singing the George Harrison song “Something” if someone said “I don’t know why I like her, there’s something about her.”

I admit, I don’t recognize all of the songs. But I recognize some. For example, one song that gets referenced a couple times is “Ní Wáwa” (“Clay Baby”), which is a traditional children’s song that has been covered by many artists. It’s basically a child singing about their own clay doll, saying that since it’s not a real baby and doesn’t have a mommy or daddy, the child will have to be the mommy and daddy. Here is a really slow version of the song on YouTube.

Does Jiangmu Dao (Ginger Island) Exist?

Much of this drama is set in a place called Jiangmu Dao (Ginger Island). Does Jiangmu Dao exist?

The answer is: yes and no.

Some of the Jiangmu Dao scenes were filmed at Zhentoushan. Zhentoushan is a peninsula (not an island) in Shimen resevoir in … Taoyuan county. I live in Taoyuan county, and my tap water comes from Shimen resevoir.

Hey dude, get out of my drinking water!

Even though it is technically a peninsula, there is no road to Zhentoushan, so the only way to get there is by boat (in other words, it practically is an island). About 50 households live in Zhentoushan.

Zhentoushan has an interesting place in Taiwanese history. If I remember correctly, it was a site of Atayal resistance against the Japanese (actually, that might have been Jiaobanshan, but Jiaobanshan is really close to Zhentoushan). Later, Chiang Kai-Shek (who was at the time the de-facto dictator of Taiwan) decided to build a villa in the area with views over Zhentoushan. The villa no longer exists, but I have visited the site and have verified that the view of Zhentoushan is indeed spectacular.

After the success of the drama, the residents of Zhentoushan have even gone so far as to rename their home “Jiangmu Dao” in order to draw in tourists. And the drama has increased tourism in this specific area a lot. There are tours from Amuping (another settlement next to Shimen resevoir) to Zhentoushan which have the name of the drama written on the boats. While riding the boat, they even show clips from the drama.

However, the thing is, most of the scenes supposedly set on “Jiangmu Dao” were not filmed in Zhentoushan.

First of all, some of the scenes which were supposed to be “Jiangmu Dao” were actually filmed in Amuping. If you actually know the area, the drama can sometimes be confusing, because the characters will say that they are leaving Jiangmu Dao, when in fact they are clearly leaving Amuping and going towards Zhentoushan.

Also, I don’t know where this boat terminal is, but it’s not in Amuping or Zhentoushan.

This is the dock at Amuping.

The dock at Amuping

And there is no factory in Zhentoushan (the place has no road access, no one would put a factory there).

This temple is not in Zhentoushan (there is only one temple in Zhentoushan, which is really a shrine and not a temple, and it’s much smaller).

There is no school in Zhentoushan (I’ve been told that the children have to take the boat to get to school).

There are no rice fields in Zhentoushan (Zhentoushan doesn’t have much flat ground, though there are some rice fields on a terrace on the other side of Shimen resevoir.

Zhentoushan does have running water and electricity (the electric wires cross the water), but it’s not much more developed than that (again, there is no road access). It’s certainly not as developed at the Jiangmu Dao depicted in Fated to Love You.

In fact, most of the Jiangmu Dao scenes look like they were filmed in a lowland town (albeit spiffed up—this is an idol drama after all). It seems they used Amuping / Zhentoushan mainly because a) so they should show the characters travelling by boat to and from an “island” and b) because the scenery is nice. Otherwise, they are depicting a lowland town, not the backwaters of Taoyuan county.

It’s worth noting that this is not the only idol drama filmed in the rural areas of Taoyuan county. In fact Ethan Ruan, who is the male lead in Fated to Love You, also acted in an idol drama Green Forest, My Home which it set even deeper in the backwoods of Taoyuan County.

Environmental Injustice for Profit

One of the themes in Fated to Love You is a greedy businessperson trying to take over a rural area against the inhabitants’ will so his company can poison the environment with impunity. This is also a theme in Autumn’s Concerto. In fact, it’s a common theme in idol dramas.

Unfortunately, this is a reflection of reality. There are many examples of this kind of thing happening in Taiwan. Some examples: the naphtha cracker plant in Yunlin (that naphtha cracker plant was originally supposed to be built in a small town in Yilan—I know someone from that small town, and she says she’s very grateful that the government in Yilan rejected the plant), the destruction of the Alangyi trail, and the nuclear waste in Lanyu.

Then again, considering how much water is being poisoned by fracking, not to mention countless other examples, this is an issue in the United States too…

Star Cruises

Star Cruises, which is featured in the first episode, is *the* cruise line in East Asia. In addition to their Taiwan-Hong Kong cruises, they also offer cruises from Taiwan to the Yaeyama islands. Even though the Yaeyama islands are governed by Japan, they are closer to Taipei than Tokyo. If it weren’t so astronomically expensive, I might be interested in taking a trip to the Yaeyama islands. Why? Among other reasons, part of Basara, one of my favorite manga, is set in the Yaeyama islands.

Museums!

Inside the Yingge Ceramics Museum

One of the museums featured in this drama is the Yingge Ceramics Museum. Some of Mars was also shot in the Yingge Ceramics Museum, but it makes much more sense in Fated to Love You. Yingge is one of the three or so centers of ceramics production in Taiwan, and is the most famous. After visiting the museum, my brain was crammed with more facts about pottery and ceramics than I thought I would ever know in my lifetime. Yingge is very close to Taoyuan city, where I live.

There is also a scene set at the Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology in Bali (I told you I would mention Bali again). It is next to the Shihsanhang site, where archaeologists have found some of the earliest evidence of human habitation in Taiwan.

This shot gives a nice view of the hills of Bali.

Shanghai

I have never been to Shanghai, and quite frankly I know very little about the city. I do know there is an exhibit at the Taipei Fine Arts Museum of paintings and sculptures from Shanghai artists, so there are certainly attempts to cross the strait with fine art.

The Thirteen Levels

The Thirteen Levels, in Shuinandong, is one of the most iconic buildings on Taiwan’s north coast. There is another idol drama I plan to discuss which features Shuinandong, so for now I will just say that Shuinandong is just below Jinguashi, which is next to Jiufen, an important town in Taiwanese culture which I have mentioned previously.

Conclusion

The point of this post is not to point out every clever use of language, explain every cultural reference, and to discuss every location. First of all, I did not catch every clever use of language, understand every cultural reference, or recognize every location. And I did not discuss everything I did recognize because this post is already long enough as it is.

What I want to do is give readers the sense that, behind this drama, there stands an entire culture and society. I think it’s entirely possible to enjoy Fated to Love You without understanding any of this. I also think that being aware of these extra layers deepens one’s experience of the drama.

Sara K. likes see how various things connect together. It is one of the finest pleasures in her life. She is also happy to squeeze a Basara reference into a post about a Taiwanese idol drama.

BL Bookrack: August 2012

August 23, 2012 by MJ and Michelle Smith 14 Comments

Welcome to the August installment of BL Bookrack! This month, Michelle takes a look at Flutter from Juné Manga and the debut volume of Punch Up! from SuBLime, while MJchecks out the first two volumes of Setona Mizushiro’s Dousei Ai at JManga. In Brief: Awkward Silence (SuBLime), Honeydew Syndrome, Vol. 2 (New Shoe), My Boyfriend the Mad Dog (DMG), and Starting With a Kiss, Vol. 1 (SuBLime).

Dousei Ai, Vols. 1-2 | By Setona Mizushiro | Published by Libre Publishing Co., Ltd./JManga | Rated Mature – When innocent middle-schooler Tsubaki tells his classmate Kaoru that he loves him, he is completely unprepared for the consequences of his words. Devastated by Kaoru’s violent rejection, Tsubaki begins to withdraw from his other friends and, as he reaches high school, enters into a sexual relationship with a male teacher in order to ease his growing sense of isolation. As graduation approaches, Tsubaki becomes anxious to get out of the increasingly one-sided relationship with his teacher. But when he tries to break up, the teacher reacts by dramatically outing him to his family—sending Tsubaki running to Tokyo to escape his parents’ visible pain and disapproval.

If the entire series was Tsubaki’s alone, his poignant tale would be more than enough to keep me hooked. But its second chapter makes it immediately clear that Mizushiro has much bigger plans, as she introduces the series’ second protagonist, Koutarou.

Having mainly been raised by his kind, domestically-inclined older brother, Koutarou is a fairly manipulative, smart-ass kid who privately prides himself on being able to “beat” his brother at anything. When his brother brings home a girlfriend for the first time, it seems he’s finally bested Koutarou at something, but the girl sneaks into Koutarou’s bed during the night, providing Koutarou with both the loss of his virginity and proof that he’s still on top (so to speak). Things take a downward turn, however, when Koutarou’s brother announces that he’ll be marrying the girlfriend, who is pregnant with a child he believes must be his. Wracked with guilt and self-loathing, Koutarou falls into a pattern of loveless one-night-stands with any women (and later, men—which eventually establishes itself as his preference) who express interest, all the while keeping up appearances as the guy who’s got it all together.

That was probably more summary than I’ve ever included in a single review in my entire career as a manga critic, but in those two paragraphs you will find evidence of both the best (and worst) things about Dousei Ai. In the category of “best,” well… wow. This is no casual one-shot or simplistic BL romance. Setona Mizushiro has carefully crafted a complex emotional drama with some of the best-written characterization I’ve ever seen in this genre and a long game that is pretty obviously going to offer up significant payoff for the reader. I mean, going into this it’s clear that we’re in for a killer of a ride, along the lines of something like Sooyeon Won’s manhwa epic Let Dai, only better—much, much better. Both Tsubaki and Koutarou are rich, genuinely fascinating characters, who somehow manage to remain sympathetic even as they fall into their individual patterns of using others in order to get by with their own pain. And as the second volume wraps up it becomes clear that the main cast will continue to grow as the series goes on. I can’t wait. Seriously, I can’t.

On the downside—and perhaps at least partially due to the era in which this was originally released—Mizushiro puts a lot of work into making sure we know just how broken her protagonists are, which wouldn’t be a problem if she didn’t also hint at their personal trauma being at least partly responsible for their sexuality. I’m giving her a pass on this so far, since it hasn’t been stated outright from an authorial point of view, but it is the one small bruise on this otherwise deliciously epic treat. And while I’ve heard the series’ old-school ’90s artwork (it began serialization in 1996) described as “ugly,” it satisfies my admittedly-retro tastes with near-perfection.

If you’ve got a hankering for lighthearted comedy or sweet romance, this series is emphatically not the ticket. But for my part, Dousei Ai may be the BL epic I’ve long been waiting for. Highly recommended.

– Review by MJ

Flutter | By Momoko Tenzen | Juné | Rated Mature – Sometimes I’m tempted to write a review that simply says, “This is really good. Go read it.” Flutter is just such a case, but I suppose I ought to present at least some evidence in its favor.

Masahiro Asada works in the sales division of a company. Although straight, he’s transfixed every morning by the sight of a beautiful male coworker, Ryosuke Mizuki, who is so impeccably dressed and put together that he almost doesn’t seem human. When a project brings them together, Asada gets to know Mizuki—and his all-too-human flaws, sorrows, and weaknesses—and finds himself even more attracted.

There are so many things to recommend this manga. The atmosphere is sort of… elegant and languid, which suits mysterious Mizuki well and makes an earnest everydude like Asada stand out all the more. The growing friendship between the men is believable—and they’re both completely professional adults, I might add—as is Mizuki’s wary reaction when Asada confesses his feelings. Mizuki’s been hurt before, and is concerned he might be tempted to just use Asada to make his ex jealous.

It’s lovely and complicated, and when the guys do finally get together physically it’s wonderfully awkward. I’m always a little embarrassed when BL lets us get to know the guys well before they start getting intimate, because then it feels like we’re spying on something we shouldn’t be seeing. Thankfully, the love scene fades to black before this becomes an issue.

Ultimately, Flutter is the best BL oneshot I’ve read in a long time. This is really good. Go read it.

– Review by Michelle Smith

Punch Up!, Vol. 1 | By Shiuko Kano | Published by SuBLime Manga | Rated Mature – Shiuko Kano has had a lot of manga published in America, but somehow, despite owning several volumes, I’ve never managed to read any of her work until this first volume of Punch Up!, which is itself a spinoff of Play Boy Blues.

The concept is pretty simple: Maki Motoharu is a gay architect with a lively appreciation for attractive men. When he learns that his lost cat has been found and cared for by Ohki Kouta, a construction worker helping to build his latest project, and that Kouta has quarreled with his landlord because of that, he offers the younger man a place to stay. Kouta soon realizes that Motoharu’s fancy digs (and cat) are woefully neglected, and ends up bonding with the cat (Nyanta) far more than her owner ever had.

Pretty soon Kouta’s concern for Nyanta translates to concern for Motoharu, and they hook up. What’s interesting about their relationship is that it’s not sweet at all. This isn’t some dreamy romance manga. Motoharu is pretty much a crappy person, but not in an over-the-top villainous kind of way. Kouta realizes this, bemoaning his own lousy taste in men, and has no expectations that their relationship is going to last. And somehow… this seems to give the story a lot of potential to go in various soapy directions while seeming at least a little more realistic than the thoughtful/adorable BL to which I typically gravitate.

Though a lot more explicit than I usually prefer, and tonally different as well, Punch Up! has at least intrigued me enough to check out the next volume, though I don’t see it becoming a permanent fixture in my collection.

– Review by Michelle Smith

In Brief:

Awkward Silence, Vol. 1 | By Hinako Takanaga | Published by SuBLime Manga | Rated Mature – With his impassive face, Satoru Tono has always had trouble expressing his feelings. He can’t even visibly convey his happy surprise when Keigo Tamiya, a popular athlete and object of Satoru’s long-time crush, asks him out. Various obstacles and misunderstandings ensue—drama over a lost cell phone charm, jealousy over a flirtatious female transfer student, and a persistent sempai with an eye for Satoru— but the boys reaffirm their affections as needed and engage in end-of-chapter “romping” with predictable regularity. If you’re thinking, “Gee, that sounds pretty generic,” you’re absolutely right. It’s not actively bad, so I might have read a second volume if the series had ended there, but it looks like it’s up to four volumes in Japan and still ongoing! I am, quite frankly, astounded that Takanaga was able to extract that much material from this tired premise. – Michelle Smith

Honeydew Syndrome, Vol. 2 | By New Shoe | Rated Teen – With Metis and Josh’s relationship well in hand, volume two of this charming BL comic turns the camera on quiet, easygoing Jay and his growing interest in Metis’ caustic friend Charles, as well as a few other members of Metis’ idiosyncratic social sphere. Though this can feel a bit choppy as a volume, the individual stories are just as engaging as the first half of the series, and perhaps more so in places—evidence of this team’s growth over the course of the series. The print version of this webcomic also includes a a terrific prose story about Jay and Charles that offers up some essential character notes on both of them and is not to be missed. Still recommended. – MJ

My Boyfriend, The Mad Dog | By Sanae Rokuya | Digital Manga Guild – Akae is an eccentric mangaka who expects his assistants to, er, “assist” with more than just artwork. Honma is a highly sought-after freelancer with ample talent for the job. If this sounds like the introduction to a little mindless porn, you’d only be partly right. Though their story is far from deep, there is some fairly nuanced characterization here, especially in Honma, who refuses to be cast as simply the blushing uke. Unfortunately, the volume’s second couple—an aspiring artist who hasn’t learned the word “no,” and his (apparently) desperate editor—is pretty cringe-worthy throughout. If you don’t enjoy persistent non-con, proceed with caution.– MJ

Starting with a Kiss, Vol. 1 | By Youka Nitta | SuBLime Manga | Rated Mature – As a fan of multi-volume BL, I’m usually pretty anxious to try out anything with a volume number in its title, though results are frequently negative or mixed at best. Starting with a Kiss falls squarely into the latter category, with its mix of confusing narrative and comically rushed romance alongside some genuinely interesting characterization. Though Youka Nitta’s yakuza are intriguing, her jumps between past and present read as awkward rather than illuminating. Furthermore, her plentiful sex scenes are hampered by unbelievable relationships that seem to form in the blink of an eye. Fortunately, with multi-volume series, there’s always hope for next time. Not yet recommended. – MJ

Review copies of most titles provided by the publishers.

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

Manga the Week of 8/29

August 22, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

That’s it. Remember when last week of the month brought Tokyopop stuff? In the meantime, enjoy Gon. He’s awesome.

A Certain Scientific Railgun, Vol. 5

August 22, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

By Kazuma Kamachi and Motoi Fuyukawa. Released in Japan as “Toaru Kagaku no Railgun” by ASCII Media Works, serialization ongoing in the magazine Dengeki Daioh. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

As we get into Vol. 5 of Railgun, it strikes me how many sociopathic killers are really in this series. It’s a whole lot. Misaka has found out about the experiment where 20,000 of her clones are killed off in order to force a Level 5 to get even higher, but that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Academy City and its dedication to science clearly continues to have a dark and sordid underbelly, and I doubt that the enemies this time will be as misguided but ultimately likeable as in the Level Upper arc.

First we have Accelerator, this arc’s “Big Bad”, who just finished brutally murdering Misaka 9982 at the end of last volume. The real Misaka is understandably upset by this, and does her best to try to make Accelerator see reason, or at least beat the shit out of him. This is especially true when she hears his motives are simply power, thus making the killings even more appalling. There’s a short battle, but a) it becomes clear that Misaka is severely outclassed by her enemy, and b) the clones stop things fairly quickly, pointing out that if he defeats the real Railgun now, that sort of ruins the experiment.

So now Misaka knows about the experiment, and has to stop it. The clones are of no help at all, as they don’t value their own lives so can only point out how easy it 9is to build new ones. She briefly has the help of Shinobu, a scientist who is trying to fix things after realizing that the clones are more than just lab rats. But for the most part it’s just Misaka straightforwardly trying to destroy the experiment by destroying every single site where it takes place – all 10 of them, supposedly used to combat muscular dystrophy. Yes, it’s Misaka the terrorist. Given that the hero of the main series, Touma, tends to solve problems by simply punching them very hard, it’s somehow fitting that our heroine is cut from the same cloth – if there are no more labs, there will be no more experiment.

Of course, things aren’t made that easy, as we also meet ITEM, the anti-terrorist group sent off to take Misaka out. These are basically child soldiers, with a slightly older leader, and are, like Accelerator, rather blase about all the people they have killed. The team is actually balanced nicely between two hotheads who glory in killing and torture, and two cool stoics who seem more blase about the whole thing. Naturally, it’s the hotheads who get most of the focus, and as we see a 10-year-old girl brag about the number of people she’s killed, we are reminded again what kind of environment this is.

And so in the end Misaka thinks she’s won, but somehow I doubt it. Blow up 10 labs, and 10 more will spring up. This is about defeating an entire scientific culture, and that will take far more than electroshock therapy. Luckily, we have an exciting cliffhanger, where… she sees Touma at a vending machine! Gasp! (This is actually more exciting to those who have read or seen A Certain Magical Index, as the two stories now join up, all of the past two volumes having been prelude.) Will she ask Touma for help? Or just be tsundere at him? It’s been a while since we’ve seen that side of her…

It Came From the Sinosphere: Fated to Love You

August 21, 2012 by Sara K. 12 Comments

This drama has the distinction of having the highest TV ratings of any idol drama ever. Every Taiwanese person I have asked has seen at least part of this drama. I have gotten middle-aged Taiwanese men who claim that K-dramas are too feminine for them to admit that a) they have seen Fated to Love You and b) that it’s good.

Why is this drama so popular? Maybe this (abridged) scene will give you a clue…

Example Scene

Dylan is playing hide-and-seek with the kids at the church. He decides to hide in the confessional booth.

Chen Xinyi walks in to make a confession. She tells Dylan that she had sex with a stranger … and that it was the first time she ever had sex.

Dylan tells her to go home and tell God “sorry.”

Chen Xinyi then tells her about how she’s been throwing up a lot in the past few days.

Hearing this, Dylan urges her to go buy a pregnancy test – but to do it on the sly.

Chen Xinyi takes his suggestion to heart, and disguises herself so no one will recognize her when she buys the pregnancy test.

By sheer coincidence, there is a robber who disguises herself just like Xinyi, and appears on the news right before Xinyi walks into the store.

The store clerk tells her she doesn’t need to pay. As soon as she leaves, he calls the police.

The police corner her in the bathroom. There’s also a TV news reporter with them.

Right after Chen Xinyi has used the pregnancy test, the police open up the bathroom stall and point guns at her.

She is so startled that she loses hold of the pregnancy test-stick.

The TV news reporter picks up the pregnancy test-stick … and congratulates her. It is announced on television that Chen Xinyi in pregnant. So much for doing things on the sly.

Chen Xinyi’s mother just happens to be watching the news at that moment…

… and the stranger she had sex with notices the news on TV too.

Sara K. Loves Joe Chen

Joe Chen in my favorite actress working in Taiwanese idol dramas.

First of all, she’s versatile. For example, in Prince Turns Into Frog, she plays a girl from a poor fishing village, whereas in My Best Pals she plays a hip teenager from Ximending who jumps off buildings into cars (I am not kidding). Whereas her character in Prince Turns Into Frog dreams of gold-digging her way out of the boondocks, her character in My Best Pals would rather kick than kiss a rich guy’s ass. Joe Chen plays both roles very well.

Obviously, you can’t judge her acting based on the theme songs, but the theme songs of Prince Turns Into Frog and My Best Pals do offer a sense of how the two dramas feel different—and I assure you the characters Joe Chen plays in those dramas are just as different as the theme songs. In addition, Joe Chen has been cast as Dongfang Bubai in the new The Laughing Proud Wanderer TV series, which is a really different role from the others I have see her play (for starters, Dongfang Bubai, having been born with testicles, is not a cis female).

Her role as Chen Xinyi in Fated to Love You is quite different from all of the roles I mentioned above. Chen Xinyi is an office worker with low self-esteem. She is completely convincing in the role. She is extremely true to what Chen Xinyi is feeling, and skillfully demonstrates how Chen Xinyi changes during the course of the story. I think Fated to Love You would have moved me to tears a lot less if they had cast a lesser actress.

Messing With Idol Drama Tropes

If you have seen several other Taiwanese idol dramas, you already know what the story is because it’s the same as 90% of idol drama stories, and just when you are sure what’s going to happen next … Fated to Love You goes in the other direction.

Ha ha ha.

Sure, yes, it does follow the standard idol drama plot. It does so with irreverence. Sometimes it uses the standard tropes, but in a totally silly way. Sometimes it uses the standard tropes, but with a wink in its eye, telling the viewers “Yes, we know you have seen this in five other dramas, but we do it with more flair.” Sometimes it makes the viewers think it’s going to use the standard tropes, but pulls a fast one and does something completely different. And sometimes it uses the standard tropes in a totally straight way, so the viewer doesn’t get too used to the twists.

This is actually why, much as I love this drama, I’m not sure this should be somebody’s first Taiwanese idol drama. If you haven’t seen other Taiwanese idol dramas, you might not always notice it when Fated to Love You sticks out its tongue and makes funny faces. On the other hand, this is one of the best idol dramas ever made, so if you are only going to see one Taiwanese idol drama ever, this might be a good choice.

Let’s Get Serious

Before you get the idea that Fated to Love You is a spoof or a comedy (well, it is a comedy, yet it’s more than that…), I assure you that there is a totally serious story being told here. I probably cry as much laugh when I watch it (notice that I’m using present tense—I’ve seen this drama twice, and I am sure I will watch it again).

In particular, this is a story about Chen Xinyi, who has spent her entire life helping other people instead of herself. During the course of the story she discovers that she has her own distinctive artistic voice.

Actually, all of my favorite idol dramas are about women who are discovering their artistic voice. Maybe that’s a coincidence, or maybe that’s a reflection of my personal tastes, or maybe idol dramas about women discovering their artistic voice are inherently more awesome.

In fact, this is why I consider this idol drama to be feminist. Just as sexism says women are not as important as men, everybody (except her father, who is dead) says that Chen Xinyi is not important. After going through a lot of suffering, it is demonstrated that Chen Xinyi is just as important as every other character in the drama, and that she important purely on the basis of being herself.

Location, Location, Location

I realize that there is so much I want to say about the locations in this drama that it’s better off in a separate post.

Fun with Language

Once again, I realized there is so much I want to say about this that it’s better off in a separate post. (Read Fated to Love You -Special Post.)

Chen Xinyi Talks to Joe Chen

There are a couple scenes where Chen Xinyi talks to Joe Chen.

Wait a minute … isn’t Chen Xinyi played by Joe Chen?

In addition to being an actress, TV host, and writer, Joe Chen is also a model. In fact, right now there are ads featuring her in Taipei train station which say (in Chinese) “[brand name] loves Joe Chen”. Thus it is entirely believable that Chen Xinyi would encounter ads featuring Joe Chen in the hip Xinyi district (note: the “Xinyi” in “Xinyi district” uses different Chinese characters than the “Xinyi” in “Chen Xinyi”). However, the ads featuring Joe Chen have never talked to me.

Music

I generally don’t find the music created specifically for this drama that interesting, but the exception is the song “Wǒ de Kuàilè” (My Happiness). In particular, I appreciate when they play the piano score without the singing. The song is played so much that, even without the singing, the viewer (at least a viewer who can understand Mandarin) can hear the words of the song. It contributes to the mood of the series, and the sadness of the song often counterbalances the sillier scenes.

Availability in English

The good news:

DRAMAFEVER HAS LICENSED FATED TO LOVE YOU.

The bad news:

None of the episodes are available yet. Also, this only helps people who are in North or South America.

Conclusion

Fated to Love You is one of my favorites. Just when I’m wondering why I keep on watching idol dramas, I stumble on a drama like Fated to Love You, and my interest in idol dramas is revived. Finding these dramas makes watching the mediocre ones worth it (and I’ve noticed that even the mediocre dramas are generally improved by the presence of Joe Chen).

I love Fated to Love You so much that there is going to be a special post about it, hopefully on Friday. The purpose of this post is to convince you all (in North and South America) to watch it (when Dramafever makes it available). The purpose of the next post will be to offer commentary for people who are not too familiar with Taiwan and/or the Chinese language. In fact, I suspect one reason why Dramafever is taking so long to release episodes is that some of the things the characters say are really difficult to translate into English. Hopefully, that means that when the episodes are available, the translation will be really good.

Read Fated to Love You (Special Post).

Next regular post: Xuanji Tu (novel)

Sara K. wishes to give whoever is translating Fated to Love You for Dramafever a pat on the back. She understands how frustrating it probably is. She would also like to see Dramafever (or somebody else) legally bring out some of her other favorite idol dramas into English.

Manga Bestsellers: 2012, Week Ending 19 August

August 20, 2012 by Matt Blind 2 Comments

Comparative Rankings Based on Consolidated Online Sales

last week’s charts
about the charts

Manga Bestsellers

1. ↔0 (1) : Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [425.0] ::
2. ↑2 (4) : Sailor Moon 3 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2012 [422.3] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Sailor Moon 4 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2012 [396.5] ::
4. ↓-2 (2) : Sailor Moon 1 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2011 [392.6] ::
5. ↔0 (5) : Sailor Moon 2 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2011 [378.3] ::
6. ↑2 (8) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [338.3] ::
7. ↓-1 (6) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [333.4] ::
8. ↓-1 (7) : Vampire Knight 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2012 [327.3] ::
9. ↔0 (9) : Sailor Moon 6 – Kodansha Comics, Jun 2012 [325.5] ::
10. ↑1 (11) : Death Note vols 1-13 box set – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Oct 2008 [303.8] ::

[more]

Top Imprints
Number of volumes ranking in the Top 500:

Viz Shonen Jump 91
Yen Press 84
Viz Shojo Beat 58
Kodansha Comics 52
Viz Shonen Jump Advanced 37
DMP Juné 31
Dark Horse 16
Seven Seas 16
Vertical 13
Viz Signature 11

[more]

Series/Property

1. ↔0 (1) : Sailor Moon – Kodansha Comics [1,102.8] ::
2. ↔0 (2) : Naruto – Viz Shonen Jump [762.9] ::
3. ↔0 (3) : Bleach – Viz Shonen Jump [686.7] ::
4. ↔0 (4) : Highschool of the Dead – Yen Press [538.2] ::
5. ↑2 (7) : Yu-Gi-Oh! – Viz Shonen Jump [517.7] ::
6. ↓-1 (5) : Vampire Knight – Viz Shojo Beat [498.4] ::
7. ↑3 (10) : Black Butler – Yen Press [454.9] ::
8. ↓-2 (6) : Negima! – Del Rey/Kodansha Comics [453.2] ::
9. ↓-1 (8) : Ouran High School Host Club – Viz Shojo Beat [450.8] ::
10. ↑2 (12) : Death Note – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced [433.0] ::

[more]

New Releases
(Titles releasing/released This Month & Last)

1. ↔0 (1) : Yu-Gi-Oh! GX 9 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [425.0] ::
6. ↑2 (8) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [338.3] ::
7. ↓-1 (6) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [333.4] ::
8. ↓-1 (7) : Vampire Knight 14 – Viz Shojo Beat, Jul 2012 [327.3] ::
11. ↑5 (16) : Bleach 44 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [292.1] ::
15. ↓-5 (10) : Negima! 35 – Kodansha Comics, Jul 2012 [279.6] ::
20. ↑4 (24) : Bleach 45 – Viz Shonen Jump, Aug 2012 [246.3] ::
22. ↓-5 (17) : Rosario+Vampire Season II 9 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Jul 2012 [240.8] ::
23. ↑19 (42) : Omamori Himari 8 – Yen Press, Aug 2012 [233.0] ::
25. ↓-3 (22) : Highschool of the Dead 7 – Yen Press, Jul 2012 [230.2] ::

[more]

Preorders

12. ↑2 (14) : Sailor Moon 7 – Kodansha Comics, Sep 2012 [288.8] ::
18. ↓-5 (13) : Sailor Moon 9 – Kodansha Comics, Jan 2013 [262.1] ::
19. ↑2 (21) : Sailor Moon 8 – Kodansha Comics, Nov 2012 [246.9] ::
29. ↓-3 (26) : Sailor Moon 10 – Kodansha Comics, Mar 2013 [204.3] ::
31. ↑10 (41) : Yotsuba&! 11 – Yen Press, Sep 2012 [194.8] ::
34. ↑3 (37) : Avatar: The Last Airbender The Promise 3 – Dark Horse, Oct 2012 [189.0] ::
53. ↑13 (66) : Naruto 58 – Viz Shonen Jump, Sep 2012 [149.1] ::
75. ↓-6 (69) : Negima! 36 – Kodansha Comics, Oct 2012 [122.4] ::
97. ↓-5 (92) : Only the Ring Finger Knows (novel) 5 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [106.6] ::
102. ↑2 (104) : Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind 2 vol hardcover box set [complete] – Viz Ghibli Library, Nov 2012 [103.6] ::

[more]

Manhwa

616. ↓-140 (476) : Time & Again 3 – Yen Press, Jul 2010 [15.5] ::
621. ↑21 (642) : Bride of the Water God 10 – Dark Horse, Jan 2012 [15.3] ::
622. ↑41 (663) : Bride of the Water God 11 – Dark Horse, May 2012 [15.3] ::
652. ↓-152 (500) : Time & Again 6 – Yen Press, Jul 2011 [14.3] ::
736. ↓-9 (727) : Time & Again 2 – Yen Press, Mar 2010 [10.6] ::
766. ↑180 (946) : Time & Again 5 – Yen Press, Mar 2011 [9.6] ::
799. ↓-167 (632) : Time & Again 1 – Yen Press, Dec 2009 [8.7] ::
895. ↑50 (945) : Let Dai 11 – Netcomics, Feb 2008 [6.2] ::
919. ↓-119 (800) : One Thousand & One Nights 7 – Yen Press, Apr 2009 [5.7] ::
1021. ↓-175 (846) : One Thousand & One Nights 11 – Yen Press, Aug 2010 [4.1] ::

[more]

BL/Yaoi

6. ↑2 (8) : Finder Series 6 Passion within the View Finder – DMP Juné, Jul 2012 [338.3] ::
67. ↓-2 (65) : Samejima-Kun & Sasahara-Kun – DMP Juné, May 2012 [127.7] ::
97. ↓-5 (92) : Only the Ring Finger Knows (novel) 5 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [106.6] ::
107. ↓-4 (103) : Ai no Kusabi (novel) 7 – DMP Juné, Sep 2012 [98.4] ::
118. ↓-8 (110) : In These Words – 801 Media, Jun 2012 [91.7] ::
188. ↑15 (203) : Private Teacher 3 – DMP Juné, May 2012 [65.0] ::
199. ↑57 (256) : His Arrogance – 801 Media, Dec 2008 [61.6] ::
210. ↔0 (210) : Finder Series 5 Truth in the View Finder – DMP Juné, Dec 2011 [60.5] ::
240. ↑73 (313) : The Day I Became a Butterfly – DMP Juné, Mar 2007 [52.5] ::
241. ↓-12 (229) : Private Teacher 2 – DMP Juné, Jan 2012 [51.9] ::

[more]

Ebooks

7. ↓-1 (6) : Naruto 57 – Viz Shonen Jump, Jul 2012 [333.4] ::
24. ↓-1 (23) : Naruto 56 – Viz Shonen Jump, May 2012 [230.4] ::
37. ↓-1 (36) : Naruto 55 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [185.6] ::
38. ↓-6 (32) : Maximum Ride 5 – Yen Press, Dec 2011 [185.5] ::
48. ↔0 (48) : Blue Exorcist 1 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Apr 2011 [160.8] ::
65. ↓-2 (63) : Naruto 54 – Viz Shonen Jump, Mar 2012 [131.9] ::
74. ↓-6 (68) : Maximum Ride 3 – Yen Press, Aug 2010 [124.0] ::
79. ↑1 (80) : Naruto 53 – Viz Shonen Jump, Dec 2011 [120.6] ::
80. ↑10 (90) : Blue Exorcist 6 – Viz Shonen Jump Advanced, Feb 2012 [118.7] ::
91. ↑45 (136) : Haruhi Suzumiya Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya 13 – Yen Press, Aug 2012 [109.6] ::

[more]

Bookshelf Briefs 8/20/12

August 20, 2012 by MJ, Sean Gaffney, Michelle Smith and Katherine Dacey Leave a Comment

This week, Sean, MJ, Kate, & Michelle look at recent releases from Yen Press, VIZ Media, and Kodansha Comics.

Ai Ore!, Vol. 6 | By Mayu Shinjo | VIZ Media – It really is astonishing what changing magazines/publishers has done for this title. It still has its issues, but the way that it handles them is more acceptable and more mature. This is not to say that the premise is completely different, however. Akira is still trying to prove that he’s a manly man for Mizuki, Mizuki is still getting embarrassed and misunderstanding everything, and Ran and Rui trade off between being comedic creepers and serious creepers. At one point, Rui tries to seduce Misaki, to the point almost of sexual assault. But Misaki doesn’t buy it, and neither do we – unlike Vol. 1 of this series, the danger doesn’t feel genuine. You can argue this makes the series fluffier and less electrically charged, but it also makes Akira and Mizuki’s relationship far sweeter and more tolerable. –Sean Gaffney

Bunny Drop, Vol. 6 | By Yumi Unita | Yen Press – As the series continues with its new switch to Rin as its primary POV character, the story begins to revolve around Rin’s increasingly awkward relationship with her childhood friend Kouki, whose (supposedly) ex-girlfriend deliberately alienates Rin. Fortunately, this plotline is more nuanced than it sounds, deftly avoiding most of the “evil rival” territory common in manga for female readers. Unfortunately, Unita seems less comfortable writing Rin’s voice than she was writing Daikichi’s—or maybe Daikichi is just infinitely more comfortable than Rin herself—which means that there is often a noticeable distance between the reader and the series’ protagonist. On the upside, Rin’s evolving balance between dependence and independence creates unexpected difficulties in Daikichi’s own personal life, allowing us back (however briefly) into his somewhat more forthcoming mind. Though the series’ new direction seems to still be settling in, there’s enough solid ground left for nearly any fan to stand on. Still recommended. – MJ

Cage of Eden, Vol. 6 | By Yoshinobu Yamada | Kodansha Comics – This really is the perfect series for 12-year-old boys, though I would not recommend it to parents of those boys. There’s far too much casual nudity, casual violence, and general skeevy fanservice. But it also has bears vs. wolves, in which our hero teams up with the wolf because of their similar roles in their groups. It’s almost pure shonen at its finest. We meet two more regulars here. I suspect Rei is there entirely to be a large-breasted woman (you know, in case there weren’t enough of those), but Maya seems to be more of an action girl, and backs it up. She seems a bit *too* eager for battle, though, and I wonder if she’ll last long. Then again, the only people in this series who seem to be killed are the irredeemable ones, such as manipulative Kotomi or stalker Ryoichi.-Sean Gaffney

The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya, Vol. 13 | By Gaku Tsugano and Nagaru Tanigawa | Yen Press – I haven’t reviewed this series for a while, but since it’s moved on to stories that aren’t animated, it has managed to improve – finally, it can be 2nd best, rather than 3rd! It has a difficult job here, as Editor in Chief, the short story adapted for this volume, does not lend itself well to the visual. Still, it manages pretty well, and also throws in an original short story chapter, featuring Miyoko, the girl from Kyon’s story, arriving to ask the SOS-Dan to help her investigate a haunted house. It shakes things up by having Taniguchi and Kunikida there rather than Yuki and Mikuru, and also has an ending that undercuts the tension but still is nicely sentimental. The art is still only fair, and I’d rather read the novels, but this is now an acceptable alternative. –Sean Gaffney

Ooku: The Inner Chambers, Vol. 7 | By Fumi Yoshinaga | VIZ Media – Ever since the end of volume one, the latest Tokugawa Shogun, Yoshimune, has been reading Chronicle of a Dying Day, which tells the story of how women came to rule Japan. Readers have followed along, and here in volume seven we finally return to the “present,” but not before realizing just how much scheming Yoshimune—or perhaps simply her ever-faithful attendant, Hisamichi—has engaged in to become the next Shogun. It’s just another lesson that nearly everyone in this tale, no matter how likeable, has sinned in pursuit of power, sometimes inflicting misfortune upon the innocent. Maybe it’s because of this that Ooku, despite being interesting and boasting some impressive art, doesn’t stand a chance of becoming my favorite Yoshinaga manga. Oh, I’ll keep following it, but Antique Bakery‘s place in my heart is secure. – Michelle Smith

Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Vol. 2 | Story by Magica Quartet, Art by Hanokage | Yen Press – If your chief aversion to magical-girl manga is its earnest, perky wholesomeness, then Puella Magi Madoka Magica is for you. The series is dark and violent, using the magical-girl concept as a metaphor for adolescence in all its ugliness. In volume two, for example, we see the corrosive influence of jealousy, as Sayaka begins to regret wishing for her friend Kamijou’s full recovery. Sayaka’s rapid descent into anger and self-pity is one of the most astonishing developments in the volume — and that’s saying something, given the healthy sprinkling of fight scenes, dramatic confrontations, and plot twists. As terrific as some of these scenes are, Puella often feels rushed. Most of the fight sequences are too brief and too busy to make much sense; one gets the sense that the writers were trying too hard to cover all the major plot points of the anime, rather than tailoring the story to a different medium. That said, Puella has consistently surprised me with its ability to both faithfully observe and thoroughly subvert magical-girl tropes, and continues to grow on me with each volume. -Katherine Dacey

I Don’t Like You At All, Big Brother!!, Vol. 1-2

August 20, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

By Kouichi Kusano. Released in Japan as “Oniichan no Koto Nanka Zenzen Suki ja Nai n da kara ne!!” by Futabasha, serialization ongoing in the online magazine Web Comic High!. Released in North America by Seven Seas.

People follow trends. It’s just a way of life. When something is popular, the first instinct of a business looking for profit, or writer looking for a surefire seller, is ‘what did it do and how can I use that to replicate it?’ And this is fine sometimes. I’ve known many derivative works that have been very good and sometimes even surpassed the original. But too often someone goes too far. Either they miss the original point that was being made, or they deviate in an unacceptable manner, or they add too many other, equally trendy things to make a giant stew of trends that all cancel each other out.

And incest as a sexual thrill is, god help us, popular these days. Especially in Japan. Naturally, *genuine* incest seems to be saved for the actual porn magazines, but there’s no end of manga and (more importantly) anime that feature guys crushing on their sisters, and girls worshiping their brothers. Usually at some point they find out they aren’t related after all. Other popular trends in anime these days include the tsundere type who says mean things and hits the object of her affection as she’s too embarrassed. And let’s not forget the pretty, reserved princess type who secretly turns out to be a stalker and pervert.

If all this sounds like a lot of moe animes seen in the past five years, it’s by design. I’ll be honest, I had initially confused this title with ‘My Little Sister Can’t Be This Cute’, which comes out next month by Dark Horse, and has a somewhat better reputation. IDLYAA,BB!! features Nao, who loves her older brother a lot (the title may have given that away), despite his being a somewhat perverse non-entity in these two volumes. She goes to wake him up every day by hitting him (and giving him calculated panty flashes) and throws out anything in his porn doujinshi that it’s brother/sister incest. In fact, when told that she’s actually not related to him after all, this *depresses* her briefly, as it ruins the incest fantasy she’s been going for for so long.

This may seem rather hardcore for what’s meant to be a typical seinen title for horny guys, but rest assured there’s no actual sex, merely piles and piles of suggestion (though I note this is the author’s first ‘mainstream’ work after years of drawing adult titles). And to be fair, Nao’s obsession is treated in-story as immature and wrong. Then we meet our second heroine, Iroha, a long-lost childhood friend who meets Nao’s brother after all these years and proceeds to sexually assault him. This is actually one of the few interesting scenes in the book – it’s presented as incredibly disturbing (after all, we’re meant to root for Nao), and her brother’s horrified reaction to it, and realization that he may have led to her turning out this way, is a brief moment of soul searching that could be interesting… if it weren’t undone by Nao and Iroha’s determination to make sure that their man stays perverted and does not ‘turn over a new leaf’.

There’s a couple more things to like here – Nao’s two female friends are meant to function as a Greek chorus of sorts, and their reactions towards the end of the book at all the slapstick are well done – but to be honest, I have rarely seen a manga that seemed to calculated to hit as many fetishes as possible as this one. If you enjoy perverse moe harem comedies, well, I think you’ll get a big kick out of this, though even the most hardcore fan might finish the volume and say, “Erm, isn’t this a bit over the top?”

A Place of Hiding by Elizabeth George

August 18, 2012 by Michelle Smith

From the back cover:
A shocking murder calls forensic scientist Simon St. James and his wife, Deborah, to an isolated island in the English Channel. An old friend of Deborah’s, China River, stands accused of killing the island’s wealthiest benefactor, Guy Brouard. There is little evidence pointing to China—and Deborah and Simon are certain that their friend didn’t murder the inveterate womanizer. But if China didn’t kill Brouard, who did?

As family and friends gather for the reading of the will, Deborah and Simon find that seemingly everyone on the history-haunted island has something to hide. And behind all the lies and alibis, a killer is lurking.

Review:
Every once in a while, a strange thing happens to me: I get an incredibly strong craving to read a mystery by Elizabeth George. This isn’t a bad thing, but I’ve only got five left now ’til I’m current, and I wonder what’ll happen then. Anyway, in the case of A Place of Hiding this craving was strong enough to trump the off-putting fact that this novel prominently features Deborah St. James, a character whom I dislike most intensely.

Before I get into the ways in which Deborah caused me to contemplate violence upon her fictional person, I should probably talk about the actual mystery, such as it is. Guy Brouard, wealthy war orphan and inveterate womanizer, has been killed on the island of Guernsey the morning following a party announcing his plans for a war museum. Among the attendees was China River, an American and old friend of Deborah’s, who has now been arrested for the crime. China’s brother, Cherokee, comes to London to enlist the aid of Deborah and her forensic scientist husband, Simon, in proving his sister’s innocence.

Simon’s credentials convince the local force to allow him to poke around, and he, as one might assume, soon discovers additional suspects with various motives. He also entrusts Deborah with an important piece of evidence, and when she fails to do with it what he requested, he gets chewed out about it by the local DCI, which obviously leaves him feeling rightfully irritated with her. Deborah fails to see how this is her fault, and indulges in repeated hissy fits about how Simon views his rational approach to the investigation (and life in general) as superior to her own “passionate, unpredictable” one.

This eventually culminates in Deborah idiotically interrupting a stakeout and, once again, making Simon look unprofessional in front of the local police. Elizabeth George tries so hard to make us sympathize with Deborah that she introduces characteristics in Simon that I had never before noticed, like a patronizing form of sexism. So now, not only do I hate Deborah, she’s making me start to dislike Simon, too! Great.

Some of the secondary characters are fairly odious, too, but honestly I am ready to put them (and this book) behind me. I will say, however, that this is the first Elizabeth George novel to ever make me cry happy tears (the last scene involving Paul Fielder), so it’s obviously not all bad.

Tomorrow, When the War Began by John Marsden

August 16, 2012 by Michelle Smith

Book description:
When Ellie and her friends go camping, they have no idea they’re leaving their old lives behind forever. Despite a less-than-tragic food shortage and a secret crush or two, everything goes as planned. But a week later, they return home to find their houses empty and their pets starving. Something has gone wrong—horribly wrong. Before long, they realize the country has been invaded, and the entire town has been captured—including their families and all their friends.

Ellie and the other survivors face an impossible decision: they can flee for the mountains or surrender. Or they can fight.

Review:
It’s been several weeks now since I finished Tomorrow, When the War Began. Normally, I write a book’s review as soon as I finish reading it, but I feel like I’m still processing this one to some extent, trying to figure out exactly how I feel about it.

This is due in part to the fact that I have greatly enjoyed the other books by John Marsden that I have read, and so built this series up in my mind as something that was going to be jaw-droppingly amazing. And when it turned out not to be so, even though it’s still quite good in general and genuinely riveting in parts, I was kind of disappointed.

This is the story of seven Australian teenagers (later eight) living in the rural town of Wirrawee who go camping while their parents and most of the people in town are attending a fair. The kids return to find that a mysterious military force has invaded Australia and has imprisoned most of the townspeople at the fairgrounds, including their families. They must decide what, if anything, they’re going to do to help. Ellie Linton has been tasked with chronicling their story.

Large portions of the tale are pretty fascinating. The teens are resourceful and rise to the occasion, especially Ellie’s clown/daredevil childhood friend, Homer, who emerges as the group’s leader, and Fiona, a ladylike rich girl who proves to have unexpected reserves of courage. While Homer is the tactician of the group, Ellie seems to find herself trusted with the most dangerous missions, which require some quick, inventive thinking on her part in difficult situations involving things like exploding lawn mowers, demolition derby bulldozers, and exploding gas tankers.

I even liked the parts of the story where the characters talk about what they’re going to do—are we going to hide out here in our camping spot, or are we going to try to engage the enemy somehow?—and the various supplies they’re going to need from town, whether to keep chickens, etc. Where the story really bogs down, however, is with the introduction of romance.

Ellie has never considered Homer in a romantic way before, but begins to see him in a new light given his metamorphosis. Meanwhile, she’s also intrigued by Lee, the inscrutable Asian musician, and Homer has fallen for Fiona. Ellie dwells a lot on her confusion before ultimately deciding upon Lee, and then telling readers about all the making out they’re doing and how she has learned the things that make him groan, etc. I kept thinking how embarrassing all of this will be for Lee whenever he/anyone reads this official chronicle!

Anyway, it’s not that I am anti-romance or anything, but it’s just that these scenes really slow down the pace of the story. And maybe that is the point. Even if something as dramatic as an invasion has occurred, there will still be a lot of downtime if you’re hiding out in the woods, and a lot of time for more mundane things to be going on.

I guess what it boils down to is that my perception of the book has been hampered by my expectations. I am certainly going to read the rest of the series, and hopefully I will like it better now that I’ve reconciled myself to what it actually is rather than what I thought it was.

Additional reviews of Tomorrow, When the War Began can be found at Triple Take.

Manga the Week of 8/22

August 15, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

There’s quite a variety of things coming out next week at Midtown from various sources. Let’s leap right in.

Dark Horse is ready to explode with new releases, which I think have only been delayed once or twice before hitting shops! We have Vol. 24 of Gantz, which you either avoid like the plague or automatically seek out. It’s a pretty polarizing title, but very good at providing what its fans want. There’s also a new Gate 7, CLAMP’s new gig, which continues to mix Japanese historical figures with pretty young men and women in a very CLAMP way. And there’s a new volume of Oh My Goddess, finally free of the reprints and ready to go forward! Unfortunately, in this volume everything’s gone to hell. No, wait, everyONE’s gone to Hell.

Digital Manga Publishing has Volume 9 of Itazura Na Kiss, which I’m hoping continues the excellent character development we saw in the previous chapters. Meanwhile, there’s also some new yaoi titles, including I’ve Seen It All, which I just wrote three different jokes about only to delete them all as being too pornographic, so I’ll just say it’s about a doctor and has one of THOSE covers. For those who like less creepy looking BL, there’s Man I Picked Up, whose title doesn’t do it many favors but whose cover and synopsis (man takes a vagrant guy home and gradually grows closer to him) sound a lot better. Meanwhile, in Countdown 7 Days 3, Onigawara is definitely dead. Well, mostly dead. And Replica hits is final volume, with an action packed finale.

It will be no surprise to anyone who knows me that Dorohedoro 7 gets my cover image. I love this series and its complicated universe more with each volume, and can’t wait to see how much trouble Caiman will get into. There’s also Ikigami Vol. 8, much to the surprise of many folks who thought it had been cancelled, and the 8th volume of the Tenjo Tenge omnibus, which brings us full circle, as Gantz and Tenjo Tenge really serve the same audience.

So what appeals to you this week?

Sakuran

August 15, 2012 by Sean Gaffney

By Moyoco Anno. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Evening. Released in North America by Vertical.

The oiran, or high-ranking courtesan, is a very popular character in manga of the Edo period. We’ve seen them solving crimes, manipulating high level politicians, and craftily playing one side against another. We have even, occasionally, seen them entertaining clients. However, a lot of those plots have been typical manga fodder, and the life of a typical Edo brothel worker is far more painful, degrading and tortuous. Sakuran shows us the story of Kiyoha, a strong-willed and rebellious girl who must be broken (but not completely) into the role of a courtesan.

We meet Kiyoha when she’s a child, and a good deal of the book is witnessing her grow up. Well, to a certain degree. One good thing about Anno’s characterization of her heroine is that Kiyoha can be quite unlikeable at times – willful, stubborn, quick to violence. They’re qualities that *also* make for a good oiran – the job is so grinding and will-breaking – this is forced prostitution we’re talking about – that only the strong can hope to survive. (Note that Kiyoha makes friends at one point with another cute and lively girl, and briefly bonds with her… before the other girl dies (the dialogue makes it unclear if she killed herself or was beaten to death). And indeed, once Kiyoha comes of age and rises to the level of oiran, she is noted for both her young beauty and her cynical smile.

We see Kiyoha try to escape quite a few times, but it’s made clear that the ideal way to escape is to have a man take so much notice of you that he proposes – buys out your contract. We see this with Kiyoha’s mentor Shohi, who I think comes off the best out of everyone in this manga. She’s certainly cruel and sadistic to Kiyoha, but it’s that sort of ‘it’s in order to make you stronger’ mentoring that always seems to pay off in the end. There’s nothing Shohi can *do* for Kiyoha in this environment except that. Notably, Kiyoha’s own love affair, which is made out to be more ‘illicit’, does not end nearly as well.

The ending of Sakuran can be seen as a bit bleak. After her most successful escape attempt yet, Kiyoha realizes that things on the outside are not any better for her than life in the brothel. She says in dialogue that she returned on her own, and in her inner monologue (showing us scenes of her being punished and tortured) that she feels better now that she knows there’s no ‘better world’ to go to. Kiyoha, unlike Shohi, does not seem to be the sort who can simply gain the favor of a rich man in a way that would get her out of there – I think she’d sabotage it. At least in the way she is now. The manga is open ended in that you question how broken she really is. I like to think that she still has a lot of strength in her.

The tension between what is needed to be a good oiran and the fact that it also makes a person realize how awful their life is and yearn for freedom is the core of Sakuran. Combined with Anno’s stunningly gorgeous artwork (you can argue everyone looks too similar, but that’s more a function of the time period than the artist), you have a manga whose images and ideas will stay with you long after you read it.

It Came From the Sinosphere: The Celestial Zone

August 14, 2012 by Sara K. 5 Comments

Example Scene

I think this page is rather beautiful.

There is Chi Shuang, standing over the pool where her twin sister, Chi Xue, is wading. Meanwhile, Chuyi is bringing Xing Ling to see what is happening with Chi Xue and Chi Shuang. Previously, Xing Ling and Chi Xue were in a nasty fight. Xing Ling’s wounds have already been treated, but Chi Xue was so badly injured that Chuyi did not think she would make it. When Xing Ling said that Chi Shuang had some special method to cure Chi Xue, Chuyi decided an intervention was urgently needed.

Chuyi and Xing Ling approach the chamber where Chi Shuang prepares to heal Chi Xue.

And they see Chi Xue. I should note that Chi Xue is usually veiled and vicious, so to see her exposed and vulnerable is quite a contrast.

This is another lovely page.

Chi Xue is reluctant to be healed by this special method. Perhaps, like Chuyi, she know this healing method’s terrible secret.

And the healing process begins.

Terrible secret or not, it’s quite lovely.

Maybe I Should Start at the Beginning of the Story…

Xing Ling is the finest sword fighter wandering around jianghu. When she’s up against 10+ rogues, it’s bad news—I mean bad news for the rogues. She uses her exceptional skills to bully the bullies and provide relief to the common people.

Xing Ling smiles at a bunch of rogues she just pwned.

One day she encounters an opponent who she can’t cream within minutes. In fact, the fight is actually a struggle for her. She doesn’t understand why her opponent is not being reduced to a pulp. The thing is, all of her previous opponents were human, whereas this opponent is … not.

By exhausting all of her strength—and sacrificing her hair—Xing Ling manages to take down this non-human opponent. Then his non-human friends show up.

Just when Xing Ling appreciates the deep shit that she is in, two young men show up—one who mows down the non-human friends in minutes.

It turns out that the non-humans—as well as these two young men—come from the celestial zone, where people and creatures develop spiritual powers than ordinary mortals can barely imagine. She is the first ordinary person they ever saw beat a denizen of the celestial zone and … they notice that she is a bit like a certain special person.

Eventually, Xing Ling enters the Celestial Zone herself, cultivates her own spiritual powers, and joins the war between the Righteous Way and the Evil Way.

Background

This manhua is by Wee Tian Beng, who is the most commercially successful manhua artist in Singapore. To the best of my knowledge, no other Singaporean manhua artist has been published in Taiwan (which means it would me much more difficult for me to acquire copies). I have previously discussed Wee Tian Beng’s adaptation of the Jing Yong novel Return of the Condor Heroes.

The Celestial Zone is his signature work. It has attracted fans in many countries and its success has led to two sequels so far.

Female Characters

In a world where gender justice was the default, it would not be remarkable if a fighting/action oriented comic book featured many female characters and consistently gave them as much substance as the male characters, where they feel like they are there for their own sake, not to accompany the male characters. We do not live in a world where gender justice is the default. Therefore it is remarkable that The Celestial Zone is a fighting/action oriented comic book with many female characters who feel like they are there for their own sake and not to accompany the male characters.

This manhua passes the Bechdel test with flying colors. There are lots of female characters, they talk to each all the time, and they talk to each other about spiritual powers, demons, medicine, friendship, battle … in fact, they rarely talk to each other about men.

The one criticism I can make—and this a fairly minor criticism—is that Wee Tian Beng sometimes sexualizes the female characters in ways he does not sexualize the male characters. Nonetheless, even in this he is a mild offender, as he never goes farther in sexualizing the characters than he does in this illustration:

It’s partially because men like Wee Tian Beng get female characters (mostly) right that I do not give male creators slack for getting female characters wrong. If Wee Tian Beng can get this right, all other male creators can get female characters right too. The question is, do they want to get female characters right?

The Artwork

As I read this manhua, I kept on wondering if Wee Tian Beng would run out of his bag of artistic tricks, and the art which I found so fresh and exciting would be reduced to tired visual tropes.

That did not happen. Right to the last volume, Wee Tian Beng kept on drawing things in new and exciting ways which titilated my visual senses. He does all this while staying true to his own distinct style.

I have found few comic book artists who can so consistently delight my imagination with their artwork.

Can I break this down a bit? Maybe.

First of all, Wee Tian Beng often juxaposes detail with simplicity, such as in the page below. It provides a rest for the eyes, and makes the page more dynamic than if there were merely detailed linework or merely simplicity.

Also, Wee Tian Beng plays a lot with shadows, in different ways. Look at the following pages.

And then there is the way that Wee Tian Beng draws movement. It it utterly graceful. I don’t know how he does it (perhaps that’s why I’m not a visual artist myself). Look at the movement in the following pictures:

He also juxtaposes the action with natural scenery. The way he draws and incorporates nature is very much in the tradition of millennia of Chinese art. See how he uses images of nature in these pages:

As I’ve noted before, he uses panels in a very cinematic way. I love this following page where you can see how the characters expressions change on the beat.

Not to mention these cinematic pages:

Notice how the above page not only demonstrates his cinematic style, it also shows a) shadow play b) the way he draws human movement and c) images of nature.

And … he manages to infuse a solemnity into his compositions. Observe these pages.

And the composition in these following pages makes me squee. Especially the second page—instead of simply have a center panel with the two opponents squaring off in the distance and the side panels showing their faces, Wee Tian Beng combines the three panels together by having the opponents stand like chess pieces on their respective close-ups. Not to mention that a) the diagonal line between the opponents is dynamic and b) the long panels set up a nice set of parallel lines.

While the characters are rarely warm and bubbly (it’s not that kind of story) when warmth and bubbles are called for, he can draw that too.

But, more than anything else, Wee Tian Beng chooses compelling subjects to draw. Such as a dragon’s head suddenly emerging from the water:

Or this special healing technique with candles:

Or one of the baddies suddenly deciding to kiss one of the goodies in mid-fight:

Chinese Culture

This comic is steeped in traditional Chinese culture, especially Taoism (note: I actually do not know much about Taoism). I’ve already mentioned the influence from traditional Chinese paintings. I also learned why the word for “thing” in Mandarin literally is “east-west” (and I am a little curious how they would try to explain that in English, since it would be very difficult to explain to somebody who doesn’t know some Chinese). It does not feel didactic; on the other hand, I can tell Wee Tian Beng cares a lot about this and wants to pass it on to the readers.

More on the Characters

It should be apparent by now that the story has a lot in common with shounen battle manga.

I rather liked the twist on training the newbie hero(ine), in which Xing Ling, who is used to pwning her enemies, has to go back to square one once she enters the Celestial Zone and trains her spirit powers. However, once she got used to the Celestial Zone, I found her character less compelling. Wee Tian Beng sensed this too, as he shifted the story away from her to Chi Xue.

While I generally support using transliterations instead of translations of Chinese names, I almost wish the English language edition had made an exception for Chi Xue since her name, which means “Scarlet Snow,” is even more beautiful in English than in Chinese. “Xue” can also mean “blood”…

Even though Chi Xue is officially with the Righteous Way, she hunts demons so ruthlessly that, on the surface, she doesn’t feel like a good guy. Of course, it turns out that she is extremely tender-hearted, and that she fights so coldly partially because she is heartbroken (her heartbreak, by the way, has nothing to do with a man).

And … Xing Ling and Chi Xue make for a good friendship. Their relationship is opposites-attract, but in a non-romantic way. Xing Ling is generally cheerful while Chi Xue is generally moody, Xing Ling is inexperienced, while Chi Xue has experienced a bit too much … and so forth.

Good stories are generally about characters suffering and growing (or not) from it. Suffering doesn’t stick very well to the upbeat Xing Ling, which is why Chi Xue ultimately ended up being a much more interesting character. Other people must have agreed, because there is a spin-off manhua called The Adventures of Chi Xue.

Availablility

This entire comic has been published in English—in fact the original edition was simultaneously published in English and Chinese. Many volumes of the English-language edition are available at Mile High Comics—unfortunately they don’t have all volumes, but the volumes they do have in stock are reasonably priced.

In Chinese, this comic book has been published in both simplified and traditional characters.

European readers might find it easier to acquire the French edition than the English-language edition.

Conclusion

I would have loved this manhua to pieces as a little girl. I enjoyed action/fighting stories, doubly so if they featured main characters, triply so if it was pretty (it’s worth noting that my gateway to anime was Sailor Moon, and my gateway to manga was Inuyasha).

And, obviously, I do love the artwork in this manhua. And, darn it, artwork is important. Liking comics for the artwork is not superficial, silly, or otherwise to be looked down upon. I didn’t actually become truly visually literate until my college years, but to the extent I was visually literate before then, I can partially thank my father—he would often remark on the artwork in the comic books we read together (or anything else that caught his eye). In the modern world, where people are constantly bombarded with images, visual literacy is important, and visual literacy also makes life more fun. One of the advantages that comic books have over certain other storytelling media is that it can nuture one’s visual literacy. This manhua, in my opinion, is excellent for that.

I am okay with the story. I am not in love with the story. I cannot pick out any major flaws. I was interested in the arcs of some of the characters, and was occasionally moved. Nonetheless, the story did not grab me. I could speculate on why it didn’t grab me … but to be honest, I don’t know why it didn’t grab me.

I do recommend this manhua to people who like fighting comics, particularly if they want fighting comics with good female characters.

Next Time: Fated to Love You (idol drama)

While the topics of Sara K.’s personal blog are mostly not related to Asian culture, Mangabookshelf readers might be interested in reading her latest post: “Language Learning and Perpetual Childhood”.

Bookshelf Briefs 8/13/12

August 13, 2012 by Michelle Smith, MJ and Sean Gaffney 1 Comment

This week, Michelle, MJ, and Sean look at recent releases from Seven Seas, VIZ Media, Yen Press, Kodansha Comics, and Dark Horse Manga.

Alice in the Country of Clover: Cheshire Cat Waltz, Vol. 1 | By QuinRose & Mamenosuke Fujimaru | Published by Seven Seas – I am pleased to report that, so far, Cheshire Cat Waltz is much better than the prior “country of Clover” installment, Bloody Twins! Some of the elements that made Alice in the Country of Hearts so surprisingly good are back, like ominous hints about a particular character and Alice experiencing culture clash with the various attitudes and mysteries of Wonderland. However, because this is much more obviously a romance—here, Alice is paired up with Boris, the Cheshire Cat—the story’s more intriguing aspects must occasionally take a backseat to Alice being confused about her motives for remaining in Wonderland, Alice being pounced upon, Alice getting smooched, and lovers’ quarrels born of jealousy. Although I am sure I’m being duped again and that nothing significant of Wonderland will be revealed, I remain interested enough that I’ll probably come back for volume two. – Michelle Smith

Bakuman, Vol. 13 | By Tsugumi Ohba & Takeshi Obata | VIZ Media – Bakuman‘s heroes, Mashiro and Takagi, are always the most interesting when they are at odds, and this volume is a perfect example of exactly why that is. As all the young Jump mangaka throw themselves into a rather unusual competition (writing romantic one-shots), it isn’t Nizuma’s sudden display of inexperience or even Hiramaru’s over-the-top romantic hero act that make the volume work, hilarious though they may be. What really steals the volume are a few scattered scenes between Mashiro and Takagi’s wife, Kaya, as they try to make sense of their shared partner. These moments are uncharacteristically honest and sincere for an Ohba/Obata manga, and it’s a real pleasure to discover them amidst all the slick shounen meta. On a personal note, Kaya has long been my favorite of Bakuman‘s characters, and I’ll admit that a scene in which she receives a basket of flowers from Shueisha as thanks for her work on her husband’s series was surprisingly gratifying. Still recommended. – MJ

A Devil and Her Love Song, Vol. 4 | By Miyoshi Tomori | VIZ Media – As “Devil” Maria’s class finally prepares for their choral performance, everything falls (rather predictably) apart, but fortunately this is shoujo manga, and even in a story with a heroine as prickly and jaded as Maria, a little romance can save the day. Any feelings of frustration one might have as the choral competition story drags interminably on are blown away completely by the impact of a wholly surprising confession by the character from whom you least expect it. Despite this series’ cynical bent, its romantic thread reads as genuinely sincere and even sweet—a mashup of contrasting tones that apparently works very well. Even as the series appears to be gearing up for a typical romantic triangle, it seems clear that Miyoshi Tomori’s gift for injecting raw emotional truth into standard shoujo tropes will continue to keep things interesting. – MJ

Drifters, Vol. 2 | By Kohta Hirano | Dark Horse Comics – Volume Two of this series continues to do what the series does best – give us a lot of people trying to kill other people in nasty ways. It’s great fun for those who don’t mind that sort of thing – Hirano draws battles that are easy to follow, and the ‘nasty’ aspect of the combat is not remotely glossed over here – Nobunaga’s treated arrows are as disgusting as possible, and the rape of the elven women is not played for laughs. As for our hero, Shimazu, well, he does seem to be strategizing a little more, almost despite himself, and is also forming a deep bond with Nobunaga that involves a lot of yelling and punching. Meanwhile, for those wondering when this ‘warlords in a fantasy world’ would reach Hitler, it didn’t take long at all. Still good fun, even if it plays mostly to the 12-year-old in all of us. –Sean Gaffney

Durarara!!, Vol. 3 | By Ryohgo Narita, Suzuhito Yasuda & Akiyo Satorigi | Yen Press – There’s a lot of big reveals in this volume, which would be churlish of me to talk about, so I will merely note that one of the weaker of our heroes turns out to have far more strength than we had imagined. Elsewhere, Shizuo shows once more how incredibly tough he is, Izaya is one of the most obnoxious S.O.B.s in all of the universe, and Celty is cute, if frantic. But then, she has reason to be frantic. There’s also a fantastic parody of Doraemon about 1/3 through, when the art style shifts to that in order to demonstrate Mikado’s disbelief at the latest plot twist. And of course there’s Namie and Seiji, whose creepy desires are something completely amped up in this manga, to the point where even the novel’s author was impressed. A solid adaptation. –Sean Gaffney

Kamisama Kiss, Vol. 10 | By Julietta Suzuki | VIZ Media – I have to say, Nanami is starting to remind me a bit of Tohru in Fruits Basket, who sometimes felt as if she existed to interact with the screwed-up Sohmas and heal them with her magical power of niceness. Tohru turned out to be just as screwed-up, though, whereas Nanami is shiny all around. Her interaction with Jiro (who irritates Tomoe as he reminds him of himself) is fairly predictable, though that doesn’t necessarily mean bad – there’s a wonderful bit towards the end where she notes Tomoe’s strength as something that might not be a positive. In the end, though, this arc wrapped up a lot easier than I’d anticipated, and I’m left with a feeling that things are simply going too well for our protagonists right now. Of course, I’m sure that will change – the manga is not ending anytime soon… –Sean Gaffney

Miles Edgeworth: Ace Attorney Investigations, Vol. 1 | By Kenji Kuroda & Kazuo Maekawa | Kodansha Comics – I try not to review Volume Ones in the Briefs category, but with something like this title there’s little choice, as there’s so little *to* it. Heck, we don’t even get to see Kay Faraday, which I was expecting given the title – the only regulars are Miles and Detective Gumshoe. The cases are both pretty good, though the first is extremely short, and the writing is much the same as it was in the Phoenix Wright books. The trouble is that Miles is not Phoenix – he doesn’t make screwups or say dumb things on occasion. He’s simply too smart to make this anything but a foregone conclusion. Indeed, in the first case he solves things so quickly that everyone around him just stares. Let’s hope future books find more of a challenge – and maybe more faces we know? –Sean Gaffney

Nura: Rise of the Yokai Clan, Vol. 10 | By Hiroshi Shiibashi | VIZ Media – The cliffhanger from last volume is resolved incredibly quickly, leaving us with two major plotlines for this volume consisting mostly of fighting sequences. First we see the conflict between Yura and her siblings, which shows us how even the purest of heart can be ruined by just a tiny sliver of pride and jealousy. Meanwhile, Rikuo and company are taking their airship to Kyoto (still being destroyed bit by bit), but infighting may destroy them before the enemy can. Here we see just how much trust Rikuo has gained over these ten volumes – and how much more he has yet to earn, though the greater control of his power here helps. Unfortunately, this conflict doesn’t look nearly like it’s reaching the end, so expect Volume 11 to me more fight, fight, fight.-Sean Gaffney

Toriko, Vol. 11 | By Mitsutoshi Shimabukuro | VIZ Media – Thankfully, the fighting briefly pauses here in this volume of Toriko, which is especially a relief as it means we don’t have to see more of the repulsive Tommyrod. Instead, our heroes leave the Ice Hell for their own separate quests – Toriko to somehow regrow the arm that he lost in the last book, and Komatsu to try to recreate the Century Soup from the brief sip that he got. Komatsu continues to be my favorite part of Toriko – he’s smart enough to know he has to make his own soup and can’t simply duplicate another, and stubborn enough to keep at it even knowing it might take years. Of course, in his own way Komatsu is as badass as Toriko, so we know it won’t take that long. In the meantime, there’s more weird food and weird creatures, which is the main reason to read this fun manga. –Sean Gaffney