Manga impressions

[sara_tanaquil]

Since I had a bit of extra time today, I tried to organize my thoughts in writing on all the things I've read in the last few days. As so often, it turned into a monster post (HOW do you guys manage to review things so succinctly?). So, out of pity on the reader, I think I'm going to break it up into several posts over the next few days. (Bonus: I

Comments

[mvrdrk]

The G-Defend volumes are adorable stand alone, so you can read most of them in any order at all. I do have to say that I wish Morimoto would do some longer more serious story arcs.

[spacealien_vamp]

Ao has been in love with Ryoumei, the Shinto priest at the shrine next door, since he was a little kid and Ryoumei was just a priest-in-training.

Wait, what? Is this in the English translation? Because that's not how it is in Japanese. Ao's obsession with Ryoumei begins when he has a sex dream about him. Before that, Ao was a womanizer. Ryoumei was the one who was in love with Ao the whole time...he just refused to admit it.

[wednesday_10_00]

My memories of the series are admittedly fuzzy, but are we sure this wasn't a case of Ao having been in love the whole time and just not realizing it? I guess probably "has admired" would be better for a summary than "has been in love with."

[sara_tanaquil]

No, you're right, I was reading too quickly (I must have read all four books in about two hours) and jumped straight from "admired" to "LOVE!".

I think I would agree that they were both in love without realizing it for a very long time before the series began.

[spacealien_vamp]

I think I would agree that they were both in love without realizing it for a very long time before the series began.

Except Ao isn't the type to have hidden, repressed feelings. He's exactly the opposite--he's totally wide open. He's all about admitting his wants and desires and going after them full tilt. So thinking he was secretly in love just doesn't sit right with me, because it's out of character. Also, if there was even the slightest whiff of romantic attraction in his attitude toward Ryoumei, Shunpei would have jumped all over it.

Ryoumei, on the other hand, had that thing where he was secretly baking treats for Ao. That's a "secret admirer" type of activity, and he was doing it for quite a while. That's why I think he had the stirrings of romantic feelings for Ao long before he recognized them.

[wednesday_10_00]

Chiharu snaps and literally chains him up (!!!) in a house in the country.

Hahahaha!

I'm not sure this volume was such a big role reversal for these characters. In fact, chaining up Kazuki sounds exactly like same-old Chiharu to me. (But I might be a little biased because I find Kazuki to be one of the few likable characters in this series.)

(Hmm, I just went back and read my review of when I was catching up on the series, and now I'm wondering if I want to buy the most recent ones, because I guess I actually kind of like Jin and Jun.)

I look forward to reading Himegoto.

I kind of really love Himegoto. But I agree that she needs to write about Shunpei next.

[sara_tanaquil]

Haha, yeah, the chaining-up was entirely par for the course for Chiharu. It was in what happened after that (which is like half the book, poor Kazuki spends like three chapters with a fetter on his ankle...) where I saw a reversal of their usual roles.

(Totally love the moment where Kazuki wakes up and finds himself chained, and for a moment he's beserk-furious, and then he's like "Oh yeah, like I didn't see this coming. *rolls eyes* Right then, if I can't deal with a little thing like being chained up, I'm not fit to be Chiharu's lover!" And then he commences plotting.)

If you consider yourself a Kazuki fan, I would be very interested in what you think of this book if you ever do get around to reading it. :-)

I think I might have missed Jin and Jun entirely. (Is that the Aikata couple?) More to read!

[wednesday_10_00]

Is that the Aikata couple?

Yep, exactly. I'm unsure if they're actually likable characters, or if they just seem so compared to everyone else in the series, but...I hate to abandon a series now that I'm this far in, so I'll probably keep getting it.

[mangaroo]

Kazuki strikes me as an annoying spoiled brat, whereas Chiharu is way too much of a Perfect Masterful Seme (TM).

LOL! And this, of course, is exactly why I'm a Chiharu/Kazuki fan. I read your Torawareta Amai Kemonotachi summary and my only thought was "why don't I own this yet??" ('cause it was published in April, that's why.) Does Kazuki leave?

You ask if Japanese fangirls have a fantasy about being chained up. I wonder if they have some kind of romantic haze about long-distance relationships, because I can't stand these separations.

My problem with Yume Musubi rests squarely on Ao's character design. Entirely too pretty and youthful for my taste. But I love Ryoumei as tsundere seme. The scene in the park on the night he was drinking with Shuu and finally accepted his love for Ao, then Ao shows up in front of him. Classic! And again we have a couple who are going to be separated. Sheesh

[sara_tanaquil]

Does Kazuki leave?

He figures he could easily break away and sneak off, but he thinks that that would destroy Chiharu (which it probably would), so he has to figure out a way to persuade Chiharu to let them leave together. Which, eventually, he does. (Hint: it involves a lot of sex. But also (gasp!) communication.)

I can't stand these separations.

Not that I disagree at all, but iron fetters, chotto...

Entirely too pretty and youthful for my taste.

I also can't disagree with this (from that point of view, it made the story less "romantic" for me, but not less enjoyable, if that makes sense). But his genkiness won out. (And they weren't separated in the end, right? They decided that Ao would stay at his old school another year? Reading too fast is a disadvantage, I get all mixed up.)

Utterly random and unrelated to anything in your post:

Ahaha! I actually did make a reference to Love Control in one of my later reviews (probably one the ones I'll post today, if I get a chance), so it's more apposite than you know.

[mangaroo]

persuade Chiharu to let them leave together

I assumed they eventually came to terms and left the sex prison country house. I was wondering if Kazuki ends up doing what his father, et al., wanted: does he leave the country to work at another company away from Chiharu for several years? *sniffle*

They decided that Ao would stay at his old school another year?

But it's just another year. He has promised to move in with his mom and Aka after he graduates high school. Which seems like particularly odd timing to me, since that's when American teens leave home to go to college. Odd also that we don't have any sense of how frequently Ao saw his mom while he was growing up.

[sara_tanaquil]

does he leave the country to work at another company away from Chiharu for several years? *sniffle*

Ah, the compromise is that he will go abroad for a year, but afterward Chiharu will try to pull some strings to get him transferred back to the Japanese branch of the company he's working for abroad (which is Daigou's company, I think, if I'm getting the names right). So hopefully they won't be apart too long.

There is a really hilarious phone sex scene in the extra. ^__^

ETA: forgot to say, I can't get that worked up about the separation in Yume Musubi when it's apparently like two stops away on the train line. I don't remember the details, but I remember that Ryoumei is all "That's IT?" when he finds out how far away it is. I'm thinking that, by the time Ao is a college student, they ought to be able to handle that much separation. ^_^;;

[wednesday_10_00]

I thought it was the latest in the series, but apparently there's another one after this one (Aikata no Aishikata)?

Did you get this title from baka manga? I'm not finding it on Amazon, so I'm thinking it's still running in the magazine.

[sara_tanaquil]

I did, so the theory that it's still running in the magazine makes sense. Especially since mangaroo said that the volume I was reviewing only came out in April of this year.