Title: The Wallflower / Yamato Nadeshiko Shichihenge (volumes 1-8)
Media: Manga
Text: English
Story: Hayakawa Tomoko
Art: Hayakawa Tomoko
Publisher: Del Rey Manga (originally Kodansha)
The person who decided on the English title for this really ought to be caught and put in a small room with no visual or auditory stimulus, there to be confined for an indeterminate period of months. Seriously, though, could you come up with a blander title? Not to mention, it gives absolutely no clue as to the contents of the book.
Anyway, here's the concept. Stop me when you realize just how non-"wallflower" this is.
Four guys are living in a boarding house. One day, their landlady contacts them and says that her niece is going to be living there, and she has a job for them: Make this girl into an outstanding lady. If they do, they continue to live there, at no cost. If they fail, the rent triples. Confident in themselves, the boys agree... But what they couldn't have foreseen was that the girl in question is no mere normal girl. A few tips on grooming and an introduction to polite conversation isn't going to cut it, because ever since the boy she liked called her "ugly", Nakahara Sunako turned into darkness personified.
So, instead of trying their hardest to make a lady out of Sunako, the guys are mostly reduced to attempting to keep the landlady from finding out just how far gone the girl is. Let comedy ensue.
For the most part, this manga can be read out of order. There are few stories that span more than one chapter. Of course, there is ongoing characterization, but it happens at a slow enough pace that it isn't impossible to pick up on it as you go. I would still suggest starting from the beginning, naturally, but if you can't find volume one at your local bookstore, any of the others will serve just as well to introduce you to the story.
The series is currently eleven volumes English-translated, with at least two more due out this year. Meanwhile, the Japanese release is up to volume 18 (as sourced from animenewsnetwork.com), and apparently going strong, since there is currently an anime adaptation ongoing. We can certainly hope that makes its way over here as well.
Showing posts with label manga. Show all posts
Showing posts with label manga. Show all posts
2007/04/10
2007/03/30
Geoff Reviews - Fruits Basket (v.1-14)
Title: Fruits Basket (volumes 1-14)
Media: Manga
Text: English
Story: Takaya Natsuki
Art: Takaya Natsuki
Publisher: Tokyopop (originally Hakuensha)
Fourteen volumes? Yes, fourteen volumes. Fruits Basket, or Furuba, to use the series' nickname, has been called the best-selling shoujo manga in America. I'm sure there are sales figures floating around somewhere to prove that, though that's not really that important.
I hesitate to call Furuba a slice of life series only because I can't recall any slice of my life in which I've hugged a member of the opposite sex who then promptly transformed into an animal. Well, it's supposed to be a closely guarded secret, so I can accept that although it's never happened to me, it could. (Okay, not really, but this gets back to the whole suspension of disbelief thing.)
Before I get started, a quick note on romanizations: The Tokyopop translations stuck a bunch of "h"es in where "o"s and "u"s go. This is supposedly an accepted romanization style for long vowels, or "u" extensions of vowels. However, these mystically appearing "h"es made my life miserable when I was just starting out in learning the Japanese language, so I won't use them. There is no plain "h" in the Japanese language. Don't misunderstand, there are "h" sounds, but they are all "h" plus vowel. (HA, HI, FU, HE, HO, respectively.) Thus, Tohru becomes Tooru, Sohma becomes Souma, and so forth. The same applies to many words with extended vowels, but in a purely English-translated text, the names are the only place that romanization should be an issue. ... ... ... Anyway, rant over, I suppose. On with the show.
Whether or not it can be called slice of life, the series certainly can lay claim to a quality mix of comedy and drama, along with an enjoyable cast. The story opens with Honda Tooru living out of a tent, because her grandfather's house is being remodeled. She happens across a house near where her tent is set up, out in the middle of relative nowhere, which, like the land she's pitched the tent on, belongs to the Souma family, and is inhabited initially by Soumas Yuki and Shigure. It would be nice to say that the Soumas took her in out of kindness and human decency, but saying that it's because none of them could cook or clean worth a lick is much more accurate.
The Souma family, or at least particular of its descendants, are cursed by what are referred to as the "vengeful spirits of the Chinese zodiac". Each of the twelve, plus the cat, have associated weaknesses, likes, and dislikes based on their animal to go along with the general "transforms into that animal when hugged by a member of the opposite sex" bit. Needless to say, this isn't exactly something that the family would be pleased about if it were to become common knowledge.
While it's not really something to recommend a manga based on, the author talk sections are easily some of the most memorable in memory. Just for a taste: "When a character dies in an RPG, my first thought isn't, 'Oh, how sad'... It's 'Please give back the items you had equipped, okay?' Then I feel bad about being so cold-hearted."
At some point, which I didn't think to pin down at the time (probably around volume nine or ten), the story shifts from Tooru living life while trying to hide the Souma family secret to her getting the idea that she might be able to find a way to break the curse.
-----
The review feels like it cuts off quite abruptly, but I'm not sure what else I can say without going into excessive spoilers and ruining things for potential readers. So, I'm going to leave it at that.
With this, plus the eventually forthcoming reviews of the five books of the Belgariad by David Eddings, and The Tempting of America by Robert Bork (and the review that I won't be doing of volumes 5-8 of KareKano), I've clobbered the March reading challenge with room to spare, even if you want to count English-language manga at 3-to-1, 4-to-1, or even 5-to-1. (Go me? Heh...)
Media: Manga
Text: English
Story: Takaya Natsuki
Art: Takaya Natsuki
Publisher: Tokyopop (originally Hakuensha)
Fourteen volumes? Yes, fourteen volumes. Fruits Basket, or Furuba, to use the series' nickname, has been called the best-selling shoujo manga in America. I'm sure there are sales figures floating around somewhere to prove that, though that's not really that important.
I hesitate to call Furuba a slice of life series only because I can't recall any slice of my life in which I've hugged a member of the opposite sex who then promptly transformed into an animal. Well, it's supposed to be a closely guarded secret, so I can accept that although it's never happened to me, it could. (Okay, not really, but this gets back to the whole suspension of disbelief thing.)
Before I get started, a quick note on romanizations: The Tokyopop translations stuck a bunch of "h"es in where "o"s and "u"s go. This is supposedly an accepted romanization style for long vowels, or "u" extensions of vowels. However, these mystically appearing "h"es made my life miserable when I was just starting out in learning the Japanese language, so I won't use them. There is no plain "h" in the Japanese language. Don't misunderstand, there are "h" sounds, but they are all "h" plus vowel. (HA, HI, FU, HE, HO, respectively.) Thus, Tohru becomes Tooru, Sohma becomes Souma, and so forth. The same applies to many words with extended vowels, but in a purely English-translated text, the names are the only place that romanization should be an issue. ... ... ... Anyway, rant over, I suppose. On with the show.
Whether or not it can be called slice of life, the series certainly can lay claim to a quality mix of comedy and drama, along with an enjoyable cast. The story opens with Honda Tooru living out of a tent, because her grandfather's house is being remodeled. She happens across a house near where her tent is set up, out in the middle of relative nowhere, which, like the land she's pitched the tent on, belongs to the Souma family, and is inhabited initially by Soumas Yuki and Shigure. It would be nice to say that the Soumas took her in out of kindness and human decency, but saying that it's because none of them could cook or clean worth a lick is much more accurate.
The Souma family, or at least particular of its descendants, are cursed by what are referred to as the "vengeful spirits of the Chinese zodiac". Each of the twelve, plus the cat, have associated weaknesses, likes, and dislikes based on their animal to go along with the general "transforms into that animal when hugged by a member of the opposite sex" bit. Needless to say, this isn't exactly something that the family would be pleased about if it were to become common knowledge.
While it's not really something to recommend a manga based on, the author talk sections are easily some of the most memorable in memory. Just for a taste: "When a character dies in an RPG, my first thought isn't, 'Oh, how sad'... It's 'Please give back the items you had equipped, okay?' Then I feel bad about being so cold-hearted."
At some point, which I didn't think to pin down at the time (probably around volume nine or ten), the story shifts from Tooru living life while trying to hide the Souma family secret to her getting the idea that she might be able to find a way to break the curse.
-----
The review feels like it cuts off quite abruptly, but I'm not sure what else I can say without going into excessive spoilers and ruining things for potential readers. So, I'm going to leave it at that.
With this, plus the eventually forthcoming reviews of the five books of the Belgariad by David Eddings, and The Tempting of America by Robert Bork (and the review that I won't be doing of volumes 5-8 of KareKano), I've clobbered the March reading challenge with room to spare, even if you want to count English-language manga at 3-to-1, 4-to-1, or even 5-to-1. (Go me? Heh...)
2007/03/20
Geoff Reviews - Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~ v.2
Title: Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~ (volume 2)
Media: Manga (tankouban)
Text: Japanese
Story: Shirodaira Kyo
Art: Mizuno Eita
Publisher: Gangan Comics (a Square/Enix publication)
Volume two of Spiral picks up right where the first left off, with the locked room mystery. As I read through, I keep meaning to go back and look at the similarities and differences between the manga and anime adaptation, since I know there are a couple of changes between the two (primarily to keep the number of incidental knifings down in the anime, is my assumption).
Ayumu quickly proves himself in the finale of the locked room saga, unmasking the culprit with a certain Holmesian flare.
Speaking of differences between the anime and the manga, it was interesting to see, between reading the first two volumes, and watching the first two episodes of the anime, what got left out when the series got animated. Really, the anime truncated the manga storyline, and attached it at different points, involving the same people in multiple events rather than using the original manga characters in order to tighten up the time frame.
Anyway, after the locked room comes what is, in my opinion, the first point in Spiral where I said to myself, "I have to see the rest of this.": The turtle bomb. I know, if you haven't read or watched Spiral, your mental image here probably isn't capturing the event. Essentially, Ayumu has half an hour to somehow decipher a nine-digit disarm code, or the concert hall he was in will be blown to bits (and him with it, of course). Now, you can solve the disarm code yourself, with the right information (and a bit of luck). Just consider what a turtle from China, and a three-by-three grid have in common. The last piece you need is that the number 1 (one) is in the second box of the third column.
Media: Manga (tankouban)
Text: Japanese
Story: Shirodaira Kyo
Art: Mizuno Eita
Publisher: Gangan Comics (a Square/Enix publication)
Volume two of Spiral picks up right where the first left off, with the locked room mystery. As I read through, I keep meaning to go back and look at the similarities and differences between the manga and anime adaptation, since I know there are a couple of changes between the two (primarily to keep the number of incidental knifings down in the anime, is my assumption).
Ayumu quickly proves himself in the finale of the locked room saga, unmasking the culprit with a certain Holmesian flare.
Speaking of differences between the anime and the manga, it was interesting to see, between reading the first two volumes, and watching the first two episodes of the anime, what got left out when the series got animated. Really, the anime truncated the manga storyline, and attached it at different points, involving the same people in multiple events rather than using the original manga characters in order to tighten up the time frame.
Anyway, after the locked room comes what is, in my opinion, the first point in Spiral where I said to myself, "I have to see the rest of this.": The turtle bomb. I know, if you haven't read or watched Spiral, your mental image here probably isn't capturing the event. Essentially, Ayumu has half an hour to somehow decipher a nine-digit disarm code, or the concert hall he was in will be blown to bits (and him with it, of course). Now, you can solve the disarm code yourself, with the right information (and a bit of luck). Just consider what a turtle from China, and a three-by-three grid have in common. The last piece you need is that the number 1 (one) is in the second box of the third column.
2007/03/09
Geoff Reviews - Kare Kano (v.1-4)
Title: Kare Kano (volumes 1-4) (also known as Kareshi Kanojo no Jijou, or His and Her Circumstances)
Media: Manga
Text: English
Story: Tsuda Masami
Art: Tsuda Masami
Publisher: TokyoPop (originally Hakusensha)
It's been years since I had contact with Kare Kano, and that was in the anime form. Going back and actually reading the manga, it's interesting to see the differences that Gainax added in. Yes, added in. The story is exactly the same, at least as far as my admittedly shoddy memory is concerned... It just lacks all of the references to previous Gainax works (primarily Shinseiki Evangelion) that the anime had.
Anyway, as to the manga itself, Kare Kano is pretty typical shoujo fare. That is, girl meets boy, girl falls for boy (after a bit), new couple faces trials. Of course, the trick to the genre is not so much in the premise as it is in the characterization and execution, both of which are done quite well.
The main character for the story is Miyazawa Yukino, and she's perfect. Okay, well, that's a blatant lie, but you'd never convince her classmates of that. Top of the class, pretty, good at sports... If the character were written today, rather than twelve years ago, the entire school would be her onee-sama following. Instead, for the first time in her life, she has competition for the top spot in everything: Arima Souichirou. And so, completely undeclared, the war for the number one spot is on.
Media: Manga
Text: English
Story: Tsuda Masami
Art: Tsuda Masami
Publisher: TokyoPop (originally Hakusensha)
It's been years since I had contact with Kare Kano, and that was in the anime form. Going back and actually reading the manga, it's interesting to see the differences that Gainax added in. Yes, added in. The story is exactly the same, at least as far as my admittedly shoddy memory is concerned... It just lacks all of the references to previous Gainax works (primarily Shinseiki Evangelion) that the anime had.
Anyway, as to the manga itself, Kare Kano is pretty typical shoujo fare. That is, girl meets boy, girl falls for boy (after a bit), new couple faces trials. Of course, the trick to the genre is not so much in the premise as it is in the characterization and execution, both of which are done quite well.
The main character for the story is Miyazawa Yukino, and she's perfect. Okay, well, that's a blatant lie, but you'd never convince her classmates of that. Top of the class, pretty, good at sports... If the character were written today, rather than twelve years ago, the entire school would be her onee-sama following. Instead, for the first time in her life, she has competition for the top spot in everything: Arima Souichirou. And so, completely undeclared, the war for the number one spot is on.
2007/03/08
Anti-Americanism In Comics, Cap, And Escaping To Manga
As many people have already covered, including Brainster (and he's got links to several of the others), Marvel has finally gone and done it. They've killed off Captain America.
I'll admit from the start that I wasn't much of a comics junkie as a kid. Not from any dislike of the medium mind you. It was more of a matter of what was around to read, which was generally more along the lines of Tolkien and Lewis. Still, a friend of mine was, so I eventually got to go through significant portions of his collection.
It's a strange thing, to be at a point in your life where you're just forming your political opinions. It becomes exceptionally clear when people are disagreeing with those views, and what I was seeing in comics certainly counted. Now, it wasn't that I hadn't heard ideas like those voiced before, but I'd always considered fiction, with pictures or without, to be a realm unto itself, and the sanctity that I'd ascribed to it was being violated to an impressive degree.
Simply put, I don't get it. I'm not about to claim that America is perfect, but we've still got the best thing going in the world by such a long shot that it's not really arguable. I can put myself into a mindset where the problems that people like many comic writers exist, but I can't see how they get there from here. The view that this country is bad, evil, and the scum of the earth is so antithetical to reality that the disconnect can only be bridged by a suspension of disbelief more rigid than the one required for reading Crossroad.
Now, I haven't given up on comics wholly, but it's a near thing. Most of the particularly egregious examples that I can recall, and it's tough, since I have read much outside of 100 Bullets and Y: The Last Man in about three years now, are coming out of Marvel's comics lines.
Meanwhile, I've found my own alternative. While Brainster has mentioned that he's gone back to the golden and silver ages of comics (when heroes were heroes, villains were villains, and heroes thumped villains because it was the right thing to do, darn it), I've gone across the Pacific for my fix. Personally, I'm pleased with the results, though your mileage may vary. To me, it's going back to the day when a story was a story, rather than old favorite characters slapped on top of a political diatribe.
There may be something to be said here for the fact that characters in manga aren't forever, like they are in American comics. As I see it, there are only so many times the X-Men can fight off Magneto before a change of pace is needed. Rather than having a distinct starting point, a defined story, and a distinct end, the arcs simply blend and continue. And while there is something nice about having characters with a long history, having that long, involved history makes getting into some characters and stories more difficult. (Hence a lot of the re-launches of characters in the past few years.) So, instead of getting new characters, new villains, and new storylines, we get old characters, old villains, and old storylines, with a couple scoops of the political cause du jour on top to make it look different.
Well, if it sells, it sells, I suppose. Meanwhile, I'll just stick to stories for their own sake, and get my politics from the news sites.
P.S. - In the interest of fairness, there are questions about the presence of anti-Americanism in manga and anime. The best work I've read on the topic is here, at Hontou ni Sou Omou.
I'll admit from the start that I wasn't much of a comics junkie as a kid. Not from any dislike of the medium mind you. It was more of a matter of what was around to read, which was generally more along the lines of Tolkien and Lewis. Still, a friend of mine was, so I eventually got to go through significant portions of his collection.
It's a strange thing, to be at a point in your life where you're just forming your political opinions. It becomes exceptionally clear when people are disagreeing with those views, and what I was seeing in comics certainly counted. Now, it wasn't that I hadn't heard ideas like those voiced before, but I'd always considered fiction, with pictures or without, to be a realm unto itself, and the sanctity that I'd ascribed to it was being violated to an impressive degree.
Simply put, I don't get it. I'm not about to claim that America is perfect, but we've still got the best thing going in the world by such a long shot that it's not really arguable. I can put myself into a mindset where the problems that people like many comic writers exist, but I can't see how they get there from here. The view that this country is bad, evil, and the scum of the earth is so antithetical to reality that the disconnect can only be bridged by a suspension of disbelief more rigid than the one required for reading Crossroad.
Now, I haven't given up on comics wholly, but it's a near thing. Most of the particularly egregious examples that I can recall, and it's tough, since I have read much outside of 100 Bullets and Y: The Last Man in about three years now, are coming out of Marvel's comics lines.
Meanwhile, I've found my own alternative. While Brainster has mentioned that he's gone back to the golden and silver ages of comics (when heroes were heroes, villains were villains, and heroes thumped villains because it was the right thing to do, darn it), I've gone across the Pacific for my fix. Personally, I'm pleased with the results, though your mileage may vary. To me, it's going back to the day when a story was a story, rather than old favorite characters slapped on top of a political diatribe.
There may be something to be said here for the fact that characters in manga aren't forever, like they are in American comics. As I see it, there are only so many times the X-Men can fight off Magneto before a change of pace is needed. Rather than having a distinct starting point, a defined story, and a distinct end, the arcs simply blend and continue. And while there is something nice about having characters with a long history, having that long, involved history makes getting into some characters and stories more difficult. (Hence a lot of the re-launches of characters in the past few years.) So, instead of getting new characters, new villains, and new storylines, we get old characters, old villains, and old storylines, with a couple scoops of the political cause du jour on top to make it look different.
Well, if it sells, it sells, I suppose. Meanwhile, I'll just stick to stories for their own sake, and get my politics from the news sites.
P.S. - In the interest of fairness, there are questions about the presence of anti-Americanism in manga and anime. The best work I've read on the topic is here, at Hontou ni Sou Omou.
Whatever Happened To Spiral, part 2
Google Alerts are a wonderful thing, aren't they? They'll keep an eye on certain keywords for you, and if they happen to pop up, the system will fire you an e-mail to let you know.
Anyway, setting aside the how, apparently a brand new manga publisher is going to publish Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~, along with three other Square/Enix titles (one of which is Zombie Loan, by the mangaka of Rozen Maiden). The company in question is Yen Press.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to know what quality of a job they're going to do, since they haven't released anything yet, and the word that's going around is that their first releases will be well down the year. However, we can fervently hope that they will take after the Go! Comi/Del Rey Manga school, with quality translation, intact honorifics, and explanations of cultural references in the back of the volume. Time will tell, though.
Anyway, setting aside the how, apparently a brand new manga publisher is going to publish Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~, along with three other Square/Enix titles (one of which is Zombie Loan, by the mangaka of Rozen Maiden). The company in question is Yen Press.
Unfortunately, it's not possible to know what quality of a job they're going to do, since they haven't released anything yet, and the word that's going around is that their first releases will be well down the year. However, we can fervently hope that they will take after the Go! Comi/Del Rey Manga school, with quality translation, intact honorifics, and explanations of cultural references in the back of the volume. Time will tell, though.
2007/03/01
Geoff Reviews - Rozen Maiden (v.3)
Title: Rozen Maiden (volume 3)
Media: Manga
Text: English (translated)
Story: Peach-Pit
Art: Peach-Pit
Publisher: Tokyopop (originally Gentosha Comics)
I have to start this off by being nice, since Tokyopop got its act together a bit in this volume. Suiseiseki actually did gain a mode of speech in place of her ever-present "desu". They translated "desu" as "yes", yes. Also, they almost weaned themselves entirely off of "impish" as a translation for "chibi".
The actual volume entails more maneuvering, along with the proper introduction of the third (or is it the fourth) doll in the Rozen Maiden series, Souseiseki. (Please, don't blame me for forgetting whether Suiseiseki is 3rd and Souseiseki is 4th, or the other way around... They're twins, after all.) It's also nice to see Jun growing as a character in this volume.
So, at this point, we know there are six dolls, and we've been introduced to all but the second one. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that last introduction is going to happen before anything serious happens in regards to the fights that make up the "Alice Game".
One open question from the volume is, who are the brothers Jun witnessed, and how do they tie in? (Well, we know about one of them, but that's a spoiler for the volume.) Also, on a related note, how and why was Jun able to witness this, when it wasn't part of his past experience? Sure, we can relate that back to the existence of magic in the world if we need to, but it seems like the kind of thing that ought to be explained at some point. Something to look forward to, perhaps.
Media: Manga
Text: English (translated)
Story: Peach-Pit
Art: Peach-Pit
Publisher: Tokyopop (originally Gentosha Comics)
I have to start this off by being nice, since Tokyopop got its act together a bit in this volume. Suiseiseki actually did gain a mode of speech in place of her ever-present "desu". They translated "desu" as "yes", yes. Also, they almost weaned themselves entirely off of "impish" as a translation for "chibi".
The actual volume entails more maneuvering, along with the proper introduction of the third (or is it the fourth) doll in the Rozen Maiden series, Souseiseki. (Please, don't blame me for forgetting whether Suiseiseki is 3rd and Souseiseki is 4th, or the other way around... They're twins, after all.) It's also nice to see Jun growing as a character in this volume.
So, at this point, we know there are six dolls, and we've been introduced to all but the second one. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that last introduction is going to happen before anything serious happens in regards to the fights that make up the "Alice Game".
One open question from the volume is, who are the brothers Jun witnessed, and how do they tie in? (Well, we know about one of them, but that's a spoiler for the volume.) Also, on a related note, how and why was Jun able to witness this, when it wasn't part of his past experience? Sure, we can relate that back to the existence of magic in the world if we need to, but it seems like the kind of thing that ought to be explained at some point. Something to look forward to, perhaps.
2007/02/27
Geoff Reviews - Crossroad (v.1-6)
Title: Crossroad
Media: Manga
Text: English (translated)
Story: Mizuki Shioko
Art: Mizuki Shioko
Publisher: Go!Comi (originally Akita Shoten)
No aliens, magic, weird planets, or extraordinarily skilled people? What's a story to do? Live on the strength of its comedy and drama, of course. There's nothing terribly special here outside of the characters, but they're the point and focus of the story anyway, so that's not a bad thing. As the American publishers said as the preview for volume five, anything I could really tell you about the story would be a spoiler... so, I'm better off not saying anything. I could just quote the blurb from the back of volume one, but it's exceptionally misleading, so I can't in good conscience do so.
As shoujo manga go, this is one of the better ones I've read recently. While the technical definition of "shoujo manga" is "comics for girls", that doesn't really cover the concept. If you can say shounen manga as a whole goes about character development through training and combat (please, use these terms training and combat loosely, this can cover everything from martial arts to racing cars to baking bread), then shoujo manga is more character-relationship driven. Put another way, most shounen-series characters develop their abilities, while most shoujo-series characters develop as people.
I only have two real gripes about the series. First, I had to turn off my brain just a bit to keep from bludgeoning it on the 900 pound deus ex machina in the room, otherwise known as how the main characters wound up together at the beginning of the story. Without spoiling it, let's just say that I had to promise my suspension of disbelief a week's vacation if it would overlook that one plot point. The thing is, I don't think I would've actually taken issue with it if the rest of the series weren't so incredibly normal.
Second... It's over already? Sure, I had a bad feeling about it when the mangaka commented in volume one that she'd already covered half of the story as she originally saw it, but all of a sudden, I'm staring at the upcoming release of volume seven as a resolution for the story? It's not impossible, if by resolution it means clearing up the storyline of the two primary characters... but all the other major characters seemed to have stories worth telling as well, and one volume isn't going to be time enough for nearly all of them (or any of them, really, if the focus is where it should be, in wrapping up the primary line).
Media: Manga
Text: English (translated)
Story: Mizuki Shioko
Art: Mizuki Shioko
Publisher: Go!Comi (originally Akita Shoten)
No aliens, magic, weird planets, or extraordinarily skilled people? What's a story to do? Live on the strength of its comedy and drama, of course. There's nothing terribly special here outside of the characters, but they're the point and focus of the story anyway, so that's not a bad thing. As the American publishers said as the preview for volume five, anything I could really tell you about the story would be a spoiler... so, I'm better off not saying anything. I could just quote the blurb from the back of volume one, but it's exceptionally misleading, so I can't in good conscience do so.
As shoujo manga go, this is one of the better ones I've read recently. While the technical definition of "shoujo manga" is "comics for girls", that doesn't really cover the concept. If you can say shounen manga as a whole goes about character development through training and combat (please, use these terms training and combat loosely, this can cover everything from martial arts to racing cars to baking bread), then shoujo manga is more character-relationship driven. Put another way, most shounen-series characters develop their abilities, while most shoujo-series characters develop as people.
I only have two real gripes about the series. First, I had to turn off my brain just a bit to keep from bludgeoning it on the 900 pound deus ex machina in the room, otherwise known as how the main characters wound up together at the beginning of the story. Without spoiling it, let's just say that I had to promise my suspension of disbelief a week's vacation if it would overlook that one plot point. The thing is, I don't think I would've actually taken issue with it if the rest of the series weren't so incredibly normal.
Second... It's over already? Sure, I had a bad feeling about it when the mangaka commented in volume one that she'd already covered half of the story as she originally saw it, but all of a sudden, I'm staring at the upcoming release of volume seven as a resolution for the story? It's not impossible, if by resolution it means clearing up the storyline of the two primary characters... but all the other major characters seemed to have stories worth telling as well, and one volume isn't going to be time enough for nearly all of them (or any of them, really, if the focus is where it should be, in wrapping up the primary line).
2007/02/22
Incomprehensible Pricing
This is one of those things that cuts in favor of the reader, so don't think that I'm trying to complain here. I just don't get it, that's all. Anyway, to the meat of it.
In the U.S. marketplace, a volume of manga generally runs between $8 and $11 (some on the higher end come out around $13-$14), depending on publisher, size, and so on. As with any product, brought overseas and translated, the cost compared to the cost in the country of origin goes up for a variety of reasons (licensing, cost of translation, etc). In this case, that roughly doubles the price (400-800Y, ~$3.50-$7 as a rough estimate).
So, here's the thing that gets me: Translations of light novels (essentially, novels with a couple of pages of illustrations) are only running around $8 over here, while they're at 600-650Y (~$6) in Japan. All I can think is, companies are getting relative steals on licensing light novels, because I can state unequivocally that the amount of time needed to translate 300+ pages of full text is significantly higher than the amount needed to translate 190+ pages of occasional text, particularly when the art involved often lends clues to the translation effort.
In the U.S. marketplace, a volume of manga generally runs between $8 and $11 (some on the higher end come out around $13-$14), depending on publisher, size, and so on. As with any product, brought overseas and translated, the cost compared to the cost in the country of origin goes up for a variety of reasons (licensing, cost of translation, etc). In this case, that roughly doubles the price (400-800Y, ~$3.50-$7 as a rough estimate).
So, here's the thing that gets me: Translations of light novels (essentially, novels with a couple of pages of illustrations) are only running around $8 over here, while they're at 600-650Y (~$6) in Japan. All I can think is, companies are getting relative steals on licensing light novels, because I can state unequivocally that the amount of time needed to translate 300+ pages of full text is significantly higher than the amount needed to translate 190+ pages of occasional text, particularly when the art involved often lends clues to the translation effort.
2007/02/20
Whatever Happened To Spiral?
I sat down last night to try to solve that mystery. A little background: Two years ago, I received a web notification from the manga Spiral ~Suiri no Kizuna~ stating that, "I'm going to be published by Tokyopop. Please take care of my 4-koma." And with that, it disappeared without a trace. (For those who don't get it, go here and scroll down to the third paragraph after the title and author information section.)
No, seriously, in 2005, Tokyopop announced that they had licensed the manga of Spiral, and were planning to release it. Well, of course they were planning to release it... they're not like ADV, who just stop in the middle of things because they were bleeding money. But an interesting thing happened on the way to publication: Spiral vanished, and for a long time I had no idea where it went.
Having recently renewed my interest in the story, and since it's so incredibly text-driven that an English translation would be a wonderful aid, even though the Japanese volumes do have furigana, I set out looking for it. I suppose I could regale for a bit with stories of the death traps avoided (fan pages with less information than I already had), but the bottom of the mystery is this: Apparently, there exists some licensing issue between Tokyopop and Square/Enix, still unresolved to this day. The alternative is that Tokyopop has actually lost all hold on the rights to an English translation of the story, though they haven't admitted such.
The unfortunate truth is this: English-translated Spiral manga isn't coming our way any time soon. If you've watched the anime through to the end (the ending is around volume six of the manga, and follows a different path, since the manga storyline that it was loosely based on did not end until volume eight, if I'm recalling correctly), start brushing up on your Japanese and see if you can get hold of the tankouban, because that's the only available option.
Now, to end on a light note, I should mention that Spiral Alive has resurfaced in serialization (I forget which monthly it's running in at the moment), and there are a couple of vague hints at a Spiral movie in the future as well.
No, seriously, in 2005, Tokyopop announced that they had licensed the manga of Spiral, and were planning to release it. Well, of course they were planning to release it... they're not like ADV, who just stop in the middle of things because they were bleeding money. But an interesting thing happened on the way to publication: Spiral vanished, and for a long time I had no idea where it went.
Having recently renewed my interest in the story, and since it's so incredibly text-driven that an English translation would be a wonderful aid, even though the Japanese volumes do have furigana, I set out looking for it. I suppose I could regale for a bit with stories of the death traps avoided (fan pages with less information than I already had), but the bottom of the mystery is this: Apparently, there exists some licensing issue between Tokyopop and Square/Enix, still unresolved to this day. The alternative is that Tokyopop has actually lost all hold on the rights to an English translation of the story, though they haven't admitted such.
The unfortunate truth is this: English-translated Spiral manga isn't coming our way any time soon. If you've watched the anime through to the end (the ending is around volume six of the manga, and follows a different path, since the manga storyline that it was loosely based on did not end until volume eight, if I'm recalling correctly), start brushing up on your Japanese and see if you can get hold of the tankouban, because that's the only available option.
Now, to end on a light note, I should mention that Spiral Alive has resurfaced in serialization (I forget which monthly it's running in at the moment), and there are a couple of vague hints at a Spiral movie in the future as well.
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