Review – Ikigami
A child is full of potential. That’s partly why we cherish them so much. In Ikigami: the Ultimate Limit, the government has developed a vaccine that can protect the population from every single known disease. However, to keep the citizens appreciation for life, a small percentage of vaccines kill the child before he or she turns 25. A day before their death, a man delivers an ikigami or death card to the victim. Fujimoto delivers these cards. Unfortunately, Ikigami is a lot like a child just full of potential. It never grows into anything more.
I would be willing to accept that a government would do this except it seems so pointless. People can still die of random acts. Also, generally, an appreciation for life comes with age. So killing children and young adults might hurt the families of those children but I would think that the surviving population would only feel relief that they had survived, not necessarily a new appreciation for life. Having the vaccine kill-switch triggered between 25 and 40 makes more sense. However, the book does focus on the devastation the ikigami brings to the families so I guess I’ll try and move past this nagging plot point.
Fujimoto begins to question the practice but has to be careful because the big bad government kills anyone who questions them. Of course they do. In volume 1, Fujimoto delivers an ikigami to a bitter loser who promptly goes off the deep end and extracts revenge on his highschool tormentors. The story is designed to show the potential problems with alerting someone to their death; they’ve got nothing to lose. However, the overblown artwork makes it seem like the man was a psycho and it was only a matter of time before he went off anyway. In fact, his advice to a young child is ‘go off now, don’t wait’. Confusing.
In the second story a street musician duo is separated when one is tapped for stardom and the other isn’t. The would-be star receives an ikigami and decides to reconnect, in his last seconds, with his true soul. He sings a song the duo wrote and that song brings his friend out of a coma. Then Fujimoto begins to wonder if the ikigami isn’t such a bad thing but a gift that allows people to really live.
There’s a lot of unnecessary information about how the vaccine is made and how it’s recipients are kept secret. This extraneous information illustrates what’s wrong with Ikigami. There’s too much thought. Instead of being a story about human experience and limits of life, it becomes a commentary on government, crime, art, and duty. That’s too much. The artwork is also overdone. At times the characters look like they are in a Pokemon battle as opposed to dealing with a revelation (albeit an awful one). Tears pour over dramatically, veins bulge. These conventions don’t heighten the tension, they just take the reader out of the story.
I can see the potential in Ikigami because it’s not a bad idea. The format of a big story tied together by stort stories leaves the door open for lots of different emotions and themes. Unfortunately, nothing comes together in any tangible way. It’s not a bad but it’s certainly not good. Oh, and another nagging point that maybe someone can help me figure out. On the first page it says the elementary school is in Angleton, Texas yet all the children and teachers are Japanese. What’s the deal? Is this something that was changed for Western readers? If so, why?
What would you shoot out of the manga canon?
Kate Dacey asks: What Belongs in the Manga Canon?. By extension of course, she’s also asking, should there even be a manga canon? If you aren’t an English major (and why would you be) then you may not be familiar with the concept of a canon. Basically, a bunch of like minded folks get together and make a giant list of what they think you should be reading. Then some other people, from a different perspective, come along and point out the stuff they missed. Then you read it and wonder, ‘why the hell is this on the list’? Only don’t call it a list cause then you’ll look like a giant uneducated idiot. It’s a canon.
So go over and read the post because it discusses the points and pitfalls of making a canon. I’ll wait here.
The biggest problem I see with making a manga canon for an English speakers is that it means the entire canon is translated material. I think this would just make all the problems Kate discusses tenfold. By being translated the integrity of the original work is compromised. Of course, I’m all for translating because it means I get to read manga and I know that most translators do an excellent job. But still, that’s one layer removed from the original intent.
Are Americans really the ones who should be making a canon out of completely foreign material? Won’t we inevitably add works that appeal to our sensibilities without even realizing it? Other people will know more about unlicensed material than I will, but what about that?
What would we be saying with a canon like this?
I’m not entirely against the idea. It will be interesting to see what people believe is canon worthy through that American filter. What do a bunch of Japanese books say about our own experience? What do we see in these stories, especially those “masterpieces” that reflects our image?
Kate also mentions the issue of gender. Different perspectives is, of course, the canon’s fatal flaw. Shakespeare means half of what Kate Chopin means to me. How do you include everything that represents everyone? It’s impossible. Things will be missed, not because anyone wants to exclude them purposefully but because we just won’t see them.
I don’t know what the answer is on this one. I’m a huge fan of Top lists. Mabye we should do that? Lots and lots of Top 10 lists – with pictures.
Top 5 “Melodrama” Picks
I don’t want to give the impression with my Saturday post that I dislike emotional porn. Good heavens, no! Quite the opposite in fact. I’ve left my freshman college English major self in the dust. While it’s true that I don’t think teenage girls emulating the likes of Bella Swan is a good thing, I do think it’s perfectly wonderful to imagine that somewhere, sparkling in a tree, Edward Cullen waits. Hmm, I know far to much about this Twilight business than I should considering I couldn’t make it through the first book.
Ok, on to my top 5!
1. Vampire Knight – I do despise Yuki with her cow-chewing-cud stare but this story has three things that I can’t resist: Boarding schools, hot (shirtless) vampires and hall monitors with guns. Throw in the occasional ball and I am all over it. I’ve kind of quit reading but the first few volumes are yummy.
2. Absolute Boyfriend - so good. So so good. And here’s why. The love triangle includes a horny robot. I’ll repeat horny! robot! The first volume even features said robot, neked with a bow. I know! Making a robot fall in love and deny his robot self is unadulterated emotional porn.
3. You’re so Cool – Here he is, the bad boy. Not “bad” in the sense that he wants to suck your blood but really really bad. He’s cruel, taunting and you are the only one who can melt his cold heart.
4. Chocolate – Hello, boy band.
5. Fake – remember in those tv dramas, Moonlighting, X-Files, Bones – all that will they/won’t they stuff? Well this is like that only the Hayes/Scully/Brennan character is much hotter and also male. Be warned though, it includes a sweet side story that annoyingly gets in the way of the fun.
What are your top 5? Recommend some to me!
Back to Work/End of Summer Reading
I’m back at work! It’s kind of weird but believe me, I’m relishing the time to drink a cup of coffee and read my email without worrying I’m going to spill on the baby’s head or get my computer torn down by the toddler.
This may be shocking to some but maternity leave is no vacation! Still I did get to squeeze in a few manga these past couple months. Here’s how I felt about them:
Bride of the Water God Vol. 2
I had heard that the second volume doesn’t necessarily improve. The character development is still minimal, the plot is full of holes and the dialogue is laughable. Still, the artwork makes up for everything. I don’t care how insipid Habaek and Soah continue to be, if they wear those gorgeous clothes while flying past the moon in an elaborate ship, I will eat it up.
Uzumaki Vol. 2
There’s very little “horror” that I can’t handle. Uzumaki is pushing the limit. In this twisted (pun intended) volume, the terror is pushed up as the town possessed by a spiral, uh, spirals downward. I warn you, it’s seriously disturbing but brillant. The only thing that bothers me is that the townspeople have yet to figure out what’s going on. You would think that after multiple frightening incidents, including people morphing in snails for godsake, the folks would learn to stay away from anything strange or believe others when they relate that something is wrong – ah, but no.
Pluto Vol. 1
I should have read this title first. I’m a huge fan of Monster and was thrilled to see a couple of series by Naoki Urasawa. My comic book guy recommended it over 20th Century Boys, saying it was different than Monster and would make a nice change. Based on a single Astro Boy story, “The Greatest Robot on Earth”, Pluto takes the concept of a robot murdering serial killer and expands the world to a completely new level. There is obviously a lot of care and reverence to the master, Osamu Tezuka. I’m not sure why I resisted, perhaps because Astro Boy is my least favorite Tezuka title? Whatever the reason, I’m glad I finally got around to it.
So there you have it, my summer reading. Another good reason to return to work? The copies of Queen & Country and A Drifting Life on my desk!
07-Ghost Review or Why I don’t read Shonen
Here’s the basic plot of 07-Ghost volume 1, or as much of it as I could figure out: There’s a kid, Teito who was once a slave but is now an elite student at a military academy. He’s got his best friend Mikage and that’s pretty much it. He overhears something he shouldn’t and ends up having to hijack an aircraft. He crashes into a mountain but is saved by four (hot) bishops who take him to the church where he’s granted sanctuary and nuns give him a bath. Then, he has flashbacks and other stuff happens and a demon tries to eat his soul by giving him his one wish? But thankfully the bishops are skilled fighters and finally a mermaid shows up. Yay, a shape- shifting mermaid! He and the mermaid fall in love but he also has confusing feelings for Mikage. I made that last part up. But that’s what I wanted to happen once I got to the mute mermaid.
I realized then that I am not this book’s reader. I should probably not be its reviewer either but here I am. The problem with 07-Ghost is not that it’s a conventional shonen manga but that I’m not a conventional shonen reader because:
1 There’s about a million characters in a shonen manga and practically all of them are male. There’s only so many hairstyles you can use to differentiate the enormous testosterone driven cast and, inevitably, a few thousand of them are going to look alike. In 07-Ghost I have lost track of who’s who and it’s only the first volume.
2. The fight scenes give me vertigo. I have to hand it to the Japanese. I had never seen fighting like this until I opened a manga. It makes Batman look downright lethargic. There’s extreme close ups, fast action lines, panels crossing each other and blood splatter everywhere, it’s amazing. Unfortunately, there’s extreme close ups, fast action lines, panels crossing each other and blood splatter everywhere. I can’t keep up and usually end up flipping to the end of the battle and hope I can tell who won by who’s left standing. If the main character is in a battle that makes it easier since he’s almost certain to win.
3. The storylines are plot driven and therefore somewhat convoluted. In 07-Ghost Teito is a slave raised by a Father in the church and is a the true son of the King of Raggs. (Yes, the kingdom is actually named Raggs.) And they are protecting the Eye of Mikhail which is now in Teito but the neighboring kingdom broke a treaty and on and on and on. I can’t even get into the demons and church politics which are actually somewhat interesting. Now, if you’re a regular shonen reader you’ll probably love it. If you’re used to all the clans in Naruto then two kingdoms with about 10 Districts seems simple, I’m sure.
I have the other two volumes – thanks Go!Comi sale – so I’m going to be a trooper and stick with it. My final assessment is that it’s a conventional shonen series. It’s lacking the heart and humor of better series like Yu-gi-oh but for regular readers there is probably a lot to enjoy. Goodreads shonen readers certainly seem to like it so I trust there’s something there that I’m missing.
Twilight Graphic Novel
Come on, you knew this was coming! Entertainment Weekly has a brief article.
I could only make it through half of the first book and I haven’t seen the movie but I’m willing to give the graphic novel a try – if nothing else to avoid the saccharine writing that made me drop the book. I would much rather see Edward drawn like this than read about his “flawless” face.
Here’s what others are saying:
ICV2 sums it up perfectly by stating it’s “the closest thing to printing money that we’ve heard about this year.”
Melinda Beasi counts this as a win but not for the reasons you might think. (link via MangaBlog).
Deb Aoki collects some fan/not-so-fan reactions, plus a poll!
Webcomic Wednesday
Ever wanted to preview or even read whole chapters of the latest, high buzz new manga? Thanks to Rumiko Takahashi, the manga-ka of major works like InuYasha, Ranma 1/2 and Maison Ikkoko, you can!
Tokyopop Raising Prices, Dropping Quality
To be honest, when I first heard that Tokyopop was raising their prices by a dollar I wasn’t that concerned. I want manga to stay around for, well, EVER. If that means paying more for it than I will. However when the quality is so bad you can barely read it?
John Jakala over at Sporadic Sequential has a great post about the poor quality of new Tokyopop titles. You can see in his scan of Sgt. Frog just how low we’re talking here. The back of one page bleeds through to the next. Tokyopop who, like other manga companies, doesn’t flop their manga so as to retain the integrity of the artwork really lets me down. Because nothing says ‘we care about artwork’ like letting one character’s face show up in a nostril of a monster one page over.
I don’t know much about paper companies. Everything I know I’ve learned from The Office so I can’t comment on Tokyopop claims that they can no longer use the paper they once did.
I visited my local comic book store this weekend but I didn’t buy any Tokyopop volumes. However, I want to see the new titles for myself so I might go this weekend and browse.
Reading Over Shoulders
Hot enough for you?
Here’s a Warren Peace Godland review that, because I’ve never read it, makes no sense to me. Still, it sounds exciting.
If you’ve got kids obsessed with the Cirque Du Freak series then you might be interested in this look at the manga.
Kate Dacey, the Manga Critic, likes Canon. I don’t particularly enjoy that series or the manga-ka’s other series Yurara but I’m beginning to think maybe it’s just me.
Want to learn a new skill, try the Manga Guides!
Yen Plus review
Well, I completely forgot to bring the magazine with me so I don’t have much to reference. But I did want to talk about the latest Yen Plus issue.
I (finally) got my first issue right around the time my last issue of Shojo Beat came. So I was able to compare. While I’ll be sad that SB is gone, I actually enjoy the stories in Yen Plus a lot more. There’s more variety and I appreciate the edgier tone. Will it completely replace SB – I don’t know. It does what people have been suggesting which is combine shojo with shonen and more stuff for older teens. I’m still not convinced it works completely since, as a shojo lover, I kind of ignore the “boy” titles. I would much prefer a giant magazine of only stories *I* like to read. But who gets that?
Hands down my favorite story is Pig Bride. In this issue the gang goes to camp or something (missed the last few issues). Anyway, the pig bride is assaulted and has her mask stolen. The thief then ends up hurt and scared and our hero returns the mask. I swear they have names but without the magazine here I can’t remember them. This installment shows the dark side of all the characters. The pig bride is vengeful though it maybe a result of the curse. The hero is frustrated and lets it be his excuse to torment his stalker. All in all, it’s developing into a good character driven story.
I also enjoy Nighschool which is just good old fashioned, supernatural fun. Stock characters and the artwork has them all looking like fish with eyes on either side of the head but still, lots of fun. Plus the library comes to life and is a person made out of paper!
On the manga side, Soul Eater has won me over with its humor. I don’t get too into the fighting scenes but, like Naruto, there’s enough going on that I don’t get bored.
So in the end, despite all my irritation at getting the thing to my door, I’m super glad I did. I can’t wait for next month!
