In spite of personal shit that makes me feel all
I managed to get some serious manga reading done of late. So, yay?
Anyway, yeah, onwards and... upwards.
Aria: Volume 1
Light, happy and free of all of the disappointing disgusting fan service that every other manga I have read lately has - even the ones I liked. It felt like I was coming home when I read this - it was light, and, dare I say, "airy" to read. I felt like I was watching Hayao Miyazaki or walking down a forest path and just watching the river beyond the line of trees. Read if you need a pick-me-up, like I did. some of the beautiful imagery and the sense of relaxed happiness made me feel like everything was going to be okay and lovely.
Ghost Talker's Daydream, Vol. 1
Um, yeah, about that "fan-service". This is a prime example of how over-sexualizing a character who does not want to be over-sexualized (she repeatedly talks about how she hates aspects of being a BDSM "master" repeatedly and continuously gets into situations wherein she becomes inexplicably nude to others. It's pretty damn gross. And it detracts from the strengths of the story itself - this is an interesting premise and it doesn't flinch from the depictions of death and the monster-of-the-week styled stories feel fresh and interesting. Too bad, really.
Claymore, Vol. 1
Out of all of the ones that did have fan service, at least this one was classily handled. A woman who seems to have little in the way of a human soul and a whole lot of demon-enhanced abilities is the star of this series. Fascinating and dark, this killing machine of a person seems to be learning more about her human side as the story goes on as she continued down a path that is promised to take that very humanity away.
Ral & Grad, Vol. 1
And then we get into the wratched realm, where we have a woman agreeing to being sexually used by a fifteen year old boy and then we see grown women in the aftermath of having sex. With a minor. Oh god why Japan why.
After having read a lot of manga lately, can I just request that Japanese authors explain to me the need for exposition dumps? It's not necessary, if you have skill as a writer. Jeez.
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