D(Fair)-Graded Comics

There are many comics that attract you at the first reading, but the ones that have you feel like returning are fewer. The titles below are some examples of “the rest of them”. They are enjoyable, or at least not bad, to read once, but I have not felt like picking them up again for years.

Go! Hiromi, Go! by ASO Mikoto

A contemporary comedy about an odd girl student at Tokyo University, the most prestigeous academy in Japan, who struggles her way to find her real goal in the life. I really thought that it had a good tempo and wit when my friend lent it to me, but didn’t get into the mood to buy it myself to keep on my side.

Candy Candy by IGARASHI Yumiko and MIZUKI Kyoko

A classic. I felt its art and expression too girly even when it was really popular in my childhood, but there were a few scenes that were not so bad.

Berusaiyu no Bara (Rose of Versaille) by IKEDA Riyoko

A classic masterpiece. But I’ve already read it twice, or perhaps three times, in my life. It is enough. Embarrassingly dramatic.

Juoh-sei by ITSUKI Natumi

SF. The characters were not felt close, and so the excitement while reading vanished in closing the book.

Oz by ITSUKI Natsumi

Same as Juoh-sei.

Wata no Kuni Boshi by OSHIMA Yumiko

Another classic. It was taken as a must-read shoujo in ’80s.  It is good, but I didn’t well get the reason of such a high esteem even at that time.

Sora wa Akai Kawa no Hotori (Red River) by SHINOHARA Chie

Historical fantasy. It seems all male characters fall in love with the heroine. That’s too much, isn’t it?

Utsuho Soshi by SUWA Midori

A historical fantasy about a mysterious biwa, the Japanese classic guitar. The unique story with a style is worthy reading once. But it didn’t come close enough.

Kaze to Ki no Uta

A classic that is sometimes dubbed a precursor of BL comics. While I pay a certain respect to this epoch-maker, some side characters are too perverted to read about more than once.

Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi by YAMAGISHI Ryoko

A famous classic. Historical fantasy. I was following the serial on time of its first publishing in the monthly magazine, and was tired in the middle.

Haikara-san ga Toru by YAMATO Waki

A classic of shojo manga. Historical love comedy. The gag there seemed quite old-fashioned even when I read this in 1970’s.

Banana Fish by YOSHIDA Akimi

Another famous classic. It looks like a sharp criminal story at first, but in reality it seems to me a melodrama after all.

 

The following are the relatively well-known comics that I started to read with quite an interest in the past but lost the energy to continue in the middle. Reasons are various. I might be able to reevaluate them if only I picked them up again…

Kisu (Kiss) by MATSUMOTO Tomo
Sukippu Bito (Skip Beat) by NAKAMURA Yoshiki
Saifa (Cypher) by NARITA Minako
Tsuki no Ko by SHIMIZU Reiko
Furutsu Basuketto (Fruit Basket) by TAKAYA Natsuki
Hajime-chan ga Ichiban by WATANABE Taeko
Asaki Yume Mishi by YAMATO Waki

Extra: List of “Out of the List” Titles

There are several titles that were so famous that I tried a bite but did not fit my taste.  Here is some of my nibble:

Hana yori Dango by KAMIO Yoko
 The fantastic four boys, F4, didn’t look good-looking.  The story seemed to go on in a too stereotyped way.

Hanazakari no Kimitachi e (Hana-kimi) by NAKAJO Hisaya
 The heroine seemed to be helped by handsome men too conveniently, and those men look alike.

Nana by YAZAWA Ai
 It seemed like the author was pushing too hard to make readers cry.

Dobutsu no Oisha-san by SASAKI Michiko
 I didn’t like the art.  Though it was supposed to be a comedy, I couldn’t laugh a bit.

N.B.: The above judges were made through only the first volume of each comic, and you know,  some like it hot, some like it cold.

Going to Hell

Title: Going to Hell

Author: TSUZUKI Shun

My Evaluation: C (Good)

Though I usually avoid “BL (Boy’s Love)” comics, I ran across this title in the very category, simply because it was digitally offered free for a limited period of time by the publisher. And guess what? I was rather moved by the story, in spite of the clumsy art far from flamboyance and the fact that almost all characters were gay. It is because Going to Hell deals with the serious love between two actors who are both very talented in different style. Their love is unseparatable with the sincere respect to each other’s talent, and the respect is after all gender-free.

Some homosexual expression is included but it is modest and minimal.

Story:

Kaura met Kuzuu when he was acting a small role for a TV drama. Attracted by Kuzuu’s natural performance and his air of a star to the manner born, Kaura asked him to practice acting together. When Kaura thought they became good friends, Kuzuu came on to him. Kaura, who had no homosexual tendency — at least so he had thought — until then, could not resist somehow.

Briefly after the incident, Kuzuu’s past life was revealed in tabroids, and he disappeared, seemingly abandoning his acting career.

A year later or so, Kaura learnt that Kuzuu had got a leading role in an independent film in Holywood and that the movie was making a surprising success. Kaura flew to the States on impulse, realizing his special feeling to Kuzuu, but his passion priority was on seeing Kuzuu acting in the movie, than seeing Kuzuu himself privately.

The more enchanted by Kuzuu’s brilliant talent, the more seriously Kaura absorbed himself to acting in order to catch up with Kuzuu. But in reality, Kuzuu was also enchanted strongly by Kaura’s subdued performance and by Kaura’s character…

Data: 1995-99, published by Okura Shuppan.

Shi to Kanojo to Boku

Title:  Shi to Kanojo to Boku (Death, Her and Me)

Author:  KAWAGUCHI Madoka

My Evaluation: C (Good)

A bit similar to Akaku Saku Koye and the movie Six Sense, the expression of the sorrow of leading characters is very good.

Story:
Matsumi was a young boy with very keen ears. He heard what people said to themselves, as well as what animals, plants and even vegetables murmured. But the most annoying voice hard to shut out was that of the dead. It seemed Matsumi attracted the dead spirits like a spot light in the darkness they wander, while Matsumi could only see them vaguely. The evil dead fooled and scared little Matsumi, while the weak dead pressed him to help them.
One day, after he failed to pop the eardrums for a couple of times, he heard someone’s voice in the far distance: one special voice in heart, sad but warm, of someone who could see the dead. From that day, Matsumi stopped shutting his ears and began searching for the voice. Almost ten years after, when he turned to a highshool student, he finally met the owner of the voice, Yukari, the girl who sees the dead…

Data: First appeared on Shojo Friend magazine published by Kodansha, 199x.  Now available in Kodansha Manga Bunko comic book series.

I modified the “favorite title” list.

Click here for the new list.

Ritan

 Title: Ritan (Return)

Author:  MIURA, Noriko

My Evaluation:  B (Very Good)

This is basically a comedy about a dead boy whose body was hit by a truck but whose soul took over a body of a girl in a temporary coma.  As you may know, this kind of situation is not unusual in manga, but as you may also know, starting from the same situation, there are many variations for the development of the story.  Return’s Miura has a very good sense about it: she makes you aware of “the loveliness of the life” after lots of laughter.
The work includes some moderate sexual expressions.

Story:
One day Kai, a highschool boy, rode tandem on the motor cylcle with Tatsuki, his best friend, and met a severe acciedent.  When he got aware in hospital, he was in the body of a stranger, Marika, a girl at the same age.  After rushing into his own funeral at home and seeing his body in the coffin that was desparingly damaged, Kai reluctantly transferred to his old shool as a new girl student where he met Tatsuki again who survived the accident.
At first, Tatsuki felt as if the god had listened to his plea to revive Kai, but soon he noticed it would be almost impossible to keep the same friendship as before with a girl of such an attractive appearance.  To make the story more complicated, there would be one day when Marika’s soul should return and Kai’s disappear eternally.  Kai and Tatsuki were bewildered about how to do their relationship…

Data:  Scanlation seems available here.

Akaku Saku Koye

 

Akaku-saku-koe

Title: Akaku Saku Koye/koe (Voice That Blooms In Red)

Author:  MIDORIKAWA, Yuki  (Yuki Midorikawa)

My Evaluation: B (Very Good)

I like this work better than the more famous ”Natsume Yujin-cho” of the same author.  The combination of the simple and warm art and the simple theme brings a breath of fresh air into my heart.  Closing my eyes,  it seems as if I could see petals of a red flower ( lycoris, according to my image) on that air. 

I only wish the art was a little easier for readers to understand the story, for the movements of the characters and the background look rather clumsy, though it does not damage the concept.

Story:

This is a series of small episodes about a high school boy Karashima and his classmate girl Kokubu. 

Karashima has a peculiar voice that no one ever can resist his order spoken in the resonant tone.  Thus, while Karashima seldom utters a word in front of his classmates, he cooperates with the police to capture fugitives using his voice.  The cooperation to policemen gives Karashima a sort of relationship with other people which he cannot get at school, but at the same time, he also notices the contacts with criminals may give ill effect to his own fragile personality.  The episodes repeatedly reveal Karashima’s fear and lonliness, but as his relationship with Kokubu slowly deepens, there turns out dim hopes to the future.

 Data: First appeared in LaLa (Hakusen-sha) in 1999.  Now available in Hakusensha-Bunko.

Modified a Former Post

I inserted a P.S. to “Onnanoko wa Yoyu” post.

MORIKAWA, Kumi

Cover: Burubon no Fuin

Cover: Nankin Rodo

Morikawa earned her fame in 1980s with her tragical spy story “Nankin-Rodo ni Hana-fubuki (Blossom Showers in Nanjing Road)” which laid its setting in Shanghai in 1940s.  With her other works being set in Venice in the 15th century (“Barentino (Valentino)” series) and France in the 17th century ( “Burubon no Fuin (Seal of the Bourbon Dynasty)” )for example, Morikawa apparently prefers historical themes to contemporary, daily situational stories.  She is good at making exciting stories with a dash of humor in complex, exotic backgrounds.
Her stories are difficult to follow because of her artwork; some characters look similar, and some happenings are omitted from the art, forcing readers to read between lines a lot.  Yet, her art is beautiful even in action scenes, and the stories are almost always logical.  I think what I like about her works is her sense of fairness.  She seems to study things from more than one angle.
For example, Nankin-Rodo deals with arguments among various interests, such arguments as between warmongering Japanese military officers and more considerate ones, between Chinsese supporters of Communist Party and those of Kuomintang Party, and between Chinese mafias and Europian munitioneers.  Even from the number of parties involved in the story, you may see this work would be beyond a “good guys vs. bad guys” picture.  You may see also that, although the story is focused on the espionage of a “good” Japanese team who tries to prevent a war, the team’s boss is described as more realistic than pacifistic.  And the leading character Huang, who is Japanese-Chinese, betrays the team to help Communists after conflicts within himself. 
This heavy theme matches the historical backgrounds Morikawa chooses and is described well in her ethereal art.

KOSAKA, Tomoko

I started reading Kosaka’s works very recently.  Finished so far are “T.E. Rorensu (T.E. Lawrence)” and “Awo no Maharaja (Maharaja of the Blue Stone)”, as well as first volumes of “Hana-bana no Utagoye (Songs of Flowers)” and “Bengara Goshi no Iye (A House with Red Grilles)”, and all of them are real gems.
Although Kosaka established her fame in mid-80s with the success of her masterpiece T.E. Rorensu, she was never such a hot selling comic artist as whose name you keep on hearing.
In my opinion, that is because her works are fundamentally based on objective observation of people’s behaviors, wise or unwise.  Even when a work takes the theme on adventures and a-boy-meets-a-girl type of love, it involves such issues as politics, religion, race and poverty.  As a reader, you are not allowed to be carried away by the one-sided adventurous story nor heart-breaking/heart-warming love story, as many young girls wish to be.
For example, some people may want to enjoy T.E. Rorensu as an adventure of an English hero in Arab in WWI.  Some may wish it as a homosexual love story, a so-called Boy’s Love Shojo Manga.  But it is actually all about why and how Lawrence was distressed.  He sufferes craftiness of both Europians and Arabians, he sufferes his own ugliness.  None of the characters are clean, and you are forced to think at least a little bit about the middle-east politics.
It is also true even in a more adventurous fiction as Awo no Maharaja.  This story takes place in India just before and after WWII.  The main characters are a cute, kind and brave girl named Moila, daughter of the British ambassador to a Rajasthan state, and the rich, wise, tender and charming Maharaja Silva, who eventually marries to her.  But put in the middle of the real history of the independence of India, this fictious royal couple bustles about seeking for the best solutions for many political and social issues.
Yet, Kosaka’s stories are not depressing at all.  It equally deals with the happy and beautiful side of our lives.  For example, you can rediscover the charm of the Oriental cultures.  Besides, Lawrence’s life is described beautifully, as he suffered as a sincere man.  The Maharaja couple looks happy when they fight together against problems. 

So I may be able to conclude that Kosaka’s works are like a cup of coffee.  It tastes good, because it is bitter and sweet, not all sweet.

Aono_Maharaja