Hideshi Hino critiques

Posted on February 15, 2007 by Brigid Alverson

A site called the Open Critic discovers horror manga-ka Hideshi Hino and goes to town with six reviews of his work, accompanied by a brief essay. There’s an awful lot of attitude on display, but the reviews and links are probably worth a peek for Hino fans.

The first paragraph kind of makes me doubt the whole thing, though:

Manga, as we in the west have come to know it, manifests itself in cute-girl images and effeminate-pretty-boys with big eyes and androgynous bodies. Depth of emotion is removed by a dearth of reality. In creating the singular style, the artists have removed much of what connects a reader or viewer from the characters and, for lack of better word, neuters the text.

Actually, I think most people who read manga do feel connected to the characters. And I thought John Jakala did a pretty good job of disposing of that old big-eyes stereotype. It sounds like someone needs to send these guys a copy of The Push Man.

About Brigid Alverson

Brigid Alverson has been reading comics since she was 4. After earning an MFA in printmaking, she headed to New York to become a famous artist but ended up working with words instead of pictures, first as a book editor and later as a newspaper reporter. She started MangaBlog to keep track of her daughters’ reading habits and now covers manga, comics and graphic novels as a freelancer for School Library Journal, Publishers Weekly Comics Week, Comic Book Resources, the Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog, and Robot 6. She also edits the Good Comics for Kids blog at School Library Journal. Now settled in the outskirts of Boston, Brigid is married to a physicist and has two daughters.
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4 Responses to Hideshi Hino critiques

  1. Tivome says:
    February 15, 2007 at 9:37 pm

    Wow, what ignorance. I’m didn’t even bother to finish the post.

  2. Chloe says:
    February 15, 2007 at 10:25 pm

    I second Tivome on this one. While it’s certainly a worthwhile look at Hideshi Hino, the side of “look here, we literati have managed to find a gem in the manga junk heap” is certainly not appreciated. Kudos to you, Brigid, for leaving it at “an awful lot of attitude.”

  3. Pingback: Journalista - the news weblog of The Comics Journal » Blog Archive » Feb. 16, 2007: Shorter Journalista 6

  4. Peter Williams says:
    February 17, 2007 at 11:13 pm

    We the Literati … wow … from our perspective, while we aim to engender discussion, The Open Critic claims no authority … Trevor wrote that intro with naught but good intentions … his opinion stands for what it is, a representation of the somewhat broad lack of knowledge of a somewhat fringe genre.

    I know, I know, fans will argue otherwise, but western culture has for the most part not embraced manga or graphic novels to its breast.

    So, here I throw down the guantlet, The Open Critic will publish any cogent piece refuting Trevor’s Hino intro, in either a general or specific fashion. Contact me, Peter Williams at peter @ morainebookservices . com (remove the spaces).

    I’ll facilitate any debate gladly.

    Regards, Peter Williams, The Open Critic

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