Review Corner: The Clan of the Nakagamis
Sep. 22nd, 2007 02:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jukebox_csiAh, the second review I ever wrote. Again, this one is at Boys on Boys on Film where you'll find many reviews of manga, anime, films, and games.
Title: Clan of the Nakagamis
Mangaka: Homerun Ken
Publisher: June Manga
From the back cover - Haruka Iijima and Tokio Nakagami are student and teacher...and star-crossed lovers! If their forbidden relationship weren't enough trouble, they also have to deal with the rest of Tokio's family, the strange and insane Nakagami Clan! Not only are the Nakagamis all devastatingly gorgeous and apparently ageless, they're all completely obsessed with Tokio - and that means nothing but trouble! Can Haruka and Tokio keep their love alive in the face of such utter weirdness? And will they ever be able to have their first kiss? Romance and comedy collide as Haruka and Tokio try desperately to avoid the Nakagami Clan!
This is a prime example of why you shouldn't purchase a manga based on the cover alone. That's what I did, unfortunately. I only briefly skimmed the summary. It was the cover that enticed me to let go my limited funds and splurge on this title. It's times like these that I wish June' publishing would follow the example of other yaoi/shounen-ai publishers and give the potential buyer at least a five page preview of the manga on their site. I'm not personally opposed to buying the lighter boy love titles, though I have to admit I prefer the more adult oriented books. Some of the lighter mangas are just as enjoyable to read, especially for someone like me that wants a story more than a PWP. And with so many wonderful titles being released in English, there is a fine balance I must maintain between supporting the growing industry and my limited discretionary funds. That is perhaps why I am frustrated at not having some preview pages available for this particular book.
If there is one phrase I agree with in the back cover's description, it is 'the strange and insane Nakagami Clan'. The clan is made up of the mother, who looks like she is seven years old, the creepy yet handsome kimono wearing father, and older cross-dressing brother who is a descent looking man in one panel and a gorgeous buxom woman in the next, a younger brother that is coincidentally around the same age as Haruka and attending the same school, and a grandfather that looks barely thirteen. That is possibly the 'mystery' of the clan; that they seem to de-age as the years pass. The older brother looks the same age as his father, Tokio looks like a young teen barely legal to drive at the age of twenty-five, and the alcoholic grandfather seems like he should be in junior high with his looks. It's just a bizarre story that I'm not sure I can even explain enough to present any spoilers. All of them are intensely obsessed with Tokio - incestuous thoughts anyone? - and thwart the two lovers at every opportunity.
Within this book are also three other short stories using characters of similar design. The first is a detective story in which a lascivious, lackadaisical detective spends time interviewing to hire an assistant, though he actually wants the assistant to be more like a wife taking care of all the domestic duties such as cooking/cleaning, and eventually they solve a jewelry heist. The actual crime, and solving thereof, is done very quickly as the majority of the short story is on the interview process. The second story is a tale of two thieves that at first compete, then battle one another over one heist, realizing they want more and decide to become partners. Finally, the last short story to complete the book is about one boy going to spend the night at his friend's house where he believes his friend will want to sleep with him, since they have been dating for a month. He has an inner struggle with himself to decide if he can overcome his fear of the act he has never performed. It helps that his boyfriend doesn't jump him as he originally thought the other boy would. It ends predictably, the reader is to assume. Of all the stories in the book, I think I liked this one the best - if for nothing else than the characters drawn in this particular short piece were the most appealing to my eyes compared with the rest of the characters in the book.
The artwork is pretty, if very young boyish looking and/or effeminate ukes are your thing. That style of character doesn't generally appeal to me, and I longed to revamp the review I gave to Rising Storm after trudging through this book. Though I cracked a smile periodically while reading this book, if I had looked at it in my local bookstore, I most likely would have put it back on the shelf and purchased Shout Out Loud! instead. It really was a bit too bizarre for my tastes.
.
Title: Clan of the Nakagamis
Mangaka: Homerun Ken
Publisher: June Manga
From the back cover - Haruka Iijima and Tokio Nakagami are student and teacher...and star-crossed lovers! If their forbidden relationship weren't enough trouble, they also have to deal with the rest of Tokio's family, the strange and insane Nakagami Clan! Not only are the Nakagamis all devastatingly gorgeous and apparently ageless, they're all completely obsessed with Tokio - and that means nothing but trouble! Can Haruka and Tokio keep their love alive in the face of such utter weirdness? And will they ever be able to have their first kiss? Romance and comedy collide as Haruka and Tokio try desperately to avoid the Nakagami Clan!
This is a prime example of why you shouldn't purchase a manga based on the cover alone. That's what I did, unfortunately. I only briefly skimmed the summary. It was the cover that enticed me to let go my limited funds and splurge on this title. It's times like these that I wish June' publishing would follow the example of other yaoi/shounen-ai publishers and give the potential buyer at least a five page preview of the manga on their site. I'm not personally opposed to buying the lighter boy love titles, though I have to admit I prefer the more adult oriented books. Some of the lighter mangas are just as enjoyable to read, especially for someone like me that wants a story more than a PWP. And with so many wonderful titles being released in English, there is a fine balance I must maintain between supporting the growing industry and my limited discretionary funds. That is perhaps why I am frustrated at not having some preview pages available for this particular book.
If there is one phrase I agree with in the back cover's description, it is 'the strange and insane Nakagami Clan'. The clan is made up of the mother, who looks like she is seven years old, the creepy yet handsome kimono wearing father, and older cross-dressing brother who is a descent looking man in one panel and a gorgeous buxom woman in the next, a younger brother that is coincidentally around the same age as Haruka and attending the same school, and a grandfather that looks barely thirteen. That is possibly the 'mystery' of the clan; that they seem to de-age as the years pass. The older brother looks the same age as his father, Tokio looks like a young teen barely legal to drive at the age of twenty-five, and the alcoholic grandfather seems like he should be in junior high with his looks. It's just a bizarre story that I'm not sure I can even explain enough to present any spoilers. All of them are intensely obsessed with Tokio - incestuous thoughts anyone? - and thwart the two lovers at every opportunity.
Within this book are also three other short stories using characters of similar design. The first is a detective story in which a lascivious, lackadaisical detective spends time interviewing to hire an assistant, though he actually wants the assistant to be more like a wife taking care of all the domestic duties such as cooking/cleaning, and eventually they solve a jewelry heist. The actual crime, and solving thereof, is done very quickly as the majority of the short story is on the interview process. The second story is a tale of two thieves that at first compete, then battle one another over one heist, realizing they want more and decide to become partners. Finally, the last short story to complete the book is about one boy going to spend the night at his friend's house where he believes his friend will want to sleep with him, since they have been dating for a month. He has an inner struggle with himself to decide if he can overcome his fear of the act he has never performed. It helps that his boyfriend doesn't jump him as he originally thought the other boy would. It ends predictably, the reader is to assume. Of all the stories in the book, I think I liked this one the best - if for nothing else than the characters drawn in this particular short piece were the most appealing to my eyes compared with the rest of the characters in the book.
The artwork is pretty, if very young boyish looking and/or effeminate ukes are your thing. That style of character doesn't generally appeal to me, and I longed to revamp the review I gave to Rising Storm after trudging through this book. Though I cracked a smile periodically while reading this book, if I had looked at it in my local bookstore, I most likely would have put it back on the shelf and purchased Shout Out Loud! instead. It really was a bit too bizarre for my tastes.
.
