Manga Alphabet: N is for Nausicäa, more
Sep. 26th, 2012 10:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
rainsometimesAnother big letter.
Nana by Ai Yazawa
The story of two girls who are both named Nana but are otherwise very different, who happen to become roommates and then best friends. This masterful shojo manga is unfortunately on indeterminate hiatus in Japan after volume 21, due to the creator's health problems. I will nevertheless take the risk of recommending it. It's a tearjerker, but it's worth it.
I was sceptical about Nana at first, as the publisher's description of "rock n' roll soap opera" (though arguably fitting enough) didn't sound like my cup of tea. But eventually I heard so much good about it I broke down and tried it. I think it was by volume 3, or maybe 4, that I knew I was in for the long haul. I love how realistic and clear-eyed it feels, as no character is shown to be without flaws and the relationships one might have thought looked perfect at first glance don't always happen to pan out - and those people who seemed so cool and strong may actually be the most vulnerable. I really like the criss-crossing of characters interacting and connecting with each other; and how, despite all the troubles and fights and heart-aches, so many in the central cast care so much about each other. I love the pensive storytelling, with occasional flashbacks to show us how the characters were shaped as they grew up. Most of all I love the complex, shifting, sometimes troubled but always really strong friendship between Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu (nicknamed "Hachi") at the centre of the story.
Natsume's Book of Friends by Yuki Midorikawa
Another manga in the supernatural case studies genre, or whatever those are really called. This one has a powerful theme of loneliness and friendship: polite and mild-mannered Takashi Natsume, orphaned since early childhood, does not want to create trouble for anyone, and doesn't think he can open up. All his life he's seen spirits, but when he remarkedon them as a young child, he was either accused of lying to attract attention or just being a real weirdo. Now he's determined to keep a low profile. But as he inherits the "Book of Friends" made by his grandmother which holds power over many spirits, he soon starts attracting a lot of supernatural interest, and even gathers his own spirit bodyguard.
Many of the stories have a melancholy tone; a recurring theme is the difficulty for humans and spirits to connect: even those few humans who can sense spirits will still grow old and die while the spirits stay the same. On the other hand, angry and predatory spirits are genuinely chilling and creepy. But despite all that, ultimately Natsume's Book of Friends feels very hopeful and healing. While most chapters are self-contained and the mangaka even puts in a mini-introduction at the start of each new story, I still recommend not skipping around too much in order to get the payoff of seeing Takashi's character development as it takes place.
Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind by Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki is my favourite animation director of any time or country. While I don't always agree with his opinions or creative choices - not all his movies can be equally brilliant, after all - in the main his visual style, his world view, his imagination and the flow of his storytelling all just jibe with me extremely well. This is even more true for the manga version of Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind, where he could follow his own vision pretty much unconstrained by editorial demands - just pure Miyazaki through and through, telling the story on his own. He had no assistants, either - every line in the work is by his hand.
The story takes place in a distant future in a world where many areas are taken over by the Sea of Corruption; great jungles where no humans or normal animals can live, full of toxins born of pollution. But even here, people still wage war, and the princess Nausicäa from the small Valley of Wind is dragged into it along with her people. There are mysteries, old secrets, new intrigues, air battles, hard moral choices, treachery, ancient superweapons, spiritual journeys; many disillusions, and much pain, suffering, and compassion.
...And I know my description here is woefully inept. The scope and depth of this story told in seven thin volumes is incredible. At the same time, the characters are easy to like, hard not to care for. (Princess Kushana may well have the most intriguing character arc. I have a soft spot for the schemer Kurotowa, myself.) And the artwork is fantastic - but unusually for manga, almost each page has many panels, and the panels are often quite detailed. It's dense, and slows down the reading, but I see that as a plus: the slower pace makes it easier to take in the story as you read it.
This is still the best manga I have ever read.
Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya
Romance manga about the Power of (Classical) Music And Weirdness, in which the uptight and perfectionist male lead Shinichi Chiaki, wondertalent studying to become a conductor, encounters the slovenly oddball Megumi Noda, nicknamed Nodame, an aspiring pianist with her own unique style. You sometimes see movies with this dynamic, but most of the time it's the other way around, and it's rare that the weird girl is so very weird and such a big slob - and so funny - as Nodame is. Also, she's got a crush on Chiaki pretty much from the start, while he takes a good long while to fall for her. Very refreshing and enchanting.
Despite the undeniable talents of both protagonists, they still face a lot of internal and external struggles if they want to reach their goals in the competitive world of classical music, as do their friends and rivals. The English translation reached up to volume 16, then stopped: the title is currently in License Hiatus. Which is a darn shame, even if the level of the translation wasn't particularly good. (I've tried scanlations, but this isn't the kind of series that works for me reading page by page on the screen: I need the sense of calm and overview that a print version gives me.) Most frustrating. Nevertheless, I still recommend it, especially since the translation does conclude the whole first arc of the series.
NonNonBa by Shigeru Mizuki
A fascinating one-volume story about a boy growing up in a remote Japanese town in the 1930s, told in a kind of style we rarely see in translated works: lush backgrounds à la Tezuka, but very non-cute cartoonish humans. The title refers to the old servant woman (who also did prayers for money) who the boy Gege looked up to when young; she told him about life and monsters, being very superstitious. Although this is said to be quite autobiographical, Mizuki doesn't hesitate to show the grotesque (but oddly cool-looking) monsters as real at least some of the time, turning up directly in the narrative instead of just in NonNonBa's stories and young Gege's imagination. Meanwhile, the boys of the area are engaged in neighbourhood warfare, parents can't always be relied on; and neighbours are being troublesome and mysterious. Much recommended.
**********************************************
Creators
Hikari Nakamura (Saint Young Men)
Yoshiki Nakamura (Skip Beat!)
Keiji Nakazawa (Barefoot Gen
Tomoko Ninomiya (Nodame Cantabile)
Favourite characters
Nami (One Piece
Nodame a.k.a Megumi Noda (Nodame Cantabile)
*****************************************
Anime corner
Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind - The movie whose success made Studio Ghibli possible. Based on the early parts of the manga - it was filmed long before the manga was concluded - but with many things changed in order to fit into a movie format. Though it can be hard not to compare it unfavourably to the manga, and in terms of animation quality it shows its age (and its relative small budget), it's still an amazing and moving film.
Do you have any manga (or anime) recs for N?
Nana by Ai Yazawa
The story of two girls who are both named Nana but are otherwise very different, who happen to become roommates and then best friends. This masterful shojo manga is unfortunately on indeterminate hiatus in Japan after volume 21, due to the creator's health problems. I will nevertheless take the risk of recommending it. It's a tearjerker, but it's worth it.
I was sceptical about Nana at first, as the publisher's description of "rock n' roll soap opera" (though arguably fitting enough) didn't sound like my cup of tea. But eventually I heard so much good about it I broke down and tried it. I think it was by volume 3, or maybe 4, that I knew I was in for the long haul. I love how realistic and clear-eyed it feels, as no character is shown to be without flaws and the relationships one might have thought looked perfect at first glance don't always happen to pan out - and those people who seemed so cool and strong may actually be the most vulnerable. I really like the criss-crossing of characters interacting and connecting with each other; and how, despite all the troubles and fights and heart-aches, so many in the central cast care so much about each other. I love the pensive storytelling, with occasional flashbacks to show us how the characters were shaped as they grew up. Most of all I love the complex, shifting, sometimes troubled but always really strong friendship between Nana Osaki and Nana Komatsu (nicknamed "Hachi") at the centre of the story.
Natsume's Book of Friends by Yuki Midorikawa
Another manga in the supernatural case studies genre, or whatever those are really called. This one has a powerful theme of loneliness and friendship: polite and mild-mannered Takashi Natsume, orphaned since early childhood, does not want to create trouble for anyone, and doesn't think he can open up. All his life he's seen spirits, but when he remarkedon them as a young child, he was either accused of lying to attract attention or just being a real weirdo. Now he's determined to keep a low profile. But as he inherits the "Book of Friends" made by his grandmother which holds power over many spirits, he soon starts attracting a lot of supernatural interest, and even gathers his own spirit bodyguard.
Many of the stories have a melancholy tone; a recurring theme is the difficulty for humans and spirits to connect: even those few humans who can sense spirits will still grow old and die while the spirits stay the same. On the other hand, angry and predatory spirits are genuinely chilling and creepy. But despite all that, ultimately Natsume's Book of Friends feels very hopeful and healing. While most chapters are self-contained and the mangaka even puts in a mini-introduction at the start of each new story, I still recommend not skipping around too much in order to get the payoff of seeing Takashi's character development as it takes place.
Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind by Hayao Miyazaki
Hayao Miyazaki is my favourite animation director of any time or country. While I don't always agree with his opinions or creative choices - not all his movies can be equally brilliant, after all - in the main his visual style, his world view, his imagination and the flow of his storytelling all just jibe with me extremely well. This is even more true for the manga version of Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind, where he could follow his own vision pretty much unconstrained by editorial demands - just pure Miyazaki through and through, telling the story on his own. He had no assistants, either - every line in the work is by his hand.
The story takes place in a distant future in a world where many areas are taken over by the Sea of Corruption; great jungles where no humans or normal animals can live, full of toxins born of pollution. But even here, people still wage war, and the princess Nausicäa from the small Valley of Wind is dragged into it along with her people. There are mysteries, old secrets, new intrigues, air battles, hard moral choices, treachery, ancient superweapons, spiritual journeys; many disillusions, and much pain, suffering, and compassion.
...And I know my description here is woefully inept. The scope and depth of this story told in seven thin volumes is incredible. At the same time, the characters are easy to like, hard not to care for. (Princess Kushana may well have the most intriguing character arc. I have a soft spot for the schemer Kurotowa, myself.) And the artwork is fantastic - but unusually for manga, almost each page has many panels, and the panels are often quite detailed. It's dense, and slows down the reading, but I see that as a plus: the slower pace makes it easier to take in the story as you read it.
This is still the best manga I have ever read.
Nodame Cantabile by Tomoko Ninomiya
Romance manga about the Power of (Classical) Music And Weirdness, in which the uptight and perfectionist male lead Shinichi Chiaki, wondertalent studying to become a conductor, encounters the slovenly oddball Megumi Noda, nicknamed Nodame, an aspiring pianist with her own unique style. You sometimes see movies with this dynamic, but most of the time it's the other way around, and it's rare that the weird girl is so very weird and such a big slob - and so funny - as Nodame is. Also, she's got a crush on Chiaki pretty much from the start, while he takes a good long while to fall for her. Very refreshing and enchanting.
Despite the undeniable talents of both protagonists, they still face a lot of internal and external struggles if they want to reach their goals in the competitive world of classical music, as do their friends and rivals. The English translation reached up to volume 16, then stopped: the title is currently in License Hiatus. Which is a darn shame, even if the level of the translation wasn't particularly good. (I've tried scanlations, but this isn't the kind of series that works for me reading page by page on the screen: I need the sense of calm and overview that a print version gives me.) Most frustrating. Nevertheless, I still recommend it, especially since the translation does conclude the whole first arc of the series.
NonNonBa by Shigeru Mizuki
A fascinating one-volume story about a boy growing up in a remote Japanese town in the 1930s, told in a kind of style we rarely see in translated works: lush backgrounds à la Tezuka, but very non-cute cartoonish humans. The title refers to the old servant woman (who also did prayers for money) who the boy Gege looked up to when young; she told him about life and monsters, being very superstitious. Although this is said to be quite autobiographical, Mizuki doesn't hesitate to show the grotesque (but oddly cool-looking) monsters as real at least some of the time, turning up directly in the narrative instead of just in NonNonBa's stories and young Gege's imagination. Meanwhile, the boys of the area are engaged in neighbourhood warfare, parents can't always be relied on; and neighbours are being troublesome and mysterious. Much recommended.
**********************************************
Creators
Hikari Nakamura (Saint Young Men)
Yoshiki Nakamura (Skip Beat!)
Keiji Nakazawa (Barefoot Gen
Tomoko Ninomiya (Nodame Cantabile)
Favourite characters
Nami (One Piece
Nodame a.k.a Megumi Noda (Nodame Cantabile)
*****************************************
Anime corner
Nausicäa of the Valley of Wind - The movie whose success made Studio Ghibli possible. Based on the early parts of the manga - it was filmed long before the manga was concluded - but with many things changed in order to fit into a movie format. Though it can be hard not to compare it unfavourably to the manga, and in terms of animation quality it shows its age (and its relative small budget), it's still an amazing and moving film.
Do you have any manga (or anime) recs for N?
no subject
Date: 2012-10-13 05:59 pm (UTC)As for my own rec! I have a very interesting one. It's incredibly depressing but it's one of those hurts so good shows. Set in a heavily militarized, post-apocalyptic world, it involves a high school boy, a mysterious girl with water-based powers, heart-breaking child soldiers, and a somewhat heavy-handed Nazi/Hitler reference. But it's very interesting and it's a short enough watch for something that'll rip your heart out and stomp on it with iron-spiked cleats. 8Db
no subject
Date: 2012-10-13 06:52 pm (UTC)Ah - you mean Now and Then, Here and There? Argh, that show... it did engage me a lot and I can't say it was badly written or anything (though I have some BIG BEEF with the ending); but in the end I couldn't recommend it because I didn't enjoy it enough for that. Which might sound weird since I did rec Grave of the Fireflies gladly... but I guess the tragedies in Now and Then, Here and There came across as too thick for me, with some deaths feeling downright gratuitous? So I couldn't really accept all of them at the end, feeling more angry at the writers than sorrowful in an accepting way. I think when Boo was killed was where I couldn't like the series anymore. It was then I knew there wouldn't be anything remotely like a happy end for Nabuca, and he'd been my favourite. Plus, it just felt like too much in general at that time. And then there's Sara's arc which comes across as just stupidly anti-abortion to me...[/spoiler] I do admit it's quite a powerful series, though. And until the spoilered point I was totally involved in it... It's certainly a memorable one!