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Manga Review (and blather): Yume no Kodomo by Hamada Shouko
I read Hamada Shouko's Yume no Kodomo, and you should read it too.
It's blatantly dated and starts out with awful art and worse translation, and it'll seem familiar if BL manga is your thing: teenager with his heart on his sleeve, reclusive mid-twenties writer with a bad attitude, inevitable love, background emphasis on the arts. But this is what Gravitation might of been had Gravitation been any good, and it's fantastic. The characters are well-rounded, even when you least expect it: female characters not only exist but are wonderful (how rare is this in BL manga? very rare); apparent villains gain depth, and one of them becomes an awesome character. The lovers manages to hit a dozen tropes, but never lose their authenticity: Youji is a naive teen, but undergoes significant character growth without losing his identity or defying belief; Ren's mercurial emotions have predictable causes and reach predictable extremes, but he's always convincing and is neither a stagnant adult nor a vulnerable victim; the relationship between them is the relationship between a teenager and a young adult: imbalanced, problematic, but not inaccessible.
It's idealized of course, because you never doubt that everything will work out okay, but this is still a story about that work and isn't that rare. Falling in love isn't an epiphany but a process. Entering a relationship may be accompanied by titles and landmarks—partner, sex—but is not defined by them alone. Relationships must be maintained, because they are forever evolving. A relationship between two people changes the people within it, and continues to change them as that relationship continues to change; conversely, personal growth impacts a shared relationship.
In a way, you can't fault an early BL manga for its clichés, because at that point it was more likely defining them than interacting with them—not that Yume no Kodomo is first generation: it's not (it's second generation, really, but here I'm getting from point). But even where it flirts with danger (a bit of stalker-apologism that brushes too close to "rape is love"), Yume no Kodomo does what may be the best you can with a straight trope or cliché: engage it because it's probably attractive/popular/existent for a reason, but explore it fully, rather than relying on that superficial appeal. The manga's not perfect, either as a story or as an exploration of those tropes—but it is a pleasure. As a bonus, the art even becomes acceptable by the end, and those background artistic themes serve a purpose, giving explicit and often affecting voice to the emotional arcs of the cast—both the lovers and, surprisingly, some of the supporting characters, because in this story almost everyone is given the chance to grow.
That's the long form. The short form is:
Title: Yume no Kodomo (Children of Dreams)
Mangaka: Hamada Shouko
Length: 6 volumes
Rating: 4+ of 5
When his beloved sister goes abroad, 17-year-old Youji moves in with her friend Ren, an unlikable and bitter mid-twenties writer. But as they live together, and Youji discovers who Ren really is, he beings to fall in love. Familiar, dated, but authentically good, Yume no Kodomo is old-school BL that engages a number of overly familiar tropes with startling authenticity. Occasionally improbable, always idealized, but pure at heart, it becomes a truly affecting and enjoyable manga. Supporting-characters shine, and the central love story is an earnest success. Its early art is horrible, but the style develops as volumes progress; the available translations are shady, but I've seen worse. I was sorry to see this story end, and I recommend it.
It's blatantly dated and starts out with awful art and worse translation, and it'll seem familiar if BL manga is your thing: teenager with his heart on his sleeve, reclusive mid-twenties writer with a bad attitude, inevitable love, background emphasis on the arts. But this is what Gravitation might of been had Gravitation been any good, and it's fantastic. The characters are well-rounded, even when you least expect it: female characters not only exist but are wonderful (how rare is this in BL manga? very rare); apparent villains gain depth, and one of them becomes an awesome character. The lovers manages to hit a dozen tropes, but never lose their authenticity: Youji is a naive teen, but undergoes significant character growth without losing his identity or defying belief; Ren's mercurial emotions have predictable causes and reach predictable extremes, but he's always convincing and is neither a stagnant adult nor a vulnerable victim; the relationship between them is the relationship between a teenager and a young adult: imbalanced, problematic, but not inaccessible.
It's idealized of course, because you never doubt that everything will work out okay, but this is still a story about that work and isn't that rare. Falling in love isn't an epiphany but a process. Entering a relationship may be accompanied by titles and landmarks—partner, sex—but is not defined by them alone. Relationships must be maintained, because they are forever evolving. A relationship between two people changes the people within it, and continues to change them as that relationship continues to change; conversely, personal growth impacts a shared relationship.
In a way, you can't fault an early BL manga for its clichés, because at that point it was more likely defining them than interacting with them—not that Yume no Kodomo is first generation: it's not (it's second generation, really, but here I'm getting from point). But even where it flirts with danger (a bit of stalker-apologism that brushes too close to "rape is love"), Yume no Kodomo does what may be the best you can with a straight trope or cliché: engage it because it's probably attractive/popular/existent for a reason, but explore it fully, rather than relying on that superficial appeal. The manga's not perfect, either as a story or as an exploration of those tropes—but it is a pleasure. As a bonus, the art even becomes acceptable by the end, and those background artistic themes serve a purpose, giving explicit and often affecting voice to the emotional arcs of the cast—both the lovers and, surprisingly, some of the supporting characters, because in this story almost everyone is given the chance to grow.
That's the long form. The short form is:
Title: Yume no Kodomo (Children of Dreams)
Mangaka: Hamada Shouko
Length: 6 volumes
Rating: 4+ of 5
When his beloved sister goes abroad, 17-year-old Youji moves in with her friend Ren, an unlikable and bitter mid-twenties writer. But as they live together, and Youji discovers who Ren really is, he beings to fall in love. Familiar, dated, but authentically good, Yume no Kodomo is old-school BL that engages a number of overly familiar tropes with startling authenticity. Occasionally improbable, always idealized, but pure at heart, it becomes a truly affecting and enjoyable manga. Supporting-characters shine, and the central love story is an earnest success. Its early art is horrible, but the style develops as volumes progress; the available translations are shady, but I've seen worse. I was sorry to see this story end, and I recommend it.