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jukebox_csi) wrote2007-11-19 01:39 pm
jukebox_csi) wrote2007-11-19 01:39 pm
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Review Corner: Crimson Wind
Next up in the reviews, a Duo Brand fantasy book!
Title: Crimson Wind
Mangaka: Duo Brand
Publisher: DramaQueen
From the back cover: In the 500-year-old kingdom of Landa, young Crown Prince Linth receives lessons in fighting from a legendary general...followed by lessons in love and jealousy. Linth is tormented by the mystery of General Sei's torrid past with Prime Minister Touri. If only he were privy to these tales, Linth would know how Sei, a mere knight at the age of 17, captured the heart of Baron Touri in the annual combat tournament. He would know how Touri then plotted to steal Sei's heart for himself. He would also learn of a Cajal magistrate name Wiesen, who takes in a lost outlander, Angel. Angel has golden locks, puppy dog eyes, and a secret that will save Wiesen - if it doesn't also destroy him. Duo Brand exposes every secret in the much anticipated sequel to White Guardian.
The story begins with Linth, the Dauphin of Landa, reflecting on his lover General Sei. His admiration of the man is surpassed only by his love for the general. During a sparring session, in which Linth fails miserably, Sei makes innocent remarks about his ex-lover, Baron Touri, much to the aggravation of the Dauphin. Sei, of course, is oblivious of the inner turmoil in his young prince. The expressions he wears when speaking of Touri is enough to send Linth into a state of depression and sadness. It is something that Sei notices during their love making, but believes it has to do with Linth losing in the sparring match. Their romantic encounter causes Linth to be late for an afternoon appointment - an appointment that happens to be with the very ex-lover that causes the Dauphin such jealousy. Touri is not so blind as to know the reason for the tardiness, and when he makes a comment about trifling with "my Sei", the tension between the rivals escalates, ending the prologue chapter to begin the flashback to Sei's youth. The page that identifies the following chapter as the flashback is rather cute, with a chibi Linth holding a copy of Crimson Wind and wailing about wanting to know Sei's past, but not wanting to see his romance with the Baron. The following chapter shows the seduction and romance between Touri and Sei, from the moment Touri was enraptured by the beautiful young swordsman at a red-letter tournament, to his drugging Sei to indulge in a night of passion (dubious consent, though not explicit), and finally the drama of admitting their love to each other in front of a crowd of soldiers and servants. But, the young Sei is proud and recognizes the different worlds from which he and the aristrocrat hail. It is his stubbornness to not embarrass the Baron, as well as not yield to demands (rather demanding of the Baron, instead), that so attracts Touri in the first place. The story never touches on what caused the two to break apart later, in order to setup the story of the prequel, with the exception of a blurb in a one-page timeline at the very end of the book.
The second story involves a magistrate named Wiesen, who stumbles upon an outlander named Angel on his way home. Angel has rare, long blond hair, and is incredibly tall. It makes him stand out from the crowd, labeling him as an outlander. Angel is down on his luck, searching for work. He sold everything, including his sword, to make it as far inland to the capital as possible, and now can't even buy food. Wiesen takes it upon himself to help the young, admittedly beautiful man. For his part, Angel is awestruck at the kindness Wiesen shows him, having never been treated so nicely by anyone. When Wiesen has a coughing attack that is apparently some kind of affliction, Angel takes it upon himself to cure the magistrate. There is a strong attraction between the two, and they express their growing love for each other in a heated night of passion. But, it is in the aftermaths of this special night that Wiesen makes a discovery about Angel that tears them apart and threatens to send Wiesen into spiraling depression.
The artwork in the book is quite lovely, in my opinion. Duo Brand's style of drawing has always appealed to me. While I am not a professional art critic, it seems to me that tone and shade are well balanced, lending a clean feel to the panels. The sexual scenes, while not overly explicit, are still quite satisfying. The characters are manly enough, not stick thin or fragile looking. Though, it is interesting to me that Baron Touri manages to look both manly and effeminate at the same time. Long, flowing hair that would make any woman jealous, long fingernails, a fine delicate brow and beautiful draping garments are offset by height, musculature, and dominating personality. It is an effective way to distinguish an aristocrat from a common soldier.
While Crimson Wind is the sequel to White Guardian, it is not imperative that the first book be read in order to enjoy the second. There may be a few small nuances that may not be as easily understood without the prequel, but for the most part it is easy to follow without the knowledge of the first book in the series. There are actually two main stories in the book. The primary story between Sei and Baron Touri take the first two thirds of the book, while the second story that involves totally different characters, from both the prequel and the sequel, command the final third. Though the second story is its own piece with its own characters, it does integrate with the series as a whole, being that it takes place within the same universe at the same time period.
The book itself is fairly well done, a good presentation by DramaQueen. There is a color insert page at the beginning, a nice shiny book cover flap, and a preview of the upcoming manga Not Love" at the end. Although the paper feels of good quality, the book is not stiff. If I were to hold the book by binding and pointing it up, the cover and pages would partially open - not to the point of flimsy, but rather flexible. But, I never had the impression that the binding wouldn't hold. Another aspect that I rather appreciated is the total translation of sound effects. What I mean by that is the original Japanese sound effects were completely removed and replaced with English translations. While this may not be to everyone's liking, to me it made the pages seem cleaner and easier to read. There was a decent margin around the pages such that it wasn't necessary to crack the binding to read the inner bubbles.
One oddity, however, occurred on one page approximately half-way through the book. There was a note below one panel to "Refer to page 126 of this book". I imagine it was an attempt to point to a reference to better explain the panel where the note resides. However, I thumbed through the book twice and could not find one single page that was numbered. So, in order to find the referenced page, I would have to count to page 126. The problem with this, other than the obvious tediousness of counting to the page, is where to start counting. Is it assumed that counting should begin at the color insert (the actual first page of the book), the title/table-of-contents page, the blank page that follows the title page, or the first page of the story? The fact that having to manually count to page 126 in the first place is quite frustrating. By including such a reference note, at a minimum page 126 should have been labeled as such.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it to be a good addition to my growing collection. It would be a book I would recommend even to someone just starting their collection of boy-love mangas.
Title: Crimson Wind
Mangaka: Duo Brand
Publisher: DramaQueen
From the back cover: In the 500-year-old kingdom of Landa, young Crown Prince Linth receives lessons in fighting from a legendary general...followed by lessons in love and jealousy. Linth is tormented by the mystery of General Sei's torrid past with Prime Minister Touri. If only he were privy to these tales, Linth would know how Sei, a mere knight at the age of 17, captured the heart of Baron Touri in the annual combat tournament. He would know how Touri then plotted to steal Sei's heart for himself. He would also learn of a Cajal magistrate name Wiesen, who takes in a lost outlander, Angel. Angel has golden locks, puppy dog eyes, and a secret that will save Wiesen - if it doesn't also destroy him. Duo Brand exposes every secret in the much anticipated sequel to White Guardian.
The story begins with Linth, the Dauphin of Landa, reflecting on his lover General Sei. His admiration of the man is surpassed only by his love for the general. During a sparring session, in which Linth fails miserably, Sei makes innocent remarks about his ex-lover, Baron Touri, much to the aggravation of the Dauphin. Sei, of course, is oblivious of the inner turmoil in his young prince. The expressions he wears when speaking of Touri is enough to send Linth into a state of depression and sadness. It is something that Sei notices during their love making, but believes it has to do with Linth losing in the sparring match. Their romantic encounter causes Linth to be late for an afternoon appointment - an appointment that happens to be with the very ex-lover that causes the Dauphin such jealousy. Touri is not so blind as to know the reason for the tardiness, and when he makes a comment about trifling with "my Sei", the tension between the rivals escalates, ending the prologue chapter to begin the flashback to Sei's youth. The page that identifies the following chapter as the flashback is rather cute, with a chibi Linth holding a copy of Crimson Wind and wailing about wanting to know Sei's past, but not wanting to see his romance with the Baron. The following chapter shows the seduction and romance between Touri and Sei, from the moment Touri was enraptured by the beautiful young swordsman at a red-letter tournament, to his drugging Sei to indulge in a night of passion (dubious consent, though not explicit), and finally the drama of admitting their love to each other in front of a crowd of soldiers and servants. But, the young Sei is proud and recognizes the different worlds from which he and the aristrocrat hail. It is his stubbornness to not embarrass the Baron, as well as not yield to demands (rather demanding of the Baron, instead), that so attracts Touri in the first place. The story never touches on what caused the two to break apart later, in order to setup the story of the prequel, with the exception of a blurb in a one-page timeline at the very end of the book.
The second story involves a magistrate named Wiesen, who stumbles upon an outlander named Angel on his way home. Angel has rare, long blond hair, and is incredibly tall. It makes him stand out from the crowd, labeling him as an outlander. Angel is down on his luck, searching for work. He sold everything, including his sword, to make it as far inland to the capital as possible, and now can't even buy food. Wiesen takes it upon himself to help the young, admittedly beautiful man. For his part, Angel is awestruck at the kindness Wiesen shows him, having never been treated so nicely by anyone. When Wiesen has a coughing attack that is apparently some kind of affliction, Angel takes it upon himself to cure the magistrate. There is a strong attraction between the two, and they express their growing love for each other in a heated night of passion. But, it is in the aftermaths of this special night that Wiesen makes a discovery about Angel that tears them apart and threatens to send Wiesen into spiraling depression.
The artwork in the book is quite lovely, in my opinion. Duo Brand's style of drawing has always appealed to me. While I am not a professional art critic, it seems to me that tone and shade are well balanced, lending a clean feel to the panels. The sexual scenes, while not overly explicit, are still quite satisfying. The characters are manly enough, not stick thin or fragile looking. Though, it is interesting to me that Baron Touri manages to look both manly and effeminate at the same time. Long, flowing hair that would make any woman jealous, long fingernails, a fine delicate brow and beautiful draping garments are offset by height, musculature, and dominating personality. It is an effective way to distinguish an aristocrat from a common soldier.
While Crimson Wind is the sequel to White Guardian, it is not imperative that the first book be read in order to enjoy the second. There may be a few small nuances that may not be as easily understood without the prequel, but for the most part it is easy to follow without the knowledge of the first book in the series. There are actually two main stories in the book. The primary story between Sei and Baron Touri take the first two thirds of the book, while the second story that involves totally different characters, from both the prequel and the sequel, command the final third. Though the second story is its own piece with its own characters, it does integrate with the series as a whole, being that it takes place within the same universe at the same time period.
The book itself is fairly well done, a good presentation by DramaQueen. There is a color insert page at the beginning, a nice shiny book cover flap, and a preview of the upcoming manga Not Love" at the end. Although the paper feels of good quality, the book is not stiff. If I were to hold the book by binding and pointing it up, the cover and pages would partially open - not to the point of flimsy, but rather flexible. But, I never had the impression that the binding wouldn't hold. Another aspect that I rather appreciated is the total translation of sound effects. What I mean by that is the original Japanese sound effects were completely removed and replaced with English translations. While this may not be to everyone's liking, to me it made the pages seem cleaner and easier to read. There was a decent margin around the pages such that it wasn't necessary to crack the binding to read the inner bubbles.
One oddity, however, occurred on one page approximately half-way through the book. There was a note below one panel to "Refer to page 126 of this book". I imagine it was an attempt to point to a reference to better explain the panel where the note resides. However, I thumbed through the book twice and could not find one single page that was numbered. So, in order to find the referenced page, I would have to count to page 126. The problem with this, other than the obvious tediousness of counting to the page, is where to start counting. Is it assumed that counting should begin at the color insert (the actual first page of the book), the title/table-of-contents page, the blank page that follows the title page, or the first page of the story? The fact that having to manually count to page 126 in the first place is quite frustrating. By including such a reference note, at a minimum page 126 should have been labeled as such.
Overall, I enjoyed the book and found it to be a good addition to my growing collection. It would be a book I would recommend even to someone just starting their collection of boy-love mangas.