A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow (Manga series review)

    I did it. For you dear readers. And maybe a little bit for my own to make sure I wasn't completely full of shit. But I did it. I reread all 9 volumes of "A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow." If you read my quick hits post a few posts back, I touched on volume 9. But basically, the volumes came out with such time between them that I couldn't always feel the emotional flow of the story and by volume 9 was just confused. So having re-read all 9 in quick succession, I can definitively say that this series was another disappointment for me.

    Quick synopsis: Konatsu Amano moves in with her aunt in a small seaside town when her dad goes overseas to work (we get hints that the mom has passed away). On her first day at school she meets Koyuki Honami, a senior, and sole member of the school's aquarium club. They connect and start a deep friendship.

    SPOILER WARNING: I will be talking about the overall emotional arc and "ending(?)" to this series. So if you don't want spoilers, don't read any further.

    Last chance? Okay, still reading?

    Here's what I hate in recent "yuri" (I hesitate to call this series yuri, but whatever, that's for another rant): I hate when a story is too weak kneed to commit to what it's trying to say, what it wants it's characters to mean when they say or feel things, and what it actually wants the central relationship to be. Life isn't as obtuse and faux-literary as these writers seem to make it. People either are or are not friends, they either have romantic feelings for someone or they don't, and no one soliloquizes in oblique terms the way the dialogue and internal monologues are written. 

    Long story short, I have NO idea whether Konatsu and Koyuki either a) have feelings for each other, or one for the other, but not reciprocal, b) are just friends, c) are more than friends in actuality, d) know what the fuck is going on in their own story. I think (surmise?) after re-reading it, that the author wanted to appeal to a broad range of folks, folks who like friendship stories, folks who want actual gay representation (yes, it feels queer bait-y to me), boys who want to look at cute girls in a "slice of life" story, and women looking for deep emotional stories regardless of the themes. But in it's attempt to cover all those bases, it covers none with any value.

    People will disagree with me, they'll say that the parallel between the salamander and frog story ("The Salamander" by Ibuse Masuji - frequently and openly paralleled throughout) and the two girls perfectly captures this time of pubescent transience, where people are starting to figure out who they are, where relationships are both powerful and fleeting, and where relationships are about how they change you and now how they last. "The Salamander" also explores how powerful feelings can also cover over the limits that a relationship imposes on a person's growth. Sure. Fine. Make that argument that "A Tropical Fish" really gets at what Masuji was addressing. It's valid. But the mangaka still wrote this manga like crap. The ambiguity is not profound here. It's not enlightening. It's not thought provoking. It doesn't add to, expand on, or even really get at the heart of Masuji's points. This manga is just intentionally non-committal writing to pander to a wide audience without actually adding anything of literary value. 

    Let's examine two vastly superior examples of where ambiguity can work if written well and contrast those with this middling series. The first, an anime movie in my top 5, is "Liz and the Blue Bird." I have watched it many times. I liked it at first, but honestly had some of the same reservations as I did with "A Tropical Fish." However, after many re-watchings, I realized that it had a very strong character development arc that I missed at first (It turns out it's actually a film about Nozomi's growth more than anything, and her realization at the end is powerful - it also does a better job at reflecting on the story of "The Salamandar" than "A Tropical Fish" does, even though that story isn't in it). It also did very well with using a parable story to reflect on the main narrative (I wonder if the made-up parable here was actually a rewrite of "The Salamander" hmmm). And, while it never makes clear whether Nozomi and Mizore are dating, it works equally well as a story of two close friends as well as one of two dating teens. So although their relationship is ambiguous (especially without watching "Sound! Euphonium") the ambiguity doesn't sabotage anything. Read their relationship either way and the emotional and character development arc works equally well. It also has depth that continues to reveal itself with each viewing, something that I did not find in my re-reading of "A Tropical Fish"

    Looking now, with no surprise to my regular readers, at "Maria-Sama Ga Miteru" (Maria Watches Over Us, aka Marimite). For those unfamiliar (and really, why aren't you familiar with it if you're reading this blog, if you have any interest in yuri, this series is the epitome), it is the story of girls at an all girls catholic school in Japan with a system of formalized big sister/little sister mentor/friendship pairings. This series too is oozing with ambiguity. Are the various characters friends? Are they lovers? There is only one openly lesbian character. But the other relationships certainly could be read that way. Or they could be read in the way of deepest friendships, transcending even the Anne of Green Gables "Bosom Friends" concept. But again, that ambiguity doesn't matter. It doesn't diminish the emotional intensity of the interactions, it isn't necessary to understand them. Emotions are clear, they are talked about, they are expressed. Characters change (Yumi's arc is awesome. Touko!!! Don't even get me started on my appreciation for Touko's arc - totally team Touko over here). The plots are clear. The motivations are clear. The arcs are clear. 

    And that, my readers, is my biggest problem with "A Tropical Fish." It is just poorly written. It's as if someone tried to write something like those two vastly superior series and confused obtuse, non-committal writing, for nuance and thoughtfulness and actual character development. "A Tropical Fish" just isn't well written. If the relationship had been defined, then it would be a fine (but by no means good or great) series. If they were just friends then some of the more overly dramatic emotions probably wouldn't have come up, and maybe the author could have focused more on how their friendship spurred each on to better define what their next life steps would be (certainly an element to the "ending" of the story). Or, if they were actually in (or pursuing) a relationship with each other then some of the more overly dramatic parts could have been further clarified and thus would have made emotional sense. But because the relationship isn't defined, and the writing is so bland, the emotions somewhat implausible, and the "purpose" of the series so ill-defined, it just all seems superfluous. It's almost like what you would get if you asked an "AI" (scare quotes intended) algorithm to write a yuri manga series. It superficially resembles yuri in every way, but has no actual human insight or touch at it's core.

    Some final thoughts: 1) I put "ending" in quotes at the beginning because another problem with this series is that it doesn't have an ending. Yes, the characters go their separate ways...or do they? Just like it wouldn't commit to friends vs. romance, it doesn't commit to their separation either. It really feels like it was written for "shippers" rather than having any purpose itself. 2) The art is decent, I like the somewhat odd use of thick lines along with more precise work and a sketchy feel. It isn't great. But it is interesting. It also looks a little less formulaic than many have lately. I do wish for more screen tones, detailed backgrounds, atmosphere, etc... but for what it is, it's not bad.

    SPOILERS OVER.

    Should you read it? Only if you want a frustratingly purposeless, formless, mediocrely written story of two high school girls who have a variety of ill-expressed "feelings" about "things" and also train fish to swim through hoops. Mostly, it ended up being a waste of time. In some ways, despite my frustrations with the series "If I Could Reach You," at least that series ended with some semblance of character development even if it left many dangling threads (I really liked some of the side characters who got short shrift as the series went on). But "A Tropical Fish Yearns for Snow" is just one bland, ill-defined, and yuri-by-committee feeling mess." Maybe don't spend your money on it?

✩🚺

Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth (Graphic Novel Review)

    I have been eagerly awaiting the release of Zoe Thorogood's auto-biographical graphic novel "It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth" for quite a while, ever since I stumbled on her art on Instagram. While waiting for it, I read her prior release, "The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott," and reviewed that in my prior post. I'm happy to say that "It's Lonely" was everything I had hoped from the promise of her earlier work and the art she's been posting.

    As longtime readers of mine will know, whenever reviewing something auto-biographical, I will not judge the actual "plot" as that isn't fair to a real person who lead a real life. I think it is incredibly brave when someone releases something as personal as "It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth." So this is not meant to be the type of critical review I might otherwise write. That being said, I really was glad to have purchased it and it is a very well done and moving work.

    "It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth" traces approximately 6 months in Zoe Thorogood's life as she prepares for a comic convention and a trip to the United States from her native UK. More than anything, it is a chronical of her life with major depressive disorder. In that, much like Allie Brosh's "Hyperbole and a Half" and Kabi Nagata's "My Lesbian Experience with Loneliness" there isn't a tight narrative arc or a firm resolution. Major Depressive Disorder doesn't work that way. Instead, it's about little realization and little victories, and in that light, "It's Lonely at the Center of the Earth" holds its own against those phenomenal works I just mentioned.

    As someone who has suffered from chronic major depression my entire life, Zoe Thorogood's depiction of depression hit the mark. The relentlessness of it, coloring over every experience, reducing life to a bland gray mixed with suicidal ideation. This isn't a book for those looking to be uplifted. In fact, Thorogood even mentions the empty platitudes people will hurl about trying to be helpful, and how unhelpful they actually are. 

    And I want to take a moment to expand on that thought. Too many people still think that major depressive disorder is somehow situational, that some "fix" will make it all better, that if only a few things were different, of if you count your blessings, that everything would be okay. But that's not how it works (for the most part, there are exceptions to everything). It's biological, it's neurochemical. So here is a young woman, age 23/24, who is (objectively speaking and not intending to objectify) incredibly beautiful, with insane artistic talent (and actually working in that field). It would be easy for people to say "she's got everything, what does she have to be sad about?" And that is what misses the point in the judgment that often surrounds depression. I frankly think that someone who superficially seems to have it all being so nakedly honest about how bad her depression is is exactly the type of counter narrative we need to continue moving the discussion of depression and mental health challenges out of the shadows and ending the stigma. So for that, upon many other reasons, I highly recommend and am thankful for this book.

    But before I even knew what it was about, it was her art on Instagram that hooked me. Where "Billie Scott" showed promise, "It's Lonely at the Centre of the Earth" makes good on that promise. The line work, the anatomy, the compositions in "Billie Scott" were uneven. Sometimes well executed, sometimes a bit unintentionally loose. But in "It's Lonely," Thorogood shows that she is reaching mastery of her craft. There is so much intentionality to her line work. It's tight and precise when she needs it to be, and lose and free when that's what the narrative demands. She appears in full control of her skill here and it's wonderful. She shows a level of drafts-person-ship that feels truly artistic in a way that lots of traditional comics don't (in their blandness) and that simply isn't usually the focus of the indie scene. She brings truly strong drafting to the indie space and it results in incredible art. Additionally, her compositions are varied and occasionally even collage-like. She mixes black and white with spot color with full color in exciting narrative ways. I recommend this for her art alone. She is truly the future of comics as so many in her own auto-bio like to say. 

    I do also want to talk for a moment about her writing. "Billie Scott" showed gumption, trying to tackle a pretty complex set of themes and people and settings. But like the art, it was uneven. In "It's Lonely" the story is loser in that it's her life mixed with existential and internal dialogues. That looseness lends itself to her visual storytelling chops. But there is still enough narrative and prose, even within the auto-bio context, to show that she has something to say and the burgeoning skill to say it well. I think the two works combined show that she will be a force with storytelling and not just art as she continues to grow in her career. If I'm not mistaken, she's working on another fiction piece, so it'll be fun to see the growth in storytelling from these prior two works.

    Basically, if you like great comic art, buy this book. If you want to read a strong depiction of major depressive disorder, buy this book. If you like deeply personal memoirs, buy this book. I definitely recommend it.

✩🚺

Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

Short Takes - what I've been reading and watching since August

Hi all, can't believe it's already mid-November. My lack of posting hasn't been for a lack of reading and watching, simply a too-busy (but good-busy) life. Moved my daughter off to college, the start of the school year (I work in education) was simply bonkers, started taking drum lessons, and I've finally started dating (my new girlfriend is so awesome!).  So here are some quick thoughts on all the media I've been consuming. Enjoy:

Anime

Spy X Family

    I didn't have much hope for this. I was vaguely aware of the hype around it. I didn't know much of anything about it. I'm not sure why, but it didn't seem terribly interesting. Instead, it was probably the season's best anime by far. It was funny (actually laugh out loud funny), sweet (romantic and parental sweetness), and some good action (which isn't usually my thing in anime, but from time to time I don't mind). It is smartly written and varied enough from episode to episode to never feel the least formulaic. 

    If I had to quibble, our lead female character, Yor, is a mixed bag. First, I really like her character. She's cute, and sweet, and yet fierce and an assassin, but a good fake parent, and odd, and all sorts of quality characteristics. But at the same time, she's presented with some superficial meekness - the mid-twenties, office girl, shy, doesn't speak much, etc... that seems to go unquestioned in many a portrayal of women in anime/manga (or is the selling point - see "Komi Can't Communicate"). I don't think the writers of Spy X Family are trying to actively critique that "meek anime girl" stereotype when they also have Yor be an assassin. I think it's more like they are juxtaposing the two sides of her without any social commentary on the outdated depiction of women (or maybe even the outdated role of women in Japanese society). But, like I said, all that aside, I actually like her character a lot and the scenes of her coming home covered in blood as a teenager and then sitting down to help her brother with homework or whatever were really darkly funny. Basically, if you haven't watched this, you really are depriving yourself. 

    While not an all-time great show by any stretch, it is a supremely enjoyable watch and I can't wait for season two.

Kageki Shojo!!

    If you've been reading this blog, then maybe you've read some of my reviews of the Kageki Shojo!! manga. I've felt that it's been okay, but not great, and not quite what I thought when I first started reading it. That made watching the show an interesting venture. Compared to the manga, I actually enjoyed the show a bit more. I think it slightly streamlined and slightly altered the focus. Part of what confused me with the manga was the prologue volume "The Curtain Rises" which focuses on her roommate Ai. I really like Ai's character and was excited for her story. I also, and I need to re-read it, but I also for some reason thought there was potential for romantic feelings between Ai and Sarasa which never has gone anywhere in the main story. So I thought it was a yuri comic, but it really isn't. Knowing that, I could watch the anime without false hope. 

    So being a slightly more linear way of telling the story, with none of my emotional baggage dragging it down, I could focus on Sarasa and the general story. By that token, it's okay, still not great, but at least less disappointing for me. I don't think the animation is very good. Sort of a blandly normal color palette (more just a general laziness of colors, like they only had a basic water color set or something - the sky is random blue, the grass is random green) and simple but not in a stylish way. There's also some occasional anatomical awkwardness which is especially concerning with the dance (and boy howdy did I just get reamed out in the comment section of another review of mine when I critiqued the animation of another dance anime even though my F-ING SISTER is a professional ballet dancer and I've been watching dance my whole life - but noooooooo it's clearly not possible that I might feel that some dance pose wasn't well animated and how dare I note that! But I still posted that anonymous commenters frustrations at my review for the sake of discourse, anyway, I digress.) 

    So the story is okay, but I don't feel really emotionally invested. We're told right from the beginning that Sarasa is uniquely talented and going to do amazing things in the theater world. So if the end of this series is just her rising to the top of Kouka, then what's the point unless the journey is meaningful. So far, it really hasn't been. However, if it had been the backdrop of a yuri romance then I'd be all for that, or even if she had seemed more torn about leaving Kabuki behind, that would help. 

    What would be really awesome if it takes a turn and somehow she leaves Kouka to force her way back into Kabuki AND she and Ai start to develop feelings for each other! That would be interesting. But now, this feels more like a middle-school oriented story of a plucky and talented girl who everyone just can't help but rooting for sort of story. Which is fine, but meh. So the anime was a little better in some ways than the manga, but not sufficiently so. 

Manga

A Tropical Fish Years for Snow Volume 9

    What an infuriating series. I'm going to have to go back and re-read the whole thing to see if I missed the point or some crucial information along the way. Certainly the last few volumes have been confusing and nearly pointless. Volume 9 completes the story, but I'm not sure anymore what the story was? Was this about two friends whose lives briefly intersected? Was it two girls who realized they had romantic feelings for each other? I can't even figure out what caused their growing distance over the last few volumes. 

    At least for now, without re-reading it, it seems like a classic fake-yuri for the sake of capitalizing on the yuri genre, but not having anything really meaningful to say type of manga. So many are like this (at least of what gets translated to English). It's like they're afraid to either just tell a story about two female friends and make it clearly that. Or they're afraid to tell a story of actually gay teens. Or they're trying so hard for the unspoken subtext of a series like Maria Watches Over Us but not in the least bit understanding how meaningful subtext is created. And most infuriating to me is that it displays that awful manga convention of completely meaningless existential fake feelings with no moorings in any actual way real people think so that it seems meaningful but it's just pretentious nonsense writing. 

    Again, maybe I missed something. I wanted to re-read all nine volumes before writing this. But you know what? I had more fun things to spend my free time on. Maybe down the road I'll re-read it an like it more. But for now it honestly seems like it wasn't willing to commit to it's two teen girls having the least big of agency over their own feelings, ownership of their own feelings, or any ability to write a coherent and meaningful story in any way. What was the freakin point of this series?

    Stay tuned for my re-review of the entire series as I'm almost done rereading it all.

If I Could Reach You Volume 7

    This is the final volume in yet another infuriating series. However, I did re-read this final volume three times before writing this, and much like how when I was a teen I hated the ending of "Chasing Amy" but as an adult realized that although it wasn't the story book ending it was the actual correct ending, I think this volume improved with each read. 

    That being said, the overall story of this series sucked! There are two options for it as I see it. Option 1: actually have Uta and Kaoru get together and just go with the whole not-quite-incest thing. Or option 2: have Uta's feelings be one-sided and a school-girl crush and have Kaoru not even remotely lean into those feelings. But it sort of ends up in the middle. Closer to option 2, but not quite enough. I still think, that much like A Tropical Fish above, it thinks that ambiguity is a great way to be a great writer. Well it isn't. This isn't some experimental piece of literature. You're not writing a tone poem comic book. You're telling yet another fake yuri story but refusing to commit either way to writing people as real people. 

    Just like I love Takako Shumura's stories because everyone is messy and complicated and it doesn't work in the fantasy way we like but that's what makes it actually like real life, I dislike this story because they don't feel like they could be real people. That criticism having now been said, the volume and the story did improve with subsequent readings. I just wish it had owned some of the following things a bit more. Kaoru, as flawed as the writing is, is fascinating to me because I can very much see a young woman without much family falling very hard for a young man who is kind and family oriented and a protector.  It makes sense that Kaoru ends up with Uta's brother. And I think her coming to realize that what she wanted at 18 (parents) is different than she wants in her 20s (a partner). I think where it leaves off with Kaoru starting over at the end would actually make a very compelling start to a series I'd much rather read.  

    Turning to Uta's brother, I don't quite understand why he thinks he has to marry Kaoru just because of the "death bed promise" (sarcasm for a classic manga cliché plot device) he makes with her mother. That just doesn't feel real to me (and I know it doesn't have to be real - but we still want character motivations to make sense and be relatable or at least plausible). This isn't some fable from the 12th century where he's honor bound in that way. And it isn't some grade-school cartoon where plot, character, and sense don't matter. This is just a stupid, quick, lazy plot point to force the story into motion rather than an authentic reason why they married but shouldn't have. 

    Are authors just not putting in effort and just taking the easy way out for a high-school girl audience? Maybe I've just hit the nail on the head with this, and A Tropical Fish, and Kageki Shojo, and others I've read recently. Have I just reached the limits of what shoujo manga can give to me as a 42 year old? I don't think so. I hope not. But maybe it's the lowest common denominator stuff being translated. My hope is that there is a lot better shoujo out there just not getting translated into English. 

Daytime Shooting Start volume 12

    Yet another final volume in a series I've been reading/reviewing for a while now. And another disappointing series. Maybe mostly disappointing because I came to really like the art and really like Suzume. But Shisiho still is scum for being a teacher who is romantically interested in a minor student of his. But at least Suzume has really moved on and really is with Mamura and treating him well. 

    A commentor had told me to stick with this series because it really comes around, and while thankfully it doesn't consumate the relationship between Shishio and Suzume, it never condems it. The closest the series gets to that is with Suzume's uncle and Shishio's friendship suffering as a result. Again, this feels like how a middle school girl might think an adult man (Shishio) would experience this. 

    But honestly, an adult man who likes a minor child is NOT an object of worthwhile affection or swooning over. Yes, I know, there's a long tradition in manga and anime of may/december and especially with school girls and their teachers. And, and I don't know this for a fact, but maybe that even happens with some regularity and allowance in Japanese society, but it is still not okay and nothing in this series was a commentary on that in a way that obsolves the series. Substitute Shishio for a random boy in her class and the story is just another random shoujo romance. Waste of good art and a good lead heroine. 

Books

And Now Tomorrow by Rachel Field

    This is the second Rachel Field novel I have read. She's really not much known, but while this isn't nearly as good a novel as the prior one I read, Time out of Mind, it retained some of the unique aspects and social commentary of that better book. An Now Tomorrow takes place in a New England saw mill town. Emily's family has owned the mill for generations. But as the great depression looms, times are getting tougher, unions are forming, workers are agitating, and the writing is on the wall for the Nuevo Riche. This is set against her personal story of engagement, losing her hearing to illness, and her determination not to lose her fiancé because of it. 

    The romance storyline (and the ultimate pairing) are the stuff of romance novels and the story of her illness is draped with ableism and an admittedly fake treatment for deafness (and no mention of the Deaf community), the weaving in of the societal changes going on is fascinating. So if you can bear with some overwrought writing, the ableism, and a predictable (if not all together unlikable) romance, you have an interesting document of the times. That all being said, Time Out of Mind is better written and also has much of the social awareness. I found it worth reading for what it was, but your mileage may vary.

The Price of Salt (Carol) by Patricia Highsmith

Photo Credit Justine Larbalestier

    You may know this better by the title "Carol" which is the name given to the recent film based on the novel. At the time I read it, I actually didn't know it had anything to do with the movie (which I haven't seen, but now really need to). Basically, this turns out to be one of American literature's signature lesbian books. Patricia Highsmith has a whole personal history worth learning about. But this book holds up on its own as an incredibly moving, interesting, slow-burn, sub-text turned real, lesbian love story. Set in the 40s, it is the story of a young woman finding her place in life - balancing boyfriend, career aspirations, life in New York City - when she meets a woman in a store and is mesmerized. We're then treated to the growing friends to lovers story with an ending that was (and remains) all too rare in lesbian fiction. 

    It's language is beautiful (you know I'm a sucker for good writing), the characters interesting, the plot developments rewarding, and ultimately a very unique novel for the time that still holds up well today. The only things that don't are the excessive amount of smoking and an unfortunate use of the second worst "n-word." Not to say you should put any of that aside, because being put off by those things or at least pondering your own reactions to them is a worthwhile enterprise. But, other than that, the book is such a beautifully written, moving, lovely novel, that you really should read it.

The Good Neighbor (biography of Fred Rogers)

    The only way to talk about this biography is to break it into two parts: 

        1) Fred Rogers and his story, and 

        2) the quality of the authorship. 

Most importantly, Fred Rogers emerges from this both confirming the truth and reality of everything we saw in him on TV and hoped he was in real life and an actual honest-to-goodness real person. And blessedly, the real and complex person he was doesn't in the least undermine the mythic and nearly holy figure he was in our lives (at least mine). Mr. Rogers (I'll use Mr. when I'm talking about TV Fred) was a source of great comfort to me. I loved the pace, the tone, the look of the puppets, everything about it. And when you can say someone is your hero, you put them on a perch. And people on perches are sadly easy to knock off (or fall off themselves - I'm looking at you Neil deGrasse Tyson). 

    But it turns out that Fred Rogers truly lived his life the way he taught others to do on his show. That doesn't mean there weren't complexities. What emerges of the real-world Fred Rogers is someone who managed to be so deeply committed to his belief in what people could be and the importance of starting that with children who also was a very good and beloved person in real life.

     Yes, there were times he grew frustrated at his own children (what parent doesn't), there were times where his work schedule was nearly impossible for others in the company to keep pace with, but he was never unkind to people. He gave each and every human being he ever met (whether family, co-worker, friend, or stranger on the street) every ounce of his time, attention, and commitment. I was completely and totally fascinated by the thoughtfulness of how he created his TV show as well as the brilliance of the real man, a truly beautiful and true person. How exceptional to have one's childhood hero elevated by their real life, rather than destroyed by it. 

    On the other hand, the author of the book, while someone who knew and worked with Fred over many years, can hardly be called a writer. The chapters appear to be loosely chronological and thematic. There is a lot of going back and forth in time to meet with the themes. However, the expressed themes don't really always match with the digressive nature of the writing. The author will drift to random thoughts and stories and back again, will offer unfounded or unexplained statements and leave them dangling, and overall it's just a generally disorganized presentation. 

    Thankfully, none of it diminishes the information or the picture of Fred Rogers we come to understand. It just isn't a great read from the standpoint of "use of language." If I had one other potential reservation about the writing, is that there is a potential for bias in that the person writing about him clearly knew him well and could not be objective. They must have had a great relationship, because nothing in this suggests that Fred Rogers was even capable of really turning anyone off. And thankfully it doesn't beatify him, but seems to show just how beautifully real and consistent he was. However, one wonders what an objective biographer would have uncovered or chosen to use that was perhaps left out. I have no evidence of this, and frankly, don't really want any. I loved Mr. Rogers and found Fred Rogers just as, if not more, amazing. I am very thankful for that.

The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott (graphic novel) by Zoe Thorogood

    In anticipation of her newest graphic novel being released (It's Lonely at the Center of the Earth"), I decided to pick up an earlier work ("The Impending Blindness of Billie Scott"). I first encountered Zoe Thorogood on Instagram and immediately was taken with her line work, her visuals, her funky honest emotional drawings. Billie Scott has all of that, but also shows an artist earlier in their career than what she is producing now.  It centers on a young, poor, reclusive painter. Tragedy strikes and Billie Starts losing his vision. Who is a painter if they cannot see? The story is journey of the last few days of Billie's vision. That's a hell of a story to tackle your first time out!

    From a graphical perspective, there is a looseness of form that doesn't always appeal to me (but might not bother others) and in general is just isn't as crisply executed as her newest work (I'll review "It's Lonely" soon). The other thing, if I'm to find fault (and I don't mean it to sound like this, but I know it's coming out this way), is that the story, while ambitious in some ways, doesn't necessarily feel completely honest - there's a bit of glossing over (even amongst the griminess) and then an ending that feels a little too perfect. 

    I think it's overall a big work for a young artist that shows her potential and I hope to see her newest graphic novel grow from that potential. Fans of indie comics should check this out. But I think we'll look back in time and find it the weakest in her oeuvre. And that's totally okay.

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

Sound Workshop Series 34 Console Manual - Complete Scan

Hi all, this post has nothing to do with my normal anime and manga reviews. I used to be in the music business and worked with an old Sound Workshop Series 34 console. 

When we mothballed the console, I kept a bunch of channel strips and over the years turned them into rack mount preamps and EQs. 

Another thing I kept was the full manual. This manual is almost impossible to find anywhere (I couldn't find a complete scan, just bits an pieces). However, I was missing a couple pages. But after much hunting, I was able to find the missing pages and complete an entire scan of the manual for those out there with the console or looking to use the channel strips you can get on ebay from time to time. 

So enjoy, I present you with the Sound Workshop Series 34 Console manual (and yes, the cover page is fake, designed by me, because I was missing the real one):

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

Daytime Shooting Star volume 11 (Manga Review)

    "Daytime Shooting Star" Vol. 11 (Viz) would be a lot worse if Suzume wasn't finally starting to really assert herself. In this volume we see her twice, TWICE, reject Shishio, and even take initiative to be upfront and direct with her boyfriend Mamura on top of that. 

    As you all probably know by now, if you've been reading this blog at all, I really like Suzume as a character and I like the overall art of the series. I also love a well done high-school romance shoujo manga. But this series has been all sorts of creepy because the main setup was that she falls for her uncle's friend, Shishio, who is a teacher at her school, and he starts by enabling her feelings, and then falls for her himself, AND then pursues her. And that is gross.

    I won't belabor this point, but I will say it, if you are a teacher/adult, you have no business confessing your feelings of romantic/sexual love for a teenager. Done, Period, End. So Shishio's infatuation and pursuit of Suzume was just wrong. 

    In an earlier volume, it looked like Suzume and Shishio wouldn't ever be really getting together and that Suzume chose the wonderful boy in her class Mamura instead. Suzume was starting to get her head into a good space. But at the end of Volume 10, Shishio goes and openly confesses his feelings for her! A high HIGHSCHOOL STUDENT!!!! Thankfully, this volume opens with her response to that as well as her response to a second attempt by him to tell her his feelings. 

    Sadly, not only is Mamura acutely aware of this going on in the background and naturally hurt by it, but Shishio continues to outright talk to Mamura about his intentions towards Suzume. So now we have an adult, who is pursuing a child for love, more or less teasing/goating/f-ing with another teen about it. If I were Mamura, I would have just reported the asshole and gotten him fired. 

    However, we do see Suzume growing and working hard on behalf of Mamura in this volume and asserting her own path in her life, rather than being at Shishio's whims. That makes this volume better than it could have been. I still wish the whole series was just more about Suzume and Mamura and maybe something they have to overcome (other than a gross adult) to be together (like the brilliant series "Ao Haru Ride" which is much more about their internal barriers and healing), because the whole thing with a lecherous adult is just icky. But I had been promised by other readers that the series would end in a good place, and it seems to be turning that corner. 

    As I said earlier, although the art is a bit simple in the depth of shading/backgrounds/ornamentation, I do like the figure drawing, there is at least some use of screen tones, and it has a good overall look. Couple that with a cute guy/girl combo and the sense that it will end in a good place, and I will keep reading to the end. Are you sticking with it as well? Or is Shishio just too much to put up with?

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

Kageki Shojo!! Volume 6 (Manga Review)

    In "Kageki Shojo!!" volume 6 (Seven Seas), the Kouka school first years are finally auditioning for their parts in "Romeo and Juliet." The auditions will be judged by the students, and each group will be randomly selected to audition together so they have had no time to to practice as an ensemble.

    It's a fairly straightforward volume, told in a mixture of scenes of auditions alternating with backstory from several characters, but mostly focusing on our lead, Sarasa Watanabe.  A couple volumes ago, she was told that while her acting is extraordinary, that it is clear she is identically replicating her favorite performances by others, rather than finding her own version of the characters. So the setup for this volume, is really around what she'll do to find her version of Tybalt.

    I'm coming to terms with two things in this series: 1) it isn't going to be a yuri series, or even yuri-light like the anime "Revue Starlight" and 2) that even though I'm more interested in her roomate, Ai, Sarasa will always be this series' focus. I think the faster I come to terms with those two things, the more I can judge this series appropriately.

    So with that in mind, although it's still not my favorite topic for shoujo, it wasn't a bad volume. What I liked was that we learned more about Sarasa's journey before Kouka and also got some increased clarity on her relationship with Akiya. There was also a strong scene with one of the girls defending another girl from bullying in a way that probably wasn't realistic to their ages, but should serve as a lesson for how teen girls SHOULD support each other. It was a direct and sensitive confrontation of some light bullying. Always good to see.

    Our two main Tybalts, Sawa and Sarasa, got extended coverage of their auditions, and the volume concludes with all the characters reactions to finding out whether they got the parts they wanted or not. Those final pages were some of the best in the volume, as we got to see them each express their grief, joy, disappointment, or growth through their reactions to the casting. I'm not going to give anything away, so you'll just have to read it yourself.

    The art continues to be fine. I would describe it as well done, with some nice facial drawings, but not quite my preferred style either, and maybe a bit simple at times. I do find the lack of textures and screen tones makes it a bit more boring than my favorite artists, but technically it has a distinct rhythm to the art. So at least it's recognizably unique to this mangaka and not a generic look. The panels where we "see" the characters the students are portraying as they are acting in this volume are a cut above the normal art in the series. 

    The more I accept this series for what it's going to be, the more I will try not to pick it apart for what it's not. So as a shoujo series about an all-girls acting school, and with the plucky but raw (and apparently straight) Sarasa as our heroine, it's plenty decent. A slightly darker story, with the focus on her roommate Ai and Ai's complex internal life, and if Ai were also lesbian so we could get a true LGBTQ lesbian story (not just a fluffy yuri story - which also have their place) would have made it awesome. But now I know that where I hoped this series would go after the prequel volume's undertones, are not where it's actually going to go. So I'm putting to rest that sadness and I'm going to keep reading "Kageki Shoujo!!" for what it is.

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

I'm in a manga and anime dry-spell. Help me!!!!

    I was going back through the last year's worth of blog posts and I realized that a great many of them are pretty negative or wishy-washy about the manga I've been reading. I feel like a complete ass for not liking them. But I'm really struggling lately to find good manga and anime series that hit me the way so many used to. I don't know if what is being released has just shifted away from my tastes or what, but I just can't seem to find much that I like lately. 

    I hope you all don't think that I just rail on these series just to be mean. I also know that just beause I don't like them, doesn't mean you don't like them. That's the great thing about art. Different things hit us differently. But there have been so many manga and anime that I genuinely love and reread/rewatch and I'm not finding as much lately. Help me out by suggesting some series I need to read/watch.

    Caveat, I only read manga I can legally buy in English translations and I only watch anime that I can legally stream/buy. I have Netflix and the free Amazon Prime video, but nothing else, so that certainly hurts my search ability too. 

    What I'm looking for: shoujo and yuri mostly. High quality writing, depth of character, emotional arcs (but I also love some that are just funny and sweet too). Please send suggestions!!!!

    Here are some of my favorites (a non-exclusive list) to give you a reference:

Manga

• Twinkle Stars
• Fruits Basket
• Ao Haru Ride
• Kimi Ni Todoke
• Sweet Blue Flowers
• After the Rain
• Bloom Into You
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Honey and Clover
• Say I Love You
• Kare Kano
• Lovely Complex (Love Com)
• Wandering Son
• Kase-san
• Citrus + (yes, I know it's trash)
• Blank Canvas
• Hana-Kimi (even though parts didn't age well)
• Secret of the Princess
• Pearl Pink
• Kisses and White Lily For My Dearest Girl (even though it's got it's problems)
• Tokyo Tarareba Girls (just started reading, but so far so good)
• My Lesbian Experience With Lonliness
• A Silent Voice (although the movie is better)

Anime

• Maria-sama Ga Miteru (Maria Watches Over Us)
• Sweet Blue Flowers
• Sakura Trick (I will defend this series until the day I die)
• Ao Haru Ride (Blue Spring Ride)
• Fruits Basket (original version)
• Kimi Ni Todoke
• Chihayafuru
• Wandering Son
• Ouran High School Host Club
• Honey and Clover
• Nana
• One Week Friends
• True Tears (yes, I know it's trash)
• Orange
• Love, Chunibyo, and Other Delusions
• Toradora
• Kase-san and Morning Glories
• Citrus (yes, I know it's trash)
• Someday's Dreamers  II
• Bloom Into You
• K-On
• Ano Hana
• Anonymous Noise
• Inu X Boku Secret Service
• Usagi Drop (don't get me started on the second half of the manga though)

Movies

• Just about all the Studio Ghibli movies
• Liz and the Blue Bird
• A Silent Voice
• The Girl Who Leapt Through Time
• Wolf Children
• Garden of Words
• Your Name

SO WHAT AM I MISSING?!?!?!!? Please send suggestions in the comments. Thanks!!!!

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

How "Thor: Love and Thunder" got the ending wrong (ish)

    SPOILER WARNING - if you haven't seen "Thor: Love and Thunder" then you shouldn't read this post because I will spoil the very ending of the movie (that's the point of this post basically).

    I had the chance to watch "Thor: Love and Thunder" on Thursday night (it was a nice surprise, after work, and after electrolysis, I went to the mall and then a movie with my daughter and niece and stayed out late even though I had work the next morning! Look at me livin' it up!). 

    Please note that I am not a Marvel fan. Growing up in the 80s and 90s, I was a DC comics fan, never a Marvel fan. And I will still admit that overall I like DC movies better even though they have mostly been trash lately (I did prefer the Snyder Cut of the Justice League much more - but not in the same toxic way as the fandom that demanded it's release). I think I have only seen the following Marvel movies: Iron Man 1 and 2, Captain America 1 and 2, Guardians of the Galaxy 1 and 2 (love em), Thor - all 4! Love me some Chris Hemsworth; Natalie Portman for the win! And I think I saw the first Avengers movie. I've also seen many of the non-Disney Marvel movies like the Sam Raimi Spiderman trilogy, the X-men triology, some of the First Class movies, and the two Andrew Garfield Spiderman movies. But given that there are like thousands more, it's fair to say that I don't really know (or care) much about the Marvel Cinematic Universe. I say that so you better understand where I'm coming from with what I am about to say. 

    FINAL SPOILER REMINDER - I will ruin the ending of Thor 4 if you haven't seen it yet. YOU'VE BEEN WARNED

    Aside from being a fan of Chris and Natalie, I like that the Thor movies have more or less been able to be enjoyed outside of the main Marvel continuity (obviously they are linked, but they stand on their own pretty well). I'm not going to review "Thor: Love and Thunder" here, but overall I liked it a lot, although I thought Chris's overacting in the first half was just a bit over the top (but forgivable). I really enjoyed that it blended camp with high-quality moviemaking in a way that most campy movies don't. I also loved how Stormbreaker was anthropomorphized and the very brief moment when the camera is framed on Chris and we just see Stormbreaker starting to come in from camera right in a nod to it's jealousy was so perfectly animated. The pace of Stormbreaker's movement, the only slight entrance into the frame, it shows just how powerful animation can be when executed well. It completely expresses emotion from an inanimate object! Definitely my favorite moment in the movie (I looked and I couldn't find a GIF and could only find phone caps of foreign language ones on youtube). So I'm not going to review the movie more than this, but suffice it to say I enjoyed it a lot (and found myself genuinely laughing out loud constantly at it's very dry humor).

    What I do want to talk about is the ending. And I want to talk about it from a literary standpoint, which is why I prefaced all this with the fact that I'm not a Marvel movie fan. I am not going to talk about how the ending that DID happen might have been necessary for the future things it sets up in the MCU (because I don't care about the MCU). I DO want to talk about why the ending didn't quite achieve as much as it could have from a literary standpoint and what I (and my daughter and niece independently) thought the better ending would have been if connections to future projects weren't part of the equation (and it is worth noting that I am okay with the fact that movie executives have to make money. So I am not blaming them that this was the ending they chose because I get that they need to keep this enterprise going. I just get to talk about what I wish it had been if that wasn't part of their need set).

    Here's the actual ending: Gorr, who lost his daughter, begged for help from a god who laughed at him, slaughtered that god, then starts slaughtering all gods in an attempt to find "Eternity" who will grant his wish, actually makes it to the eternal and basically defeats both Thors to get there. But there is a final moment when Chris Thor could stop him, but that means leaving Natalie Thor to die alone. And so Chris Thor decides to be with Natalie even though he knows that part of Gorr's wish will be to destroy all gods and so Chris Thor will end up dying with Natalie Thor. The Thors urge him to "choose love." It's unclear if Gorr's original wish was to kill all gods, bring back his daughter, or both, but it is implied that his original wish might have been just to kill all gods. But instead, seeing the love between the Thors, Gorr choses to bring back his daughter and leave the gods alive. However, although Chris Thor is left alive, Natalie Thor still dies of her cancer. Then Chris Thor adopts Gorr's daughter as Gorr dies from the influence of the sword (or whatever) and Thor mourns the loss of Natalie by becoming a good father to Gorr's daughter. (Which is an admittedly sweat/funny scene and the young actress who plays Gorr's daughter is brilliant).

    This is a perfectly fine ending, satisfying enough, and apparently done to fit with the larger marvel continuity if the end credit's scene is any indication. But it could have been even better if we don't care about the MCU's journey, and only care about quality writing. Here's how and why:

    It comes down to the journey Gorr takes and who Gorr is in his core being. The movie starts with Gorr and his daughters as the last survivors in an environmental wasteland. He is doing everything he can to keep her alive, sheltering her with his body from the elements, but she passes away. He buries her and cries over her body, and lays himself on top to die. But then he hears that god killing sword calling to him. Gorr stumbles on the oasis, finds his god, makes his case, and his god laughs at him. The sword comes to his hand and he kills the god who cares so little for the pain and suffering of Gorr. Gorr's feeling in that moment is completely understandable and the sword is drawn to him because of that emotion. It is then explained that the sword will continue corrupting him and it helps us understand why Gorr goes from being momentarily enraged at his unsympathetic god, to wanting all gods dead - a dramatic personality shift from the loving father. 

    But Gorr is fundamentally depicted, at all times in the movie really, as a sympathetic villain. His pain comes from the unnecessary death of his daughter. He is a devoted father. And his pain was laughed at by the one being who could help. Then the sword further messes him up. So this is a perfect set-up for a redemptive ending. Not to excuse the deaths Gorr has caused, but to resolve his journey and restore him to the devoted father, and presumably kind person, he originally was. 

    And in many ways, that's what the movie does. He stops killing gods and he brings his daughter back to life. He choses love. But he could have chosen love in an even bigger way. A way that is restorative and reparative, rather than somewhat selfish. Framed another way, the actual ending has Gorr allow one more god to die (Natalie Thor) and brings back his dead child who will now be a fatherless orphan. 

    What if, and here's the point of this belabored blog post, Gorr sees Chris Thor's willingness to die with Natalie Thor rather than stopping Gorr and so Gorr choses to use his wish not on himself (bringing back his already dead daughter) but instead to preserve Natalie Thor's life. What if he saves a god and saves their love showing that he has truly come full circle and remembering what his love meant to him and that he has the power in that moment to give that to another pair? 

    Chris Thor, when given the opportunity to finally stop Gorr, recognizes that doing so means that Natalie Thor will die alone. By going to Natalie Thor, Chris Thor is signing his and every other god's death warrant, but believes that being there in Natalie Thor's final moments, that intimate kindness, is more important. In watching this self-less act of kindness and love towards Natalie, Gorr is urged to chose love. Again, it is unclear if his original wish would have been ONLY to kill all the gods and he switches it to bring his daughter back, or if both were part of the original wish and he just leaves the god death part out. I suppose the stronger interpretation of the actual ending has him using his wish for vengeance alone and killing all the gods, but the Thors' love for each other convinces him to instead grant life in the form of his daughter. I just think that being self-less and choosing love and life in the form of Natalie Thor living rather than expending it on his own desire for his daughter to come back from the dead would have been even more redemptive. It also, as I said above, would have been reparative: he had killed all these gods, and now he can grant a god life. Instead, he spends it on his daughter while allowing another god to die. 

    So what do you think? Would it have been worth sacrificing future MCU plans to have Gorr save Natalie Thor instead of resurrecting his own daughter?

    

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (Book Review)

    "Oranges Are Not The Only Fruit" by Jeanette Winterson (published in 1985) was a surprise find in my home library. I simply don't remember purchasing it. And so when I was looking for a "downstairs" book to read, I chose to read it without even knowing what it was about (Downstairs = on the couch, Upstairs = in bed - I often read two books simultaneously). I now completely understand why I bought it, and while not quite a masterpiece, it is well worth your reading.

    "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" is a short novel about a girl, growing up in a very Pentecostal English community and her growing awakening as a young lesbian. That in itself would probably be reason for me to read it, but of course, my main goal when reading a book is to love the language itself. 

    And there was much to love. As a first novel, Winterson displays an ambition in both her storytelling and structure. Much of the prose is straightforward, but in a beautiful way. Not ornate by any stretch but neither boring nor perfunctory. Hers is a voice I'd like to read more of. 

    The story itself, and in some ways there is both a lot of story and very little, is semi-autobiographical (I believe). It is a fast read in both the length of the novel and the briskness of the pacing, jumping forward in time as it sees fit. Ultimately it is what it skips over that proves it's greatest weakness as a novel.

    The Jeannette of the story is adopted by a very devote missionizing mother. Her adoptive father is only vaguely in both their lives, apparently with no ill-will intended, he just simply couldn't possibly compete for space around her mother, for whom the entire novel orbits. Her mother in many ways is the center of the community's fervent faith. And as young Jeannette so calmly, so naturally, begins first one, and then a second relationship with a female friend, the town looks to her mother for how to address such a "demon" as her once promising daughter has become. And between their faith and Jeannette, there is really never a choice as to who will win in the end. For this is the real world, and not a fairy tale.

    That for me, is the one spot this otherwise beautifully rendered book falters. The book's ending (by no means the character's end) simply comes up too fast and too scattered. Just the right amount of time is spent through the first portions of the book. Each scene, each time period, each description is exactly what it needs to be and nothing more. 

    But then the book ends so fast, abruptly, and with a large time jump with little in the way of justification for a particular reunion and how that reunion plays out. Clearly so much has happened, so many things have changed (but obviously not enough), and yet we aren't privy to those developments. That lack of overtness can work to an author's advantage. Don't bother wasting the time or real estate on unnecessary details and back story and exposition when it's not needed. But when the meat of the journey is removed, it leaves a hole. From the climax to the resolution, there is almost nothing provided. It felt as though the book was missing 60 or 70 pages between the two. 

    That structure certainly didn't ruin the book for me. There was too much beauty and interest in it, too much to recommend it. But I want to know what happened between that climax (I'm so trying not to spoil too much for you), and the end passages. However, Winterson has another biographical book, more of a memoir, and I plan on reading that as well. Maybe I'll find some of what was missing in "Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit" in there, to piece together the gap in the fictional Jeanette's story with the real one's. 

    Do read this book though. It's quiet, calm exploration of Jeanette's growing feelings and understanding of herself intersecting with the fervent religious beliefs of her community and her own maturing understanding of her god, as possibly distinct from theirs, is quite compelling.

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day (at most). Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon Volume 3 (manga review)

    Ughhhh, such a frustrating volume. "Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon" is quickly becoming the worst type of the "new" explosion of "yuri" (it deserves the quotes here) manga. 

    In "Doughnuts Under a Crescent Moon" volume 3 (and forgive me, but I hate that it's spelled that way and not "donuts"), Hinako can't figure out what she feels for Asahi or what she wants them to be: friends or something more? But not in the "am I attracted to this person or do I want to just be friends" sort of way that we might assume. NOOOOO, this is just dithering, completely unrealistic, drivel that has none of the classic "will-they-won't-they" tension nor anything valid to say about the LGBTQ+ experience from what I can tell so far.

    Let me break that down a bit more. Starting with why I put quotes around "yuri" in my opening paragraph. I want one of two things from yuri, either 1) actual LGBTQ+ representation/meaningful storytelling and/or 2) deeply intimate emotional connections between women (whether sexual, romantic, or not - such as friends/sisters). 

    But much yuri of the past few years seems to be populist dreck designed to appeal to those who are not ready for actual LGBTQ+ representation in mainstream manga OR who want the superficial trappings of it with none of the actual writerly craft it takes to have fully realized characters with deep and complex inner worlds who have actual feelings. 

    So much modern yuri, at least what is making it in official translations in to the US recently, is bland, unwilling to commit, and so poorly written. These series confuse characters who have "never thought about it" (romance, sex, etc...) with actual people who really do struggle with understanding who they are and how they fit into the world - you know, the way actually every human being does think about those things! Even if you are on the aro/ace spectrum, you have pondered why other people feel and think and perceived differently than you. You are not unaware. But so much modern yuri seems to focus on teens and twenty-somethings who seem like they have no concept that they or others have inner selves at all. And while there are some actual conditions in which a person cannot understand that another person has an inner-self, a "theory of mind" if you will, that is not what these character's stories and traits are about. This is shoddy, manipulative, and/or spineless writing.

    "Doughnuts" is quickly becoming emblematic of that wishy-washy version of yuri.  And I, for one, am no longer so desperate for representation, that I will accept anything with two women in it who might even vaguely be interested in one another. (Quick reminder: you are allowed to disagree with me, you are allowed to like or even love this manga, you are allowed to be moved by this writing. It is completely normal and a good thing if we disagree. Your feelings about it are just as valid as mine and I would like to know if it did affect you differently, please leave a comment!). I love a good story where nothing happens but two women stare at each other, blush at each other, yearn desperately for each other. But that's not this series either.

    In this volume, Hinako knows she wants to be around Asahi and spend time with her. When Asahi's friend Fuuka shows up, it creates some stirrings of what might be jealousy. But for being an adult twenty-something, Hinako is either: 1) completely unrealistically written as to have absolutely no sense of self, 2) maybe on the asexual spectrum (not that they'll ever do anything interesting with that like how "Bloom Into You" tackled it), and/or 3) written so that the author never has to actually commit to what romantic and sexual love between women looks like in order to keep this as middle-of-the-road, won't-offend-anyone as possible. 

    I don't know anything about the mangaka, Shio Usui, but it seems to me as if this series is written by someone who has no idea how women actually think or feel, and no idea that love between lesbians is just like any other romantic/sexual love. These characters in no way think, talk, act, feel like actual 20-somethings (or even humans for that matter - just bad writing). Hinako's lack of personal clarity isn't some sort of complex coming out story, figuring out who you truly are and what you truly want. Nope. This is just superficial angst pretending to be exploring sexuality and female relationships. This volume feels incredibly inauthentic. It's almost like a child playing with dolls. Even Fuuka, who actually seems to know she is romantically and sexually attracted to women isn't written convincingly. I'm worried that this might be another mangaka and/or editor and/or publisher who found a way to cash in on the yuri craze. 

    Now, the only other thing I can think of, to try and offer another point of view, might be that with Japanese society still largely hostile to LGBTQ+ people (forced sterilization of trans people who want certain legal recognitions, no gay marriage, etc...) maybe, just maybe, Hinako is so repressed by society that she really hasn't ever thought about her feelings for women and really is actually so not in touch with her own body and mind that she is oblivious to romance and sexuality. Maybe. But then we'd expect better writing to make that linkage clear. I don't think this series has any intention of exploring any actual feelings, issues, etc... 

    And yes, I know it's a light romantic comedy, so I'm not expecting deep dark treatises on sexuality, misogyny, homophobia, or other forms of oppression. But these characters are simply not three-dimensional people, these are not how people actually think or feel or talk. Even in a comedy. 

    So let us compare it to a completely unrelated series that is unmistakably yuri and a comedy (I know that most people would gag that I love it): "Sakura Trick" (and I'll specifically reference the anime here since I haven't read the manga). "Sakura Trick" is a comedy, a broad comedy. A comedy with male gaze and a horny camera operator. It is not deep. It does not tackle any social issues. But it doesn't shy away from actual intimacy between characters (and I'm not talking about sex or making out). As broadly played as "Sakura Trick" is, we can actually identify with these characters. We care about them. Their actions feel plausible (in the context and style of the series, and for their ages). And there is no shyness about it being girls who really really really like girls. So while "Sakura Trick" is much broader than the comedy in "Doughnuts" it shows that you don't have to always be "Maria-sama" or "Sweet Blue Flowers" or "Nana" - you can do light comedy and light romance. But you do have to commit to being honest in any genre.

    I'll probably read the fourth volume to see if it's going to go anywhere. But even if it does, it won't excuse the poor writing to this point. Volume 3 is non-committal fluff dressed up as yuri with no intention of going anywhere interesting. 

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

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Not only what we have lost, but what we still have left to lose after the Supreme Court overturns Roe v. Wade

Dear family and friends,

They are coming for me. On Friday, 6/24/22, in a concurrence, the supreme court said they want to take away the right of gay marriage and they want to recriminalize gay sex. And after that they will take away discrimination protections for me in voting, health care, and employment. 

If you continue to vote republican behind the defense of being a “fiscal conservative” then you are directly injuring me. Every time you vote republican you are personally striking at me, personally taking my rights away, personally advocating for hate and discrimination. 

You cannot turn a blind eye anymore. If you think I am hysterical, remember that as recently as in my parent’s generation these things were illegal, I was illegal. Please, it is not too late. If you love me. If you love anyone at all. Please.

Your daughter, your niece, your sister, your cousin, your mother, your friend,

Yuristargirl

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.

Metal Lords (movie review)

    Random movie review: "Metal Lords." I was bored, it was on Netflix, so I watched it. And, it was actually pretty decent. How to describe it? It's a light teen comedy/drama movie about metal and friendship and growing up. It definitely doesn't have the realism of something like "We Are the Best" and it doesn't have the quite the emotional depth of "Edge of Seventeen" (2016 - god I love that movie). But it's also not as funny nor as sweet as "School of Rock." But despite some uneven parts and some unnecessary gross-out moments, there were enough genuine laughs and bright spots to be worth watching for anyone who likes light teen movies and likes music. 

    The basic premise is that there are two high-school best friend outcasts, one who is domineering (but deeply hurting inside) who loves metal and plays the guitar, and the more emotionally centered kid he had previously befriended (and who is the fulcrum, so to speak, for the movie) who plays drums. They form a "band" if you could call it that. The guitarist is determined to enter the school's battle of the bands to show everyone that they are "somebodies" and become stars like a prior metal band that came out of the school.

    But can they do it as a duo? And therein lies some of the best moments of the movie. Our drummer watches as a girl in the marching band goes ape-shit crazy on a teacher and then stumbles on her later playing cello - and she's good. Couldn't she join the band? Not if the guitarist has anything to say about it. 

    So we get a burgeoning teen love (drummer and cellist) that conflicts with an old friendship (guitarist and drummer) and that conflict propels some emotional growth in all three. But oh, the conflict between the guitarist and cellist reaches a peak in one of the best scenes in the movie (I won't spoil it).

    There's also healing family wounds, coming out of your shell, and romance. Unfortunately, for all the good, there are a few uneven moments, and the film as a whole has a less-than-believable overall tone. But that's not to say it doesn't work, it's just light, fun, fare - and that's okay.

    All three leads are wonderfully cast. There are some funny cameos from actual metal musicians and there's a great twist with a psychiatrist. There are also some interesting moments with the "rival" band - showing how as douchey as their music is, they're actually decent people. It's nice to see a teen movie where there is a mix of personalities, not just the good ones and the bad ones. But a whole bunch of average people being somewhat decent.

    Interestingly, there is also the regular appearance of a side character with Down Syndrome, played by an actor who has Down Syndrome. I'm a bit torn about this character, and I would be interested in hearing from some folks with even greater knowledge of disabilities than I do as to whether it is positive representation. My hunch is that, it is. The scenes with that character and the guitarist have a gentleness and humanity that I liked, it didn't feel forced to me, it didn't feel exploitative, and I think visibility is great. But, I also might be missing things that might have bothered others about that role (or maybe not, maybe it was good representation?). At the very least they tried and that's something too.

    Other kvetches: it didn't pass the Bechdel Test. There was only one female lead. She did not interact with any other female. There was another girl thrown in just to tempt the drummer. There was no interaction between any female characters at all. 

    And on another note, there was one gay joke. It started really badly with the guitarist calling having the girl in the band "gay." But then the other two look around at posters in the guitarist's room and the sight gag of all those singers with makeup, tight pants, and crotches packed with socks poked fun at the machismo of metal mixed with the innate queerness of many metal bands - and their infatuation with dicks. It was a funny turnaround to be sure. But that's still an uneven commentary on using "gay" as a pejorative. While they did manage to turn it back on the person who said it, it didn't quite resolve in a way that makes being gay okay. All it basically said is that all metal is gay, not that it's not okay to call things "gay" to demean them. On the whole, I wish they didn't make that joke, but there's been worse. 

    So on the whole, the movie was nice, it was sweet, but it isn't one I'm likely to watch again. There really were some laugh-out-loud moments, and the cellist's explosive temper is so well done by the actress. The overall tone was a bit mixed - veering more towards light teen comedy than anything really meaningful - but uneven at times too. And yet, there was some growth in several characters. So as imperfect as it is, if you're bored, like music, and like teen comedies, it might be worth watching.

    

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Please legitimately purchase or borrow manga and anime. Never read scanlations or watch fansubs. Those rob the creators of the income they need to survive and reduce the chance of manga and anime being legitimately released in English.

All comments are moderated by a real person who only checks them once a day. Therefore, comments may take a while before they show up. Thanks for understanding. It's how we keep this a community of lovingkindness.