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rainsometimesI have a feeling that if I'd read more than just Volume 1 of Love Roma, it would have ended up here, quirky and fun as I found it. Sadly I decided to read that volume about four years too late, and so far I haven't been able to find more from anyplace that would ship them easily.
The Legend of Mother Sarah* by Katsuhiro Otomo (script) and Takumi Nagayasu (art)
I keep remembering this title as "The Legend of Mother Savah orz. Sign of an old Elfquest fan.
*coughs* Anyway! This is another manga I read early on as a library copy, and have never re-read. I believe it was right after reading Domu, in fact. Otomo provides the writing here as well, but the artist is actually Takumi Nagayasu, who here draws in a style extremely similar to Otomo's. For this one as well, I don't remember too many details - as I recall it takes place on a grim post-apocalyptic Earth, where the main character, the young mother Sarah, struggles hard to find her children and tries to right wrong as well and help people along the way, not always successfully. Many brutal bits but not without moments of triumph and compassion; ultimately not quite a downer to me at the time, if not perhaps true feel-good fare either. What sticks with me the most is that not only is Sarah an impressive and strong character, but she's drawn as large, imposing and ripped while still being shown as admirable, much like how male action characters tend to be presented.
Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike (script) and Goseki Kojima (art)
A classic samurai manga featuring antihero Itto Ogami, who takes up a life of vengeance after seing his family killed and his clan and honour destroyed due to political intrigue, becoming an assassin for pay in the process. His little son Daigoro follows along with him but is not actually a weak point - Itto regards him as a fellow soldier on the "road to hell" and will use him as decoy if need be, although that doesn't stop him from being deeply fond of him. Itto is ridiculously badass, killing any number of simultanoues opponents singlehandedly, and is also very much a combat pragmatist who doesn't go by bushido. Bloody swordfights abound, but so do quiet sequences on the road and tragic life stories of those they meet.
One interesting thing to note is that Itto is very much an anti-hero, and contrary to Western expectations he does not seem to noticeably soften during the length of the manga. If he can help someone poor or suffering at the same time he'll work for his goal, that's all right, but it's emphasised over and over that he's not going to be unselfish for the sake of it - the goal of vengeance always comes first. And to some extent it feels that the narrative presents this as admirable, in a macho gekiga-ish way. - Speaking of macho, I have to say that the depiction of women isn't too great in this comic: since Koike is notorious for this in general, I've never felt tempted to read his other works, not even the prequel to Lone Wolf & Cub.
Goseki Kojima's artwork is fantastic, particularly his gorgeous landscapes and his figures in moving. Before reading Lone Wolf & Cub I'd never seen a manga with such vivid brushwork. At the same time, the way he draws little Daigoro's quiet face that sometimes lits up in a childish expressions is terrific. To me Daigoro's character is really what makes this manga in the end, with his and his father's strange relationship and how a real little kid peeks through every now and then, never failing to arrest me. And Kojima's skills back Koike's words up most excellently.
***********************************************
Anime corner
Last Exile An intriguing and very very cool-looking SF series on a future world of a steampunk flavour, centred on a teenaged boy and girl who grew up together and who have started running their own courier business, piloting flying vehicles called "vanships". They happen to land an extremely important mission which gets them caught up in big geopolitical shenanigans, and soon the cast of characters grow a lot larger to encompass charismatic independent operators, a powerful antagonist organisation, an ambiguous anti-villain, and much more. I confess I'd forgotten some of the details of this series and had to turn to Wikipedia just now to refresh them. It was a while ago! *^_^* As I recall this was a fascinating series with interesting characters which had some aspects I found frustrating (I seem to recall the girl of the two central character getting sidelined more and more; I was also less than pleased with some of the treatment of the character Dio (the aforesaid anti-villain). However, caveat here as I really should rewatch the series properly before getting critical for real. All in all it's most definitely well worth watching.
What are your L favourites?
The Legend of Mother Sarah* by Katsuhiro Otomo (script) and Takumi Nagayasu (art)
I keep remembering this title as "The Legend of Mother Savah orz. Sign of an old Elfquest fan.
*coughs* Anyway! This is another manga I read early on as a library copy, and have never re-read. I believe it was right after reading Domu, in fact. Otomo provides the writing here as well, but the artist is actually Takumi Nagayasu, who here draws in a style extremely similar to Otomo's. For this one as well, I don't remember too many details - as I recall it takes place on a grim post-apocalyptic Earth, where the main character, the young mother Sarah, struggles hard to find her children and tries to right wrong as well and help people along the way, not always successfully. Many brutal bits but not without moments of triumph and compassion; ultimately not quite a downer to me at the time, if not perhaps true feel-good fare either. What sticks with me the most is that not only is Sarah an impressive and strong character, but she's drawn as large, imposing and ripped while still being shown as admirable, much like how male action characters tend to be presented.
Lone Wolf and Cub by Kazuo Koike (script) and Goseki Kojima (art)
A classic samurai manga featuring antihero Itto Ogami, who takes up a life of vengeance after seing his family killed and his clan and honour destroyed due to political intrigue, becoming an assassin for pay in the process. His little son Daigoro follows along with him but is not actually a weak point - Itto regards him as a fellow soldier on the "road to hell" and will use him as decoy if need be, although that doesn't stop him from being deeply fond of him. Itto is ridiculously badass, killing any number of simultanoues opponents singlehandedly, and is also very much a combat pragmatist who doesn't go by bushido. Bloody swordfights abound, but so do quiet sequences on the road and tragic life stories of those they meet.
One interesting thing to note is that Itto is very much an anti-hero, and contrary to Western expectations he does not seem to noticeably soften during the length of the manga. If he can help someone poor or suffering at the same time he'll work for his goal, that's all right, but it's emphasised over and over that he's not going to be unselfish for the sake of it - the goal of vengeance always comes first. And to some extent it feels that the narrative presents this as admirable, in a macho gekiga-ish way. - Speaking of macho, I have to say that the depiction of women isn't too great in this comic: since Koike is notorious for this in general, I've never felt tempted to read his other works, not even the prequel to Lone Wolf & Cub.
Goseki Kojima's artwork is fantastic, particularly his gorgeous landscapes and his figures in moving. Before reading Lone Wolf & Cub I'd never seen a manga with such vivid brushwork. At the same time, the way he draws little Daigoro's quiet face that sometimes lits up in a childish expressions is terrific. To me Daigoro's character is really what makes this manga in the end, with his and his father's strange relationship and how a real little kid peeks through every now and then, never failing to arrest me. And Kojima's skills back Koike's words up most excellently.
***********************************************
Anime corner
Last Exile An intriguing and very very cool-looking SF series on a future world of a steampunk flavour, centred on a teenaged boy and girl who grew up together and who have started running their own courier business, piloting flying vehicles called "vanships". They happen to land an extremely important mission which gets them caught up in big geopolitical shenanigans, and soon the cast of characters grow a lot larger to encompass charismatic independent operators, a powerful antagonist organisation, an ambiguous anti-villain, and much more. I confess I'd forgotten some of the details of this series and had to turn to Wikipedia just now to refresh them. It was a while ago! *^_^* As I recall this was a fascinating series with interesting characters which had some aspects I found frustrating (I seem to recall the girl of the two central character getting sidelined more and more; I was also less than pleased with some of the treatment of the character Dio (the aforesaid anti-villain). However, caveat here as I really should rewatch the series properly before getting critical for real. All in all it's most definitely well worth watching.
What are your L favourites?