Are there publishers whose work you avoid? I’ll cop to feeling that way about Seven Seas, a company whose manga generally tilt too far towards the ecchi end of the spectrum for an old broad like me. In the last few months, however, the company has made some unexpected licensing announcements–The Ancient Magus’ Bride and Orange among them–that made me wonder if I’d unfairly dismissed their catalog. In an exploratory spirit, therefore, I’m dedicating this week’s column to two new Seven Seas titles: The Ancient Magus’ Bride and Evergreen.
The Ancient Magus’ Bride, Vol. 1
By Kore Yamazaki
Rated OT, for Older Teens
Seven Seas, $12.99
One part The Name of the Flower, one part Apothecarius Argentum, The Ancient Magus’ Bride freely commingles elements of romance, fantasy and horror, then seasons the mix with old-fashioned melodrama. The title refers to Chitose, a fifteen-year-old orphan with an unwanted gift: she can see fairies, ghosts, and other supernatural beings. For most of her life, she’s been passed between relatives and shunned by her peers. When sorcerer Ellias Ainsworth purchases her from an unscrupulous aunt and uncle, however, Chitose embarks on a new life as his apprentice and, perhaps, his bride-to-be.
I’d be the first to admit that the storylines often feel like they’ve been pinched from other fantasy manga, right down to a scene in which Ainsworth rescues Chitose from a malicious fairy. (Quick–name two Shojo Beat titles with a similar plot twist!) Though the plot has a been-there, read-that quality, Kore Yamazaki’s imaginative character designs and meticulously rendered backgrounds do not; his vision is so particular that the reader is plunged into Ainsworth and Chitose’s world as a participant, not a casual observer. The series’ other redeeming strength is its emotional honesty. Yamazaki convincingly depicts the characters’ grief and isolation without resorting to voice-overs or pointed dialogue–an impressive feat, given the plot’s reliance on such Victorian-lit staples as dead mothers and callous relatives.
The verdict: Although I’m not wild about the prospect of a May-December relationship between Chitose and Ainsworth, I’ll gladly soldier through another volume.
Evergreen, Vol. 1
Story by Yuyuko Takemiya, Art by Akira Kasukabe
Rated OT, for Older Teens
Seven Seas, $12.99
Full disclosure: I usually loathe the costume failures, manic pixie dream girls, and improbable harems that are stock-in-trade of shonen romances. Imagine my surprise, then, when I discovered Evergreen, a smart coming-of-age story that devotes twice as many pages to the hero’s complicated emotional life than it does the heroine’s predilection for wearing swimsuits.
What distinguishes Evergreen from, say, Suzuka, is its principal character’s palpable angst. Hotaka bears a figurative and literal scar from childhood: not only did he lose his father at an early age, Hotaka also had open-heart surgery to treat the very condition that claimed his father’s life. (In other words, he’s earned the right to be unhappy, unlike the heroes of Suzuka, Love Hina, and countless other shonen romantic comedies who brood without real cause.) As a result, Hotaka vacillates between fierce self-loathing and cautious optimism in a way that seems genuinely adolescent. His conversations, nightmares, and interior monologues reveal the degree to which Hotaka’s fear of being judged prevents him from forging a meaningful connection with dream girl Niki Awaya, the “tawny haired” captain of the girls’ swim club.
Lest I make Evergreen sound like a colossal bummer, rest assured that Hotaka’s angsty monologues are balanced by slapstick and jokes. Hotaka’s fellow manga club members, for example, bring a welcome jolt of comic energy to the proceedings, functioning as the series’ low-rent Greek chorus. There’s also a soupçon of fanservice for folks who like that sort of thing; artist Akira Kasukabe never misses an opportunity to depict Awaya in her bathing suit. (Actually, it’s a pretty chaste suit by shonen manga standards; you could swim laps in it without flashing anyone.) Awaya’s objectification is balanced by a positive portrayal of On-Chan, the sole female member of the manga club and Hotaka’s self-appointed wingman. On-Chan’s can-do attitude, enthusiasm for manga, and mean left hook aren’t novel traits, exactly, but taken as a whole, make her one of the more appealing, empowered female characters in the Seven Seas catalog.
The verdict: A pleasant surprise; count me in for volume two.
Reviews: TCJ columnist Joe McCulloch takes an in-depth look at Drawn and Quarterly: Twenty-Five Years of Contemporary Cartooning, Comics and Graphic Novels, focusing on contributions from Yoshihiro Tatsumi and Shigeru Mizuki. Elsewhere on the web, Ken H. reviews Dream Fossil, a collection of short stories by Satoshi Kon, while Tony Yao tackles Orange, a time-traveling drama that offers a candid look at teen depression.
Sarah on vol. 1 of The Ancient Magus’ Bride (Anime UK News)
Tessa Barber on Anomal (No Flying No Tights)
Wolfen Moondaughter on vol. 4 of Black Rose Alice (Sequential Tart)
Megan R. on Bloody Monday (The Manga Test Drive)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 6 of Food Wars! Shokugeki no Soma (Comic Book Bin)
Megan R. on Girl Friends (The Manga Test Drive)
Lori Henderson on vols. 9-10 of Goong: The Royal Palace (Manga Xanadu)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 3 of Hide and Seek (Sequential Tart)
Joseph Luster on vol. 13 of Knights of Sidonia (Otaku USA)
Seth Hahne on vol. 1 of Last Man (Good OK Bad)
Alice Vernon on vol. 1 of Log Horizon (Girls Like Comics)
Sean Gaffney on vols. 5-6 of Lucifer and the Biscuit Hammer (A Case Suitable for Treatment)
Ash Brown on vol. 2 of Maria the Virgin Witch (Experiments in Manga)
Jason Thompson on vols. 1-2 of Meteor Prince (ANN)
Joseph Luster on vol. 2 of My Neighbor Seki (Otaku USA)
Leroy Douresseaux on vol. 70 of Naruto (Comic Book Bin)
Amanda Vail on vols. 1-4 of Noragami: Stray God (Women Write About Comics)
Ian Wolf on vol. 1 of A Silent Voice (Anime UK News)
Theron Martin on vol. 1 of Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops (ANN)
Rebecca Silverman on vol. 1 of Tokyo Ghoul (ANN)
Sheena McNeil on vol. 27 of Toriko (Sequential Tart)
Terry Hong on vol. 8 of What Did You Eat Yesterday? (Book Dragon)
Sakura Eries on vol. 2 of Yukarism (The Fandom Post)
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