all I want for Christmas is a subscription to Shoujo Beat

[cerusee]

Saturday has me standing in the manga section, after work, mulling over whether to buy Rurouni Kenshin v. 1 now that we finally have it back in stock, flipping through the translator's notes and suddenly realizing that the bad guys in this are the Shinsengumi, and Kaze Hikaru is about the Shinsengumi, and they were on the wrong side of history, and oh, oh, this is going to hurt.

jk.hbweruhwef

I did not buy Rurouni Kenshin.

O Kaze Hikaru, my not-so fluffy shoujo love. Plz dun break my heart.



In other news, I did not write two poems when I went for a walk up in Rockland Woods, but I was eaten alive by mosquitos.

Comments

[maypirate.livejournal.com]

You didn't know that? Oh Ceru. Be strong!

It's okay, Kyoto is still permanently enamored of the Shinsengumi anyway. As am I. And Aoshi in Kenshin is totally based on the the second-in-command cuz Watsuki prefers the Shinsengumi to the Isshin Shishi.

Also, Kenshin is beauty. So um...you should listen to me and this rambling comment.

Look, my icon is a Shinsencutie!

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

I'll read Kenshin someday. Maybe even in the foreseeable future! I was just in too much shock to be able to bring myself to buy it that day. Let me adjust to that fact that my new favorite manga is probably going to end in horrific personal and political catastrophe for the extremely likable protagonists, and I'll be right as rain unless I'm over there in the corner sobbing my heart out.

He looks like a goth Goku.

[maypirate.livejournal.com]

O.o

There there, seme. It'll be okay.

...I'll "goth Goku" you...

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

Nooooooooooo they're probably all going to dieeeeeeeeeeeeeee. Or some of them will die so the others can angst for sixty years. I know how this sort of thing works!

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

I take it you've never read Peacemaker/Peacemaker Kurogane? Ups the ante on the Shinsengumi angst in a *big way.* And it's gorgeous. (and gruesome, as all good manga about revolution should be)

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

Nope! Although that's reason enough to me to check it out.

Although I'm not sure I'm ready for more gruesome manga, after reading the latest volume of Eden! It's an Endless World. There is a limit to how much pain and horror I am willing to take on in fiction, no matter how artfully depicted.

[octopedingenue]

.....ahaha never read Uzumaki

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

That's the spiral-themed horror manga, right?

Icon love!

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

I'm fairly easily squicked, in spite of X/1999 being my first real manga gateway drug, and I can handle Peacemaker. It's borderline, but the violence is appropriate to the setting and the subject matter.

ADV did the first few volumes of Kurogane, but not the prequel series, but perhaps *someone* will release it in English some day... ;-)

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I'd read it, for sure! I've been holding off on Kurogane because I heard it was incomprehensible unless you read the first part, which was unavailable.

[greenapple2004.livejournal.com]

What ADV did that was stupid was release the first volume of Kurogane along with the first volume of the anime. Kurogane pretty much picks up where the anime (and the first series) leaves off, but no one apparently thought to plan them in sequence.

This will someday be remedied. :-)

[octopedingenue]

I so need to read both those series. (My flatmate has a subscription to Shojo Beat, ha HA! But it took me two hours to read through one issue because they are HUGE, so I've been putting off catching up. But now they're running Vampire Knight!)

Last semester it was very odd for me reading "Samurai Deeper Kyo" at the same time I was taking my Intro to Japanese History class. SDK is basically over-the-top shonen RPF and most of its supporting characters are cracked-out versions of famous Tokugawa Era political/historical figures, usually with OMGWTF results (e.g., the series' Comic Relief Lovable Scamp^tm historically goes on to a shogun remembered for virulently anti-Christian measures of executions and book-burnings). There were hilarious moments of Heartfelt Shonen Group Bonding Love followed by "...oh yeah historically we're mortal enemies huh oh well I KEELL YOOOU WITH MY MANLY SWOOOORD!"

[cerusee.livejournal.com]

Kaze Hikaru owns me in a way I have not been able to articulate, which is why no previous fangirling over it. I know the author is aiming for a high degree of historical accuracy, both in the visuals and the sequence of events, and I wonder if it isn't the sense of historical reality combined with shoujo tropes that strikes so deep into my heart.

(I keep trying and failing to compare Kaze Hikaru to 1776 in terms of its ability to enliven history in a way I find emotionally accessible. Then again, I know the history of the American Revolution fairly well, but Japanese history is a tangled cipher to me, so that may not be a good tack.)

As always, your commentary on SDK always leaves me torn on whether to try it, or flee from it. :D