Monthly Archives: October 2010

Stepping on Roses Volume 3

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By Rinko Ueda. Released in Japan as “Hadashi De Bara Wo Fume” by Shueisha, serialization ongoing in the magazine Margaret. Released in North America by Viz.

I have to hand it to Rinko Ueda, she’s done what Miki Aihara and Kanoko Sakurakoji were unable to do: get me addicted to a complete and total soap opera of a book. This SHOULD have been the point at which I dropped this series – I even predicted this when I fist bought it – and yet something about this story compels me to keep reading.

We pick up right where we left off, with Sumi having run away with Nozomu. She pretty much begins to have second thoughts IMMEDIATELY, worrying what Soichiro will think, and she also begins to notice that her special guy is perhaps not the sanest of men. Which is only confirmed when he ties her to a post and puts his best crazy face on. (Ueda-san, btw, really knows how to draw a good crazy face. It’s not over the top in the way Higurashi popularized, but the eyes and smile are just wide enough so that you know this person is disturbed.)

Soichiro is bound to come to the rescue, of course, and he does. One other thing that I noticed might help my reading of this manga is that it was in Margaret rather than Betsuma, and so its page count is not as high per chapter (there’s 6 in this book, as opposed to the usual shoujo chapter count of 4 from the Betsu titles). This actually helps to keep things pacey – everything at the start moves at a breakneck speed, and even when things calm down in the 2nd half there are no pauses or lulls. It’s as if the artist knows the moment things slow down, people might start thinking about how ridiculous this all is.

Soichiro in this book has pretty much completed his switch from complete jerk to a mere male tsundere. His frustration with Sumi for just being sweet and loving and so gosh-darned-sexy is amusing, but not half as amusing as when he finds out that Sumi, due to her brother’s hideous past gambling, is a shogi master! Not only is this terrific characterization for Sumi, showing how much of her so-called ‘dumb’ is a result of her environment and lack of resources, but hey, smart girls are that much sexier. Look at his face when she clobbers the shogi expert at the end. It’s a wonder he waited till they were in the hall before he kissed her.

I was asking on Twitter for suggestions as to why I like this story, and someone mentioned the art. It really is well-done, showing that Ueda-san is not just another newbie artist. The guys are handsome, the girls are pretty, the action scenes don’t look hideously unrealistic… the art attracts you to the story, as opposed to simply being the vehicle by which it is told. Speaking of the art, I laughed seeing one of the sidebars where Ueda shows us a rough draft of a cover page, featuring Sumi completely naked (with hair covering appropriately, of course) bound by rose vines (I note the sketch is ridiculously sexy, despite the bondage theme). She notes she suspected Margaret’s editors would balk. Ya think? You want Sho-Comi, honey, it’s next door.

So yes, that might be the reason why I find Stepping on Roses to be addicting rather than off-putting. The art, the pacing, the heroine’s characterization… all of them are just that much better than the other examples of this form that I’ve read. Put it together, and it’s the difference between a manga that’s just good, and one that’s very good.

Dengeki Daisy Volume 2

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By Kyousuke Motomi. Released in Japan by Shogakukan, serialization ongoing in the magazine Bessatsu Comic (“Betsucomi”). Released in North America by Viz.

Well, the 2nd volume of Dengeki Daisy pretty much gave me exactly what I asked for. There’s not QUITE as much humor as in the first volume, and the more serious plotline is coming to the foreground, but this is certainly no We Were There, and the sweet, goofy relationship between Teru and Tasuku is still something we really want to see happen… but know isn’t going to anytime soon.

Even better, Teru is smartening up, and is not quite the same naive girl we saw going to a love hotel to ‘rescue’ her classmate in Vol. 1. Halfway through the book, we get the standard ‘come alone and don’t tell anyone’ plot, with admonitions from both Tasuku and Riko to NOT do that, and call them before she goes anywhere. Cut to her showing up, alone, to talk to her blackmailer. Not again, we groan. But no, this time she actually went and called them both before she went! It’s especially interesting as Teru sees it as her going down a dark path, and being less trusting. Whereas I think Tasuku and the others would call it growing up.

Tasuku’s desire for Teru (and it’s pretty well shown to be a strong desire, without ever becoming explicit) is another reason to pick this up. He’s already naturally conflicted by being older than Teru, who’s still in school; as well as by his past with her brother, and we also have his dual identity as Daisy, and trying to avoid having her discover that. Really, he has enough psychological issues for several volumes, which is good, as Dengeki Daisy is 8 volumes and still running in Japan. But at least he and Teru know of their own feelings for each other in their own minds, even if they’re light-years away from saying it. This is a refreshing change from clueless obliviousness or hardcore denial.

I do wonder if it will get more explicit later. Dengeki Daisy is a Shogakukan title, which already gives it a 75% chance of more sex than a similar title would for Shueisha. :D

The plot thickens in this 2nd volume, and we get intriguing pieces of the backstory, including finding that Teru’s late brother may not be as sweet and wonderful as we’d expected. Riko is also a nice addition to the cast, giving Teru a mentor figure to discuss things with, while being another link to Tasuku’s past (and getting carte blanche to kick him in the head, something Teru can’t quite manage yet). There’s a lot going on in this title besides the cute romance. I’m very pleased Viz has picked it up; one of their better new acquisitions.

Chobits Omnibus Volume 2

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By CLAMP. Released in Japan by Kodansha, serialized in the magazine Young Magazine. Released in North America by Dark Horse.

Well, I have to admit, they got me thinking about the concept of sexbots. Which I presume was one of the things CLAMP wanted to do with this title. There’s a whole lot of philosophizing in this 2nd volume of Chobits, and it would be interminable (it verges on it already) were it not for the fact that the quartet do make me succeed in pondering whatever it is the characters talk about, at length, in the 2nd half of this series, be it the nature of humanity, what love really means, or simply how much of this is a metaphor about otaku and their love for toys.

As I noted in the review of the first omnibus, this was an experiment for CLAMP, their first seinen series geared towards young men, and as such it’s a bit of a flawed success. I think they realized their strengths and weaknesses, as their 2nd, far more successful seinen series was xxxHOLIC, a series that may appear in Young Magazine but is clearly meant to have lots of female crossover readership (notably in the relationship between Watanuki and Doumeki). Chobits really doesn’t invite female readers as much, and even though the fanservice lessens in the 2nd half, it’s still there. (This is especially true of Dark Horse’s version, which has about 30 color pictures at the end, mostly featuring Chi in various innocent-yet-provocative poses.)

The buildup to the climax of the book is pretty good, balancing out between long-winded explanations and trying to figure Chi out. You get a bit frustrated with Hideki for not realizing what he feels for Chi sooner, but honestly he’s much quicker about this over the course of 8 volumes than most harem leads would be. And I do wish that while Chi is evolving by leaps and bound, that we’d see a little more of her moving beyond the childlike baby-talk Chi we got for most of the book. But then, having her talk like an adult would likely make the ending even more uncomfortable than it is.

Looking at the internet, I see I am not alone in finding the ending of the Chobits manga somewhat annoying. The anime chose to alter the ending as well. I suspect CLAMP were deliberately going for these feelings of irritation and discomfort, forcing the typical Young Magazine reader to think of what the relationship he has with his otaku fantasy is. But in the context of the story, I don’t think it works. First, though the placement of Chi’s ‘reset switch’ and subsequent need to avoid sex make sense before she finds Hideki, as her parents and sister want to avoid having her going down the road of anyone wanting a quick lay, there’s no sense whatsoever that Hideki is like this. What’s more, everyone agrees this is the case. And yet Hideki is explicitly told, “You win, you two are in love – but you have to stay chaste forever, as if you have sex Chi will ‘die’.”

I think this makes me MORE uncomfortable with them as a couple. It gives their love that unreal feeling, making her seem more like an object than we otherwise would. Which is not what you want to see from a series that’s been showing Persocoms having real, human feelings the last 8 volumes. Secondly, I think sex is a natural part of a loving relationship, and that denying it is denying part of what does make people human… or indeed a Persocom. Chi may never reproduce, but that’s not the only reason people have sex. And honestly, once Freya and Chitose have determined that Hideki is indeed Chi’s one true love, there’s no real reason they can’t do a quick redesign and move her reset button elsewhere. Chi may be more special than the Persocoms used for some as sexbots, but she doesn’t have to be the Virgin Mary.

So Chobits certainly made me think, and in that CLAMP succeeded. But I don’t think it’s a series I’ll go back to over and over again the way I do Card Captor Sakura or Reyearth… or heck, even X. CLAMP try to have their cake and eat it too here, presenting Chi as a fetishistic fantasy object (just look at every color insert, not to mention the numerous nude pics), but one that’s look but don’t touch. Which unfortunately reminds me of today’s modern-day otaku, decrying any cute anime female who is shown to have had a boyfriend before. Chobits is a cute love story with a dash of creepy. Sadly, the creepy is what stays with me.