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juushikaTitle: The Drifting Classroom
Author: Kazuo Umezu
Translator: Sheldon Drzka
Published: VIZ Media, 2019-2020 (1972-1974)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 2120 (190+188+208+192+192+192+192+192+192+192+192)
Total Page Count: 477,730
Text Number: 1680-1690
Read Because: mining digital library offerings, therefore: ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: An elementary school is ripped from preset day Japan andstranded in the desert landscape of the future . This is a classic horror manga, and I spent much of my reading time reminding myself to judge it in that context. Its structure is surprisingly episodic, which allows for unhinged creativity that can result in memorably horrific elements. The overarching plot is tedious, frequently concerned with interpersonal fighting which is less interesting than the speculative setting. But I like the ending, which resolves to be hopeful and responsible where most eco-horror would prefer defeatism. The real dealbreaker for me is the art and the tone. It's so abrasive: stiff movement and endless panels of children open-mouthed yelling and/or crying. The series desperately wants for some tonal variation, and there's so much potential for that in the childcare, food preparation, and other mundane elements of survival - all elements delegated to the female realm, therefore shunted offscreen. To critique a 1970s manga of sexism is so obvious as to be pointless, but - this would be objectively better were it less sexist!
Anyway. I didn't like this and wouldn't recommend it. But I did finish it. It's not without redeeming qualities, and I appreciate its place in genre history.
Title: After School Nightmare
Author: Setona Mizushiro
Published: 2004-2007
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 1980 (200+200+200+200+200+200+200+177+200+200)
Total Page Count: 479,710
Text Number: 1691-1700
Read Because: fan of the author
Review: Our protagonist is an intersex high schooler taking an afterschool course where he and select classmates enter a shared dream to compete for the opportunity to graduate. The protagonist's qualification for graduation rests on deciding which gender he wants to be and, concurrently, if he wants to be loved "as a man" or "as a woman." Obviously, treating intersex as a speculative condition and a problem to be solved isn't without issue. But as the narrative complicates its own simplification. See as example the classmate who assumes our protagonist is just wrestling with homosexual tendencies: simultaneously the narrative is pressuring him to become either a straight boy or straight girl, but that just makes him an intersex bi disaster with a complicated gender identity, which is great.
The art is okay, albeit less refined than the mangaka's later work. The dreamlike premise makes for tortured plot developments (looking particularly at the male love interest's backstory) but I adore the overall tone: teenage romance and gothic speculative nightmares, heightened and iddy.
I'm just torn on the final reveal. Not for the usual reasons: the purpose of graduation is adequately broadcasted without being obvious; thematically it's tied to plot and character arcs. But it's also the worst part of those arcs: it's the insistence of choosing a stable mainstream identity in order to become "real." So ... an interesting series! I love this mangaka, so I came in with unfairly high expectations which were moderately met. This is often weakest where it's most ambitious, but I appreciate the larger-than-life tone of the speculative framework. What really sells it for me is the quieter moments, the romantic drama and slow character growth and unexpected friendships. And how queer it is.
Title: Paradise Kiss
Author: Ai Yazawa
Translator: Maya Rosewood
Published: Vertical Comics, 2013 (1999-2003)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 860
Total Page Count: 480,570
Text Number: 1701
Read Because: reread, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A high school senior studying for exams falls in with an unlikely crowd when she's scouted to model for a fashion school's senior project. I've read the manga three? times and watched the anime twice and the live action film once; I've spent a lot of time crying over Parakiss, and can only be semi-coherent in articulating my love of this series. What struck me on this reread is how short the timescale of the inciting action is - a big chunk of the series occurs over just a few days. It's so convincing: A transformative whirlwind of events. Obsessive, compelling, flawed. Unstainable and unsustained. I adore that as a model for first love. Contrasting a multitude of narratives where first love is the lasting and only true love, what lasts here is the impact it has on the protagonist's identity.
Also the art is beautiful - the anime is great, but given the focus on fashion this really shines as a manga, which can be much more elaborate. The tone is beautifully balanced between bittersweet and funny, with fourth wall breaks that are just the right side of obnoxious. The scale is beautifully balanced, too, big sweeping events occurring on a charmingly human scale. I love the cast and how queer everyone is. It's dated, sure - in the treatment of the trans character; in George as a depraved bisexual - but never dismissive. The portrayal of sexual awakening and identify formation is just so messy, diverse, authentic.
And, each time, the ending gets me so hard. Anyway, I love this manga. I tore through this reread. I appreciate that there's now an omnibus bind-up - this reads beautifully in one long deep dive.
Author: Kazuo Umezu
Translator: Sheldon Drzka
Published: VIZ Media, 2019-2020 (1972-1974)
Rating: 2 of 5
Page Count: 2120 (190+188+208+192+192+192+192+192+192+192+192)
Total Page Count: 477,730
Text Number: 1680-1690
Read Because: mining digital library offerings, therefore: ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: An elementary school is ripped from preset day Japan and
Anyway. I didn't like this and wouldn't recommend it. But I did finish it. It's not without redeeming qualities, and I appreciate its place in genre history.
Title: After School Nightmare
Author: Setona Mizushiro
Published: 2004-2007
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 1980 (200+200+200+200+200+200+200+177+200+200)
Total Page Count: 479,710
Text Number: 1691-1700
Read Because: fan of the author
Review: Our protagonist is an intersex high schooler taking an afterschool course where he and select classmates enter a shared dream to compete for the opportunity to graduate. The protagonist's qualification for graduation rests on deciding which gender he wants to be and, concurrently, if he wants to be loved "as a man" or "as a woman." Obviously, treating intersex as a speculative condition and a problem to be solved isn't without issue. But as the narrative complicates its own simplification. See as example the classmate who assumes our protagonist is just wrestling with homosexual tendencies: simultaneously the narrative is pressuring him to become either a straight boy or straight girl, but that just makes him an intersex bi disaster with a complicated gender identity, which is great.
The art is okay, albeit less refined than the mangaka's later work. The dreamlike premise makes for tortured plot developments (looking particularly at the male love interest's backstory) but I adore the overall tone: teenage romance and gothic speculative nightmares, heightened and iddy.
I'm just torn on the final reveal. Not for the usual reasons: the purpose of graduation is adequately broadcasted without being obvious; thematically it's tied to plot and character arcs. But it's also the worst part of those arcs: it's the insistence of choosing a stable mainstream identity in order to become "real." So ... an interesting series! I love this mangaka, so I came in with unfairly high expectations which were moderately met. This is often weakest where it's most ambitious, but I appreciate the larger-than-life tone of the speculative framework. What really sells it for me is the quieter moments, the romantic drama and slow character growth and unexpected friendships. And how queer it is.
Title: Paradise Kiss
Author: Ai Yazawa
Translator: Maya Rosewood
Published: Vertical Comics, 2013 (1999-2003)
Rating: 5 of 5
Page Count: 860
Total Page Count: 480,570
Text Number: 1701
Read Because: reread, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: A high school senior studying for exams falls in with an unlikely crowd when she's scouted to model for a fashion school's senior project. I've read the manga three? times and watched the anime twice and the live action film once; I've spent a lot of time crying over Parakiss, and can only be semi-coherent in articulating my love of this series. What struck me on this reread is how short the timescale of the inciting action is - a big chunk of the series occurs over just a few days. It's so convincing: A transformative whirlwind of events. Obsessive, compelling, flawed. Unstainable and unsustained. I adore that as a model for first love. Contrasting a multitude of narratives where first love is the lasting and only true love, what lasts here is the impact it has on the protagonist's identity.
Also the art is beautiful - the anime is great, but given the focus on fashion this really shines as a manga, which can be much more elaborate. The tone is beautifully balanced between bittersweet and funny, with fourth wall breaks that are just the right side of obnoxious. The scale is beautifully balanced, too, big sweeping events occurring on a charmingly human scale. I love the cast and how queer everyone is. It's dated, sure - in the treatment of the trans character; in George as a depraved bisexual - but never dismissive. The portrayal of sexual awakening and identify formation is just so messy, diverse, authentic.
And, each time, the ending gets me so hard. Anyway, I love this manga. I tore through this reread. I appreciate that there's now an omnibus bind-up - this reads beautifully in one long deep dive.
