From Eroica with Love 14
August 14, 2009
Yasuko Aoike – CMX – 2009 – 35+ volumes
Wait, what’s this? Is it… could it be… a new volume of From Eroica with Love?
The world is in shock. Or at least I am.
I’ll put this here, because this review is very long and most of you won’t make it to the bottom: Because I’m prone to commenting on these things every time, the volume cover was changed to a somewhat less fanservice-y picture of Klaus. To be fair, that picture sends signals that are not in the series itself, and would probably alienate some potential readers. I do hope the dapper portrait of Klaus on the next volume stays, though.
As much as I love this series (which is an awful lot), I forget just how good it is until the new volume is in my hand. In fact, with every new volume, I fear it will lose the magic of the old volumes. That there’s no way it can continue to be funny, that it can maintain its magic, for one more volume. And then it does. It actually took me a couple hours to read this, because I had to stop so frequently and laugh or ponder just how great it really is.
“The Seventh Seal” storyline continues through this volume, doing the standard From Eroica with Love thing. Klaus chases after the KGB, Dorian somehow gets himself wound up in things, all three parties keep outwitting each other… you know how this goes. Every storyline is still quite well thought-out though, so despite the fact it uses some of the same plot devices, it’s always fresh and fairly interesting, even without the humor.
But I probably wouldn’t read it if it wasn’t funny. Yasuko Aoike is honestly the funniest writer you will find in manga. Her style of humor is akin to that of Naked Gun. There’s a lot of slapstick, a lot of double entendre, and a lot of jokes that only work because the characters are written so well. In this volume especially, there are a lot of jokes about Klaus and women that only work because we know that Iron Klaus does not imbibe in sexual pleasure of any kind. There are lots of jokes, both from and towards Klaus, about where he met and just how well he knew one of his agent’s wives. One line, “I’ll do the women. Bang, bang, it’ll be over quick,” is an excellent double entendre that had one of the characters reacting exactly how the reader does: “OkaWAIT WHAT?!” It’s less subtle out of context because it sounds like it really can have only the one crude meaning, but knowing that Klaus would never say something like that makes it very, very funny in the book itself.
The humor succeeds more here than in a lot of other manga series because it is in no way over the top. It’s goofy, in the same way that Naked Gun is goofy and kind of corny, but it’s not like other series where the characters have extreme reactions to every joke, or all of the humor is spelled out for the reader (and I realize I just mentioned a character yelling in response to a crude joke, but that happens for one panel and is not spoken of or followed up, much different than the awkward exchanges that would happen in other manga). Eroica succeeds because of its subtlety. It also makes the jokes and then moves on to something else, so I frequently had to pause in order to laugh and marvel at them.
Some of it falls flat, of course. James is still around, and jokes about James and money (his reluctance to part with it and his love of collecting it) stopped being funny about ten volumes ago. But as annoying as he is, he appears infrequently, and James is just something that feels right at this point, as much as I hate the guy. Sometimes the James jokes still work, like when his thriftiness is coupled with an American’s desire for hamburgers for maximum Dorian disgust. Usually they aren’t funny at all, though.
I also kind of like the complete lack of fanservice in this series. I went back and read volume 1 when I finished this, and was shocked to see how different the series was. Volume 1 is kind of bad in comparison. Klaus doesn’t absolutely hate Dorian, and there were a handful of moments where he softened and you could imagine shoujo-type feelings between them. Dorian has kept the flame alive all this time, but their relationship works because Klaus is completely dismissive and horrified by Dorian’s attentions. There are occasional scenes like the one at the beginning of this volume, where Dorian and Agent G fight to see who gets to undress the unconscious Klaus and give him mouth-to-mouth, but those only work because it’s funny to try and predict when the Major will regain consciousness and what his reaction will be. I mean, I guess that’s fanservice in a way, but it never really crosses that line that even teases about Klaus entertaining thoughts of Dorian (or anyone else, really). It works a lot better because of it, because you don’t have to worry about romance at all.
Fanservice comes in other ways. Klaus holding big guns is something that always happens that I figure must be a stab at fanservice (because it is way awesome). Things like Dorian describing what he would like to do to Klaus, or contemplating his butt for several pages, might be another form. But you can see why these work where traditional fanservice would make it a less amazing series.
Speaking of the American’s love for hamburgers, I also noticed Aoike is better about naming her characters here. In volume one, we had English characters named Sugar Plum and Leopard Solid. Here, we had Greek characters named Kazantzakis and Zorba. I thought that was pretty funny, but I’m not sure if it was intentional or not.
The biggest tragedy is that NOBODY READS THIS. Seriously. Do you not like to laugh? Keep in mind it only hits its stride after the first couple volumes, and the first one in particular is pretty mediocre. We can’t be friends, you and I, until you’ve at least given it a try. It’s because nobody reads this amazing series that volumes only come out once a year. Volume 15, the conclusion to the “Seventh Seal” storyline that began in volume 12, isn’t comign out until March. Just… buy this series to give CMX a reason to keep publishing it. They really don’t have to, and I’m glad they are continuing to crank it out for the loyal fans. We just need to get more people on the bandwagon.
As a hat tip to CMX, one of the other reasons this series works is because of its phenomenal adaptation. Klaus and Dorian both speak with affectations that suggest their German or English accent, other characters speak with nods to their country of origin (Russian, Scotland, et cetera), and all the characters and their jokes are absolutely spot-on in a way that I can’t believe translates so well into English. It makes me very happy. Also a nice touch are the “letters” from the characters on the back of every volume as a summary. Those are always in character and absolutely spot-on. They are the best volume summaries on any series. Period.
On a final note, I love that panel I posted at the top because Klaus and Dorian are reacting in mutual wordless shock. Out of context, Klaus looks more angry than surprised. I suppose that is just his way.
August 14, 2009 at 10:29 am
I was wondering when you were going to review this.
I don’t find James annoying, even though his gags get repeated a lot (and he’s a thrift, not a spendthrift). I know somebody a little like him, albeit not nearly as extreme, so I enjoy seeing somebody else have to put up with all that.
I know what you mean about wondering if this will stop being funny whenever you pick it up again. I actually re-read volume 13 right before this one so I could remember the plot, and Volume 13 was much better than I remembered. However, I felt that this volume was a little weaker than 13 for some reason, though it’s still much better at keeping me entertained than most manga.
The ‘bang, bang’ line stood out to me too. I’m sure the Kanzantzakis and Zorba naming was on purpose.
I had read somewhere that the slow schedule was due to problems with sending ‘source material’ between Japan and CMX, though if this were selling like hotcakes, they would invest more in improving their communication.
A native Russian speaker told me that the way they use ‘da’ is incorrect, which makes it funnier for her. I don’t know if Aoike or the adaptation is at fault.
August 14, 2009 at 10:30 am
lol. love the image add. still haven’t purchased this yet, i still gotta read 13! but i’m holding off on it till i order this one.
August 14, 2009 at 11:20 am
I’m sorry I can’t be your friend because I haven’t read this, but someday I promise I will! Someday, when I have the shelf space to commit to it. You really do make a convincing case for it, and I do love to laugh. So hopefully soon… :D
You know, I’ve heard it given as a (partial?) reason for delays that CMX sometimes has trouble getting ahold of the original cover artwork, especially for their older series. I don’t know how much of an issue that actually is, but maybe that’s why this volume (and some of the others too, look like) has different artwork?
And now I’m curious—who’s translating this series?
August 14, 2009 at 12:10 pm
[...] Air Gear (Kuriousity) Danielle Leigh on vol. 1 of Angelic Runes (Comics Should Be Good) Connie on vol. 14 of From Eroica With Love (Slightly Biased Manga) Connie on vol. 20 of Fullmetal Alchemist (Slightly Biased Manga) Kate Dacey [...]
August 16, 2009 at 3:40 am
lys: Haha! Well, as long as it’s on the schedule someday. It really is worth checking out, and I wouldn’t worry too much about the shelf space since it’s coming out so slowly. Though I guess 14 volumes can still take up a lot of space. ^_^;
I think I had heard that explanation about the original source art before, and it does make a lot of sense since the series is so old (and now that I look, a lot of Swan’s covers got changed as well), but it doesn’t seem to have been a problem until a couple years ago for either series, or for other series like Moon Child and Go Go Heaven. All four of those sort of went to a 6mo-1yr schedule around the same time, though it’s possible that all of them have art issues since it’s likely that none of the originals would have been preserved with translation in mind. It’s the delays that get me, I don’t actually mind the cover changes that much. I kind of like seeing the new choices, they’re almost always better. Volumes 1-9 are mostly the same covers for Eroica, only 4 and 8 are different. Almost all of Swan’s covers are different though, it’s got some covers matched to other volumes, strangely edited artwork (like maybe parts of the original had been damaged), and choices that don’t strike me as nice as the originals. Weirdly, all of the Moon Child covers match.
Oh! The translator is Tony Ogasawara through all 14 volumes, and he’s credited with the adaptation starting with volume 3 or 4 as well. I haven’t noticed any other books credited to him, but I usually only think to check the translator and editor if I really enjoy the adaptation. The editor for the first couple volumes isn’t credited, but starting with volume 6, it seems to be Jim Chadwick. Volume 6 is where the book format changes and the letters from the characters start appearing on the back cover, so I think he’s the one that’s been writing those.
August 16, 2009 at 3:47 am
ame: When I first started reading this series, I read it in three volume chunks. I loved it in huge doses like that, it’s definitely something I miss.
August 16, 2009 at 4:32 am
It took me a couple weeks to get ahold of it. No shops around here really stock the new volumes, despite the numerous hints I’ve dropped.
I started re-reading the series from volume one, and I think the James jokes are the only thing I really liked better in the first volume. I kind of preferred it when he was being teased relentlessly, then he slowly started living up to all the teasing and it became less funny. He still seems necessary to have around though, and he’s good for a laugh on occasion. The team-up between he and Lawrence was a match made in heaven, and using him for the NATO Director’s birthday was also great. And thanks for pointing out that error, I always have problems remembering the usage for “spendthrift.”
The bang, bang line was made even better somehow by the random spanking he administered later. I wasn’t sure what good deed I’d done to earn that bizarre scene. I think the Zorba and Kanzantzakis references were intentional now too, actually, since she’d used other Greek names in earlier volumes that weren’t references to anything, as far as I know.
I’d heard about the problems with the source material somewhere before, but I have a hard time believing that since it wasn’t a problem in the past, and suddenly became a problem for several series at the same time. But it may just be as you say, that it wasn’t worth the resources anymore for series that weren’t selling well. That’s a shame.
August 16, 2009 at 9:49 am
I actually pre-ordered this. I don’t like pre-ordering, but I figured it would help them out, and I did save a little money. I got this in my hands about a week after the official release date.
I think I read in one of the Eroica fan groups that they were having an informal gathering at the local Kinokuniya on the release date to get the newest volume together, and if anywhere around here would stock multiple copies of the latest volume of Eroica on the release date, it’s Kinokuniya. However, I didn’t go.
August 17, 2009 at 4:21 am
I’ve tried to pre-order books at a couple of the comic shops around here, but they aren’t very civil to me, so I do most of my pre-ordering online. I do pre-order almost everything I buy, but Eroica, Jojo, and Apothecarius Argentum are the exceptions since Right Stuf usually doesn’t ship until a couple weeks after the release dates (though they have been on the ball lately) and I want those three ASAP. It took a couple weeks to show up as in stock at the other two places I was checking.
August 17, 2009 at 9:27 am
Maybe you could try pre-ordering through a bookstore? It’s a special bookstore indeed that would stock Eroica of its own accord, but my local bookstore is more than happy to order on my behalf anything I please, provided it’s available through their distributor.
August 18, 2009 at 2:11 am
Hmm, I hadn’t thought of that. When I looked into it at my old store, I found that the usual bookstore distribution channels like Baker and Taylor and Ingram were not a good place to order new graphic novels since most distribution was done through Diamond to comic shops, with bookstores as an afterthought. But the situation is almost certainly different now. CMX might be a holdout since DC is probably still handled by Diamond, but I’m sure a larger bookstore has the ability to get a new DC graphic novel on its release date.
I wish I still had access to an Ingram account so I could check. I’m curious now.
August 18, 2009 at 5:34 pm
I myself got Eroica 14 from Deepdiscount.com, which ships from Itasca, Illinois, so they could probably get a pre-order to almost as quickly as a local bookstore.
August 20, 2009 at 1:27 am
Ooh, thanks for point that out. I’ll try them out next time.
September 2, 2009 at 8:46 am
I got my copy of v14 a few days ago. OMG!
No words to describe it. I was falling about laughing from start to end.
This series just gets better with each volume. Aoike Yasuko is my hero! *sends space hugs*
Oh, god, I love this manga way too much for my own good. My love goes beyond obsession and into…well something unimaginable. ^^”
But you’re right, NO-ONE reads this manga. I’m doing my darnest to convert as many people as possible but they take one look at the drawings and scream “big chin! EWWW!”
For god’s sake just give it a chance. If you had sense enough you’d see the unique style is actually one of the reasons this manga is so precious. It’s not your run of the mill processed shoujo crap. It’s GOOD! The drawings are AMAZING!
September 3, 2009 at 3:30 am
Awesome. Yeah, I have to admit my thoughts move to the extreme with every new volume of the series in English. I love it so much. I laughed at nearly every page in this volume. There’s just nothing else that gives me pleasure like reading Eroica. It is absolutely perfect in every way.
Yeah, I really like the art. I’ve got more Yasuko Aoike artbooks than any other artist, and just splurged and ordered a whole bunch more because I didn’t know what else to do with all my pent-up recent love for the series. It’s really amazing to look at how the Eroica art changes through the years, for better and worse. I have to admit I’m a bigger fan of the art from around where these volumes are at now, it does change pretty drastically when she picks the series back up after a hiatus. It’s a lot more masculine and plain presently, though it’s hard to truly dislike any rendition of Klaus and Eroica. A lot of people don’t seem to like the long legs and big hair, either, which is my favorite part. I’m always mildly offended when that’s taken as a weak point. I also love the random objects that show up in the background behind characters. Aoike really seems to take a lot of joy from drawing little things like guns, flowers, and such repeating through the background behind people at appropriate moments.