When I last left off reading, Emishi and Umayado were falling off of a cliff. (How classical). Then Umayado sees a procession of Buddhas, and has to stop Emishi from following them (what is going on here? The supernatural in the manga is pretty interesting, if rather opaque at this point. It’s kind of clear that
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Continuing the reread. Random highlights and notes.
In the last volume, Emishi rather blundered into hell, which Umayado was visited, leading to some kind of spiritual exchange between them. I haven’t discussed the art in this manga, which is probably a YMMV kind of thing, but I admire the usage of empty space in it. (It appears that all the aristocrats and royals lived in vast empty spaces.)
Also the last volume,
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Hi Izuru Tokoro no Tenshi, by Yamagishi Ryoko, is considered one of the early classics of shoujo manga. Sadly, no one has scanlated this (why? I don’t think it’s that difficult to read, in comparison with say, Rose of Versailles. The lack of punctuation can be annoying/confusing, though; I am not sure why they don’t have any). This ran in Lala, which surprises me. I read this a couple of years before, but towards the end I started to skim. Now that I have more experience, I’m rereading it.
As for the manga: It is the Asuka period, (read the article for an explanation of the title) and as always, people are squabbling over the throne and political power. Buddhism has recently arrived in Japan, and this has caused yet another power struggle at court. Soga no Emishi, one of the two main characters, is the son of Soga no Umako, a powerful noble who backs Buddhism. The other main character is Shotoku Taishi, normally referred to in the manga as Prince Umayado. The storyline is usually driven by historical events happening, which bring Emishi and Umayado into contact; but the underlying story is the slow revealing of Umayado’s character, and the development of the relationship between Emishi and Umayado. Like the (real) protagonist, the manga is not always likeable, but interesting.
Read moreThis book is basically about political philosophy during the Warring States period, especially how they conceived of the ideal ruler (and the not so ideal actual rulers), the 士 (shi） officials/intellectuals, and the people. This is the sort of book where the author follows the “tell ‘em what you’re gonna tell them, etc” style, so you can just read the intro and the conclusion to figure out what the point is.
Read moreHistorical work about Western Zhou and its geography. Somewhat dry, but provides a lot of interesting background to the fall of the dynasty. Western Zhou refers to the period during which the Zhou capital was in the Wei River Valley, the original domains of the Zhou clan; the Shang, who they defeated were located more centrally, around Luoyang.
Read moreThis book focuses on the apprentices at the center of molecular gastronomy, elBulli, in one of the last few seasons before its closing.
The book is fairly well written and pretty straightforward; nearly everyone comes off as likeable, and I hoped that the stagiaires succeeded in the end in their quests, after all of the work they did. (the labor involved in a restaurant like elBulli is incredible: normal restaurants do not have this amount or caliber of staff) I’ve never, though, had the kind of avant-garde cuisine served there: I’m not so sure if I would exactly enjoy it, especially since I tend not to like food that tries to go against appearances, although Adria’s food is more sophisticated than mere imposture. Without having actually eaten any of this food, though, I feel I can’t really have a real opinion about the debates which the author touches on in the latter parts of the book (a debate over molecular gastronomy breaks out in the press; well, more like a brawl).
[To be honest I tend to like to explore traditional and regional dishes more, although I respect Adria’s ethic as well. But probably this tends to follow my general aesthetic tastes as well? If you read this blog you obviously notice I tend more towards the fantasy side of the sci-fi/fantasy forum and am into historical settings. ]
Overbleed: Three volume seinen fighting manga. I liked the art, and the story was fairly good (although the main character’s progress is really unrealistic). Ends in three volumes, so you had might as well just read it rather than worrying whether to start it or not.
Diece: Nice art, but the first vol failed to grab me. Stopped reading.
Doubutsu no Oishasan: Basically this means Animal Doctor. As expected, it’s about some vet students. It’s a gentle and amusing slice of life comic, with funny animal stories. The main character is a young man living in Sapporo who decides to become a vet after an encounter with an eccentric professor who gives him a husky puppy. He figures that if he becomes a veterinarian, he’ll be able to save on vet fees for his pets. (It seems they made a drama out of this manga, also)
Ichi: This seinen manga is about… a female version of Zatoichi. Ichi is a goze (blind female musician) who has great skill with the sword. Art is good here. Anyway, she gets mixed up with the Shinsengumi and other bakumatsu figures. I’m inclined to continue reading (although my knowledge of bakumatsu is kind of crappy). Like Zatoichi, Ichi is an enigmatic figure; her thoughts and motivations are unknown to others, so I’m not sure how it’s going to go.
Cut for length. SPOILERs expected for: Scarlet Palace, Reimei no Arcana
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Inspired by the interview in Munakata Kyouju, I decided to try reading some of Morohoshi Daijirou’s works.
Ankoku Shinwa was published in the late seventies, and ran in Weekly Shounen Jump. Nowadays some think WJ is a bit violent (well, maybe just people in the West), but man, the dismemberment and the scary stuff in this story! Well, now that I think of it, Jojo’s Bizarre Adventures, which used to run in WJ, also had lots of gore in those parts. Ankoku Shinwa means “Dark Myth,” and yeah… that is a fairly appropriate title. The myths mainly come from the Kojiki and Nihon Shoki (with some fudoki (regional compilations) as well), with some Buddhistic stuff thrown in.
The protagonist, Yamato Takeshi, is drawn towards Jomon artifacts, and one day an old friend of his father, who was murdered when Takeshi was a child, shows up, seeking to investigate the death. They meet an old man who seems to know a lot about ancient myths, and then… stuff happens, and Takeshi finds himself being pursued by the powerful Kikuchi family while collecting mystical scars, making a contract with the transcendent principle behind existence (Brahman; ok, I guess Hinduism too), and running across recurrent motifs. As the old man, Takeuchi says, though, you shouldn’t be fooled by the myths, the gods were not benevolent beings. They were worshiped because they were fearsome and powerful.
To continue the nonspoiler section, you can’t help but compare this to Munakata Kyouju if you’ve read it recently, as it treats many of the same myths (but mostly in a different style, although some of the interpretations of Susanoo are similar); however where Hoshino is more Apollonian, Morohoshi definitely tends towards Dionysus. You get the impression that Hoshino wants to show us his interpretations of the myths, and the reasoning behind them, and he often ties them together with realistic events. Morohoshi does indeed create a “closed” world, with full-on occultism (the events are supernatural, but ‘occult’ really describes them better), and it almost feels like he… chooses to draw the most horrific things? Yes, if Hoshino sometimes edges into realism, then Morohoshi is on the edge of horror. The expressionistic style of the artwork (although probably that is more how art was back in the day) is especially effective in depicting things that make you jump back from the page. (The master at this is Junji Itoh, but Morohoshi is not bad)
Read moreLast volume of the Denkikou series. But fear not, there is another one after this.
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