|
|
 MangaChat: September 2009-- PART ONE
Written by Park Cooper
This week kicks off the husband-wife MangaChat. Can Park and Barb discuss two manga in just 20 minutes? Let's find out.
Barb: Let's start with Sumomomo Momomo: The Strongest Bride on Earth.
Park: The Strongest Bride on Earth is a strange book that should not have the level of fan service panty shots it does.
3:07 PM Part of the point of Sumomo(...mo) is that the dude is not about to have sex with her-- she isn't really drawn with any sort of provocative body.
Sure as heck not for ME anyway.
So it seems rather wrong.
Barb: I like this manga a lot more than I thought I would. Yes, it has fan service. Yes, its humor can be a little (okay, a lot) dirty. But it's cute.
Park: And I don't think they're being ironic.
Barb: No, I don't think they are, either.
Park: But there's a lot to like about it, even though it's not exactly a patented MangaLife grade in the A Range.
3:08 PM Somehow the violence is both painful and amusing, like Excel Saga.
3:09 PM The fact that the main guy has NO battle skills that he's actually managed to develop adds a certain element of novelty to the whole thing...
It's like if we expected Tohru Honda to fight her own battles, almost.
Barb: It's a cultural thing, I suppose. I mean, in America if you showed a young woman in sort of sexual situations, parents would (rightly!) get mad. But because Asia seems to have a different attitude towards teens (and humor), it comes off as "sweet dirty" not, “oh, you perv.”
Park: Somehow. Yes. If people say I’m giving them a pass they shouldn't have, I admit that might be a conversation worth having, but I do feel that cultural standards matter in this case.
3:10 PM Like when Onizuka in GTO gets a bit lecherous.
Barb: I like a good dirty joke, as long as it's funny and it doesn't hurt anyone. And the humor here isn't out to put women down or anything.
I'd cringe at that.
The plot is strangely old-fashioned.
3:11 PM Park: Hm. That makes me realize who our problem is with-- the creator. We're not mad at Onizuka because Onizuka is such a buffoon (and a virgin). Our little Strongest Bride TRIES to sexually offer herself, and fails so bad, we can't blame her for being prurient... but we do wonder if we shouldn't blame the creator.
3:12 PM Yes, it's not the most original story in the world. There's fighting, there's classrooms, there's even people with the characteristics of the Chinese zodiac for heaven's sake.
Barb: A young woman is told be her dad that because she's female (boo!), she can't be his heir and run their martial arts school unless she marries the son of another martial artist's dojo. And she agrees! Only to find that the son has on guts and no interest in her. So she becomes his bodyguard.
It's a weird set-up. A little Ranma, maybe.
3:13 PM Park: Our little dragon-style-martial-arts girl is THE draw here, because she's got that personality that goes insanely along with anything and everything.
And with such Excel enthusiasm. And naïveté.
3:14 PM Barb: What I like about the series is that the young woman is so darned enthusiastic about everything: sex, marriage, the choice of husband, etc. And she never takes offense at her beloved's putdowns or lack of interest. She sees him as a hero, even though he's a coward.
Park: So I guess it comes down to what the creator will do in future volumes... for example, will Boy-Boy keep approaching this fighting manga like he's the Ace Attorney, or will he give up and learn to fight? I think the first one is much funnier...
And yet, yes, there's a cowardice factor there, too...
3:15 PM I feel like the creator saw Kung Fu Hustle, so the male lead has an emotional chi blockage...
Barb: I hope that later in the series, the son isn't such a drip. Because, as is, our little bride is the whole series. Like her, like the series. If you don't, you will hate this series.
...Yeah, you're probably right.
Park: Yes, if we can't improve more of anything else, we need more of the bride.
As much as possible in fact.
3:17 PM Barb: In spite of myself, in spite of the somewhat harmless sexism, and in spite of the one joke concept, I like the volume I read. So, I give it a rather generous B minus to B.
I think that it's one of Yen's strongest works, along with Sarasah and the A-plus Yotsuba.
Park: Understood.
Shall we move on to Whistle?
Er, Whistle!
3:18 PM Barb: Whistle!
Park: Whistle(!) has a lot going for it. Which it needs, in order to overcome its one huge drawback-- it's about guys playing soccer. ...The end.
So it better be the best kids playing soccer story you could tell, and I think it just about is
without bringing the supernatural into it
3:19 PM Barb: You know, I read a lot of shonen. I like action-adventure. Yet, usually I don't read sports manga. Okay, I'll read Slam Dunk for the humor and the characters. I read Real because it's not just about sports. But sports mangas are pretty much all the same to me.
3:20 PM For instance, I could never read Prince of Tennis. It's all just about the game. Heck, I even dumped Hikaru No Go for the same reason.
Park: It's got LOVE OF THE GAMEness, it's got soccer... (Joy [Kim] recently talked about how a kendo manga Yen sent her didn't have enough clever use of kendo matches in it, but was merely a backdrop for wacky characters. Not so, Whistle.)
3:21 PM Barb: I couldn't make head nor tail out of Eyeshield 21.
Park: Yeah, let's not go to Eyeshield
But Whistle backs up its soccerness with emotional character resonance.
3:22 PM And this volume you've read is a good example. "Why oh why did blondie leave the team? Just so he could play AGAINST us? What oh what is UP with that? I feel strong feelings about this!"
"And it makes me think about how blondie and I first became friends! I remember it like it was yesterday..."
Barb: Yeah, that's true. One of the nice things about it being about a relatively simple game and a limited amount of characters is that I was able to jump onto Volume 23 (!) and still enjoy it.
Park: Right-- three less players on the field at a time than even Princess Nine.
3:23 PM Barb: I guess what made Whistle work for me is the same thing that makes Naruto work for me. Every character has something to prove, along with a back story that shows why this character just has to be the best!
So you root for every character, knowing that they can't all win.
3:24 PM Park: And you don't need to memorize the names, although I've had it beat into me enough that Sho is our lovable little guy and reason-d'etre. But between Blond Daredevil Guy and Cool And Stoic (on the outside) Guy and Sho, it's a rich panoply of character interaction.
Yeah, in this volume especially-- someone's gonna lose!
Barb: Oh, Princess 9! Everyone go out and rent that! The only sports anime I've ever liked!
Because it's not just about the game.
3:25 PM Park: And if Blondie screws it up, he's got to, like, get an MBA and take over dad's company! A fate worse than death!
Barb: However, Whistle is, in a way...fortunately, I like soccer.
Yeah, that part really got to me.
3:26 PM So, I guess that I'd give Whistle v23 somewhere between a B plus and an A minus.
Park: Like I said about Prince of Tennis-- the trick is that it's not a sport-- it's REALLY a battleground for improving yourself at your most basic level.
Barb: I mean, I see why you're such a fan of it. It's cool and everyone who likes soccer should read it.
Park: And overcoming your own perceived limits.
Understood.
3:27 PM Barb: However, I just don't want to get hooked on a sports series.
Park: Understood.
And yet...
What does Park mean by this "And yet..."? He does actually mean something by it! Find out what later this month here at MangaLife.com!
: :
|
30 August 2010
MangaLife: On Culture
Share 25 August 2010
Words of Truth and Wisdom: I Put A Spell On You
Share 11 August 2010
Words of Truth and Wisdom: Filters
Share 6 August 2010
Maybe You're Not Using It Right :On Japanese Load Words
Share
|
