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piranhaeverybody reviews regular books, and so i often think "why should i" since many people do it rather well. but very few people review smutty manga, and that leaves me without a way of knowing whether something is worth reading at all. consequently i am downloading a lot of drek, and have started to keep a log so i can remember what i have already read, so i don't download it again (i delete the drek, so this could easily happen, especially with those odd japanese title that rarely seem to have anything to do with the contents). and i figure i might as well leave my impressions for others. i've not decided how much detail to include, but i will put up a page or two of the art (not the smuttiest parts, unless they're REALLY worth saying something about; no worries, i will warn if i do that). i'll start small, and with something that's not actually smutty, *heh*.
all three stories are remarkable not for their plots (though they have them) or their characters, but for the emotion contained in them; the art is extremely effective in getting that across. 1) koutarou when still a child himself finds the hybrid child hazuki in the trash, and as they grow older, hazuki becomes his mentor -- which annoys koutaro to no end. but then something goes wrong with hazuki, and koutaro takes him to his maker, kuroda. 2) ichi seya's hybrid child yuzu is concerned that he isn't growing -- maybe ichi-sama doesn't care for him enough? and why is ichi-sama so sorrowful? 3) taking place before story 2, ichi seya has two close friends, kuroda and tsukishima. the latter two are always fighting, but care deeply about each other. one day the collapse of the shogunate and the resultant battle changes their lives forever. consequently kuroda becomes the inventor of the hybrid children. warning: i cried when reading this story. maybe i am just sappy this week, maybe i am thinking too much about loss, but it really got to me. the omake is a bit hard to read after finishing story 3 because it returns to the time before everything goes south, and well, stepping back into that river hurts.
all stories are shounen-ai; nothing more graphic than a kiss and a bared shoulder are shown. and really, i think one needn't be a fan of boys' love manga at all; it's not terribly relevant. highly recommended, but sad.
published by juné, licensed in english by DMP, ISBN: 1569709025. if you want to see it before buying, talk to me.
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NAKAMURA shungiku: hybrid child i am very glad i picked this up, despite just having read junjyou romantica by the same author, which i didn't take to at all; the protagonist's noisy antics annoyed me, and the art seemed messy and heavy-handed. but hybrid child is very different. 3 short stories and an omake (extra) for story 3 about "hybrid children" which are not really machines, not really dolls, kind of androids that develop and grow (physically as well as emotionally) if their owners lavish love and affection on them. these hybrid children can become a mirror for their human owners, and people find sometimes astounding things looking back at them. |
all three stories are remarkable not for their plots (though they have them) or their characters, but for the emotion contained in them; the art is extremely effective in getting that across. 1) koutarou when still a child himself finds the hybrid child hazuki in the trash, and as they grow older, hazuki becomes his mentor -- which annoys koutaro to no end. but then something goes wrong with hazuki, and koutaro takes him to his maker, kuroda. 2) ichi seya's hybrid child yuzu is concerned that he isn't growing -- maybe ichi-sama doesn't care for him enough? and why is ichi-sama so sorrowful? 3) taking place before story 2, ichi seya has two close friends, kuroda and tsukishima. the latter two are always fighting, but care deeply about each other. one day the collapse of the shogunate and the resultant battle changes their lives forever. consequently kuroda becomes the inventor of the hybrid children. warning: i cried when reading this story. maybe i am just sappy this week, maybe i am thinking too much about loss, but it really got to me. the omake is a bit hard to read after finishing story 3 because it returns to the time before everything goes south, and well, stepping back into that river hurts.
all stories are shounen-ai; nothing more graphic than a kiss and a bared shoulder are shown. and really, i think one needn't be a fan of boys' love manga at all; it's not terribly relevant. highly recommended, but sad.
published by juné, licensed in english by DMP, ISBN: 1569709025. if you want to see it before buying, talk to me.
re: nakamura shungiku: hybrid child (tangent)
on 2007-03-09 15:21 (UTC)no subject
on 2007-03-10 00:39 (UTC)Kara.
Did you see "Maelstrom?"
BSG
on 2007-03-10 04:03 (UTC)but i was pleased to hear that the powers that be have signed on for another half season, for now.