Grand Guignol Orchestra 1

Kaori Yuki – Viz – 2010 – 5 volumes

Kaori Yuki and You Higuri are two artists that fall in the same category in my mind. They have almost nothing in common. But both are artists whose new series in English are always must buys for me, despite the fact I almost never really like the books. Why bother? For You Higuri, it’s because Ludwig II was really spectacular. In the case of Kaori Yuki, I just love her art. Her stories, though… she has really awesome ideas, but I always get at least a little lost in the execution. But her ornate art and interesting premises usually keeps me at least mostly satisfied when I’m working my way through one of her series (of which there are several in English, but the best one is probably still Angel Sanctuary).

I was hoping the narrative problems would have mostly worked themselves out with this, her most recent series, but I found myself more than a little lost within the first few pages. Set in medieval times (says Yuki, but they drive a car and use electricity), it tells the story of a land overtaken with a kind of zombie virus that turns people into “guignols,” or living marionettes that are after humans and can turn people to their kind with a bite. The main characters are a team of traveling musicians that can keep the guignols at bay, and also cure the ills of the human heart when it comes to grieving the dead/recently turned. The first half of the book focuses on a character named Eles, the young prince of a town recently struck by guignol-related tragedy, and helping him and the rest of the town come to terms with the deaths that took place there. The second half has the orchestra moving on to a different town, this one inhabited by an older ladykiller-type prince that wants the head of the orchestra, Lucille, as a bride.

It… took me a bit to wrap my head around the fact that the guignols are just zombies (this is never explicitly stated, but that’s more or less what they are). It was harder for me to take in since the zombies do gain marionette hands and appear to get cracks in their body and… I don’t know, shatter or something as well. This is awesome, and Yuki’s art makes it even more so, but there’s no real good reason for it other than looks. There doesn’t have to be, of course, this is a manga, but even so, this really, really doesn’t make sense. The explanation at the beginning of the book, for both the guignols and the introductions for the members of the orchestra, is also really rushed, and I was about a third of the way through before I felt like things calmed down enough for me to start making sense of it all. I was a little disappointed, too, that the characters were still rather under-developed by the end of the book, but what they lack in depth they make up for in mysterious pasts, and I’m definitely looking forward to that.

That aside, there’s still a lot to like here. Though Yuki says it’s the middle ages, it looks more like Victorian times, and a lot of the best fashions from Godchild/Earl Cain make their way over to all the characters. I did like Lucille, who makes for a fun main character, even if not a whole lot has been revealed personality-wise just yet. And even if it doesn’t make much sense, I can’t fault a story about a band of misfit musicians traveling from town to town to stop zombie puppets and those who love them. It’s hard to make that subject boring, and that alone is enough to fill the five volumes of this series with interesting enough content to keep me coming back.

Basically, the first volume is confusing, but… you know. Zombie marionettes and misfit musicians. Gotta love ‘em. And even after a little break (I believe she took a hiatus in order to raise her children), Yuki’s art still looks amazing. She uses a lot more intricate detail than you’ll find in most shoujo artist work, puts a lot of thought into her settings and scenery, and has wonderful fashion sense in series like this one. Again, that alone is why I will come back to her series every time, even though I’ve never really loved any of them. This one has the most interesting premise yet, so I’m curious to see how far the story can go in five volumes.