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jukebox_csi) wrote2007-11-19 07:32 pm
jukebox_csi) wrote2007-11-19 07:32 pm
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Review Corner: Don't Say Anymore Darling
Ok, let's review one of the bazillion Fumi Yoshinaga books that have been licensed.
Title: Don't Say Anymore Darling
Mangaka : Fumi Yoshinaga
Publisher: June Manga
From the back cover: The only thing keeping Tadashi, a struggling song lyricist, alive is food handouts from Kouhei, a successful doctor. In fact, Tadashi has been leeching off of Kouhei for practically their entire professional lives. Before they arrived at this queer living arrangement, they once enjoyed a little fling back when they were in high school. Though the affair ended briefly afterwards, they've remained fast friends still. But Kouhei's parents want nothing more than to see their son settling down. As Kouhei is pushed ever more forcefully into an arranged marriage, will he finally admit that he sees Tadashi as something more than just a friend? This book, yet another masterpiece from Fumi Yoshinaga, is a collection of stories that are deceptively simple but which reveal an unexpected, sometimes shocking twist at the end. To say any more would be spoiling the fun - grab a copy and see for yourself.
The summary on the back describes the first of the five stories within the book. The first story is also the name on which the title is based. It is already well described from the back cover. The second story, called "My Eternal Sweetheart", tells of a boy named Arthur who has some kind of syndrome that prevents him from being exposed to the outside world. Even a dust mote could kill him. His brother, Ruffwood, is a top class doll-maker who creates androids for the boy to keep him company. The androids make up a surrogate family, in a way, but primarily they are 'sexaroids' who are designed based on Arthur's demand to keep him satisfied in bed and alleviate his boredom. He can only communicate with his brother via laptop connection, and each new android that Ruffwood creates is designed to keep Arthur's attention. But, Arthur truly wants his brother's attention. In a fit, he destroys all his androids rather violently to cause Ruffwood to visit in person, where he finally cries out his pain of being kept prisoner in the room for his own health. But, Ruffwood is unmoved. The promise he made to his parents to keep Arthur alive and healthy is stronger than his brother's tears. Arthur accepts this until he decides the time has come to end the game, and makes one final demand of his brother - an ultimate sacrifice that Ruffwood may find too difficult to face.
The next story is titled "Fairyland". It starts by summarizing that because humans had become so foolish and indecent, they were erased from the Earth by the heavens above. Ryohei Sawada has been wandering around Tokyo for a month, looking for any other living soul. It's like he is the last person on the planet. Just when he is about to give up, he happens to stumble across Kaoru Origuchi. Unlike Ryohei, who is confused over all the missing people and thankful to have found another living person, Kaoru is disappointed to find out that there is another human in Tokyo besides him. He is, in fact, content to be alone and misses no one. Kaoru had been bullied in school, and had bad scars across his body to show for it. Kaoru had wished them all dead, and didn't miss his family either. But through this confession, Kaoru breaks down. All this time, he thought he was the lowest for making the wish that seemed to send everyone away. Sawada analyzes the thoughts of the child before him, and absolves him of his guilt, telling Kaoru that he is not to blame. But the confession comes at a price that leaves an incredibly sad ending straight out of an episode of the Twilight Zone.
The fourth story in the book, called "One May Day", isn't a boy love story at all. Instead, it is a story of a man and his wife, and I found myself wondering why it was included in a boy love collection. There are some scenes of female nudity in the chapter as it takes the reader through all aspects of their time together. At first, the man is enamored with the woman. She is everything his first wife was not; subdued, old-fashioned to the point that she believes her husband's word is law, and ready to perform the most menial task to serve her husband as a 'proper housewife' should. But, as time progresses through their marriage, the old man finds himself growing tired of living with her, and being placed on a pedestal by her.
The final story is the "Pianist". It is about a down-and-out, has-been pianist named Takayuki Date. In the beginning, he reflects on his youth as an arrogant talent who grew rapidly to fame. With his handsome young looks and his magical fingers, he was the darling of the media with a line of men waiting for the chance to hold him. But he allowed his fame to drown him, neglecting his daily practice to the point where his fingers, rusty from lack of use, failed him and the world forgot about him. Even his own teacher abandoned him. Now that Date is older, he finds it hard to find an attractive young man to hold him. Those he manages to initially entice, give up before anything starts when they realize that the 'old geezer' wants to bottom; something that is apparently unheard of in an old man/young man situation. This sends the pianist into a deep depression as he wishes for a handsome, young lad to come hold him. But just as he reaches the lowest points, Ryoichi Yabuki stumbles into his life, offering him a carton of cigarettes that was accidentally left behind by a friend. Date begins to imagine different, quite comical and unrealistic scenarios between him and Ryoichi. But, he can never decide which way the boy swings and if Ryoichi actually has an interest in him. Coupled with his listlessness in life, his inability to decide what to do with himself now that he realizes how 'washed up' he is, there is really only one recourse left for him. He simply wishes to die. Only Ryoichi can save him from his course of action, but will it be enough?
I probably should have prefaced this review with the fact that I am not much of a Fumi Yoshinaga fan, ever since I read Antique Bakery. That may lead some to wonder why I even purchased the book. After so many comments from various people, not to mention almost all of her books being licensed by English publishers, I decided to give her another try. I'd seen enough posts from others who claimed that even though her artwork is not as enticing as other mangakas, it's her story telling abilities that seal the deal. To some extent, that may be true with some of her books. Her artwork is not 'ugly', per se. There is merit to her style, and some of her panels are actually quite lovely. There is, also, no denying that she is incredibly capable of conveying emotions on the faces of her men. But there is something about it that has just never appealed to me. Perhaps it is the perpetual frowns or odd shaped fingers. It is, though, tolerable to me if the story is well done.
Therein lays the kicker. These stories just aren't that great. Instead, they are open-ended, and incredibly depressing. They are all individual stories, not related to each other in the slightest, such that each can stand alone. And each sets up a scenario such that the reader feels sorry for the pathetic situations that the characters find themselves in, or sad at the unresolved endings that leave the reader wanting, as if waiting for the punch line. With the possible exception of the title piece, none of the stories have happy endings. For a person such as I, who prefers a happy ending, or at least a hopeful one, it was a bit of a let down after reading so many opinions of Fumi Yoshinaga's works.
The book itself is presented by June Manga. Though the paper didn't seem flimsy, it had a gritty feel to it - almost like a cross between newspaper and bond paper. One of the features I like about June's books are the size. They are larger than most other boy love mangas from other publishers, which gives plenty of margin, as well as ample space for all the action within the panels. Of course, the book comes with a cover; the flaps have comic strip scenes involving the characters from the title story. The sexual scenes are not overly explicit (do not show genitalia or penetration). It's interesting that the male characters' genitalia are not shown whatsoever, but there is no problem in displaying a woman's breast in the heterosexual story. Despite the lack of details, the sexual scenes are enough to garner the parental advisory on the cover, barely. In fact, the story "My Eternal Sweetheart" actually has several scenes involving threesomes and moresomes, something not seen much at this time in English BL publications. The sound effects are translated and lay beside the Japanese characters that they represent on the page.
Overall, I am personally not that impressed with this title. It's not the worst book my collection, by any means, but as depressing as it was to me, I doubt it will be one that I'll be pulling down to re-read.
Title: Don't Say Anymore Darling
Mangaka : Fumi Yoshinaga
Publisher: June Manga
From the back cover: The only thing keeping Tadashi, a struggling song lyricist, alive is food handouts from Kouhei, a successful doctor. In fact, Tadashi has been leeching off of Kouhei for practically their entire professional lives. Before they arrived at this queer living arrangement, they once enjoyed a little fling back when they were in high school. Though the affair ended briefly afterwards, they've remained fast friends still. But Kouhei's parents want nothing more than to see their son settling down. As Kouhei is pushed ever more forcefully into an arranged marriage, will he finally admit that he sees Tadashi as something more than just a friend? This book, yet another masterpiece from Fumi Yoshinaga, is a collection of stories that are deceptively simple but which reveal an unexpected, sometimes shocking twist at the end. To say any more would be spoiling the fun - grab a copy and see for yourself.
The summary on the back describes the first of the five stories within the book. The first story is also the name on which the title is based. It is already well described from the back cover. The second story, called "My Eternal Sweetheart", tells of a boy named Arthur who has some kind of syndrome that prevents him from being exposed to the outside world. Even a dust mote could kill him. His brother, Ruffwood, is a top class doll-maker who creates androids for the boy to keep him company. The androids make up a surrogate family, in a way, but primarily they are 'sexaroids' who are designed based on Arthur's demand to keep him satisfied in bed and alleviate his boredom. He can only communicate with his brother via laptop connection, and each new android that Ruffwood creates is designed to keep Arthur's attention. But, Arthur truly wants his brother's attention. In a fit, he destroys all his androids rather violently to cause Ruffwood to visit in person, where he finally cries out his pain of being kept prisoner in the room for his own health. But, Ruffwood is unmoved. The promise he made to his parents to keep Arthur alive and healthy is stronger than his brother's tears. Arthur accepts this until he decides the time has come to end the game, and makes one final demand of his brother - an ultimate sacrifice that Ruffwood may find too difficult to face.
The next story is titled "Fairyland". It starts by summarizing that because humans had become so foolish and indecent, they were erased from the Earth by the heavens above. Ryohei Sawada has been wandering around Tokyo for a month, looking for any other living soul. It's like he is the last person on the planet. Just when he is about to give up, he happens to stumble across Kaoru Origuchi. Unlike Ryohei, who is confused over all the missing people and thankful to have found another living person, Kaoru is disappointed to find out that there is another human in Tokyo besides him. He is, in fact, content to be alone and misses no one. Kaoru had been bullied in school, and had bad scars across his body to show for it. Kaoru had wished them all dead, and didn't miss his family either. But through this confession, Kaoru breaks down. All this time, he thought he was the lowest for making the wish that seemed to send everyone away. Sawada analyzes the thoughts of the child before him, and absolves him of his guilt, telling Kaoru that he is not to blame. But the confession comes at a price that leaves an incredibly sad ending straight out of an episode of the Twilight Zone.
The fourth story in the book, called "One May Day", isn't a boy love story at all. Instead, it is a story of a man and his wife, and I found myself wondering why it was included in a boy love collection. There are some scenes of female nudity in the chapter as it takes the reader through all aspects of their time together. At first, the man is enamored with the woman. She is everything his first wife was not; subdued, old-fashioned to the point that she believes her husband's word is law, and ready to perform the most menial task to serve her husband as a 'proper housewife' should. But, as time progresses through their marriage, the old man finds himself growing tired of living with her, and being placed on a pedestal by her.
The final story is the "Pianist". It is about a down-and-out, has-been pianist named Takayuki Date. In the beginning, he reflects on his youth as an arrogant talent who grew rapidly to fame. With his handsome young looks and his magical fingers, he was the darling of the media with a line of men waiting for the chance to hold him. But he allowed his fame to drown him, neglecting his daily practice to the point where his fingers, rusty from lack of use, failed him and the world forgot about him. Even his own teacher abandoned him. Now that Date is older, he finds it hard to find an attractive young man to hold him. Those he manages to initially entice, give up before anything starts when they realize that the 'old geezer' wants to bottom; something that is apparently unheard of in an old man/young man situation. This sends the pianist into a deep depression as he wishes for a handsome, young lad to come hold him. But just as he reaches the lowest points, Ryoichi Yabuki stumbles into his life, offering him a carton of cigarettes that was accidentally left behind by a friend. Date begins to imagine different, quite comical and unrealistic scenarios between him and Ryoichi. But, he can never decide which way the boy swings and if Ryoichi actually has an interest in him. Coupled with his listlessness in life, his inability to decide what to do with himself now that he realizes how 'washed up' he is, there is really only one recourse left for him. He simply wishes to die. Only Ryoichi can save him from his course of action, but will it be enough?
I probably should have prefaced this review with the fact that I am not much of a Fumi Yoshinaga fan, ever since I read Antique Bakery. That may lead some to wonder why I even purchased the book. After so many comments from various people, not to mention almost all of her books being licensed by English publishers, I decided to give her another try. I'd seen enough posts from others who claimed that even though her artwork is not as enticing as other mangakas, it's her story telling abilities that seal the deal. To some extent, that may be true with some of her books. Her artwork is not 'ugly', per se. There is merit to her style, and some of her panels are actually quite lovely. There is, also, no denying that she is incredibly capable of conveying emotions on the faces of her men. But there is something about it that has just never appealed to me. Perhaps it is the perpetual frowns or odd shaped fingers. It is, though, tolerable to me if the story is well done.
Therein lays the kicker. These stories just aren't that great. Instead, they are open-ended, and incredibly depressing. They are all individual stories, not related to each other in the slightest, such that each can stand alone. And each sets up a scenario such that the reader feels sorry for the pathetic situations that the characters find themselves in, or sad at the unresolved endings that leave the reader wanting, as if waiting for the punch line. With the possible exception of the title piece, none of the stories have happy endings. For a person such as I, who prefers a happy ending, or at least a hopeful one, it was a bit of a let down after reading so many opinions of Fumi Yoshinaga's works.
The book itself is presented by June Manga. Though the paper didn't seem flimsy, it had a gritty feel to it - almost like a cross between newspaper and bond paper. One of the features I like about June's books are the size. They are larger than most other boy love mangas from other publishers, which gives plenty of margin, as well as ample space for all the action within the panels. Of course, the book comes with a cover; the flaps have comic strip scenes involving the characters from the title story. The sexual scenes are not overly explicit (do not show genitalia or penetration). It's interesting that the male characters' genitalia are not shown whatsoever, but there is no problem in displaying a woman's breast in the heterosexual story. Despite the lack of details, the sexual scenes are enough to garner the parental advisory on the cover, barely. In fact, the story "My Eternal Sweetheart" actually has several scenes involving threesomes and moresomes, something not seen much at this time in English BL publications. The sound effects are translated and lay beside the Japanese characters that they represent on the page.
Overall, I am personally not that impressed with this title. It's not the worst book my collection, by any means, but as depressing as it was to me, I doubt it will be one that I'll be pulling down to re-read.