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saffronapplemanga · 11 months

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Doing a volume 3 reading thread on twitter! I am once again going feral...

Untitled Blue - アンタイトル・ブルー

DRAMA, MYSTERY

Untitled Blue by Natsume Yukiko

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

Links to my other manga posts here

I've started out this year strong by completely ignoring my 2023 Manga Reading Goals post, which is very on-brand for me tbh, with Momo's Medical History, Yume no Shizuku Kin no Torikago, A California Story, and probably other stuff I'm forgetting. I have my reasons so leave me be. I decided to actually consult my list this time and was debating between Untitled Blue and Tenjou Renka. Knew practically nothing about either but went with Untitled Blue after skimming the samples for each. All I DID know beforehand was it had something about art and suicide, that's it. (***Trigger warning for suicide*** because it is indeed in there.)

This one’s for you Colleen *finger guns*

Once again, since this isn't available in English, I'll summarize it like I always do for Japanese-only manga. Spoilers for volumes 1-2 will be labeled and my thoughts will be after that. Twitter reading thread here. Twitter link to this post here.

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

Anyone else get labeled a “gifted/honor student” growing up? Ugh…

Ogihara Akari was called an art prodigy as a child but fizzled out when she got older. On her way home one day, she swings by the ocean to scavenge driftwood for the art prep school she works at. To her surprise, while she's there a young man emerges from the ocean in front of her eyes. Akari offers to call for help but the boy tells her not to. If she does, he'll die right here, right now. Unable to walk away, Akari brings him home where he proceeds to pass out on her couch. She tries to find an ID but instead finds an expensive watch engraved with the name of a big financial conglomerate.

It’s fine! On my second day in Japan way back when, I got in a stranger guy’s car in Ishinomaki who was fixing graves without a second thought because I got lost looking for the ferry. Sweet guy! I’m alive and didn’t get kidnapped! Don’t tell my mom... Don't do what I do guys, be safe. I speak Japanese and knew what I was doing.

The boy wakes up and wanders into a storage room in the house that's full of art supplies. When Akari realized where he went, she finds him painting and having read about her youth. While watching him paint, she sees childlike joy in him and he produces a beautiful piece of the beach where she found him. She asks him if he does Japanese painting but he says it was his first time using that kind of paint. FYI 日本画 nihonga or Japanese painting uses a specific type of paint. More info here. I met a nihonga artist who was getting ready for an exhibition at the art prep school I used to go to in Tokyo and I realized, "Wow, there's a lot about nihonga I don't know." I've seen nihonga materials at art supplies stores like Sekaido Shinjuku and PIGMENT TOKYO in Shinagawa, and I don't even know where to start tbh.

I mean, look at all this. At least there's cool stuff to look at on the long hike to the immigration office - PIGMENT TOKYO (Shinagawa)

The boy suggests that they sell his work under Akari's name because for reasons, he can't put his name out there. She insists that it won't be so simple but he goes, "You're a former prodigy. Let's just list it for like ¥800,000 or whatever."

¥800,000??? Sir??????? At first, I thought he said ¥80,000 which is like, yeah okay. But honestly? Ask for your worth artists!

Akari is envious that he was able to capture the feeling of the beach when she had drawn the same scenery over and over, but failed. Her work wasn't valued, but his painting of the beach actually sold for ¥800,000. Not only that, it was bought by Iwakura, a well-known artist in the nihonga scene. Akari thinks that the boy should come forward as the artist of the piece. Instead, he asks her how much time ¥800,000 would buy him to stay at her place and says, "Let me borrow your name and I'll give you fame and fortune." I am... screaming.

This is making me feral, both in a friendship way and a potential romance way. Porque no los dos?

While he's telling Akari that he thinks she never wanted to give up on art, her little brothers come home. She tells the kids that this stranger is... going to be living with them... Middle schooler Toma is a sweetheart who invites him to dinner, while high schooler Nagisa is also a great kid but more skeptical, pokes and prods, and is against it. We find out the boy's name is Omi and learn that Akari's parents died 8 years ago. Omi convinces Nagisa to let him stay because he'll make them ¥10,000,000. Nagisa agrees because he wants to make sure they can send Toma to college.

Later, Omi and Akari are talking and she asks him if he's somehow related to the financial conglomerate. She also expresses hesitation in letting him crash with them. This seems to hit a sore spot for Omi who feels like a burden and clearly has baggage.

Oof…

They discuss their arrangement and Omi talks about carving themselves into the world and having something to leave behind. One thing leads to another, and Akari ends up getting featured on Iwakura's TV show and a spot in an art gallery. She has a few close calls where she was at risk of getting exposed for not being the artist behind the piece. Akari's sudden success has also led to others feeling animosity toward her. However, Akari starts to show signs of coming into her own, and acknowledging her "sins." It looks like she's going to try and really get back into painting herself. Volume one ends with a “long-time fan” of Akari's coming to the gallery and confronting her, claiming that he knows she's lying.

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME TWO***

The “fan” seems to know something is up, possibly that Omi is staying with Akari. It seems like he might be some gangster or perhaps works for the big financial group? We’re not told who he is yet.

Akari starts putting her all into art and taking it seriously. Back at the Ogihara household, Toma is showing an interest in art as well. Nagisa however, snaps at his siblings. I think it's from a place of worry for their future as well as discomfort with all the changes since Omi showed up. His outburst reminded me of parents who want their kids to pick “safe” paths that are more likely to lead to a secure future, hence why he’s so worried about sending Toma to college. They’ve all had to grow up quickly after losing their parents.

Nagisa runs off and everyone goes looking for him. During their search, Akari's mind starts spinning, feeling guilty for ever letting art come before her brothers and dropping the ball at home. Since their parents passed, she's had to step up as the eldest. She thought that as long as she could protect her family, she'd be fine, even if that meant giving up on her dreams.

While my life is not beat-for-beat like Akari’s, there are A LOT of similarities and… oh man… this hurts…

Stuck trying to balance sacrificing for the people she loves, part of Akari can't give up on her passions for her own sake. After she finds Nagisa, she tells him to watch her paint. He goes on to say that he's worried she'll get hurt again, so she tells him, "I hope you'll be there to help me so I can come out of it okay." Which, omg, yes. Allowing yourself to ask for help and not shouldering everything alone is good! All these kids are just so precious, honestly.

Meanwhile, Omi gets a letter from the Amasawa financial group which sends him into a mental spiral. We don't get to see what's in the letter exactly, but he starts to think things like, "I'm running out of time." We later find out the letter is threatening to drag the Ogihara family into things if Omi doesn't contact them.

Hello darkness my old friend~

Akari goes to check on him and takes him outside for a change of pace, where they discuss some plans to participate in an art fair. Omi seemingly out of nowhere tells Akari they should have a contest and, "If you win, I'll give you your name back." Of course, Akari is confused as to what he means and turns him down.

In the second half of chapter 7, Toma is skipping school for the first time ever. The "fan" guy, whose name is Hijiri, had run into Toma before and takes him on a ride on the back of his motorcycle. Basically, this grown-ass man is trying to build camaraderie with a literal child so he can use him to get at Omi. He manipulates Toma's insecurities and I hate it. Toma, sweetie, get away from him!!!

I’m gonna throw hands, I swear if he touches a hair on Toma's head (ง’̀-‘́)ง

It turns out Hijiri is Omi's cousin, specifically the son of Omi's younger paternal uncle. Because of this, Omi was set to be the heir of the Amasawa family, leaving Hijiri to live in his shadow. To make matters worse, Hijiri's dad was a hobby artist and started giving Omi more attention when he showed greater artistic talent than his son. To make matters even worse, Omi has everything Hijiri wants, but he doesn't want it himself. Omi tells him that if he wants to be the heir, he can have the position, then immediately threw himself off a balcony and into a lake. Good lord... Hijiri is furious that his cousin doesn't appreciate everything he's been "blessed" with, and he's going to drag him back home to get money and stop the Amasawa group from looking down on him. Get help bro, sheesh.

I'll be brief about the second half of this volume:

We get loads of emotional beats that made me absolutely lose it. So much so, I actually shot up out of my seat and pulled a muscle LOL. The ending of volume 2 just... crushed me. I'm so upset and I need to know what happens next right this instant. I won't say much more as I think it would be best to read those parts for yourself when it's available. I know I keep saying this for a lot of my reads recently, but please license this.

***END OF SPOILERS FOR VOLUMES 1-2***

As I mentioned in my Blue Period post, I'm an art kid. It's a big passion of mine. Having a well-written, realistically portrayed struggling artist/creative is always a plus in my book. I just wanna feel seen guys... This series delivers with a side of the kind of plot that we come to shoujosei for — chef's kiss.

The Ogihara family (including honorary member Omi) are lovable, interesting characters. I adore great sibling dynamics in stories, and this has great sibling dynamics! Akari and Omi are so different, but the same — two sides of the same coin? And Akari realizes this herself. Our main duo understand each other in some respects but don't at all in others. I liked how Akari understandably asks Omi personal questions the first day they met but doesn't pry when he clearly doesn't want to share. She leaves him be for the most part, not pestering him, but not to the point of letting him wallow around too much. But when she does push, it's from a place of caring and concern, and she does it in a way that makes that clear.

"How about a change of pace?"

"... Don't wanna... sounds like a pain."

"Oh, don't be like that! We're not going anywhere far." (Then she dragged him outside lol)

I'm sure some people are thinking, "You idiot, why are you bringing home some stranger and letting him live there? You don't even know who he is." And yeah, I feel that. But when Akari met Omi the way she did, she realized he was in a bad place, he was hurting, and desperately needed a hand to reach out to him. So, she took his hand. How could she leave him there? At the same time, I think Akari needed to meet him as much as he needed to meet her. I love that for them.

And Omi never crosses any lines with her. He doesn't have ulterior motives toward her in that way. There is potential romance, but there's no anime bullshit if you know what I mean. Omi is respectful, aware of the fact he's crashing at this stranger's house, and tries to contribute in his own way, albeit awkwardly. This guy was brought into this family and it warms my heart.

Initially, I was thinking that Akari would simply continue to be the face of the art while Omi produced it. I'm delighted to see that they're actually working together to be two halves of a whole! I think Akari was afraid to put her all into art while Omi might be putting too much of himself into his art. He's escaped a suffocating environment and could be going too hard pursuing the only thing he truly wants to do with his newfound freedom.

The art in Untitled Blue is lovely and does an amazing job of conveying how characters feel and nailing the mood in a scene. I enjoy the pacing as well.

Love it when you can feel a page!

This page feels like a visual representation of a panic attack but after the overwhelming thoughts, instead of the mental clarity she reaches here, your brain goes blank for a whole day. Glad you got the mental clarity route Akari.

These pages are sick, actual chills.

Speaking of art, there are some cool things that come up in the story. There's commentary on what makes art compelling, as well as scenes about art that's more realistic/photorealistic versus more stylized art.

"If you're getting this close to the real thing, why not just take a picture?"

"Is he serious? That's better than my drawing? It looks like something that took 5 seconds to draw." Isn't this basically what people say about Picasso's stuff? There was a line in Blue Period about this too.

I'm not saying photorealistic art is bad or less than. There are various opinions regarding this topic. A lot artists learn a foundation of what things are supposed to look like (still life, figure drawing, etc.) to learn the "rules" so they can break them. Some argue that "art normies" find realistic works more appealing than those with a more decerning eye. And this does come up in the manga.

There's also lots of talk about the value of art in various senses, and where they discuss the monetary value of art that I found interesting.

Yes, art is more than just the money, but artists are professionals that deserve to get paid well for their craft.

Loving the exploration of various ideas!

I'm not sure if this series is going to have romance or not, and whether it'll be more of a sub-genre or a big part of the manga. There are some incredibly tender scenes that could be taken as romantic, but could also be vulnerability and platonic love as well imo. MAL says it's drama/mystery/romance, but Renta! just has it listed under mystery/suspense, no romance, so idk. I'm cool with things being platonic or romantic as long as it's done well. Although, I kind of want more platonic relationships.

I'm reading this on Renta! and romance series like うるわしの宵の月/In the Clear Moonlit Dusk are tagged with 恋愛/romance. Untitled Blue doesn't have the tag though.

I was looking around to see if there was a release date for volume 3, but it turns out that there hasn't been a volume released since September 2021.

Volume 1 was released June 2021, and volume 2 was released September 2021.

But the mangaka tweeted this in November 2022:

"Untitled Blue volumes 1-2 are available 🎶 Volume 3 will release in the near future, so now's a great time to catch up 🎶”

Haven't seen any release dates, but it looks like we can look forward to volume 3 soon! I enjoyed Untitled Blue WAY more than I was expecting to and I can't wait to read more!!! After the end of volume 2, I need to know what happens... It actually made me tear up. I mean, aren't the best reading experiences the ones that make you bounce off the walls and scream at the page?

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If there's any Japanese-only manga you want me to check out, let me know! No promises, I'll only read what I'm interested in, but I'll take suggestions into consideration. Preferably, shorter manga or newer manga with a few volumes out since I like to take breaks from longer series I'm reading :)

#manga recs #manga discussion #漫画 #manga recommendation #untitled blue #アンタイトル・ブルー #おすすめ #shoujosei #josei manga #josei

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Recent Read Manga Recommendation Round Up (plus anime!) - Part 3

Manga/anime I’ve been enjoying recently! Links to part 1 and part 2.

Twitter link to this post here.

~Links to my other manga posts~ My personal favs/ones I super enjoyed will have a ✨ on them :)

PLEASE LOOK UP ANY TRIGGER WARNINGS!

CRIME, ACTION, DRAMA

✨GANGSTA. by Kohske

(8 volumes + chapters released past vol.8, hiatus)

Available in English

Please check out my dedicated post I linked for this series. I worked super hard on it!

If you take one recommendation from this list, let it be GANGSTA. I’m begging… This series is going in my all-time favs. I have a whole “Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out” section in my dedicated post, so definitely take a look at that! But in short: Do you enjoy great character writing? A diverse, adult cast featuring different races and disability rep (deaf MC)? A gritty setting? A FOUND FAMILY OF DORKS?

I'm obsessed and I'm making it my mission to take as many of you down with me as possible...

TIME TRAVEL, SUPERNATURAL

Link Click directed by Li Haoling

(24 Episodes - Season 2 Coming Soon)

Link Click is a donghua from Studio LAN and streamed on Bilibili — the Chinese streaming service that I do some subs for, if you're unfamiliar with them — as well as Funimation. I enjoyed the art, animation, and atmosphere. The premise is that two guys working at a print shop time travel through photos to help their clients. And who doesn't love a trio of kids with a big-hearted jokester, the quiet, mature one, and a feisty girl who reins them in? I think this is my first donghua and I enjoyed it!

Plus, the opening and ending themes are pretty slick ->

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Season 1 Opening Theme - Adding it to the playlist.

MECH, POLITICAL, SCHOOL

Mobile Suit Gundam: The Witch from Mercury by Yatate Hajime

(12 Episodes + Prologue - Season 2 currently airing)

Let me tell you about me and Gundam.

I used to work at a translation company in Tokyo where I translated some Gundam figure commercials/interviews (which are currently privated on Youtube, unfortunately) amongst other things. I'm telling you guys, every time I walked into the office and saw an email from Bandai/TAMASHII NATIONS with a new Gundam translation request in my inbox, I would cry a lot little inside. I had never watched anything Gundam and didn't know what the heck was going on in the stuff I had to translate. There was this one interview with a figure designer where I was like, "Oh, you have to be a Gundam fan to understand what the heck he's talking about..." I remember me, another translator, and our editor staring at our screens exasperated. We managed, though. Big shoutout to the Gundam Wiki — not that I understood anything from it LOL.

If you told me back then that I would enjoy a Gundam thing, I would've laughed — but here I am, enjoying a Gundam thing. I'm not into mechs, even though I think robots/robot-adjacent stuff + space are cool. Still, I could never get into mechs for some reason. So if you're like me, try The Witch from Mercury. Our MCs are these two girls who end up engaged to each other in a rather hilarious way imo, with a colorful cast of supporting characters. The political themes I hear Gundam is known for really hooked me, and I LOVE how the kids handle a situation they end up in. I won't say more so as not to spoil it, but I think this is a great entry point for Gundam newbies!

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Season 1 Opening Theme - Am I turning into a Gundam fan? Wild. Who would've thought the day would come? What if I start getting into Gunpla? A slippery slope, really.

SLICE OF LIFE, SCHOOL

✨Skip and Loafer by Takamatsu Misaki

(8 volumes, ongoing) + Season 1 Anime

Available in English

I remember seeing volume one of this series at the bookstore I frequented in Ikebukuro Station when it had just come out. Sooooo many times, I almost picked it up over the years. But I always passed because I was swamped with work, school, and current reads.

Now, I have a little more time on my hands, and the new anime adaptation has so much love put into it! A great coming-of-age story following young Mitsumi as she moves to the big city for school. This series is so wholesome, it's cavity-inducing.

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This opening is the most delightful thing~

SLICE OF LIFE

Hotel Metsäpeuraan e Youkoso by Fukuta Seira

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

In the mountains of Finland is a hotel run by two men. One day they see a young man outside in a snowstorm, and bring him inside. The men can tell that teenager Jun seems to have a heavy past and offer him a job and place to stay at the hotel.

Super cute, wholesome, and has great found family vibes!

SLICE OF LIFE, FOOD

Samenai Machi no Kisaten by Hasha

(2 volumes, complete)

JP only

A chill read with a touch of melancholy. At the end of each chapter is a recipe! The art is very cute and pleasing.

DYSTOPIAN, SCI-FI

✨Fool Night by Yasuda Kasumi

(6 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

In the future, the sky is blacked out, not allowing any sun through. To survive, technology has been developed to turn people into plants. I'm in love with the art and atmosphere of this series. I can't wait to read more!

ROMANCE

Gakusou by Tsurimaki Nodoka

(oneshot)

JP only

This is a super short one-chapter oneshot. Cute little read with lovely art! By the same author as 聖血の海獣/Seiketsu no Kemono, a 3-volume manga I've been meaning to read.

LGBTQ+, DRAMA, COMEDY

To Strip The Flesh by Tooda Oto

(oneshot/anthology)

Available in English

An anthology that has some funny stories, and some that made me feel too seen...

DYSTOPIAN, SCI-FI, CRIME, ACTION, POLITICAL

✨PSYCHO-PASS by Urobuchi Gen

Check anilist for all content because the seasons, movies, manga, light novels, and watch order are a little all over the place.

The Psycho-Pass: Inspector Shinya Kogami manga is available in English from publisher Dark Horse.

Set in the future, Japan has implemented a surveillance state that measures people's psyche and flags anyone with the potential to do crime, even if they have not done anything or will never have done anything.

I watched season one back when it first came out in 2012. Since then, I would see ads for new content at the train stations in Japan and thought I’d catch up. There’s a new movie, PSYCHO-PASS PROVIDENCE, releasing May 12, 2023.

I've been having a lot of dumb, edgy fun with this series and its on-the-nose political themes. It's kinda camp-y? I do wish it spent more time on character moments, though.

I love me a trio (which seems to be a theme in this round-up lol) and this series has a good trio! Akane is such a great character, and Shinya and MY BOY GINOZA NOBUCHIKA!!! have been thoroughly entertaining me.

I love him. I wanna bully him and stuff him into a locker...

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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OP I need u to know that I love your brain and your large dissertation on GANGSTA. This fandom is small since the hiatus/anime failing but I inhaled ur work like python eating a egg and I am so full and content. I noticed in your list you are read/gonna read Haru’s Curse by Konishi Asuka. She has another series that involves yakuza/psychological thrills that I feel like you would enjoy since you enjoyed gangsta. It's called Yakuza Bride/ Raise wa Ganin ga ii <3

Anon, I need you to know you made my day with your message. Thank you! Every time someone tells me they read my posts, I’m like, “omg people actually read my posts?” 🥺❤️ because I’m over here like, god I’m so annoying *clicks post anyway*

tbh I’m so close to writing a part 3 for GANGSTA. because like I mentioned, there’s so much more I wanna pick apart! But maybe after I get my JP physicals so I can flip around and see the original Japanese and what-not.

I did read Haru’s Curse and wrote a little post on it! I have heard of Konishi-sensei’s Raise wa Tanin ga Ii, and it’s actually already on my tbr :) there’s just so much stuff I wanna read so we’ll see when I get to it. I was thinking about it the other day lol.

#asks #y’all are too sweet #glad you enjoy my rambling #LMAO #made my heart grow multiple sizes like I'm the grinch or something

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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GANGSTA. - ギャングスタ - PART 2

CRIME, ACTION, DRAMA

(8 volumes, hiatus) Mangaka Kohske-sensei is sick and works on updates when she can. There are chapters beyond volume 8 in JP that haven't been collected into a volume yet here.

Available in English here

Anime - Yes. I'll admit it's crunchy, poorly paced, and disappointing because the studio went under literally a few days after it finished airing and it shows, but it’s still fun? They did cut stuff from the manga and there's so much they didn't adapt, so I'd recommend reading it. I'm begging for a remake and a season 2 or something...

Links to my other manga posts here

~Part one of this post is here~

This is a continuation of my part one post, so go check that out if you haven't and come back here!

Let’s continue talking non-stop about my precious found family trio ❤️

***Trigger warnings for everything you can think of for this series.***

Part one was broken up into: Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out - What's It About? - Lots And Lots of Character Analysis (And Gushing) - Where It All Began - Nicolas and Nina - "Nice vs. Kind" - Worick and Alex

This part two post will continue the character analysis and is broken up into: Nicolas and Alex - Nicolas and Worick - Nicolas - The Trio and The Scene That Had Me Bawling My Eyes Out - Brief Shoutouts to Characters I Also Want to Talk About, But This Post Is Already Long Enough

***SPOILERS UNTIL CHAPTER 56 FROM HERE ON OUT***

(Note: the manga pages/panels I included for reference are arranged from right to left reading order btw)

Nicolas and Alex

I touched on Nic and Alex's relationship a bit earlier, but let's dig deeper. We established that Nic is having trouble opening up to Alex, and she's having trouble figuring him out. Gradually though, they start to click.

I've already said that one of the ways Nic shows affection is by teasing. Early on in chapter six when the boys are rushing out the door mid-meal, Nic stops halfway out the door, turns around, and signs something to Alex. And if I'm not mistaken, it's the first time he's initiated talking to her. Alex looks up the sign in the book and realizes he said the food was, "So-so." Even though earlier in the same chapter he felt unapproachable and ate alone down in his space, he's making an effort to communicate and thank her for the food... in his own awkward Nicolas-way lol.

At Constance's shop after Alex's withdrawal meltdown with Worick, we can see Nic keeping an eye on Alex from afar. She starts recalling some memories and is on the edge of having a panic attack. At this moment, Nic comes inside the shop to ask Constance for more paint:

Be still, my beating heart.

I think he asked for the paint as an excuse to casually come closer to Alex. Whether he actually needed more paint or not, he chose this moment to get up from where he was and come inside. After he calms Alex and helps her open the pill bottle, he leaves once she stops trembling, likely to give her some air and not have her feel like he's hovering over her — so that she doesn't feel like she's burdening or worrying them. Since Nic and I have similar love languages/displays of affection, I tend to do the same. I don't like to make a big fuss over something so the other person doesn't feel embarrassed and like they have the spotlight on them. At the same time, I try to make sure they know I'm always around and can come to me when they need to/are ready to.

Next, we have these pages where Alex was helping with a job looking for a lost cat to "earn her keep" when she sees a Twilight child being beaten and about to be SA-ed by Normals. She steps in and whacks one of them to allow the child to escape, but she's up against three big guys and gets caught. Luckily, Nic comes in the nick of time hehe:

I can't believe they cut this out of the anime... Nic is a cat whisperer but Alex is not a Nic whisperer... yet, LOL. She'll get there. And him constantly pickpocketing the people he knocks out is so funny. But also it’s sad because it’s a habit he picked up as a kid to survive.

I know I sound like a broken record, but I love the casual kindness in this series. Nic saves Alex and the child, and gives her the cat and the money he pickpocketed from the men. Then he gave some to the child and walked away. The way he did all this sort of reminded me of this saying that’s found in the Abrahamic religions that goes, "Give without letting your left hand know what your right hand is doing." Except Nic is a leftie lol. This saying is about not seeking a reward for doing something good. To not “announce” your good deeds for attention. Nic does what he does, doesn't make a big deal of it, and just goes about his business (it's "nice vs. kind" again!). Alex stands against injustice even when it put her in great danger. In this case, she put herself in danger for a Twilight she didn't even know, and I'm sure Nic appreciates that.

Even though Alex is struggling to get on Nic's wavelength, it doesn't stop her from trying. She takes the initiative to learn sign language when she's alone. Before heading home from the clinic together, Alex stops Nic to convey her feelings about her situation, but in sign. It's her first attempt at signing a full conversation. Nic waits for her to finish without interrupting her, but then says, "Idiot. Your signing sucks. I can't understand it. Try again. And quit being so rough with that book. It's the only copy we have." To me, it sounds like Nic knew that Alex was studying sign, and he appreciates her effort and is teasing like he always does. They're starting to meet each other halfway more and more.

When Alex regains her memories and passes out from a panic attack, we get this scene:

This is an example of what I meant by, "I try to make sure they know I'm always around and can come to me when they need to/are ready to." He's just there, quietly watching over her when she's in a vulnerable state. He chose to read his book in Worick's room next to her instead of the living room or his room. It's such a simple gesture — a reassuring presence at a time when she's working through her trauma, waiting by her side with a comforting drink in hand.

A scene I adored was this:

Kohske-sensei, once again killing it with conveying things through wordless pages.

After comforting a grieving Nina, Nic takes her to Bastard to watch Alex sing. He leans against the speakers so he can feel the vibrations of her performance in an effort to connect to Alex since he can't hear her singing. If this isn't the cutest thing... idk what is...

Also, this:

A little bit after leaving Bastard, Nic's 'roided out on Theo's drug and is about to do some reckless shit. He's leaping over the rooftops to his destination and we get this page of him drifting in the air... humming the tune of Alex's song... AHHHH!!!

Nicolas and Worick

I talked about the Handymen and their relationships with other characters, but what about with each other? As early as the first page of chapter two, we already get hints that Nic and Worick have a... complicated relationship.

From their banter and how they bounce off each other, we can tell these two are beyond close. But the more we progress, the more we see how close. Worick usually presents a silly, charming, and laid-back attitude, so it's jarring when we see him seriously snap at the girl badmouthing Nic at the brothel. It's kind of scary to see him like that. Time and time again, we see how protective he is of Nic. When one of his clients suggests that Nic should "join them" Worick declines and is angry on the inside. He thinks to himself that Nic isn't a sex worker. While Nic couldn't join Worick in working at the brothel, Pussy, because no Twilights are allowed, I get the feeling Worick wouldn’t have let him anyway. He's traumatized by his sex work and seems to keep Nic out of it. Hell, he owns Nic and he could have made him sell himself, but my impression is that he's against it. Maybe I'm reaching, idk.

With their backstory, we learn a lot about them, how they met, why they are the way they are, and more. I love that Worick took Nic in and gave him the education he never had. They bond as children and become friends, but we can see SO MANY times, Nic bows to Worick. I've lost count of how many times he does it. I think this is because his whole life, Nic has been taught to obey his "master" which was usually his father, and now, Worick. Now, these two hurt little boys are brought together, and they need one another to survive.

Worick asks, "Why don't you run away?" and, "How can you act so calm?" There are various reasons Nic hasn't run away and acts calm, so allow me:

Worick doesn't know yet at this point, but Nic's father, Gaston Brown, has his supply of Cerebret. Nic can't source it himself and would die without it if he ran away.

He's a child. Where would he even go? He has nowhere to go.

He's acting "calm" because, to him, this is his "normal". It's not unusual for victims of abuse to not register things they experienced as abuse. If that's the only perspective they've known and have been conditioned to, it becomes their "normal". Or some believe they "deserve" that treatment. Worick's "normal" also consists of constant abuse, but he at least has a contrasting point of reference in his brother who gets treated much better than he does. Nic doesn't have that.

No matter how terrible, Gaston Brown is his father at the end of the day. It can be ridiculously hard to cut parents out, even when you hate them. This applies to Worick as well, but I'm going to expand on this point more in a bit.

I'm sure Worick was asking these questions out of frustration, perhaps asking himself those questions rather than actually directing them at Nic who he knows isn't listening.

The two are suffering abuse at the hands of their fathers, but the abuse isn't just physical. Although, that's the most obvious form that they are both experiencing at the same time:

It's common for victims of physical abuse to say, "I fell," or say they had an accident when asked about their injuries. Worick is the first to bring up the topic in chapter 13 (right page) as he's been observing Nic and his behaviors more and more. Nic pauses before coming up with a lie, saying that he, "...fell down". I wouldn't be surprised if he was told to either hide that his father was abusing him or maybe he thinks it was his fault and takes the blame for his injuries. Worick understands what he actually means though. It's glaringly obvious that Nic's arm has been stomped on by someone wearing military boots. Then in chapter 15 (left page) after Nic comes back from a battle, he asks what happened to Worick. And Worick mirrors Nic's response of, "I fell." I think Nic knows about Worick being beaten by this point, and his asking was more like, I'm the one that just came back from war. What the heck happened to you? Are you okay? Or something along those lines.

After this, the boys really start to get along, even more than before. They enjoy each other's company and feel comfortable with one another. They understand each other in a way no one else around them does. But then, Worick learns that Nic is a Twilight, and he's been taught that Twilights are monsters. At first, he's in denial when he finds out but ultimately challenges his teachings. He's spent time and shared intimate moments with this so-called "monster" and quickly works towards saving Nic from his father. So, he buys Nic's contract and a supply of Cerebret.

This scene... stomped on my heart. After being injured in a battle he, A 12 YEAR OLD CHILD, was forced to fight in, Nic wakes up, leaving the bed and assuming his spot on the floor — like he's been "trained" to do (more on this in the next section... ugh.) He rips out his IV and runs out in the rain calling after his father, clinging to the bars of the fence... only to be thrown away for money and called a monster. His expression on the last page killed me. That's the face of a child who still hoped for their parent to show them love, even after everything they had done to them. Yes, Worick has saved him from his father's tyranny, but part of him still hoped...

The next day, Worick has been beaten once again. Nic has been "freed" but not actually. As Worick says, "Great, nothing's changed at all." (This is a theme that comes up constantly.) Nic is still a child soldier who's a slave and Worick is still his father's punching bag. Nic's response? He signs, "Should I kill him?" referring to Worick's father, as it is now time to free Worick from his abusive situation. It's also the only thing he knows how to do. Nic snaps the next time Worick's father beats him, killing the whole family. Worick is in a panic, "Father, it wasn't me! Please believe me, Father..." and he seems angry at Nic. When he tells him, "I won't allow you to die that easy! You're going to hurt real bad before you die! The worst kind of pain you can imagine! That's an order!" he's taking out his frustration on Nic while also begging him to not die and leave him behind. Nic is Worick's only friend after all. The expression on Nic's face when he gets yelled at is interesting. At first his eyes are open wide, then he relaxes his face accepting what Worick says. It reminds me of his face when his father left. It's worth pointing out that Nic's previous master was a white/blonde man with an eyepatch who was bigger than him and was rough with him. And now his new master is too.

I think... Worick is ultimately glad his father is gone, but he's conflicted. The thing with some relationships, especially family/parent-child relationships, is that it's never that simple. No matter how terrible, a child will always crave the love of their parent. Somewhere inside, they hope that a crumb of affection will come their way. Often times in abusive relationships, it isn't always all bad. The abusive parent can still have moments where they are good to the child victim and show care and gentleness. The child is powerless to run away, powerless to fight back, and naturally seeks the love of the parent, so they don't have much choice other than to endure and hope for "good times" to make their appearance.

While I was writing this, I was skimming through the manga again to refresh my memory and I saw this page at the end of vol.3 that I either missed or completely forgot about that supports what I'm saying:

Apparently, Worick's picture is only in the Japanese volumes.

Gaston Brown is... hugging Nic. I think... this is the only time we see Nic smile as a child. And he did put the last name "Brown" on Nic's tag. Did he see him as his son, even a little? I want to mention that the flashback is all from Worick's POV, and we never directly see Gaston physically abuse Nic. Worick's POV could be skewing our perception of Nic's story and he might be projecting his experience with abuse onto Nic, assuming it was Gaston when it could've been the other men. I could argue points in Gatson's defense, believe it or not. Like how he actually told the guys to lay off of Nic, or maybe he sold him to Worick because they could take care of him better than he could, and so on and so forth. Still a piece of shit and not father-of-the-year or anything, and this could totally not be the case. It's something to think about but I'll leave it there for now.

The same is true for Worick. He's had nice moments with his father as well. But now, there is no chance Worick can ever hope to have a relationship with his father. While no longer being terrorized, the boys lost all hope for parental affection as well as any kind of familial support system. It's normal to feel great loss and regret. It reminds me of Ash's relationship with his father from Banana Fish, and that One Piece character who had a dedicated arc semi-recently (I don't wanna spoil anyone, but if you know, you know). Like Ash and in One Piece, Nic and Worick were failed by their parents and pushed to desperate measures to survive. But ultimately, all these characters can't bring themselves to completely hate their parents and feel nothing for them. It's harder than it seems to throw your family away even when you hate them. Whenever people are like, "Just cut your parents off! They're not the boss of you!" it's like... shut up, it's complicated.

Surely now, things will be on the up and up now that they're out of those terrible situations, right?

Wrong.

Worick is selling himself to support them, and Nic is frankly a burden. His medication is expensive, he can't work regular jobs, and all he knows how to do is fight and kill. Worick is excited to take Nic somewhere where they can get something decent to eat, and to eat together at a place that allows Twilights. But he rounds the corner and sees that his friend is beaten and bruised. And Nic says it himself, "All of it is pointless." (Again, this is a constant theme.) They're constantly stuck in a crappy situation. They're NOT free even after running away. They're still two scared little kids with no support system, fending for themselves just like before. And Twilights will always be oppressed. They'll always be slaves. The whole Three Laws is a facade to "free" the Twilights when in reality that's not the case. It's probably why Chad says he doesn't like the Three Laws and not to talk about them around him. Even if Worick didn't own him, Nic and the other Twilights would be slaves to the system.

In the current timeline, the boys are doing pretty well for themselves. Their business/home, their neutral status, and freelancer flexibility are PEAK luxuries. If you look at their current lifestyle and think, "Man, they live in a shitty place and their jobs kinda suck," then I say to you, that you haven't tasted poverty and desperation. I always get pissy when I see those, "I tried living on poverty wages for a month!" things because... fuck you. One of the worst parts about poverty is that there's no end in sight. You can slave away day in and day out and not get anywhere. There's no promise of "moving up" if you just work hard enough. But if you KNOW it's over in a month or even a year or more? You can pace yourself and stick it out. That's nothing. That's EASY. At least there's an end in sight. But even if you get out, you always live in fear of slipping and going back. Anyone who thinks poverty is caused by people being lazy or whatever is just exposing how ignorant they are. Poverty is a failure of society — all of us as a society are failing the poor and oppressed. Poverty is a form of violence, and not a failure of the individual. I don't want to harp on about this for too long, but just know, I'm proud of the boys and I love their crappy little home and wish them luck on their morally dubious jobs.

But, these two are codependent on each other while also having some awkward power dynamics. Nic needs Worick to be his contract holder to afford him as much "freedom" as he has, and to keep others from using him. Early on, he relied on Worick to provide for them. Worick needs Nic to keep him safe, and I'd argue that Worick would've been taken out for his "storage" ability being a liability ages ago if it wasn't for Nic's presence being a threat. Beyond bodily survival, they need one another in terms of emotional well-being and keeping each other in check. They're aware of their "master/Twilight" positions and for the most part, do well to thrive together despite it. It does come up though and continues to be a point of contention in their relationship.

Back to the Arcangelo family massacre, maybe part of Worick was angry at himself for not being able to do anything and Nic having to dirty his hands. Plus the way Nic killed everyone was... gruesome. It proved to Worick what Nic was capable of and that he really is a Twilight, a monster, and all of this shocked him. The boys were friends, but after the massacre, part of Worick likely hated Nic and he was cruel to him in some ways (as we see more of in the Blu-ray manga where Worick even calls Nic his dog. He was playing along with Monroe, but still...) There's definitely resentment. You could say Nic ruined his life as much as he saved him.

However, two years later (I'm assuming after the attack on Monroe), we get a scene of Worick crying to Chad as Nic is hospitalized, and I believe he starts to realize once again that Nic is just a kid and not an invincible monster. He realizes that throwing Nic into that situation with his planned attack on Monroe almost got his only friend killed for real (which might be why Monroe later says that Nic attacked him for his master's sake, that bothers Worick because he now sees them as friends). At this point, their relationship takes another turn.

The reality is that he's still technically Nic's master, but they're friends too. So now they went from friends, to master/slave, and now to master/friends. It's an awkward line to walk, and Worick is trying his best to keep it more on the friendship side. Like, when he tells Nic not to make him give orders because he doesn't like flexing his role as master. No matter what, the legal ownership of Nic is always hovering over them. It's... complicated... good lord.

I do find it interesting to think about how Worick is probably the first person who treated Nic normally at first because he didn't know he was a Twilight. Nic probably never experienced that any other time.

One last thing — I love that they got matching tattoos because it was to cover the serial numbers on Nic's back and Worick got one too. I think it was Worick's idea because Nic doesn't seem like the type that would bother. Cute...

I know I mainly talked about their past together and there's so much subtle stuff from the present like their conversation at Connie's place and Worick hitting Nic with the hammer to test his sense of pain. But maybe another time or else we're gonna be here all day. I could literally analyze this series page by page, panel by panel.

Nicolas

Now, I'd like to further break down aspects of Nic's character I have yet to cover in this section dedicated to him because he's my baby girl.

Worick's family had it coming. If only Nic took out his own dad while he was at it.

I am not deaf, nor will I pretend to truly understand what it's like for those in the deaf/hard-of-hearing community. I can only give my perspective on the portrayal of Nicolas as someone trying to relate and understand from my limited knowledge, my own experience with disability, and through my experience with a deaf relative of mine. So please keep that in mind whenever I address that aspect of Nic. If I got something wrong, please let me know! I’m always open to learning more.

Nic expresses himself differently than Worick, from his mannerisms, how he shows kindness, etc. Why is he the way he is? I've seen some people say that he doesn't show a lot of emotion. While I do think he was emotionally stunted from childhood, he actually displays a lot of emotion. He's just more subtle about it, except for when he wants to fight I guess.

From the start, he gives off a feral kind of energy. Nic has an itch for battle, yes, but it also shows in his body language in his daily life and how he acts outside of battle.

I know I call him an animal here, but I say it affectionately, I swear. I want to throw hands with his dad who treated him like a literal animal (ง’̀-‘́)ง But we'll get to that... They cut this detail out of the anime too!

A panel that stood out to me early on is this:

Nic often curls up on furniture, like when he sat next to Nina on the couch. But here when he's alone, he's hunched over his food, not even properly sitting on the loveseat. He sits downstairs alone to eat instead of joining Worick and Alex. Worick mentions that, "I've known him since we were kids, but we've only been eating together for the past two or three years." Later at the end of one of the volumes, we get a layout of the Handymen's home and it turns out Nic doesn't have a bed. His "room" is the open space by the kitchen and his "bed" is either the loveseat or he just sleeps on the floor. It's like... he doesn't know how to sit "normally" or behave in a "typical" manner sometimes.

Listen, I sleep on the floor with a Japanese-style futon and I'm that kid that has to sit cross-legged on everything — couches, desk chairs, those insufferably uncomfortable science class/art studio stools, you name it. But Nic's body language was telling me that he's been hurt and abused before I even got any info on his backstory.

Sure enough, his backstory proved me right.

We talked about the physical abuse Nic and Worick went through, but there's more to it than just that. Worick is also being emotionally abused by being othered and hated for being the result of his father's infidelity. Nic is being abused on so many levels — he hasn't been given any kind of education (abuse!), his medication is being kept from him and he's only given enough to barely function (medical child abuse), his mother was killed by his father and he was taken to be a child soldier (yikes...), and he's being treated like a literal dog! OH MY GOD!!!

His feet don't even reach the floor... How could you be so cruel to this child...

Multiple times, we see that Nic goes out of his way to come down off of furniture and curl up on the floor as if he was a dog that got scolded, and to take up as little room as possible. Worick realizes that Gatson Brown probably "trained" Nic to do this, so he tells him he doesn't have to do that around him. He can just sit on the chair. Nic nods in response but he keeps getting down and sitting on the floor again and again. It's like it's been hardwired and beat into him — engrained into him, and he's having a hard time breaking the habit.

When Nic wakes up after passing out, he looks startled. Normally, I'd think that he's reacting to Worick finding out that he's a Twilight, but Nic can't hear them and likely can't read their lips from where he is. Maybe he could tell from their body language? But to me, this feels like he woke up and thought, Why am I in a bed? Oh no, I should get out of this bed before anyone sees me. I'll get in trouble. I'm doing a lot of assuming here, but that's my impression because the first thing he does is jump out of bed and curl up on the floor next to the IV stand. He flips through the book and lingers on the signs for "Family/Father". Then he gets up, rips the IV out, and runs outside to chase after his father. That's when we get the heart-wrenching scene where he's abandoned that we discussed in the previous section.

The abuse that takes form in Nic's lack of education and accommodations for his disability is something that got me REAL heated. Like, yeah, the child soldier thing is horrible but I don't think I need to expand on why... I touched on education in my Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol post, but in summary, education is a human right! Access to language is a human right! A deaf child not having access to language is child abuse! Whether it's spoken or sign language, they need to be able to convey their wants and needs and communicate with those around them. Humans are social beings! I've seen firsthand a mere glimpse of what a deaf child who hasn't been given proper access to language goes through, and I raised hell over it! I won't get into details out of respect for their privacy. I can only imagine how lonely and isolated Nic must have been his whole life. His deafness and language deprivation can also be symbolic of Twilights not having a voice in society.

And I want to be clear that I'm not saying deaf or hard-of-hearing individuals need hearing aids or cochlear implants or anything like that (Nic probably couldn't get some anyways, but that's not the point). Deafness isn't something that needs to be "fixed" because there's no such thing. Whether one wants to utilize medical devices, wants to learn spoken language/speech therapy, wants to learn sign language, and how they want to use them in whatever combination is a deeply personal choice. These are all tools and some people in the deaf and hard-of-hearing community chose not to use medical devices of any kind. Some, like Nic, prefer sign language over speaking. They should be presented with their options and be able to choose what suits their needs best.

Why is he always itching for a fight? My opinion? It’s all he knew for so long and he's depressed and needs to feel something. The whole thing about the Cerebret making him numb and lose feeling reminds me of the numbness you feel when depressed so that could be symbolism or something? Also... I think Nic might be kinda suicidal... Like in a trying-to-get-himself-killed and having self-destructive tendencies kinda way if that makes sense. He's accepted his fate of dying young, of always being seen as a monster.

Seeing Nic say something so profoundly sad, echoing himself as a child, while simultaneously having people around who love him do everything they can to help is just… heartbreaking. He feels hopeless. This goes back to what I said in the previous section about how Nic knows he and the Twilights will never be free no matter what.

Despite this, he's still SO KIND!!! A scene that turned on the waterworks for me is this:

He's having seizures and is in extreme pain. Theo is about to call the test off but Nic stops him. He knocks the downer out of Theo's hand since using it would ruin the test results. Then, he grits his teeth and smiles, points to Yang indicating to Theo, I'm fine. Go help him. Now that he's accepted his death that's coming sooner rather than later, he's offering his body to help Theo figure out how to help other Twilights...

Nic is a perfect representation of what Twilights face in this world. From being born to be a weapon, being oppressed and abused, having no voice, and even the manga not having much of his perspective. The past was Worick's POV and the present is a lof of Alex's POV. Nic's POV is pretty much just his memories of Veronica. We don't get to hear from him about what he thinks very often, and most of the time we have to infer a lot of things. He fascinates me and I want to learn more about him!!!

The Trio and The Scenes From Ch 43 and 56 That Had Me Bawling My Eyes Out

Note: I read the post-vol. 8 chapters in Japanese. I'll be using my own translations for the post-vol. 8 chapters I'm referencing.

We get various moments throughout the series of the trio interacting. Most of the notable moments have been one on one — either Nic/Worick, Nic/Alex, or Alex/Worick. The scenes I want to talk about here are ones where things start to… converge (?) in a way. Like, things regarding the three of them coming together? I’m not quite sure how to put it. Hopefully, as I talk about the scenes, things will start to make sense.

Chapter 43 was relentless, from beginning to end. We check in with where the trio are mentally/emotionally. While separated from one another in this chapter, they’re all… really going through it at this point, to put it mildly.

First up is Worick, who has just made some WILD moves in the story. Like, holy shit, Worick!!! I trust you sweetie, but what’s going on in that big beautiful head of yours? I was anxious when he found out about Monroe's betrayal and he made a face I'm used to seeing on Nic, but not Worick himself — an unhinged grin that says, Oh, I'm about to fuck shit up. And I was nervously laughing like... haha, what're you gonna do Worick...? Oh no... I have a bad feeling about this. AND THEN HE ROLLED UP WITH MILES' HEAD IN A BAG! And wants to see Uranos Corsica! WORICK!!?! He's doing a convincing job of making everyone think that he's siding with Corsica, the notorious Twilight-hater.

While I have to say, Worick is scaring me a bit, I don't doubt him at all. He's constantly shown what a wonderful person he is. He's gone above and beyond to protect Nic and doesn't let people speak ill of his partner. And it's precisely in the midst of Worick taking frightening, extreme measures that we get this scene:

Sometimes, murder is moral, kids. But his face... the way he hesitated to hug her back...

It opens with a flashback of Worick in his teens having just stabbed a man who was cruel to Twilights and he's taking it upon himself to stand up for them. We've been shown that Worick hates the discrimination against Twilights despite having been taught to hate and fear them before he met Nicolas. And now, I'm genuinely worried for him because he could very much get himself killed. Nic's not with him. No one is. He's doing this alone. Big Mama is on his side, but she still works under Corsica.

Speaking of Nic, I don't think Worick filled him in on whatever the plan is. Nic was passed out after having a seizure when Worick decided to raise hell against Monroe. He's the next in the trio we check in with. But right before we do, we see Chad on the phone with Gina where he's forced to acknowledge that he's helpless to do anything for the suffering Twilights. He remembers what Nicolas said as a child — "All of it is pointless." I'm not crying.

Back at the clinic, Nic is still out of commission from the experimental drug's side effects. He's remembering the night he killed Worick's family and Worick yelling at him. Nina puts her hands on his shaking ones, trying to soothe him:

Just fuck me up... Don't make that face... Theo, I’m gonna need you to come in clutch and figure something out. Can we get this man a juicy research budget or something…?😩💦

Nic, once again, looks so hopeless. So defeated. He's accepted his fate. He still wants to help the other Twilights. *Punches the wall* DAMNIT STOP HURTING MY BOY LIKE THIS!

Theo says Nic's contract has been "voided" and Nic says, "My master is going to a place where he doesn't need a Twilight anymore" while looking distraught in my opinion. That line makes it sound like he may have some idea of what Worick is doing. Or a more depressing interpretation is that he thinks he's useless and has been tossed aside, but I refuse to entertain that idea. And then he says he still has an order to follow. I think this is in reference to what Worick told him that night Nic killed his family — "I won't allow you to die that easy! You're going to hurt real bad before you die! The worst kind of pain you can imagine! That's an order!" Like, You're not allowed to die on me. I also think the order might be to keep Alex safe and get her out of the city (which is why he’s looking at the blood under his nails where he accidentally scratched her). And I want to point out that even though his contract is voided, Nic from this point on keeps constantly calling Worick his master. Maybe it's a sense of loyalty, or because he doesn't want Worick to leave him behind. I honestly can't say for sure, but it hurts me... I'm holding my head in my hands right now... ugh...

Finally, we have Alex closing the chapter. She comes back to Handymen HQ with the intention of it being the last time — "Barry, you were right. I was crazy to think I'd found a place where I belonged. I've never had a home I could come back to. And I'm sure this time, I'll never come back here again." I'm NOT crying. But then, she finds a beheaded body the moment she walks through the door.

I gotta say, I laughed a little here because the first thing Alex does after realizing what she’s looking at is to lock the door and close the window shutters. Her first instinct is to try and make sure nobody finds out that one of the boys BEHEADED A MAN in their living room. I mean, yeah she was freaked out by the body, but more so than that, she didn’t want the boys to get in trouble for murder!!! Whether she thinks they did it or not is unclear, but even if they did, it doesn’t matter to her! She trusts them 100%!!! She did meet them murdering Barry and all, so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Alex, you boobalicious babe, you’re such a real one!!!!! She might make a great getaway driver, tbh.

Anyways, back to the scenes ruining my life:

By this point in the chapter, I’m just sitting in front of a tissue box with a pile of used tissues in my lap… I’m reading through tears. I can’t see shit.😭😭😭

Right after she tries to cover the boys’ asses for homicide, her train of thought goes down memory lane. Her eyes wander around the room, recalling her life since Barry, and the men who saved her from the streets of Ergastulum, asking for nothing in return. We see a note from Worick and an envelope of money he left for Alex, bloody hand prints everywhere. Even in the midst of him BEHEADING A MAN IN THE LIVING ROOM, making some extremely risky moves, and heading into the lion’s den, he still thought of Alex — not wanting her to get wrapped up in their mess and the turmoil that's enveloping the city. I am bouncing off the walls, crying, screaming… I love them....... The care and love they all have for each other is... *sobbing*

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Before moving onto the scene from chapter 56 that I've literally made my desktop background, I wanted to dig a little further into whatever Worick is planning, so I'm going to jump to chapters 50-51.

I said that I don't think Worick filled Nic in on the plan, so I was wondering how Nic felt about what his partner was up to. We get a scene where he looks shocked when he's told, "Your contract holder, Storage (Worick), has committed taboo." And I'M over here like, Nic, are we freaking out? Are we chill? What’s the vibe buddy? I can’t tell if we’re in trouble or not...

But then:

He smiled. Okay, so Nic seems okay with this. Now I can breathe a little.

The flashback scenes of the boys when they were working for Monroe show that they had a good relationship with Miles. It looks like they genuinely cared for each other. Miles even says that if his son was still alive, it would be nice if he was like Worick. So while I still have faith that Worick knows what he's doing, and after being reassured by Nic's smile, I must say the flashback portion did add salt to the wound. At first, when Worick shows up with the head, I started to think if there was any possibility that he didn't actually kill Miles and that it was a trick or something. Later, however, at the end of chapter 43, we check in with Alex and see the beheaded body at the Handymen's home. Unless there's some kind of twist, I guess he really did kill him and that makes me sad after seeing these flashback pages. Now I'm wondering how Worick feels about everything. He's clearly under a lot of pressure. I'd like to see more from him in future chapters about all this.

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And now, the scenes that've been living rent-free in my head...

Captured by the Paulklee Guild, Nic and Alex have some tender af moments. In chapter 53, Alex wakes up and immediately starts asking about Nic's injuries and apologizes for not being able to do anything. He cuts her off by placing the back of his hand over her mouth and responds with this:

Nic: "You missed your chance to hightail it out of here again, slowpoke."

Alex: "...Yeah... I guess I did."

I LOVE THEM!!!🥺❤️

This is the most... what do you even call it? Tender? Loving? Casually comfortable? Whatever it is, they are totally clicking now!!! And it continues in this scene that had me kicking my feet and crying buckets in chapter 56:

Alex: "He's even got scars behind his ears..."

Nic: "...WhAT?"

Alex: "I always thought you were completely different from him."

Nic: "WhAT abOUt NOw?"

Alex: "You suck."

Nic: "Heh."

"No need for you to answer the phone anymore. So what do you wanna do now? You can go back to being a prostitute, or keep chasing after my master. If you wanna keep playing diva, that's fine too. If you wanna break out of here, I'll make it happen."

Alex: "Hm..."

Nic: "ChoOSe wHAteVer yOu WAnt, bECaUse yoU'Re diffERenT fRoM Us."

Alex: "...Yeah."

When she reaches for him, Nic's reflex is to grab Alex's hand when he feels something approaching from behind. Then he notices her hand is injured from when he hurt her during his seizure. There are panels of him before this looking at blood under his nails, probably from digging them into Alex's hand. He lets go and signs, "Sorry." I want to point out, there's NO text box for this sign. I don't know any Japanese sign language other than "thank you" because this manga taught me that one. That's a lie, I also know "kill" which is sure to come in handy. But it's incredible how I know that he signed "sorry" without knowing the sign for it. They didn't put a text box for that sign and they didn't need to! So good. Peak. This is peak fiction I say unironically. They joke and banter while in a grim situation, and it's tooth-rottingly sweet.

Nic, who’s usually on guard, is completely relaxed now. He lets Alex caress him. Worick, who usually has a calm and cool facade on, is tense after his nightmare, unable to keep his usual mask up. He too, lets Alex caress him, and we get mirrored pages of Nic in the current moment and Worick from chapter 16. They trust her and Alex is trusting them after suffering abuse at the hands of others, growing closer to them. All three of them allow themselves to have some vulnerability with one another after living such harsh lives, constantly clawing to survive.

Then, Nic tells Alex to do whatever her heart desires. Whatever she wants, he'll make it happen. She's "different" and doesn't have to be stuck in this crappy cycle like them. But she looks a bit upset when he says this. Like she's mad he thinks they're doomed to live a hopeless existence and to suggest she abandon them for her own sake. I'm hoping that now Alex is mostly recovered from her withdrawals, we'll get to see more of her kindness with the boys and helping them in their time of need like they did for her.

They're so soft.........

I personally don’t perceive any of the intimate scenes we get throughout the manga as romantic. I don’t think there’s going to be a love triangle or that Alex is going to get paired up with one of the Handymen. Especially with the mirrored pages of Nic and Worick from Alex’s point of view in chapter 56 shows she loves them the same. I can understand why people would see these scenes as romantic, because honestly, they’re more “romantic” and emotional than a lot of romances out there. While talking to my friend, I jokingly referred to this as “platonic romance/romanticized friendship” where you love your homies and family so much and feel you’re able to bare your soul to them. I’m aware that Kohske-sensei has drawn old art of Nic and Alex as a couple, but that isn’t canon so I’m not counting it. You can ship your characters and not make them a couple in canon lol. But if she does go that route, I trust her to do it well.

Brief Shoutouts to Characters I Also Want to Talk About, But This Post Is Already Long Enough

Nina

I already talked about Nina in part one so I won’t say much more. But what’s up with her? Does she have some One Piece Haki powers or something??? Is there something you’d like to share with the class, Nina?

Theo

I’d like to think that Theo isn’t being as reckless with the experimental drug as it seems. We’ve seen that Theo is much kinder than he lets on. He obviously loves Nina (whenever he wraps his lab coat around her, it's so damn cute!!!) and he’s made it his mission to help the oppressed Twilights, even going as far as to make his own generic Cerebret which puts a target on his back. So yeah, Theo is great and I’m hoping he figures out a way to let Nic and the other Twilights live long, healthy lives. And there's a lot about Twilight biology that we don't know, and I hope Theo gets some answers. In particular, I'm curious about their psychology, especially after what happened with Delico and Monroe. And since a lot of the story leans towards a Worick-centric perspective, I want to know more about what Nic's thinking.

Marco and Constance

I want to say a lot but I’m still in mourning right now so I’m just gonna say — Marco, Connie, you guys were such badasses and deserved better… I know Marco was a war criminal but that wasn’t his fault and he’s a sweet guy now, so we’re going to overlook it!

Kohske-sensei, how could you… I actually thought they’d survive.

Loretta

You know the cliche line that goes like, “Someone’s gotta make the hard choices,” or whatever? Yeah, that’s basically what Gina is doing in the latest chapters when she’s refusing to open the guild’s doors to the civilian Twilights. The thing is, people who do this are never making the actual hard choice. What they’re doing is easy — just sacrifice people you don’t care about and turn the other way. Especially easy if you don't have a big guilty conscience. Yes, Gina makes some points about why, and she’s not wrong, but I stand by what I said.

But Loretta? Nah, my girl Loretta is making the real hard choices. Characters who make choices like Gina see two options: A) Help people and inconvenience myself/cause myself to fall with them. B) Oh well. It’s unfortunate but what can you do? — not Loretta though. Those options are unacceptable so she chooses “Option C”, also known as the actual hard choice.

“Option C” in any narrative (and in real life as well) is always the one that takes the most effort and the most commitment. You have to forge the path for “Option C” yourself. Loretta is going to have to put a ton of work in and stay on top of things if she’s going to have any chance of success. Thankfully, not only is she amazing, she’s wise enough to know she can’t do it alone and asks Gina to release Nic, Alex, Nina, and Theo so they can lend a hand.

LORETTA SWEETIE YOU’RE DOING AMAZING! When she was calling Gina out to “make the humane choice” with that look in her eyes, I was like, DAMN GIRL, GET HER ASS! I am rooting for you sis!!!

Veronica

Everyone seems to be blaming the Handymen, and Nic in particular for whatever happened to Veronica. We don't have much to work with, but part of me thinks that Nic and Veronica both had/have the bad habit of overdosing and it didn't end well for her. Like, she bit off more than she could chew and they both had self-destructive tendencies? Maybe... idk. When Gina shot Nic full of downers that one time, she did say, "I believe I've already told you to quit overdosing on Cerebret. Especially the uppers. Do you want to end up like Veronica?" I think Gina cares about him even if she would never admit it, dawww. There is more to it though, but we don't have enough info right now. And I need to stew on her for a while, so I don't have much to say at the moment.

Monroe

The way Monroe spoke about Delico was… a red flag. He likely did the same with Nic. In the Blu-ray extra manga, we see a bit of how he talks about Nic in a similar way when he was a child. Monroe isn’t much different than Gaston Brown. He’s a father figure who uses people, particularly Twilights, as tools/weapons. He’s abusive and manipulative. But his way of going about it is different. He’s won the affection of those he abuses because of his charm and giving a place of belonging and a support system to those who have nothing. These are common reasons why people join gangs in real life as well, but I won’t get into that here. It would be interesting to see more of how the Handymen’s relationship was with Monroe when they were younger. I wonder if they were to look back, would they start to realize signs of his manipulation from their childhoods with their current perspective?

Everyone else

Shoutout to everyone I didn’t name. I love a lot of the characters in GANGSTA. and those who I don’t love, I still find interesting. But, my shoulders hurt so let’s end it here.

I'm... Done...

I feel like I could have picked apart the characters more, panel by panel, and there's stuff in GANGSTA: Cursed, but I had to stop somewhere.

I'm super happy that I finished catching up to this series on chapter 56. I loved the chapter as I've made abundantly clear already, and I can't wait to see how things shake out. So many questions I want answered!

Godspeed, my son.

If you’ve made it this far… you’re a real one 🫡

#GANGSTA.#manga #manga recs #manga recommendation #manga discussion #seinen manga #漫画 #おすすめ #青年漫画 #ギャングスタ

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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GANGSTA. - ギャングスタ - PART 1

CRIME, ACTION, DRAMA

GANGSTA. by Kohske

(8 volumes, hiatus) Mangaka Kohske-sensei is sick and works on updates when she can. There are chapters beyond volume 8 in JP that haven't been collected into a volume yet here.

Available in English here

Links to my other manga posts here

~Part two of this post is here~

We've got a meaty post today, lads! Sit down, because I'm going to gush about the series that's going in my all-time favs and I've made it my whole personality lately. I'm here to push the GANGSTA. agenda!!! I’m about to be so damn annoying.

Back in 2015 I was going through college hell and wanted something to chill with during my meager downtime. And so the GANGSTA. anime answered the call. Watching TV while shoveling food into my face was my only free time.

A whopping 8 YEARS later now that I'm a freelancer and have a flexible schedule allowing me to get into manga more than ever before, among other factors, it was finally time for me to pick this up. Naturally, I forgot a lot over the years, plus having consumed the anime in my suffering college student frenzy, much of my memory is fuzzy. What I DO remember is that the setting and aesthetics were cool, I loved the characters, and I was mad crushing on Nicolas Brown.

I'm pleased to report that after rewatching the anime and reading the manga, the me of 8 years ago had excellent taste.

Fellas, I present my 34-year-old homicidal, feral, sweet-as-a-button, baby girl ❤️

***Trigger warnings for everything you can think of for this series.***

This post will be divided into: Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out - What's It About? - Lots And Lots of Character Analysis (And Gushing)

I'm going to give an elevator pitch and spoiler-free summary on why you should check this series out since I feel like it's — dare I say — slept on. Later, I'll get into spoilers and give a heads-up when I do.

Why You Should Check GANGSTA. Out

Diverse cast- disability, race, and age.

Disabled main character- Nicolas is deaf, mainly communicates in sign language, and I personally feel like the way it's handled is awesome (more on that in the character analysis). There are also great portrayals of mental illnesses.

Primarily adult cast- our main trio are 24, 34, and 35. All different races/mixed race. Also, they look like this->

The cleavage crew. My babies are amazing, just look at them!!!

Cool setting.

AWESOME character writing- we're never spoonfed, and there's so much you can glean about the characters from bits and pieces given to us — which is what a large portion of this post will be dedicated to discussing. Tons of nuance.

FOUND FAMILY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Found family? You have me hook, line, and sinker.

You can tell it was written by a female author if you know what I mean... Hear me out, I get into this more later. Please don't roll your eyes at me. I'm going somewhere with this.

Other than GANGSTA. I'm specifically thinking of Dorohedoro right now. It's the only time I've ever laughed at a boob joke and the whole, "Oh no, I walked in on a girl naked" joke and all that. Also, the bikini top/scantly clad outfits in that series don't give me the ick. Don't ask me to explain, I can just taste it. It's the execution.

While there are characters who are in romantic/sexual relationships, there are also a lot of platonic/familial relationships as well. I like romance as much as the next person and I can get really sappy sometimes, but I also want more non-romantic relationships between men and women. Sorta tired of the whole "a man and woman are in the same vicinity so they must bang, they HAVE to pair up". Again, love me some romance, but more of the other stuff too, please! And GANGSTA. delivers wonderfully. Some of the best depictions of the dynamic I crave that I've ever seen.

Look at this banger opening:

youtube

The ED is awesome too!

And last, but certainly not least, I'd like to present my "Nicolas Brown propaganda" video of this clip from Episode 1:

Look me in the eyes and try telling me this isn't the best thing ever. My man kicked a cop car in to stand up for Alex so they could save her and take her home!!! Also, Nic is voiced by Tsuda Kenjiro, the VA behind my other fictional crush, JJK's Nanami 'Husband-Material' Kento! Fair warning, I'm not going to shut up about Nic.

I have to admit, it’s difficult for me to wholeheartedly recommend the anime because of what I mentioned at the very top of the post. The voice actors were the best part of the anime, while the animation was… meh, and the pacing is not great. But it's still enjoyable! The manga destroyed me so good, though…

BTW if you're one of those people who are hesitant to get into a series that's on hiatus like my bestie, she HATES reading stuff on hiatus, I implore you to give it a go anyways. I successfully roped bestie into committing hehehe. It managed to absolutely wreck me in 8+ volumes. It's so worth it and I was very happy with how the last currently out chapter (#56) ended.

In case you were wondering... No, I still haven't recovered from Banana Fish.

There's also a completed spin-off series, GANGSTA: CURSED (I enjoyed it. I like action but it was almost too action-heavy for me. My fav parts of the main series are the quiet moments), a light novel GANGSTA: Death of Anosmic Stray Dogs (it was okay, Nic was funny but not enough of him, tbh I’ve read better fanfics), and drama CD's. I actually ordered the drama CD's to listen to later, but I'm traveling right now, and idk when I'll be home to pick up my package, so... And I read the extra manga that came with the Japanese Blu-rays (I enjoyed it).

What's It About?

Our boys Nicolas and Worick are the local "Handymen" doing odd jobs from deliveries and construction, to prostitution and homicide. They go way back, but their relationship is much more complicated than it initially seems.

The grungy city of Ergastulum is essentially an open-air internment camp. For who? Superhumans known as "Twilights", also called "Tags" for the tags they're required to wear. Twilights are the descendants of those who took the drug, Cerebret, developed during wartime to create enhanced soldiers. Their children inherit these qualities —making them an unintended consequence — but with a catch. They are forever dependent on consistent doses of Cerebret to stay alive and keep their bodies from shutting down. At the same time, however, it slowly poisons them, significantly slashing their lifespans. They are kept under surveillance, having been herded into Ergastulum, and xenophobia between them and the "Normal" non-Twilight refugees who settled there is constantly brewing. The Cerebret they need to survive is strictly regulated, expensive, and used to keep the Twilights on a short leash. They are in many ways, second-class citizens.

If you watched until the end of the Nicolas Brown propaganda video like I'm sure you totally did, you would have seen the tags dangling around Nic's neck — meaning that Nic is a Twilight. And in order to operate, he needs to be in a contract under someone. This contract puts the holder in ownership of the Twilight. In Nic's case, his contract holder is longtime friend and fellow Handyman, Worick. I'm sure you can imagine that it puts a certain strain on their relationship... Your BFF and roommate legally owning you even if it's to protect you? Awkward.

To make matters worse, Nic is running out of time, fast. The Cerebret, like I said, shortens the lifespan of Twilights. Various factors come into play regarding lifespan, but on average, they live into their 30's. And Nic is already 34 years old. I am... stressed, to say the least. I don’t know how he's going to pull through guys, I really don't.

Genuinely concerned for Nic's well-being. I don't trust Kohske to pull her punches...

Enter Alex — a prostitute the Handymen take off the street and offer refuge to. We learn about the city, the boys, the factions at play, and more alongside Alex, who has been thrown into this world. Worick is a charming sweetheart who I think sees a lot of himself in Alex, especially since he's been working as a gigolo from a VERY young age. And Nico despite his seemingly harsh exterior, is so damn kind and soft... They all are. I love my found family of traumatized dorks *sobs*

It's not all doom and gloom, though! We have funny, silly, cute-as-hell moments, too. And the domestic scenes? The quite, tender moments? Love. Obsessed.

I like how Nic is holding his old wanted poster with his face in the first panel like he's wearing it as a mask or something. And they're in separate interrogation rooms with glass between them but they can still communicate because Nic can read lips and Worick knows sign language. Clowns, the lot of them.

I admit at first, GANGSTA. seems like a kinda lame title. Like, as a native English speaker, if someone told me to check out a series with this title, it would give me pause lol. It really has that late 2000's to early 2010's aesthetic, edgy themes, plus the whole "Twilights" term — which when combined may make you think, "Yo, this looks lame," especially if you were a teen during that time. "Twilight" just makes me think of that Twilight, but we're ignoring that. For me, my teen years were cringe, and I'm sure many of you feel the same. But you know what? Mangaka Kohske-sensei rocks this vibe! She makes it cool! And now that I'm older, it's like, whatever embrace cringe, have fun and all that, y'know? So, GANGSTA. is great and totally not cringe in any way, hush.

She loves edgy characters — and eyepatches. Gosh, she loves eyepatches. And good for her! You do you, queen! I can dig it.

Bonus Nico because he's so damn cute. Love of my life.

But listen, this manga is deceptively deep, guys. You might think at first it’s simply crime, drugs, sex, and violence... But no! There’s more to it. The crime, drugs, sex, and violence are used to great effect instead of just edgy for the sake of being edgy. The plot is great and all, but the real bread and butter for me with this series are the ✨characters✨. I don't care if you have the sickest plot on the face of the planet. If I'm not obsessed with your characters... what are we doing here then?

Seriously, if I'm not willing to cut a bitch for your characters, try again.

It’s time to segue into ->

Lots And Lots of Character Analysis (And Gushing)

Goodness, where do I even start? So many good characters and moments to over-analyze! There's a boatload of stuff I want to talk about and I'm going to try and make it make sense. I’ll gradually dig deeper and deeper into the squad’s character. I do think I'll have to primarily focus on the main trio, or else my hands are going to fall off from all the typing.

Kohske-sensei doesn't spoonfeed us and doesn't treat us like we're dumb. You know when writers don't trust their audience to get something so they beat us over the head with it? Yeah, no, none of that here. Because a lot is implied or hinted at, this is going to be my interpretation of things. If you have a different take, I'd love to hear it! I'm going to just dive into the analysis with any evidence to support my claims, so I'm assuming you already know the story (or maybe come back later after reading the manga?) because from this point...

***SPOILERS UNTIL CHAPTER 56 FROM HERE ON OUT***

This section will be broken up into: Where It All Began - Nicolas and Nina - "Nice vs. Kind" - Worick and Alex - Nicolas and Alex - Nicolas and Worick - Nicolas - The Trio and The Scene That Had Me Bawling My Eyes Out - Brief Shoutouts to Characters I Also Want to Talk About, But This Post Is Already Long Enough

I'm about to get really sappy, so uh, here goes nothing.

(Note: the manga pages/panels I included for reference are arranged from right to left reading order btw)

Where It All Began

Let's start... at the beginning! The hankie. The first chapter establishes what kind of characterization we can expect from our main cast.

When we first meet our trio, Nic and Worick are leaning on a wall overlooking the city while Alex walks below, bleeding. And then, a handkerchief lands on her head. At first, it's not clear which of the Handymen dropped it down to her, but we're led to believe it was Worick as Nic had his back to the wall.

This is the first panel of Nic that made me go, "Well, hello there, sir 👀💦" Don't judge me. And like, why are half the buttons on his shirt undone? Worick too, LMAO. Not that I'm complaining..........

However, when Alex later thanks Worick for the handkerchief, he tells her it was actually Nic's. Awww, cute...

When the Handymen are hired to take out a gang, it turns out Alex is one of the prostitutes in the gang and therefore is going to be taken out by association. But the boys aren't too keen on this, which results in us getting the glorious Nicolas Brown propaganda scene I included earlier in this post. They claim her as their spoils after taking out the gang in order to keep her safe and get her off the streets. They even throw their weight around with the police by threatening to bash their heads in to do so.

This is all to say that while we see the boys do unsavory things like gleefully murder, we can see already that they're nuanced and SO DAMN KIND. They didn't have to do any of it. They had no reason to. They don't gain anything from it, nor do they expect to (more on this later).

Confirmed: They drink respect-women-juice. King shit.

The next day, we see that Nic seems to be acting pretty coldly with Alex. Right away, I took this as he's having a hard time opening up to her despite everything he did the day before to help her at no benefit to himself including saving her from a passed-out Worick LMAO. It's like... he's scared to get close. He doesn't mind her presence, but he stays at arm's length. We later get hints it's probably because of Veronica and he's afraid of getting hurt or getting someone hurt again. But, while running deliveries, we get this scene:

Which to me is Nic announcing that Alex is now under his protection — a fearsome rank A/0 Twilight. Yeah, it's to keep Worick's clients happy, but I think it's protection for her, too. They haven't known each other for a full 24 hours yet and the boys are already like, "Yeah she's with us. Leave her alone."

Nicolas and Nina

When we meet the absolutely precious Nina, we see a lot more of Nic's overt soft side. It's obvious he loves Nina a lot and is super affectionate with her and sees her as his little sister. And she very much loves him back!

I turn into a blubbering puddle of goop every time these two interact.

He goes out of his way to buy her the drinks she likes, holds her hand whenever they walk together, teases her, plays with her, comforts and holds her, and always keeps her safe no matter what. I could scream about every single panel they have together, but I want to highlight some of my favorite moments:

Worick disposes of the guys trying to kidnap Nina while Nic walks her to the clinic, but she stops at the sound of distant gunfire. Nic eases her anxiety by making her laugh and jokingly saying, "I didn't hear a thing," because of course a deaf man wouldn't lolllll. But he knew that she did indeed hear something because he knew what Worick was up to. But, they don't let Nina know that she was being tailed and in danger so as to not scare her.

Nina sleeps holding Nic's hand while he's passed out at the clinic, and when he wakes up he puts the blanket over her, careful not to wake her.

When Nic stays over at the clinic after he's hurt, the next day he jumps around rooftops with his superhuman agility, holding Nina close, simply to entertain this child he cares for dearly.

Alex asks Nina if she's scared of Nicolas, and while she understands Alex's hesitation, she says that, no she's not scared of him. She knows him for who he is, and not just how he seems. She knows he's actually a very soft man.

After all the patients at the clinic die, Nina is having a rough time processing her grief. She's a little girl with an enormous heart and was grieving over people she didn't even know. Nic leaves all the other grown-ups to go sit with her in his lap, against his chest, comforting her. Later, he takes her hand and walks her to Bastard to hear Alex sing and hang out with Loretta for a pick-me-up.

This scene pulls at my heart... Look at how much they love each other, and how much they feel comfortable and safe with each other. You can FEEL it.

After getting shot by Monroe and having seizures from Theo's experimental drug, Nic still tries to get up and go help the gang. Alex goes to stop him, meanwhile Nina... she looks at him with an aching heart, hurting because he's hurting. Taking his sword, she unsheathes it to reveal that it's broken. This causes Nic to have a moment where he realizes he too is broken and useless right now. So he slumps to the floor, allowing Nina to hold him. She was able to convey what she wanted to tell him — that he was in no condition to go anywhere and that she was worried about him — without saying a word.

To no one's surprise, this part had me in TEARS. So much is said with no words.

Nina puts her hands on Nic's, comforting him while he continues to be out of commission. Nic agrees to let Theo have his body to study as he's accepted his ever-looming demise, and Nina is... distraught. She cries for him. She cries while Theo tucks her into his lab coat, arm around her. I think that given Nicolas' history and trauma, having someone shed tears for him and be so gentle to him is extremely important. He spent the first 12 years of his life being abused on multiple levels and made to feel like he was nothing and then lived a harsh life even after he and Worick ran away. Having someone express this kind of emotion for him, this unfiltered love and care is important. Their casual, comfortable, and trusting tenderness is important.

"Nice vs. Kind"

I do want to emphasize that Nic isn't just kind to Nina. He and Worick are kind to everyone who isn't trying to kill them/has attracted their ire, that is. This is important to note for my next point -> Lately, I've been thinking a lot about something that I'm going to refer to as "nice vs. kind". I mentioned this in my AI Art post in a bit of a different context than we’ll be getting into here. While everything I'm going to talk about can apply to anyone, I'm going to focus on "nice guys".

Earlier, I talked about how the Handymen helped Alex without gaining anything or expecting anything in return. In fact, they're letting her bum off them and crash at their place for absolutely nothing. Combined with how our boys are good to pretty much everyone who isn't trying to kill them, I feel like this makes them truly kind instead of just "nice guys". When "nice guys" complain about how women in particular don't "give them a chance" or whatever it is they complain about, I have to laugh. You're being nice just because you want something from that person (such as getting a woman to sleep with you) or because you want to appear nice to people. In short, you're doing it only because you have an ulterior motive or something to gain — and it shows sooner or later. It's being selectively "nice" to people only when you are trying to gain.

Meanwhile, the boys don't do this at all. They aren't good to people because they're trying to gain something (unless it's work-related, they gotta eat after all). They don't care much about what people think of them or worry about "looking good". The boys follow what they believe in and act on it, even if it may seem morally grey or when it leads to them having not the greatest reputation with most people. But those who know them, know. And THAT is sexy and attractive, both in a romantic and platonic sense. When my friends are truly kind to me or anyone, I'm like, "Wow, that was so hot of you bestie."

When Nic was protecting the clinic in chapter three, Alex was scared of him. He unnerved her. Having just escaped from a man who abused her to hell and back, she was already on edge. Nic looked like an aggressive man, just like the last guy. Her initial impression is similar to the impression most people have of him. But he doesn't care about "looking good" because he's focused on doing right by those he cares about. THAT'S SOME HOT BOY SHIT!!!

Theo is great. We love Theo.

But how do I know without a shred of a doubt that they aren't expecting anything from Alex? I mean, isn't Worick having her help them with the business and do stuff for them? Yes, he is having her do stuff, but it's the intention behind it. When Worick asks Alex to man the phone while he's gone because Nic can't do it, he's giving her this task for her own sake. It's to make her feel included and useful and not feel like a burden, but without asking too much of her. I come from a culture that practices what I call "aggressive hospitality". What I mean is, for example, my friends will refuse to let me help clean up after dinner — and aggressively so — because I'm the guest. But I hate this because I feel useless and I'm just awkwardly watching you do all the work when I have two perfectly good hands. Like, PLEASE give me something to do, anything. And that's what Worick is doing for Alex! His asking her to do these little things is a kindness from him to her.

Besides, if Worick and Nic wanted to use Alex, they could have so easily at any time. A woman crashing with two guys after escaping an abusive pimp and is having drug withdrawals in a city where she has no one is an INSANELY vulnerable position to be in. She's quite literally easy prey. It wouldn't be unusual for someone in that situation to expect to be assaulted, to "pay with her body" in exchange.

But the Handymen, never go anywhere near that line. In fact, they completely reject the possibility, which leads us to one of my favorite scenes.

Worick and Alex

Alex's withdrawal symptoms are making her spiral and she's terrified. She needs to be useful. She needs to be useful the only way she can think of... or else. So she throws herself at Worick — but Worick shuts that shit down immediately. He doesn't entertain the possibility for a second. He refuses to use Alex. He could have taken the opportunity to "get some" but instead, he grounds her and makes her feel safe.

One of the most attractive qualities a person can have is making you feel safe, and I don't just mean physically safe. This isn't limited to what women find attractive in men or what's romantically attractive. This applies to a lot of relationships in general. (More on romance later, or rather lack of romance, because I didn't take this scene to be romantic.)

Worick went out in the rain looking for her. He saw that she picked up a John, going back to her old ways — and he never shames her for it. He just wants to take her home and is upset at himself for taking his eyes off of her. He makes it clear she owes him nothing. He reminds her that she's safe now, he's here now. And my sweet, sweet man just starts complaining to her about his crappy day in a silly, whiny manner to cheer her up and make her laugh.

He's like, "Boohoo, Nic fucked up my fancy shirt." LOLLL But seriously, I would trust this man with my life after all this.

The last line in this scene is some of the first instances of Worick being flirty with Alex, but in a way that I believe is another example of his kindness. Yeah, I said what I said. These scenes are some of the reasons that made me go, "I would bet money that this series was written by a female author." Some people might have the kneejerk reaction that these scenes are Worick being creepy, but I would argue that it's totally not the case.

When Alex visits Worick at the clinic, we get the following scene:

Alex is being hard on herself and feels ashamed. She pours out all the anxieties plaguing her mind, completely opening up to Worick. I don't know about you guys, but admitting how I really feel to someone, especially someone I care about and who I want to like me back in such a raw way is one of the scariest things you can do. What if they reject me? Or hate me? Will they think less of me?

But Worick brushes all this away so easily, again, never judging her. And again, he gives her something to do, to look forward to, with the promise of a song. Again, he gets flirty with her, joking around to lighten her mood.

"He's inappropriately touching her, though! How can you say that's kindness?"

Worick and Alex are both sex workers and have been from a young age. They both have trauma surrounding it. They understand each other in a way others can't. If Worick was invading everyone's bubbles and getting all touchy-feely with them, then I'd say yeah, he's being a creep. But he only does this with Alex. And while Alex might playfully smack him when he does, she's never really uncomfortable. She knows that he's doing this to cheer her up (and Worick uses humor as a coping mechanism — you can't fool me, sir. I have you CLOCKED).

If it actually made her uncomfortable, Worick would stop right away. He's earned her trust and continues to do so. This is what the banter and camaraderie between them looks like. It's like when I affectionately call my friend a "bitch" and say "I hate you" because we have an understanding with one another. If I did that with everyone, I would be an asshole. Meanwhile, my friend's mom yelled at her to be nice to me before I dump her ass. I was like, "Auntie... What are you talking about? We're literally having a brunch date together right now." LMAO, that's just how our relationship is and it works for us. In the pages above, you can see them horsing around, Alex "reprimanding" Worick for being a "perv" but quickly dropping her head on his chest and snuggling up to him. SHE FEELS SAFE WITH HIM!

AND HE FEELS SAFE WITH HER!!!!!!!

I didn't take this scene as romantic either btw.

I rest my case. Good day to you.

Actual picture of me reading about these dummies.

------------------------------

~Continued in my part two post~

#GANGSTA.#manga #manga recs #manga recommendation #manga discussion #seinen manga #漫画 #おすすめ #青年漫画 #ギャングスタ

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch’s Life in Mongol - 天幕のジャードゥーガル

HISTORICAL, DRAMA

Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch’s Life in Mongol by Tomato Soup

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only. The first 5 chapters are up for free in JP here.

Links to my other manga posts here

Hi, Fatimah here to talk more about the story of Fatima >:)

Definitely check out my post for volume one because I worked really hard on that and there's lots of cool info there and I don't want to repeat myself here.

This post will be broken up into: Brief Volume Two Summary - My Thoughts - Let's Talk Religion (Again) - The "Middle East" Is Actually a Colonizer Term

Let's go!

Brief Volume Two Summary

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME TWO***

8 years have passed since Fatima was taken by the Mongols. She has been unable to retrieve the book that was stolen even though she's had it in her hands over and over. Ögedei has been crowned the new Khan after the death of Ghengis Khan. Sorghaghtani has asked Fatima to go spy on Chagatai. While trying to get her to infiltrate, she ends up at Töregene's tent instead where Fatima is accused of stealing her "Jada Stone".

We learn about Töregene's back story and her forced integration into the Mongol Empire, losing those she loved, and her marriage to Ögedei. Töregene and Fatima bond over their shared trauma and hate towards their captures. They start working together on upending the empire.

And work together they are! Looks like they're gonna raise hell in the empire.

Töregene attends a meeting she normally skips, and there Ögedei Khan proposes that the nomadic Mongols build a city. Everyone is against the idea as they were expecting to discuss the invasion of the eastern country, Kin (also known as the Jin State). Ögedei says that he wants to use this new city for manufacturing, to gather craftsmen from around the world, and as a center for trade. They then discuss their war plans for the siege on the Jin State.

Töregene shares all the information she's learned at the meeting with Fatima, and they discuss potential weaknesses in the Mongol Empire that could cause its downfall.

***END OF SPOILERS FOR VOLUME TWO***

My Thoughts

I'm excited to see what Fatima and Töregene do and what their dynamic is going to be like.

I do wish that some info was incorporated a little more subtly. I'm not a fan of info being dumped for the sake of the reader. Author Tomato Soup clearly has put a lot of care into researching for this series, so I just wish they took that extra step to weave the information in more naturally.

They put a lot of care into the visual language, such as the shape of text bubbles (right pic), so seeing charts like this (left pic) feels visually inconsistent.

Let's Talk Religion (Again)

Once again, I want to put the disclaimer that I am NOT a scholar, this is just what I know and my understanding so please don’t quote me. I probably have to gloss over and simplify a lot because there’s… too much.

At the beginning of the volume, there is mention of Islamic meat slaughtering practices (halal meat) compared to the customs of the Mongols.

I think halal is a word a lot of people have heard, especially in recent years, but what does it even mean?

Halal is anything that is permissible in Islam. Haram is anything NOT permissible in Islam, or sins. There are also things that are makrooh (strongly discouraged but not a sin) and mustahab (recommended but not obligatory) and so on.

How does that translate to food?

Halal foods are foods that are permissible for Muslims to consume. Most things are okay for consumption, so it's easier to list what isn't allowed/haram. You might be familiar with the fact that Muslims do not drink alcohol or eat pork. There's a reason for all this, but I'll get to that later. Some other things that are haram to consume are the following:

Carnivorous/predatory animals (Pigs are omnivores, so they technically fall into this category as well. Only herbivores are permissible to consume.)

Animals that died from disease.

Incests, reptiles, and "pests" (such as mice/rats).

These next points are debated depending on what scholar you follow:

Some Muslims only eat fish that have scales, while some believe pretty much any seafood that doesn't fall into the previous categories is fair game (I call this The Great Muslim Seafood Debate loll).

Some Muslims believe you should not eat "beasts of burden" such as horses/mules.

Exceptions to these rules are if you are in a situation where you are left with no other choice but a haram food option, then you will not be guilty of sin for consuming. God never wants to place unreasonable burden on his creation. One of the most important things in Islam is intention, and God can see what's in your heart.

Okay, so you have something that clears these rules. But! That doesn't automatically make it halal. When it comes to consuming animals, the slaughtering of the animal has to be done in a specific way. Let's break it down:

Land animals -

When slaughtering a land animal, it must be done in a specific way so that it becomes halal meat:

The animal must be well-fed and given water before slaughter.

They must be soothed and calm. You cannot slaughter if the animal is fearful and agitated.

Other animals must not witness the slaughter as it can frighten them.

The slaughter must be performed using a very sharp knife to cut the throat. Doing this will cause the animal to immediately lose consciousness and thus will not feel pain. It must be done as quickly, painlessly, and humanly as possible.

Do not allow the animal to see the knife as it can frighten them.

The slaughter must be performed by a Muslim. They must recite a prayer before cutting the throat and do so while facing Mecca.

The blood must be drained from the animal's body after the neck is cut as disease/toxins/etc. can live in the blood. This makes the meat cleaner and more sanitary.

You cannot stun an animal before slaughter (such as hitting it on the head or zapping it with electricity).

In cases where you are hunting, you can use arrows, guns, or hunting birds when hunting an animal that cannot easily be caught for traditional methods of slaughter.

Hunting is only allowed with the intention of hunting for food, not sport.

You must say a prayer when shooting.

If the animal does not die immediately during the hunt, you should slaughter them as quickly and painlessly as possible and not unnecessarily prolong any suffering.

"There's a reason for cutting the neck and slaughtering this way, you know..."

I still don't like the way this info is visually presented. I feel like it could have been done more naturally instead of breaking the immersion to explain things to the reader. But the info is correct!

Animals of the sea -

The animal must die outside of the water (for example, using "blast fishing" or "fish bombing" is prohibited — it's horrible for the environment and does not discriminate on what fish are killed. Even animals like dolphins and turtles can get caught in the blast and die. Coral reefs and such can end up damaged as well. Also, according to Wikipedia "For every ten fish killed, only one or two float to the surface, due to damage caused to their otherwise buoyant internal air bladders. The rest sink to the bottom." This causes a lot of waste. Using this method, you also wouldn't know if a fish was dead from disease and already floating around or if it was from the blast.)

They should not be descaled/skinned while still alive (this is the same for land animals).

I know this might seem like a long and tedious list, but there is a reason for these halal food guidelines. The purpose is to not cause any unnecessary pain to animals, be as humane as possible, and not consume anything that would be bad for your health. Health is of the utmost importance in Islam. I think we can all agree that alcohol is not great for you. There are studies being done about the effects of consuming carnivorous animal meat, pork, and so on not being the greatest for you either, etc. Again I want to reiterate, I'm not judging anyone. You do you, I literally don't care. I'm not saying you're wrong and terrible for consuming these things.

But yeah, I think that's everything for relevant religious stuff that came up in this volume.

I'd like to use the setting of the series as a springboard to discuss something I never see anyone talk about — and I think we should.

The "Middle East" Is Actually a Colonizer Term

Before you roll your eyes at me, just hear me out.

A while back, Drew Mackie, the guy behind Thrilling Tales of Old Video Games where I work as a translator/consultant, sent me an email with some questions for a post he was working on. Long story short, he wasn't sure how to refer to these Nintendo characters who looked stereotypically "Middle Eastern".

Big sigh... I am TIRED of seeing character designs like this... Check out Drew's post here! He writes lots of cool articles that are super interesting!

Luckily for him, this was VERY MUCH my lane. Please entertain my oncoming rant about the term "Middle East" guys. I swear I have a point to make.

When Drew sent me the picture of these Nintendo characters, I groaned. When I sent my brother the picture, he got real ticked off.

I don't know where it started exactly, but everyone just decided that this is what the "Middle-Eastern-look" is. To me, it just looks like Disney's Aladdin — in which what I mean is that this is what Westerners decided the whole region between the far East and far West looks like and everyone was like, "Yeah sure, okay." This look that is so prevalent looks like some bizarre mash-up of West Asia, South Asia, and North Africa to me. That's quite a range of regions to group together...

I always found it weird that this was the "Middle-Eastern-look" since it looked nothing like Kuwaiti traditional wear to me (or any other traditional clothing I'm familiar with tbh). And yet, it's like everyone was telling me, "Yes, this is what you wear. This is what you look like."

Some actual Kuwaiti traditional clothing. You can see a lot of influence from other regions due to trade. The headdresses remind me of the ones you see in Tenmaku no Jadoogar! I believe Turkey has something similar as well! And idk about you guys, but it doesn't look like the aforementioned "Middle-Eastern-look". That is some unholy mishmash of "brown culture" from the perspective of those outside of said culture.

Bottom right pic is what ship builders and pearl divers wore. My grandpa was a pearl diver! The fabric tied around their waist that's different colors and patterns is called a wizar. Dishdasha (the men's robe) can come in various colors. White is worn in the summer and darker colors in the winter. The red qitra (the fabric on the head) is also for winter as it's thicker and warmer than the white one. You can mix and match, especially between seasons to suit you depending on the weather. The black and gold overcoat is a bisht and it's to dress up the dishdasha, usually for special occasions.

Honestly, I almost never use the term "Middle East" myself for a few reasons (and now that I think about it, most of my family and friends don't really either. Maybe that's just me and the people around me idk. I know some people from the region do use it but I'm talking about the people I personally know). Like, what does the term even mean? I mean, it's not a continent, but everyone seems to act like it's the eighth continent. I get that continents are usually further broken up into regions to help be more specific about similar groups since continents are, well, huge and cover a lot.

The problem is, the "Middle East" is wayyyy too big and broad, and it covers areas that often don't have as much in common as many would believe, and it spans multiple continents (Are there similarities? Yeah of course, but like...). It feels like they said, "All you guys talk Arabic so we'll group you. Oh, and throw Iran and Turkey in there because same thing, right?" But then what about Libya or Morroco, which are North African Arab countries? By some definitions, they're not considered to be in the Middle East even though they "fit" but Egypt, another North African Arab country is? I could go on, but idk it all seems very arbitrary.

Yes, these regions did have a lot of trade going on with the Silk Road so you'll see common things shared across various countries along this trade route, but many people have just mushed them together and decided it's all the same.

Which Middle East is the Middle East-est Middle East?

Where did the term come from? -

The term "Middle East" may have originated in the 1850s in the British India Office. However, it became more widely known when American naval strategist Alfred Thayer Mahan used the term in 1902 to "designate the area between Arabia and India".

Which reads to me like, because some colonizers said so.

There's also a term that's kinda worse I recently learned about called the "Greater Middle East" which Wikipedia describes as:

The Greater Middle East is a political term, introduced in March 2004 in a paper by the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace as a part of the U.S. administration's preparatory work for the Group of Eight summit of June 2004, denoting a vaguely defined region called the "Arab world" together with Afghanistan, Iran, Israel, Turkey, and several other neighboring countries that have cultural ties.

I recommend reading the rest of the paragraph on Wikipedia for yourself. It comes off as incredibly nope. It's gross.

But even this description says, "denoting a vaguely defined region" which is what I mean when I say it's arbitrary. I feel like it's too often used as a blanket term with negative connotations.

Personally, if I'm talking about Arab countries, I say "Arab" but it also depends on what I'm talking about. If it's a shared Arab thing, then Arab is fine, but if it's a cultural thing that's unique to Sham Arabs for example, I don't use it as broadly. Arab countries vary A LOT. Many assume they're all the same, but truth be told, Arabs get culture shock from each other and have a lot that's different — including neighboring nations. Sometimes we don't even understand each other because of how different dialects can be across different regions.

Obviously, I don't expect everyone to know all this, but I think the way we divide up the region and how we refer to it could get a makeover.

The world seems to be okay with dividing up, for example, Europe into smaller sub-regions that make some kind of sense — like Northern Europe, Western Europe, etc. But we don't commonly do that for the "Middle East" — nothing that makes any kind of sense. "Middle East" because it's halfway to East Asia in relation to the West? Because the colonizers said so?

Personally, I generally refer to myself as West Asian and I always check "Asian" on forms, even when they try to convince me Arabs are apparently white as if that makes sense (meanwhile my dad is perceived as being mixed race/black in America and he's not even close to being the darkest on his side of the family. While I am pale, no one would perceive me as white). Like I mentioned in my volume one post, I'm not only Kuwaiti Arab. I'm also Irani which is Persian and NOT Arab, plus some Turkish ancestry (also NOT Arab). Allllll of those countries are in West Asia. West Asia is already a term! Why don't we use it?????? We should all know why by now if you've gotten this far in the post.

Map of West Asia, which is already a thing. An actual geographical term. Wow. Too many people don't realize these countries are indeed in Asia. Crazy how Asia isn't just Japan, China, and Korea, huh.

I'm sure there are "Middle Easterners" who don't care, and I'm not here to tell those people how they should identify. That's up to them. DO NOT tell people how they should identify because that is deeply personal, and who the hell are you to tell them who they are?

But for the rest of you, consider adopting less colonizer vocabulary maybe? A lot of my family and friends find the term to have racist connotations since it's almost always used in a not-so-great context and it's from the view of the West. We HAVE other terms that we can use! Time to brush up on our geography and unlearn some nonsense kids.

I'm done. Thanks for coming to my TED talk❤️

✨And once again✨

I await your email publishers, my resume is ready… [email protected]

🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿🪬🧿

—————————–

If there’s any Japanese-only manga you want me to check out, let me know! No promises, I’ll only read what I’m interested in, but I’ll take suggestions into consideration. Preferably, shorter manga or newer manga with a few volumes out since I like to take breaks from longer series I’m reading :)

#tenmaku no jadoogar #a witch's life in mongol #manga #manga recs #manga recommendations #shoujosei #josei manga #manga discussion #kono manga ga sugoi #漫画 #おすすめ #天幕のジャードゥーガル

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Recent Read Manga Recommendation Round Up - Part 2

More manga I’ve been enjoying recently! Part 1 recommendation list here. Twitter link to this post here.

~Links to my other manga posts~ My personal favs/ones I super enjoyed will have a ✨ on them :)

Got more new titles and shorter reads this time around!

Some of these don't have official (or unofficial) EN translations since I read a lot of JP-only manga and I’d like to make people aware of those titles too! My hope is that bringing awareness to them will help get them licensed :) I guess if any sound interesting, ask publishers to license them! I’ll link any dedicated posts I have for each title.

PLEASE LOOK UP ANY TRIGGER WARNINGS!

HISTORICAL, DRAMA

✨Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch’s Life in Mongol by Tomato Soup

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only. The first 5 chapters are up for free in JP here. English summary in this post

A learned Irani slave girl is taken captive by the Mongols in the 13th century and has to use her knowledge to survive. Well-researched historical fiction about Fatima, who was a real person in history. I wrote a long detailed post about it, so check it out!

DRAMA, MYSTERY, ART

✨Untitled Blue by Natsume Yukiko

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

I fell for Untitled Blue SO HARD, and I need the next volume immediately. A suicidal boy who just wants to make art uses the name of a burnt-out prodigy girl to sell his works in anonymity. The found family vibes and feels are strong in this one... And there are some absolutely SICK pages in this.

DRAMA, PSYCHOLOGICAL, ROMANCE

Haru’s Curse by Konishi Asuka

(2 volumes, complete)

Available in English

A woman falls for her dead sister's man and we follow a story about guilt and grief. This is a well-written short manga that tackles touchy topics in a thoughtful manner.

PSYCHOLOGICAL, DRAMA, SCI-FI

Takopi’s Original Sin by Taizan5

(2 volumes, complete)

English available to read on mangaplus

A short manga that was quite popular in Japan by the same author of the currently publishing Jump series The Ichinose Family's Deadly Sins, this title is a good intro into Taizan 5's work. The art is expressive, the page turn is used well, and it takes a look at human psychology through three children with complicated relationships and living situations.

LGBT, SLICE OF LIFE

Kawa yori mo Nagaku Yuruyaka ni by Yoshida Akimi

(2 volumes, complete)

JP only

From Yoshida-sensei of Banana Fish fame, this short manga predates her more well-known work and you can see her explore some of the themes and ideas that you'll often see in Yoshida's works. I didn't relate to the characters (Which is actually nice sometimes! Different perspectives are good!) and it's kind of a weird manga, but it got a few laughs out of me and it was cool seeing Yoshida experiment.

This is how he introduced himself to an American working at the base - WILD

COMEDY, SLICE OF LIFE

✨Let's Go Karaoke! by Wayama Yama

(oneshot)

Available in English

I've been eyeing this title for YEARS and almost bought it so many times. Finally read it and idk why it took me so long. A charming, quirky, silly, wholesome story about a yakuza getting singing lessons from a choir kid. There's a sequel that's currently being published, ファミレス行こ/Famiresu Iko/"Let's Go To a Diner," but it seems to have a slow release schedule and hasn't been released in volume form yet. I don't see it available to read digitally either so I guess we'll just wait for a tankobon release.

COMEDY, SLICE OF LIFE

✨Captivated, by You by Wayama Yama

(oneshot)

Available in English

A wholesome quick read that left me with a smile on my face. The characters in this manga are just sweet kids and it's delightfully mundane. I mean that in the best way. It was just so nice to read.

COMEDY, SLICE OF LIFE

✨Onna no Sono no Hoshi by Wayama Yama

(3 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

More of Wayama Yama's infectious brand of humor and fuzzy feelings that I'm completely in love with at this point. Read what I said for the last two titles - same good stuff.

DRAMA, SCI-FI, MYSTERY

✨Gene Bride by Takano Hitomi

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

Sci-fi title that slowly unfolds its mystery and features two incredibly charming characters with a hilarious dynamic and tons of personality.

DRAMA, SLICE OF LIFE

✨Ikoku Nikki by Yamashita Tomoko

(10 volumes, ongoing)

JP only

My current read!

15-year old Asa's parents passed away in a car accident and her aunt, Makio, who works as an author has taken her in. This series is so human and makes me feel too seen and it's too relatable... Gives me the warm and fuzzies but also makes me want to cry. I need Makio in my life tbh.

Just gonna leave this here...

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Gene Bride - ジーンブライド

DRAMA, SCI-FI, MYSTERY

Gene Bride by Takano Hitomi

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

Links to my other manga posts here

I can't remember where I first saw this manga (the bookstore some time ago probably) and tbh I kinda forgot about it. But Colleen's Manga Recs made a video recently that reminded me I wanted to check Gene Bride out. So here we are.

This series won second place in the オンナ編 (Female Category) for the このマンガがすごい！ 2023 / Kono Manga ga Sugoi 2023 / “This Manga is Amazing! 2023″. (My post about the first-place winner here!)

Another blind read and all I knew about it was that it had sci-fi elements. After reading the two currently out volumes, I think we have yet another manga to throw into the "publishers, please license this" pile.

This manga has so many moments that made me go, "Mood."

Spoilers for volume one will be labeled and my thoughts will be after that. There's a twist at the end of volume one that I will label if you just want to know the premise without getting spoiled for the twist. Twitter reading thread here. Twitter link to this post here.

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

Isahaya Ichi is an entertainment journalist interviewing a director about his new movie. Literally, on page one, from the moment the director opened his mouth, I immediately disliked him. I'm not joking when I say from the first two words I already knew where he was going. The 「ね、君…」 "Hey, you..." gave me the ick and I groaned. I'm not going to Japanese language deep dive to explain but briefly — using 君 in this context is kinda rude and he should've referred to her as Ms. Isahaya. A more polite version would've been like 「あの/すみません、諫早さん…」 "Excuse me, Ms. Isahaya.” Anyway, the director proceeds to talk to Ichi in a way that many women are unfortunately familiar with, essentially not taking her seriously and being inappropriate. And Ichi is rightfully PISSED.

In the very next scene, she's going for a jog and... some creep is waiting for her to pass through her running route and... jacking off in public to her running past... Apparently, this isn't the first time that guy has done so. Yikes.

Back at her office, two men with an appointment come by. Opening the door for them, one of the men presents her with a box of chocolates and says, "Isahaya Ichi. Do you remember me? I'm Masaki Makuhito. I was your soulmate." He proceeds to mention something about "Gene Bride." Ichi doesn't remember him but finds out that he was a classmate at the academy she went to. After some funny and awkward back and forth, we learn that Masaki had tagged along with the other man, Takechi, to see Ichi so he could give her chocolates and thank her. But thank her for what?

That night, Ichi dreams of her school days and we see some images that raise a lot of questions. Young Ichi in uniform, teachers, a "Life Plan" survey for students to fill out (NOT a "Career Plan" survey), multiple bridal couples at a "Gene Bride" event, and a girl calling Ichi's name. She wakes up in a cold sweat.

Ichi's boss, Hibiki, gave Masaki extra tickets their office got to a viewing of the director's movie which causes them to run into each other there. After the viewing, they see the director and the director proceeds to sexually harass her again.

Ugh..........

Ichi notices that when Masaki was talking to the director, the conversation was... well, normal and relevant. They actually discussed the movie and its references instead of... her looks and the fact she's a woman. The two share a taxi when they leave and Masaki tells her that he wanted to thank her for something back in their school days. They were told to not eat or drink anything because the school was going to take saliva samples so they could pair up the students for "Gene Bride." However, Masaki accidentally ate chocolate and was afraid to tell the teachers about it. When he was trying to figure out what to do, Ichi stood up and told the teachers that she accidentally ate chocolate herself which gave Masaki the opportunity to hightail it out of there. The two of them ended up getting paired together for "Gene Bride" as a result meaning they weren't technically soulmates since their saliva tests couldn't be done properly.

I love them.

Understandably, Ichi starts wondering why Masaki showed up all of a sudden seemingly out of nowhere, why the academy and "Gene Bride" business came back up. She starts to remember her friend from the academy and it seems like something had happened to the friend, haunting Ichi. Essentially, she works herself up to the point where she thinks Masaki came to say his thanks because he's dying and he's wrapping up loose ends. But, uh... he's fine. He's not dying lolll.

Had me hollering tbh.

She later has a job for other interviews with men, and Hibiki doesn't want to send Ichi alone as the number of times she's been harassed on the job is just disgusting. So Hibiki considers asking a male friend to accompany her to ensure Ichi is safe while doing her job (LOVE Hibiki!!!). Just then, Masaki happened to be visiting their office and they ask him to tag along on the job. Unsurprisingly, the interview went smoothly, and Ichi was taken seriously and respected — all because Masaki was silently sitting next to her. He tried to excuse himself to use the bathroom but Ichi refuses to let him get up as the last time a male colleague left her for a moment, the harassment started as if a switch got flipped.

After the job is done, she looks at some rings in the window of a store, considering buying one. She walks away and Masaki asks if she didn't want to get a ring but she says she just wanted one to use as "bug repellant," which leaves him confused as to what she means. Ichi has another interview to do right after this and tells Masaki not to come. He asks why and she doesn't give him a straight answer and tells him to figure it out for himself while he waits for her to come back. At first, he says, "Whatever, I don't wanna know that bad anyway. I have other stuff to worry about." So Ichi replies with, "How nice it must be. You guys can just think about yourselves and only yourselves. Meanwhile, we have to think about you. Otherwise, we risk getting ourselves killed." She walks away leaving him, and the questions he's left with annoy him to the point he makes it his mission to find the answers.

Truly, what a concept.

It turns out the reason he couldn't come to this particular interview is because she was going to meet a voice actress who had been harassed so badly, she almost completely left the industry. She was thankfully able to make a comeback but now surrounds herself with only female staff.

When Ichi comes back to meet with Masaki after her job is done, he starts rattling off all the research he did and talking about all the questions he now has answers to. He also knows why Ichi was looking at rings and offers her one he bought for her while also acknowledging how ridiculous it is that she even has to consider such measures in the first place. She's thrown off by the whole interaction and Masaki himself. Turns out the ring was not actually a ring, but a hook he got from a craft store. He says something along the lines of, "It's really handy. It looks like a ring but if you flip it over it becomes a weapon with the pointy end, which is perfect for you because you're so aggressive. And! You can use it to hang something on your wall."

I love it. 10/10 scene. I was laughing, crying, screaming, kicking my feet.

The chapter ends with the sentiment that things can change for the better little by little, eluding back to a conversation she had with Hibiki at the beginning of the chapter.

Breezing through the rest of the volume, Ichi asks Masaki to help her find her friend, Enami, from the academy. He tells her that his mother can probably help as she had been working for the academy for a long time.

The principal and some "inner circle" students from the academy are traveling for an exchange event of some kind, but their plane is delayed because of thick fog (btw the fog is an element that is constantly brought up throughout the volume). A few of the students sneak away to a nearby movie theater to kill some time. The way the students talk raises a lot of questions. They seem to be special students, they've never been to the movies, never ridden the train, call their phones "communication terminals," and seem to seldom leave the academy.

***SPOILERS FOR THE TWIST AT THE END OF VOLUME ONE***

Ichi and Masaki happen to be meeting up at the same movie theater the students go to. One of the students drops her "communication terminal" on a ledge and tries to reach for it, almost falling over the railing in the process. Ichi grabs her and pulls her back to safety and Masaki retrieves the device for the girl. While handing it to Ichi, a voice from the phone says, "Facial recognition confirmed, device unlocked... Greetings, Isahaya Ichi." At that moment Ichi looks at the girl who takes off her face mask to reveal that the girl looks exactly like Ichi but younger, and has the same name but spelled with different kanji characters.

And the volume ends there.

In volume two we spend time with student Ichi and see adult Ichi and Masaki try to figure out what the heck is going on, as well as some adult Ichi flashbacks to her academy days with Enami. I'm super glad that the two Ichis each have their own personalities. While they might look exactly alike, they very much feel like different people.

***END OF SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

From the very first page and throughout the story, there are multiple instances of misogyny, sexism, harassment, etc. that women are not strangers to. I'm sure a lot of women can relate, but for those of you who don't, I still would recommend you read this. If you don't relate, to you I say, "Empathy is sexy."

Seeing other perspectives, learning from them, and trying to understand people is very attractive guys. It's science, I don't make the rules. That's why Masaki is best boy. Be like Masaki.

Ichi is hitting her breaking point, exasperated with all the bullshit she, and others, have had to deal with for being women. Multiple times, she says あたしたち "we/us (women)" when she's faced with yet more bullshit, expressing her exhaustion and anger at all the hurdles women face.

I have some theories about how these themes play into the plot but I'll hold off because of spoilers.

This manga has sci-fi elements that are slowly revealed to us. At first, everything seems rather normal and mundane. But once we do get bits of info and clues, you quickly notice something weird is going on. And the reveal at the end of volume one really doubles down on that feeling. I really enjoyed how things were slowly unveiled.

Our main duo, Ichi and Masaki, both have strong personalities, and their interactions are highly entertaining.

Masaki and I are kindred spirits.

Ichi is professional, but you can tell she's seething inside when she has to deal with harassment. Outside of work, she's got more of an edge and can be quite curt, but all in polite Japanese of course lolll. Masaki is just... hilarious. Everything he does has me going like, "omg that's me." Every scene he's in is a good time while simultaneously being torture for Ichi. The two have a fun dynamic, bickering while somehow clicking at times as a team.

Read it for Ichi and Masaki, they're great.

I'm interested to see what Gene Bride does with its themes. I can already tell some messed up stuff is probably happening, but I just have so many questions. Along with the intriguing plot and mystery, we have characters with distinct personalities and lovable, humorous moments throughout! Please license this...

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#gene bride #ジーンブライド #manga #manga recs #manga recommendations #manga discussion #shoujosei #josei #kono manga ga sugoi #josei manga

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Tenjou Renka: Kin no Oujo to Hi no Kusushi - 天上恋歌～金の皇女と火の薬師～

HISTORICAL, ADVENTURE

Tenjou Renka ~Kin no Oujo to Hi no Kusushi~ by Aoki Tomo

(6 volumes, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

Links to my other manga posts here

I can't remember where I first saw this, but Tenjou Renka caught my eye a while ago with this cover. Look at it — it's gorgeous. Like I said in my Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol post, I've been really getting into historical fiction so this manga looked like something I'd enjoy. I'm currently reading Yona of the Dawn, which Tenjou Renka has some similarities to (ye olde Asia, princess on an adventure, etc.), and I've been having the best time! I plan to give my thoughts on that too, but there's a lot more content with that series and I've been taking my time reading it.

The full title of Tenjou Renka roughly translates to Heavenly Love Song ~The Princess of Kin and Medicine Man of Fire~. I was excited to read this manga because it seems we have a cool falconer princess with some lovely art! So, how did it do?

Twitter reading thread here. Thoughts after the summary.

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

In the first few pages, we see a precession from the country, Kin, making its way to the allied country, Sou. Here we meet our nomadic princess, Aira.

There are rumors that Aira is to wed the prince of Sou... except she herself doesn't know this??? Awaiting the arrival of their allies, Sou greets them with a show of fireworks. Aira, however, runs straight over to one of the fireworks craftsmen and gives him a big old hug... before saying a word to the royals... when she's supposed to be an ambassador of sorts from Kin... and there are talks of her marrying the prince that's literally standing right there... uh...

What are you doing... She said, "I didn't get the chance to thank you! I'll never forget that night!" GIRL, YOU'RE GONNA GET THIS MAN EXECUTED!!! He's gonna get guillotined! He's gonna get the noose!!!!!!!!!!!

We go back in time a few days, and long story short, Aira and company got attacked mid-journey which led her to fall off a cliff and into a river. The fireworks craftsman, Hakurinshi (or as Aira calls him, Rinshi) finds her washed up. He takes her to his hut to treat her and her falcon. When she wakes up and says she needs to meet back up with her brother. Rinshi tells her to follow him so he can show her something. He lights a firework, which Aira had never seen before, and signals her brother to their location. Reunited, Aira turns to thank Rinshi, but he's already gone. Flash forward to the current day, she sees her savior and takes the opportunity to finally thank him... by aggressively hugging him... in that situation. *sigh*

If you see me spell something wrong, no you didn’t. Twitter, where’s my edit button???

Unsurprisingly, this is bad. Rumors start spreading, some Sou royals and citizens are not happy, and Rinshi gets called in by higher-ups to explain himself. Aira has completely fallen for Rinshi but ends up getting scolded by her brother Uju. He tells her to forget it and that Rinshi is from a different country and class. And he FINALLY tells Aira that there were talks of her being wed to the Sou prince, Kouou, but it's been tabled for now. (Why tf was Aira the last person to find this out?!) She's shocked at this information but Uju says that they wouldn't go through with it if she didn't want to. It isn't until she mulls over the new information and what she did at the palace does she realize, "Oh no, I was super rude to the prince and made an awful first impression!" ...UM, DUH?

*Deep breath*

Prince Kouou shows Aira and Uju around and he reveals that he's a two-faced jerk to only Aira just like I expected. (Aira, why didn't you tell your brother that Kouou wasn't to be trusted?! WHY WON'T ANYONE COMMUNICATE???) Apparently, he thinks the marriage is still on and that it doesn't matter what they want. It's their duty to go through with a political marriage if that's what's decided. Aira has to continue doing ambassador/goodwill duties for the next few days at the Sou palace so they'll be in town for a bit longer.

The last bit of volume one has the people of Kin falling ill from poisoned food. Aira is one of the few who hadn't eaten yet and was spared, thus leaving her to take charge and care for the sick. She goes looking for Rinshi for help since he was able to take care of her and her falcon before. What was weird to me was that she asked him to teach her how to care for the sick instead of asking him to come with her to where they all were. Rinshi is the one who said he was coming with to help, and Aira was surprised by this...

Instead of wasting time at his place learning how to play doctor, take him with you dummy!!! Also, the Sou palace knew what happened but they were like, "Oh no, it's getting late and it'll be morning by the time the doctors come to help!" DON'T YOU GUYS HAVE DOCTORS AT THE PALACE??? WHAT??????

The resolution to this section of the story was also annoying. Plus, no one was at risk of dying. They just threw up and felt sick.

Why THE HELL would you, the cook who prepares everyone’s food, including the Kin royals, use some random plant you don’t know??? Fire him immediately. This isn't poisoned food, this is food poisoning smh.

***END OF SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

I usually try to give manga a few volumes, but honestly? I made it halfway through volume 2, skimmed the rest of the volume, and gave up. I'm going to mention minor spoilers here btw.

It doesn't make sense. The setup for the drama doesn't make any damn sense. I can't even be mad at Aira, at least not completely, because I blame her family/handlers for not teaching her ANYTHING before sending her off to be an ambassador and putting her in these situations! Literally, her handmaiden was teaching her things about the Sou royals she should've already known while they were at the Sou palace... Like... excuse me? I also don't like how there are info dumps.

Aira's handmaiden is teaching her info about Sou AFTER she just did a ceremonial thing at the palace. You should have taught her this stuff before!

We do find out that Aira's tribe recently won independence 8 years ago, so they're kind of "new royalty" but they should still know to tell her to watch herself in Sou. If there was some Sou custom they weren't familiar with that she messed up, or was awkward because she wasn't a princess from birth/comes from a more "primitive" country, then okay. But that's not what's happening here. I mean, even if you weren't promised to the prince, YOU'RE A PRINCESS WHO'S AN AMBASSADOR IN AN ALLIED COUNTRY!!! You didn't even greet the prince and king!!!!!!!!! That's just Manners 101!

And I’m a nobody!

I don't want to compare to Yona of the Dawn, but it's a little hard not to. I'm very early on in Yona of the Dawn (mid vol 5) but even then we see that while Yona is extremely naive, scared, and sheltered, she's not stupid. And in her case, she wasn't prepared for the events that resulted in her life being turned upside down. For Yona, it came out of nowhere. But for Aira, they planned to go to Sou. They knew this was happening. She should have been more prepared to do her duties as the princess of Kin, yet she fumbled it within seconds of her arrival at the palace. It doesn't make her funny or charming. It just makes her look dumb.

There are some parts that DO make sense. Aira being able to stand her ground adds up because she comes from a nomadic tribe.

Action scenes!

A lot of people in Sou, both noble and peasant, call the people of Kin savages/barbarians. Some nobles ask ignorant questions like, "I heard your people live in caves? Is that true? What, you can move your homes? How strange." And honestly, that's realistic. I cannot tell you how many times I've been asked if my family lives in tents and rides camels to school/work.

The start of the show here is Rinshi, hands down. He's known as the local weirdo who collects random plants and rocks and the like.

Mood, tbh. Throwback to my Yotsuba&! post about how me and my friend drove all the way from Tokyo to the Sea of Japan just to go rock collecting.

In reality, he's just a quiet guy with unbound curiosity. He wants to travel and see new things, learn new things, and collect new things so he can learn about those too. Rinshi wears tinted glasses to protect his eyes from light damage, which happens to a lot of craftsmen. But they’re are an unusual thing that no one's ever seen before and just adds to his "weird" status. I swear this man is ahead of his time.

Dreaming of all the cool stuff out there in the big wide world. I'm rooting for you buddy.

He also just seems like a genuinely sweet guy and would make for an awesome male lead!

The author, Aoki, clearly has a great love for Chinese history. This isn't even their first manga with this setting. On Aoki's Twitter, you can see all the research they do. They even get recreated armor/clothing to take reference photos!

Mad respect.

Remember kids, reference is important!

Tenjou Renka is amazing for seeing historical clothing and settings, as well as culture. However, I feel like these things take priority over the actual story.

We love well-researched historical fiction!

I was curious to see what other readers thought of the story, and while unsurprisingly there were people who really enjoyed it, some reviewers share my sentiment.

This reviewer is basically saying how Aira doesn't realize her own position/the situation she's in and just causes so many problems.

This person says that the girls feel immature/juvenile and it's a real shame because the historical aspects are well-researched.

But yeah, this was a title I was excited to get into, but it just left me frustrated and disappointed. I mean, listen — a foreign princess betrothed to the prince falls in love with a local weirdo and they both want to travel the world and learn new things? It’s so frustrating because this manga has the recipe… Tenjou Renka had so much potential, but the contrived drama annoyed the hell out of me. So much didn't make sense or could have been avoided, and that really soured any good it had. I can see a lot of people enjoying this, but unfortunately, it's just not working out for me. I would like to flip through the later volumes if only for the clothing and setting design.

Not even best boy Rinshi can make me keep reading. I hope you collect all the stuff your heart desires.

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#Tenjou Renka: Kin no Oujo to Hi no Kusushi #天上恋歌～金の皇女と火の薬師～#manga #manga recs #manga recommendations #manga discussion #shoujo manga #少女漫画 #漫画 #おすすめ

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Untitled Blue - アンタイトル・ブルー

DRAMA, MYSTERY

Untitled Blue by Natsume Yukiko

(2 volumes, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

Links to my other manga posts here

This one’s for you Colleen *finger guns*

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

Anyone else get labeled a “gifted/honor student” growing up? Ugh…

I mean, look at all this. At least there's cool stuff to look at on the long hike to the immigration office - PIGMENT TOKYO (Shinagawa)

¥800,000??? Sir??????? At first, I thought he said ¥80,000 which is like, yeah okay. But honestly? Ask for your worth artists!

This is making me feral, both in a friendship way and a potential romance way. Porque no los dos?

Oof…

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME TWO***

While my life is not beat-for-beat like Akari’s, there are A LOT of similarities and… oh man… this hurts…

Hello darkness my old friend~

I’m gonna throw hands, I swear if he touches a hair on Toma's head (ง’̀-‘́)ง

I'll be brief about the second half of this volume:

***END OF SPOILERS FOR VOLUMES 1-2***

"How about a change of pace?"

"... Don't wanna... sounds like a pain."

"Oh, don't be like that! We're not going anywhere far." (Then she dragged him outside lol)

The art in Untitled Blue is lovely and does an amazing job of conveying how characters feel and nailing the mood in a scene. I enjoy the pacing as well.

Love it when you can feel a page!

These pages are sick, actual chills.

"If you're getting this close to the real thing, why not just take a picture?"

There's also lots of talk about the value of art in various senses, and where they discuss the monetary value of art that I found interesting.

Yes, art is more than just the money, but artists are professionals that deserve to get paid well for their craft.

Loving the exploration of various ideas!

I'm reading this on Renta! and romance series like うるわしの宵の月/In the Clear Moonlit Dusk are tagged with 恋愛/romance. Untitled Blue doesn't have the tag though.

I was looking around to see if there was a release date for volume 3, but it turns out that there hasn't been a volume released since September 2021.

Volume 1 was released June 2021, and volume 2 was released September 2021.

But the mangaka tweeted this in November 2022:

"Untitled Blue volumes 1-2 are available 🎶 Volume 3 will release in the near future, so now's a great time to catch up 🎶”

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#untitled blue #アンタイトル・ブルー #manga recs #manga recommendation #manga discussion #漫画 #おすすめ #shoujosei #josei #josei manga

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Thanks for the shout-out! Super informative post with lots of interesting stuff.

The Manga Review: Looking Backward

Buckle up, dear reader; this week’s Manga Review is bursting at the seams! The first order of business? The best (and worst) of 2022. The Comics Journal recently posted its annual list, polling thirty-three critics, artists, editors, and scholars about their favorite titles. While some of the nominations were predictable—there were a lot of folks praising Kate Beaton’s Ducks—there were also a…

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#manga

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saffronapplemanga · 1 year

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Momo's Medical History - モモの医術史

FANTASY, ADVENTURE

Momo's Medical History by Naomoto Sanba and Asano Non

(1 volume, ongoing)

JP only - English summary in this post

Links to my other manga posts here

With the first volume coming out on the heels of the New Year's holiday, Momo's Medical History is a new series that piqued my interest with the premise of a 13-year-old imperial physician looking for a rumored book that can revive the dead. I figured I'd check it out and see if it was a series I wanted to follow or not.

Let's get started!

Since this manga is only available in Japanese right now, I'll do what I did with my Tenmaku no Jadoogar: A Witch's Life in Mongol post and summarize this first volume. Chapter one will be the most detailed, and then I'll be super brief with the rest. I also have a reading thread here. If you want to go in completely blind and just read my impressions, I'll put spoiler warnings around the summary and you can scroll past.

Quick disclaimer: There are no official translations for some names/terms, so I wrote what I thought was right with the context I currently have.

*Taps the sign again* ^

***SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

The story starts with our protagonist Momo (last name is "Mikhailov" if I'm not mistaken) and hawk companion Popo riding a train on the hunt for The Book of Apis, which contains the knowledge to cure any ailment, even death. We are shown hints that Momo has some kind of relationship with a prince, but not much info is given to us at this time. Initially, I, and many others, thought Momo was a girl (and a boku-girl at that), but it turns out he's a boy. It’s a running gag in the manga.

Edward Elric, is that you?

Btw if you don't know what a boku-girl is, basically "boku" is a Japanese personal pronoun commonly used by boys. Sometimes, there are girls who use it, but in my experience and to my knowledge, it's quite rare (nonbinary/queer individuals use it too). I've considered using "boku" for myself when speaking Japanese, but for various reasons that this post by Mishima Kitan covers, I decided not to. There are so many Japanese personal pronouns y'all...

Anywho, in the kingdom of Afduff, there is a mysterious "King's Plague" that can only be healed with "Royal Touch" whenever it rains. Only the royals of the kingdom possess Royal Touch. However, this ability is unable to heal anything else. Momo runs into Princess Bianca and ends up at the palace library in his search for The Book of Apis. The king, shows up pissed that his daughter let some commoner into the library. It is revealed that Momo is from Radiania, a mighty empire with lots of great physicians. The greatest one of them is known as "Noah." The palace staff are shocked when the princess introduces him as a physician apprentice from Radiania. One of them is about to ask him if he knows Noah, but is quickly shut down by the king.

Momo decides to move on to keep looking for The Book of Apis. He says he's always moving towards his goal and encourages the princess to "fight for her freedom." That night, she sneaks into a bedroom and tries to stab someone in their sleep. This someone turns out to be her twin but is stopped by Momo. In Afduff, twins are seen as unlucky, and there is a custom where one twin is cast aside. The twin princess, Luna, was not killed but forced to live in hiding. Luna was let out just this once to perform Royal Touch in Bianca's place when she caught King's Plague herself. So it was actually Luna who was trying to kill her sister, Bianca, so she could stop living in the shadows.

Momo tells everyone that the plague is an affliction that will heal on its own, Royal Touch or not. In fact, Royal Touch is not a real ability, but people believed it was since the plague would heal after. But that was just because it got better on its own (We find out that the Royal Touch phenomenon is a real thing that happened in history. There are little historical facts sometimes in the manga. Thus Momo's Medical History I'm assuming?) Despite this, he still decides to cure Bianca of King's Plague using his medical skills, shocking those around him.

Popo, the surgical assistant bird. So talented. I hope we get to see lots of cool medical stuff!

Interestingly, they are more shocked at the medical/surgical techniques rather than the fact that a small child is performing them. I guess modern medicine isn't that common in this world? We get more information throughout the volume that points to medicine and technology being rather primitive in most countries, Radiania being an exception.

The king begs Momo to keep quiet about a royal catching King's Plague, and Momo agrees to do so if Luna is set free. Momo has actually been ordered to NOT treat anyone outside the Radiania royal family unless absolutely necessary. Bianca would have gotten better with rest over time, but Momo cured her more quickly so she could get back to convincing the citizens of the power of Royal Touch. This gives him leverage to ask for Luna's freedom as compensation from the king instead of riches.

"Set her free. Don't worry, I don't intend on changing the course of history. I was told not to heal anyone that didn't absolutely need it. I cured your sister so you could be free."

"Momo, why would you... go to such lengths...?"

We love a good boy in this house... how cute...

Oh, and it turns out Momo is Noah! I knew it :) We also find out in a flashback that he is a prodigy and has the talent to be a great physician.

The next two chapters in this volume follow similarly episodic adventures where Momo goes to a new location in search of The Book of Apis, meets new characters, and helps them. This aspect reminded me of Mushishi. In that series, we're in a new location each episode, with a new mystery, and by the end, Ginko uses his expertise to solve the case and help the afflicted. Go check out Mushishi or else.

In chapter two, we're in a village with a vampire problem. And in chapter three, Momo joins a circus to chase a lead. Although I have to admit, the side characters left me feeling a little unsatisfied. Idk, I guess some things felt a bit predictable? Still a good time, though.

A whole village is crucifying and burning corpses to prevent vampirization, but then a 13-year-old armed with science performed a blood transfusion.

These episodic chapters need to introduce a story-of-the-week, new characters, a conclusion, and make it all satisfying in just one chapter. That's a tall order. In general, each chapter is a fun time, but the weakest part for me was the side characters for each chapter. A lot of manga start off more episodic and get more plot-heavy, introducing more important side characters as they go on, so I'm looking forward to that.

***END OF SPOILERS FOR VOLUME ONE***

So! We have a fantasy/adventure featuring science and medicine, and a charming protagonist, all drawn in a pleasing art style. That's my cup of tea. The fantasy of this series looks like it's pretty grounded. There aren't any magical powers (so far), but science and legends instead. Nice!

Love the atmosphere here.

The first volume seems promising and I'm looking forward to seeing how the next few volumes shake out. I'm particularly hoping for more characters to fall for/character dynamics and more plot deep-diving. I hope the episodic nature of the chapters doesn't stick around for too long. But I'm not worried because as I mentioned before, this is pretty common in manga.

This made me laugh more than I care to admit. I'm a simple soul.

While there were plenty of funny, cute, charming moments, we can also see the weight Momo carries on his tiny shoulders. He's on a mission to save a person he cares deeply about, and he's constantly moving forward toward that goal.

I was drafting up this post as I was reading and after I wrote the previous paragraph, this old lady was like, "That little boy is shouldering so much" and yeah, that's what I'm saying!

"I'll be your messiah."

Throughout the volume, there is information about Momo, his past, his relationship with the prince of Radiania, and so on sprinkled in. I like how we get crumbs that provide details, yet set up more questions.

I noticed the earrings too, mysterious old lady. Keep talking, say more.

Another sort of random thing I want to mention is I'd like more from Popo. He does help out and is fun to have on the page, but I want more. I don't want him to only be some cute animal mascot that's just there. Think Carue/Karoo, Vivi's duck, from One Piece (Alabasta Arc) — Cute animal character with some great moments! There's another comic, Cut Time, featuring a small child with a falcon companion, but in that case, it's a seeing-eye falcon, which is also cool.

Lovely comic by Juby!

In this series, we have uh... *checks notes* surgical assistant hawk lol. Which is great tbh, love that. The gijinka/human form of Popo and the silly comic strips at the end of the volume gave him so much personality. Put all that personality in the main story. More personality for the bird please.

Love that human Popo would be this character type, AKA one of my favorite character types.

Most of my criticisms are largely nitpicks right now.

He didn’t need to follow up and explicitly say what he was thinking/feeling. It’s already obvious.

The beginning of this reminds me of Fullmetal Alchemist. Traveling through a fantasy European-ish setting, an intelligent young lad seeking otherworldly items to bring back someone they love from the dead, and all that fun stuff. Now I don't want a Fullmetal 2.0, but if Momo's Medical History can deliver some great character work that Fullmetal is known for, then that would make me very happy. It's already got an intriguing plot that's the kind of thing I gravitate towards. I'm optimistic! I guess I'll have to add yet another title to my reading list if it keeps going well *nervously looks at my current reading list...*

This kid really said I wanna play God... Don't fly too close to the sun, Momo...

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#momo's medical history #モモの医術史 #manga #manga recs #manga recommendations #shoujo manga #漫画 #おすすめ #少女漫画 #manga discussion

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