Warning: This article is a reflection after having read the entire series. A lot of spoilers are mentioned. This review is also a part of the Manga Moveable Feast hosted by Matt Blind. See the other reviews and hopefully you’ll be encouraged to read Emma as well
Years ago, a friend asked me of my opinion of Emma. I had to correct her and asked if she was referring to Jane Austen’s Emma or the Kaoru Mori’s manga. Of course, she was referring to the latter (although she had to think twice since in a way, both are similar) and she felt that as a history major and a manga enthusiast, I had a lot of things to say about the manga and she thought I could give a word on its historical accuracy. It honestly surprised me because as much as the entire manga is lined with images of Victorian England, at that time, I was really more caught by the story of Emma and William. Of course, back then, I was fresh from following the monthlies and like a sparkly-eyed teenager, I was rooting for the romance to work. My mind was full of William and Emma’s love affair that I answered, “There’s really more to Emma than its history.”
But as time passed and after having read it again in full, this time for this Manga Moveable Feast, I realized that while Emma’s romance was beyond history, it was because the story was steeped in its history that made the romance beautiful. Emma was not just a manga about romance but a true Victorian story of love and more.
Popularity: 42% [?]
I have something to confess. I rarely buy English mangas. Don’t be hatin’. I have my reasons.
I rarely buy English mangas because they’re expensive in the Philippines. What would cost $8 in the U.S. might cost $15 in our bookstores. If I order Japanese mangas, it would cost me around $5 for shounen titles or $8 if they’re seinen, bl, or josei. Cost wise, I would sooner run to a Japanese online bookstore to get my stuff than go to Amazon where our customs will sniff the damn book and tax me heavily. The cost for getting my manga in English is a hassle. But there are exceptions. Vertical’s Tezuka line is always worth the hassle.
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Popularity: 37% [?]
Hrmm… a little late, but it’s better late than never! \o/
This year, rather than talking about the animes I’ve seen and loved this year, I’d share to you one of the best things I’ve had for a year.
I’ve always been hesitant to buy manga magazines. I think for the longest time, I’ve been pondering over subscribing to Shounen Sunday or Shounen Jump. For a while, I even pondered about subscribing to Kiss. Somehow, I never really had the chance to subscribe even if I was actually interested in it. Until last year, when a little trip to the grocery store got me wondering if I could actually get a subscription locally.
When 2008 started, I realized that a local Japanese Grocery store1 carried the magazine, Morning. Now, I’ve been eternally curious about Morning since Ed from Mangacast spoke highly of it. More so, a couple of titles I’ve been interested in were running there, such as Kami no Shizuku and Kinou Nani Tabeta. It wasn’t my usual cup of tea (really, I was more interested in Shounen Jump), but I thought I’d give it a shot. So I bought a copy. The next thing I know, I was already asking the manager if I can get a subscription.
Sure, Morning doesn’t have the most popular titles among kids but it does have a great array of reads that I did not expect. It ranges from the unexpectedly cute with Chi’s Sweet Home to the intense Zipang. As I flip through the pages, I fell in love more and more with the magazine, unexpectedly drawn to read stories that I’d probably wouldn’t give a second look if I was browsing a shelf. And for this I’m grateful for the magazine. Morning has nice stories to tell and if I hadn’t read the magazine, I wouldn’t know how wonderful these stories are.
In a year, I found myself enjoying a couple of titles. Here’s a rundown of my favorites currently running in the magazine.
- Kami no Shiziku (The wine manga we’ve all been dying to get translated!)
- Kinou Nani Tabeta (The Yoshinaga Fumi foodie manga we long to read about.)
- Piano no Mori (A story of a young boy who found love for music in the middle of a forest)
- Uchuu Kyoudai (A story of brothers gunning to take over space)
- Shima Shima (Can’t sleep? Then let the boys of Strip Sheep cuddle you to bed)
- Chi’s Sweet Home (Ah~ Cute little Chi~! Who can’t resist this kitty!?)
- Himawari (The dreams of a small town OL to become a mangaka2)
- Billy Bat (Urasawa’s Morning contribution. It’s becoming more trippy by the chapter! I love it!)
See, I didn’t expect to actually end up reading more than the 2 titles I actually bought Morning for. Last year, they even published a New Year’s St. Oniisan chapter in Morning and I owe it to that chapter for introducing me to St. Oniisan.
If there’s one thing I love about Morning, it’s how their catch phrase is not a lie. On every cover of Morning, there’s a catch phrase that says “読むと元気になる” (When you read this, you’ll feel great). And certainly my mornings feel great, thanks to Morning.
Popularity: 10% [?]
How do you like your Shounen Jump heroine?
Do you love her dressed in a pristine school uniform, where her smiling face (and possibly panties or if your lucky, cleavage) grace every panel? Do you like her making bentou for the hero, sharing laughs right before he enters the greatest of his greatest battles? Or do you love her strong, the type who would smack the hero when he is wrong and is generally unforgiving to anyone who insults her short skirt but is soft to the hero who basically ignores her D-size bra? If she has one.
For years, legions of Jump readers, particularly women from the Western frame of thought1, would write a post or two complaining why women in a particular Shounen Jump manga is often misrepresented. An interesting rant came by my timeline today, a disheartened Katekyo Hitman Reborn! fan who cannot forgive Akira Amano for making cooks out her heroines. In her blog, she pines about why the female characters in Reborn have been ill-presented, nothing but dolls whose only purpose in the story was to make the boys look better.
Yeah. Right.
Popularity: 19% [?]
- Oh yes! Orientalism plays a key part here! [↩]
I can’t get it out of my system. I’m compelled to spazz.
Three weeks ago, Morning announced that they’ll be bringing a set of new titles for magazine, the first of which was a story named Billy Bat written by Naoki Urasawa. The story, as they published in the presses, is a mix of Mickey Mouse, Superman, Spiderman, Batman, Dick Tracy, and slew of other American comic icons combined. Seeing the cover art made me think once or twice about what Urasawa was up to. They even showed a cover spiel at the Morning website. First, it looked like a superflat Batman. Second, honestly, it didn’t feel like it was Urasawa’s line of work. I started to think, was Urasawa undergoing some mangaka mid-life crisis and wanted trying something very new to him? Either way, I patiently waited for my Morning issue the next week. Maybe I’ll get my answers there.
True enough, Billy Bat was on the cover in last week’s issue and the first chapter was printed on a paper that reminded me of old American comics. It was packaged in such a way that there were ads for Billy Bat and on it was a name that shook my senses over lunch: Kevin Yamagata. When I saw that name, I turned to my friend and told her, “I have a feeling that Billy Bat is not Urasawa’s work.” So I speculated to my friend a theory. That Billy Bat was a front and the real story revolves around the author, this Kevin Yamagata. I even imagined how in a chapter, the comic will pan out and it will show Mr. Yamagata working on Billy Bat. This was of course, my speculation. And really, a good part of me that week wanted to wait for the next few chapters before spazzing1 because… it was a very different Urasawa and I found it difficult to see how the hell he will spin Billy Bat‘s world and art in the same way he has spun the lives of Johann, Miyuki, and Kenji. So my theory is, if he managed to shift people’s vision of Atom in Pluto, he can do the same for Billy Bat. And so this week came, and you know what… Urasawa and I mindmelded2.
Popularity: 69% [?]
Kreuz on 
