I Shall Never Return 4
Posted: January 22, 2009 Filed under: I Shall Never Return | Tags: BL 1 Comment »I only bought the first 3 volumes of this in an uncharacteristic fit of restraint, and for once I actually wound up wishing for the other two volumes. Luckily I found volume 4 at Borders the other day, but it looks like I may have to wait a bit longer to lay my hands on the last volume.
I was a little disappointed that things just seemed to go around in a circle here. I shouldn’t be, because it’s a drama-tastic circle, and really, a lot happens. Things get pretty hot and heavy between Ritsuro and Kazuyoshi, and Ken seems rather… detached from it all. The undertones between him and his step-dad have been toned way down, so it’s easier for me to take his leaving Ritsuro for India as a quest to better himself.
It’s kind of weird, because I thought Ken was leaving right away, but apparently he sticks around for awhile, then suddenly bails on Ritsuro when he finds out that he and Kazuyoshi have hooked up. There’s a big dramatic scene between the three boys at the airport, and Ritsuro has to decide who he loves best and how much it means for said person to be with him. Et cetera. I’m downplaying it a bit, and it has been done better elsewhere… but man, that’s some good melodrama if that’s your thing.
The last third or so of the volume is Moeko trying to make Ritsuro feel better, and Ritsuro trying to make other people feel better and failing horribly. That part kind of made me laugh.
There’s a bit of a cliffhanger at the end, I… think it’s a car-crash-are-the-characters-dead situation, but it could just be that the characters have stopped to investigate a car crash. I’m not sure. I’m looking forward to the ending anyway.
Let Dai 12
Posted: January 21, 2009 Filed under: Let Dai | Tags: BL 3 Comments »I know it seems like I’ve been reviewing a lot of boys’ love lately. I can’t help it. It’s all been good lately. Blame Let Dai and my desire to find something better than it. But there is nothing better, I think. Let Dai is just one of the best BL titles there is, and probably one of the best shoujo titles in general, too.
This volume is probably the best in the series. Dai and Jaehee get to live together briefly and have their perfect life while Dai’s family is away and Jaehee is still at odds with his mother about loving Dai. The volume opens with one of the most erotic manga scenes I’ve ever seen. More than a kiss is implied, but the implication is in Jaehee’s imagination. Again, this series does more with kisses than almost any other series can do with pages and pages of sex scenes.
One of the most powerful scenes in the series also occurrs in this volume. After some uncharacteristically sentimental lines from Dai, the two are laying rather innocently and silently on top of one another in the grass. After an entire volume of the two boys doing nothing but enjoying each other’s company, this moment is sort of the climax of all their time spent together. It is extremely touching. Then, Dai’s father walks up unexpectedly and silently takes in the scene from the edge of the yard. Then the pair is shown again. Except, this time, instead of being touching, the scene has turned ugly as you are forced to consider the views of Dai’s father, even without a confrontation or so much as a word from him. The characters and writing is such that the switch is literally a plummet, and it had quite an impact on me the first time I read it.
Again, most BL series won’t deal with the societal implications of homosexuality, but this one does. It almost constantly weighs against the pair, and is discussed often by both boys. To silently invoke that concern at that moment… it was very compelling.
And in case you thought Dai’s father might also have been touched… well, a bit later, he beats the shit out of Dai and tells him never to see Jaehee again.
Meanwhile, Eunhyung’s choice weighs heavily on Gohee, Naru, and the boys who committed the act against her. Her parents and sister get involved with talking to the boys responsible, and… well, basically Naru ruins their lives. They aren’t really thinking too much about what they did when Naru first confronts them at the beginning of the volume, but it’s certainly penetrated by the end of the volume.
On another note, I found Jaehee and Dai’s fashion sense apalling. Jaehee especially. He’s wearing two remarkably horrible shirts back-to-back. Later, Dai decides to have a barbecue in the yard (which leads to the scene I mentioned earlier). They pick clothes for the event, and Jaehee rather enthusiastically chooses a hawaiian shirt, while Dai goes with one of those tropical wrap skirts. Yeah.
So in case you’re not sick of hearing me praise this series… yeah. It really is the best, and this is the best volume of the best. Not to say that there isn’t some good stuff to come, it’s just… well, Dai and Jaehee have a rough road ahead of them.
I Shall Never Return 3
Posted: January 21, 2009 Filed under: I Shall Never Return | Tags: BL 1 Comment »Things got weird here. The main couple is still really into each other, but there were plot complications that I would not have ever imagined in my wildest dreams. I’m not sure if I like them because they’re good or I like them because they’re so far outside the realm of possibility that I’m entertained by it. Either way, it’s quite compelling.
Ken goes with his mother to Singapore, and there’s a brief and intense fight when his mother realizes that Ken and Ritsuro are romantically involved. Ken wrecks a car in anger, and is saved by his new stepfather. The stepfather is quite a bit younger than his mother. The stepfather is also quite gay, apparently, so I’m not sure what he’s doing with Ken’s mother. I’m not sure the two are even shown affectionately addressing each other.
Ken starts to hero-worship his stepfather, who is a rather glamorous photographer who hops from country to country. Ken decides that this is exactly the direction he needs in his life, and makes a decision to learn the trade from his stepfather. Now, Ken doesn’t seem to have any romance in mind when it comes to the very young stepfather, but the stepfather is kind of forward with Ken. Forward enough that Ritsuro notices and is jealous. Very jealous. And angry.
Don’t worry though, because Ritsuro is now totally obsessed with Ken’s friend, to the point that he’s all he can think about, even in the middle of sex with Ken. I’m worried about where this will go, because I actually like Ritsuro and Ken as a couple a lot, and it would break my heart to see them split, especially since the guy in question is kind of a jerk.
So yeah, I really, really like it, even if all the volumes so far have pulled off some really out-of-place weirdness. I’m hooked. It’s so rare for a BL series to be a long story like this, and I’m really looking forward to seeing how this drama is resolved in two volumes.
Detective Conan 26
Posted: January 21, 2009 Filed under: Case Closed Leave a comment »Since I’ve had Mune ga Doki Doki lodged firmly in my head for days, I jumped right into the next volume of this. I’m glad I did.
WHAT?! I was totally not expecting the treat in this volume. It’s rare for the series to address its plot, and to address it so aggressively… well, I was expecting another cop-out where everyone fools Ran when she starts guessing the truth about Conan. The wool was pulled over her eyes once again, to be sure, but there was no elaborate hoax this time. This time, it was the real deal working the cover-up, and I was so surprised and pleased to see him.
It’s about 1,000 times better than the last time he appeared. He sticks around. He lives a normal life. He hangs out with friends. There are some nice scenes with Ran. It’s everything I hope for and more in every single volume of this series.
I was horribly depressed when it was cruelly taken away. I almost couldn’t finish the volume because I felt like not enough was done with it. It could have stayed that way for a few volumes! It would have been great! I wouldn’t have minded! Now I’m going to have to wait another 15 volumes to be treated again.
Bonus points for the heavy hints between Shinichi and Anita. I doubt anything other than hints will be given, because Anita seems too serious-minded for a little crush, but… well, she knows he’s Shinichi, and someone might as well take advantage.
I forgot to mention this yesterday, but I always enjoy the detective profiles in the back of the volumes. Detective Samejima is profiled in the back of this volume. There’s been a few based in Japanese literature that have flown over my head (and others that I recognized when I ran across them later elsewhere from Detective Conan), but it’s worth noting that Vertical publishes the English translations of the Detective Samejima novels, in case you thought he sounded cool.
My Heavenly Hockey Club 6
Posted: January 21, 2009 Filed under: My Heavenly Hockey Club Leave a comment »You know, I keep reading this series hoping for plot development. It’s still funny, but every time I get another volume with no plot development, I get more and more disillusioned. But it’s hard to stay mad at a series that can make me laugh so hard. The laughs were intermittent in this volume, but they were still laughs, and it’s hard to get me to laugh at something like this.
I loved the first chapter, which introduced a student advisor for the Hockey Club. Of course he’s ostentatious and annoying, and a very poor match for the boys. This may have been bad had the chapter not consisted entirely of the teacher doing insane things with a page of disturbed reaction shots from the boys and/or Hana. I mean, there was some dialogue, and a little bit of a plot thrown in at the end, but mostly it was just a litany of weirder and weirder things from the teacher and weirder and weirder faces from the club. They were making keba! faces. It was absolutely brilliant.
The other thing that made me laugh was towards the end of the book. There’s one story about a reformed yaoi fangirl who ungeeked herself in order to snag Izumi. She can’t help but secretly think yaoi fangirl thoughts, so all manner of slashy things happen throughout the chapter, which she tries her hardest to ignore. At the very end, we get a perfect cupcake shot of Izumi sans shirt with pants undone and loose around his waist, and the girl has an explosive nosebleed which splatters all over herself, Izumi, and the walls in a wonderfully convincing splatter pattern. It’s not a sight gag, as Izumi comments on the disgusting nature of what just occurred and the glasses co-captain rushes in to help wipe Izumi off. A lot of the yaoi fangirl jokes were falling a little flat throughout the chapter (it’s hard to top Flower of Life when it comes to that), but that nosebleed had me laughing hard in the back room at work today.
Let’s see, what else? One chapter features a game of kokkuri-san, or Ouija. The board is in Japanese, but the Japanese syllables have been translated into English. I’ve never actually looked at a table of Japanese letters without the Japanese letters, only the sounds. It looks a lot like the Periodic Table somehow. We also very nearly get a kiss between Hana and Izumi in this chapter, but alas.
The afterword is a lengthy discussion of the size of nipples vs. areola size. Very little in the way of context is provided, other than the original subject was a large nipple on a drawing of Izumi.
There are also occasionally very funny gags throughout the other chapters. I’m getting increasingly more frustrated with the lack of plot in this series, but I just can’t stay mad at Ai Morinaga.
Wanted
Posted: January 20, 2009 Filed under: Wanted 10 Comments »Unfortunately, I only have time for one review tonight, too. It’s a one-shot quickie.
So, I ordered this one right after it was solicited, before it was really announced, about seven or so months in advance when I saw it appear on Right Stuf during a sale. There was no plot summary, no author, no info on Amazon. I knew it was a one-shot based on the lack of a volume number. I rolled the dice, hoping for “Wanted” by Eiichiro Oda. I mean, how many other one-shots could there be with that title? At least one other, apparently. It worked out for the best, because I’ve never actually read anything by Matsuri Hino, and she seems to be insanely popular now. Not that I still wouldn’t rather have the Oda one-shot.
I think the most significant thing I have to say about this volume is that it is exactly what a shoujo manga should be. It follows so many conventions that I would actually give this to anyone who didn’t know anything about shoujo manga as a learning aid, especially since it is complete in one volume. I am paying it a high compliment of a sort, but also know that it is not an absolute-must-read for every shoujo fan simply because it is such an archetype. I enjoyed it quite a bit, and I thought that the pirate setting was unique enough and everything was written with skill, but there is very little else that is remarkable about it. I just think it’s amazing that it did absolutely everything right, I guess.
Let’s see, what does this volume contain? Girl who disguises herself as a boy? Check. Shy couple not willing to admit their feelings for each other? Check. Romantic adventures on the high seas? Check. Plot twist at the beginning about the couple that you could see a mile away? Check. Heroic rescues of the girl by the boy? Check. Lots of hand-holding without much action? Check. Possible choice for a second boy and the beginnings of a romantic triangle? Check. Pirates? Check.
The couple is really cute, and I did love the pirate theme. The two main characters interacted really well, and the give-and-take between them as far as them being shy around one another was pretty perfect. Both were likable and somewhat unique characters in their own way too, but again, they don’t really break the standard shoujo mold… they are just really great examples of typical characters. The stories don’t have continuity, and I enjoyed them enough that I probably could have read one or two more volumes. The Navy captain was the possible love interest I mentioned as the second boy, he actually says some pretty sweet things to the female that I could imagine going any number of directions had the series continued.
The most notable thing about it, actually, was probably that the first page was a drawing of the grim reaper with “death shall scythe your skull” written on it, which is actually the huge tattoo the main male character has on his chest and neck. I guess that’s not something you find in just any girls’ comic.
It was a shoujo archetype, and I enjoyed it immensely. It did absolutely everything right, so if you’re just looking for a heavy dose of girly reading, look no further, especially since this is a one-shot. Don’t expect it to break any new ground, though.
This was a review copy provided by Viz, though the story I told at the beginning is also 100% true. I own two copies of this book.
Oishinbo 1: Japanese Cuisine
Posted: January 19, 2009 Filed under: Oishinbo 7 Comments »I’m only popping in briefly tonight to post this, which I probably should have posted a couple days ago. I’ll have more stuff tomorrow.
I should probably get this out of the way: I lack any sort of refined palate. Most people would either cry or slap me silly if I told them what I’ve eaten over the past week. Or month. Or year. This type of series is totally lost on me because I cannot appreciate the nuances and delicacies that are discussed at length. I don’t think I’ve ever even had sashimi, which is a focus in many of the stories. Most people who buy this are going to be reading it to learn how Japanese cuisine is prepared and/or composed, and how what they eat may differ from what things are supposed to taste like. I have no such frame of reference, so I’m just going to talk about what I enjoyed while I was reading it. It did make me hungry, for what it’s worth.
The format for the series seems to be that each volume has a different theme, which is an excellent way to present it, because quite frankly, 100 volumes of this would be extremely tedious. The stories are all taken from different points of the series, I gather, and the theme of this volume is “Japanese Cuisine,” or the basics of cooking Japanese food. “Japanese Cuisine” seems like a really broad topic for a series that I thought was all about Japanese Cuisine, but it makes more sense when you realize the next volume will cover only drinks, and I assume future volumes will cover more complex things.
There are quite a number of chapters that talk about sashimi. My favorites were the chapters that focused on the very, very basics. For instance, one chapter is about the importance of properly handling a knife (which is demonstrated in the end with how to properly cut sashimi). One chapter discusses only very basic miso and rice, and discusses how the care that goes into making it makes a difference in the flavor. Another discusses how one can enjoy a simple dish like properly served tea over the most luxurious dishes money can buy. A few go into detail on the types of plates and pottery the food is served on (two of the reoccurring characters are ceramicists). My favorite chapter discusses chopsticks at length, discussing the different materials and their affects on the flavor of food, and also shows in detail how wooden chopsticks are made, step by step. I’ve never seen anything like it.
The characters and plot are entirely secondary to theme of the food. The recurring characters are little more than brief sketches of personalities, and there is never very much more than a basic set-up for each of the chapters. That being said, I was surprised by the number of scenarios in the volume. Most have to do with meeting people, but there is even variety in that. The only two really important plot points are that the characters are all researching and/or involved with a newspaper column about the ultimate menu, and that the main character and his father hate each other’s guts and often run into each other at important culinary functions. The main character is a little bit of a jerk… not Jan Akiyama-level, but enough of a jerk that he stirs things up for the purposes of the chefs going into further detail about what is being prepared in order to explain themselves.
And there is an insane level of detail given on whatever is being prepared in each chapter. Iron Wok Jan is my only real frame of reference for detailed manga food preperation, but it just doesn’t compare to this at all. What tastes good together and why, how preparing the same dish two slightly different ways can produce a huge difference in flavor, and even things like etiquette are discussed at length.
Like I said, I have zero expertise and no frame of reference for the actual content of this manga. I read it because I was very curious about the borderline nonfiction nature, plus I’m always ready to try out a series like this, which is specifically to adults and perhaps even a non-manga audience. I had no interest whatsoever in the subject matter when I first started reading it, but I’m acutally curious to see how the drink stories are handled next volume. Knowing next to nothing about cooking has made me more curious, I think, because I can’t imagine the types of things that will be discussed. And… well, I also can’t imagine what other volumes will cover. I’m interested in it mostly as a novelty, but it is certainly on a different level from most any other manga series you can buy. If you have any interest in food or cooking whatsoever, it’s definitely worth reading.
This was a review copy provided by Viz.
I Shall Never Return 2
Posted: January 18, 2009 Filed under: I Shall Never Return | Tags: BL 9 Comments »This ventures into more uncomfortable territory. Gang rape territory. Worst of all, it seems like the event is basically brushed off right after it happens, though the men who commit the crime do wind up in jail. Actually, it serves as a warning to Ken that, try as he might to get away from his old life and live well, the ghosts of it will haunt him for a long time afterwards. It’s yet another parallel to Let Dai, actually, though once again, Let Dai handles it a little better.
Most of the volume focuses on Ritsuro and his school trip to Osaka. Of course much effort is made to have the two boys agonize about being apart, but the real purpose of the trip seemed to be to bring Ritsuro and the guy who was in love with Ken closer together. That guy lays some of his ghosts to rest while on the trip, and seems more willing to deal with Ritsuro as a person. Nothing happens between the two, but Ken is going away to Singapore, so there’s always next time.
Ken’s trip to Singapore is to visit his mother, but he figures he might like to try a new place where nobody knows about him from his past. He can’t leave Ritsuro for too long, of course, so this is just a trial period. But two weeks is a lot longer than the four days that Ritsuro was gone. Methinks bad things will happen to both of them during the time.
Despite the fact that the series ventured into dark territory, I like the relationship between the two main characters enough that I’ll probably keep reading. But if things get much worse than what happened in this volume, I may have to quit.
Human Club 5
Posted: January 18, 2009 Filed under: Human Club 2 Comments »So, as I mentioned, this series mostly takes place in Hong Kong (several stories take place in Japan and New York City, too, but more often than not, it’s Hong Kong). Hong Kong is actually kind of a unique setting. This series in particular takes place in Kowloon City, where the main character was born and raised. I assumed that Kowloon City was just a large city in Hong Kong, but when this volume went into detail, I decided to read more about it and came up with Kowloon Walled City. That’s the absolute coolest place to set anything, ever.
Anyway. I figured the story that’s been running for the past couple volumes would wrap up with Shinobu killing Li and everything would go back to normal. Killing Li is not in the cards, because apparently he is much more than a dirty old man. So much more, in fact, that the head of the Chinese Underground in New York City, the legitimate businessman Li, and Ron all put all their resources together to keep Shinobu and Li apart so that they don’t kill each other. They wind up together anyway.
I was afraid the story would loop back on itself. It very nearly did, but luckily there was a different path taken when one of the events repeated itself.
Shinobu’s background is explored a little bit, mostly about the mystery of how he and his mother found themselves in the Kowloon Walled City. The secret dies with the madam of the area, but apparently both Shinobu and his mother were abducted randomly from Japan. I… think I know where this is going, and I’ll be very happy if what I think is going to happen does.
There’s an awesome scene where Li throws an elaborate farewell party for Ji-Shou, Shinobu’s friend that died in an explosion a few volumes back. Ji-Shou was a famous actor, so the event is actually a public function at a theatre, and Ji-Shou’s replacement actor is meant to debut during the event. Instead of the intended actor, Shinobu takes the stage. Ji-Shou was apparently famous for doing traditional female roles (“onna-kata,” I guess?), so there’s a little scene where Shinobu dances around on stage dressed as a woman, basically astonishing everyone present. One of the things that I like most about the series is that Shinobu used his physical beauty on both men and women to get what he wants, which is usually something bad. That hasn’t been so much a factor in this long story, so I was happy to see this scene in here.
It’s not the best series in the world, but it’s so unlike anything else I read that I always feel like reading more to see where it goes. I am looking forward to the end of this story so we can get back to Shinobu getting the upper hand.
I Shall Never Return 1
Posted: January 17, 2009 Filed under: I Shall Never Return | Tags: BL 4 Comments »This is another Deux series I thought I’d try. This one won me over by being advertised as “classic” and also because it seemed like it had an overly-angsty story. The two boys are in high school (or at least one is, he’s a senior, the other one has dropped out), but I was kind of hoping for Let Dai levels of DRAMA, so I thought I’d try it.
The beginning is a bit… messy. The story’s sense of time and place is so far very bad. The story opens on a scene between the main couple while they were still in junior high. This cuts inexplicably to when the boys are older, and there is apparently something unfriendly between them. Ritsuro goes back home, and then to school. Somewhere in the middle of this scene, the helpful text “four years later” appears. I thought we were getting another jump forward in time, which wasn’t the case. It took me a good chunk of reading before I got the timeframe straight in my head.
It also took me a long time to get events straight: Ritsuro presently hates Ken because Ken seems to sleep with all his girlfriends. The two have been friends for a long time, and apparently slept together unexpectedly when they were 13 and Ken’s parents got a divorce. Even though Ritsuro says he hates Ken, he seems to hang out with him a lot, and eventually the two hook up. Everything from there is straightforward, but their relationship doesn’t seem like it will be full of smooth sailing.
It is drama-tastic, though. Ritsuro has Ken, and he also has a girlfriend that seems to love him despite the fact she hopped into bed with Ken so easily. It takes a little bit of time for Ritsuro and Ken to hook up, but it is of course VERY PASSIONATE when they do, and all that. Then they fight and break up and get back together a lot, and it’s only the first volume! Ken is jealous of Ritsuro’s girlfriend, and Ritsuro is jealous of a guy who implies heavily that he and Ken were an item in the past.
Ken prostitutes himself, but gives this up when he starts dating Ritsuro for real. This will probably come back to haunt him later, though, and already has. Ritsuro, knowing this about him, seems to act surprised whenever he considers the possibility of other people having sex with Ken.
While the story is technically about high school students, and is mildly disturbing as a result given the prostitution angle and the fact sometimes Ken winds up bound and gagged, school doesn’t seem that important. It only comes up a few times towards the end of the volume, and a lot of time is spent with the characters at their jobs and stuff.
There are some rough patches, but the relationship between Ken and Ritsuro may very well be the most drama-tastic I’ve ever seen. It’s not nearly as good as Let Dai, but it has more drama if only because the two are constantly on the verge of breaking up and making up. It also touches on some relationship issues I haven’t run across in other BL titles, such as whether or not the boys love each other or simply lust after each other. The drama and angst go a long way in making me want to read more, but it does have its disturbing moments, and the storytelling could use a bit of fine tuning.
It is quite wonderful, though, as far as disturbing BL goes. I can see how it would be considered a classic.
