long been planning to write a review on one of my fav. manga artist -minako, who has actually disappeared from the japanese manga world for several years now. , that is, ever since she finished her last work-natural and in an interview she said she would probably spend her savings travelling around the world, wa't the next time she'll ever pick up her pens again is a mystery or is she making a come back at all i wonder. if you search the net for her name, whether english, chinese or japanese, there are few sites left dedicated to her. How ironic if you realize that the websites dedicated to her virtually 'flourished' in her prime time, probably during the publicaiton of 'cipher' and 'alexandrite'- which is a sequal to 'cipher' but does not receive equally popular review as cipher. so she's forgotten in some sense but i'm pretty sure people who truly appreciate her contributions to the manga art world will never ever forget her uniqueness in the commonly miscomprehended shoujo world- some think it's just girlish love stories. minako narita will make u think twice. and whether her work should be categorized into 'shoujo manga' is debatable - at least i oppose it. and it's kind of sad or should i say i feel a great discontenment that she's the only one of that 'one of a kind' and take a look at the current market, (i'm not criticising them, in fact i like some of the current manga works as well, such as death note-but it's getting more n more boring) , it's flooded with common world-saviour-super-power-highschool love story -samurais and what not content based manga books, i really miss minako. her stories are as close to a real person's life as can be, interweaved with intriguing cultural elements(she collects all kinds of ethnic costumes), eccentric, interesting and brave characters(but no super power!) and a flowing story line that takes you through someone else's life, and you feel your own rite of passage. papable, real and intimate.
when did i start reading her books? i'm not sure. the first book i read was 'Alexandrite' and why did I buy it? I can't remember! following that, I read 'Cipher' because alexandrite is a sequal to cipher. and later on i read 'natural'.
her characters are never japanese and settings seldom japan, laughs. that's why it's interesting I guess because she loves to depict other cultures that are rarely known. cipher and siva are american but their grandma indian. alexandrite is half greek half american and michael is from Peru. all these characters have one thing in common - they're challenged by their own unique identity and they seek the truth, break the chains and set their minds free. that's a thread you can easily follow in almost all her works. there're stories behind those great cultures, rich with colours, rich with courageous giants that marked them on the map, and above all rich with spirits even though countless strifes have almost brought the country down into debris. that's why her characters feel proud, confident because they know they're from lands where people live life proud and free. they feel the legend in their blood.
'Alexandrite' is probably the one exclusively devoted to the idea of 'self identity'. - how alex sought after his own Greek father and the story behind the precious family gem - Alexandirte (Alex is named after it). and it's a special gem that changes colours
here're some brief notes on the gem
-discovered in 1831, named after Alexander II of Russia
-mystical properties of alexandrite: reinforces self-esteem, assits one in centering the self(does Minako know this when she was working on the book?? It rings a bell)
-changes colour from green/or even bluish green, almost violet(day light) to red(incandescent light), u won't believe your eyes first time u see it!! (as it IS indeed the case for poor Alex!! It is Siva - Alex's roommate, who told him the special properties of this gem)
razzle dazzle
Alex- very interesting character. he's virtually a 'rechargeable battery'. forever energetic when he's awake and when battery runs flat, he falls asleep instantly, no matter what time or place. Alex and Siva were roommates when they attended Univ of Columbia. and he had a black belt for karate and also in the school team for judo. and in fact he had a difficult time deciding which one to drop later coz it was getting too big for good. and he even did part time modelling. i can never forget that weird interview. out of around 100 people Alex was chosen for the modelling job. when he went into the room, there was a lady sitted casually on a chair, legs crossed. and around her, there were 4 or 5 people making noises and dancing jumping as if mad. the questions asked were even more bizzare. well, maybe not the questions, but Alex's answers. Alex had a small whistle that was tied to a string and worn around the neck. and the woman being intrigued by it, asked him what it was used for. guess what he said? 'there's no bell on my bike so i blow this whistle whenever i am about to bump into pedestrians.' 'do you like to dance?' 'yes, absolutely!' then those funny clowns who were dancing around throughout the entire interview shouted 'woooooooow! your dream must be becoming a dancer!' Whohoaa!!' and they cheered, rocked their body, made faces etc. Alex was pissed for a while and he shouted 'No! I don't wanna be a dancer. I wanna be a karate master!' - that was the end of the interview. Once the door was closed after Alex made his exit, those 'clowns' stopped their ridiculous performance and each of them laid out a card on the table - 'kings and queens' , meaning they all thought Alex was the right one. I never knew they use poker cards to vote. well, that's one weird interview. and Alex was often joked for looking girlish (he was pretty looking and had long black hair in streaks of tight neat curls) and nobody would bully him of course , remember his black belt for karate! there're lots of other interesting characters(side-dishes i call them, haha), such as Ambrosia, his girlfriend who grew up with him, and a Japanese guy who planned lots of fun activities(secret 'Santa'- he asked Ambrosia to draw a name from a black box, inside all of the strips had Alex's name written on them, so it's cheating, that's a very romantic X'mas btw. Alex asked his distant cousin to play violin for Ambrosia) and of course there you have Siva and Cipher making guest appearances here n there. In the end, Alex met his true father in Greece. He didn't really abandon Alex and his mum. Due to political strife(yes he's a politican...) it was impossible for him to return at that time and his dad even went for Alex's final karate tournament. there're so many episodes of stories if you write a novel out of it, it'll be equally thick and solid.
and moving on to 'Natural'. The story is deeper and also darker. Michael(an angel's name) was adopted by Lizi's(I can't recall the Japanese name) father who worked in Peru. (and the whole family can speak the language). reason for adoption, well, it only became clearer later into the plot. that michael was involved in some street gang gun fire and his parents were scared that it would ruin his future so they consented to send him out of the country altogether. the main body is not about gangs in Peru though! (if yes i'll drop the book) Michael left Peru and went to Japan with Lizi's father(daughter n mum already in Japan coz Lizi needed to school there), after a really brief introduction, became a formal member of the family. See it's so brief that Lizi was shocked that she had a brother in a flash of a second. The relationship b/w Lizi and Michael was hazy throughout the book but it's definitely much more than sister-brother love. As a foreinger in this new country, Michael tried to be quiet, obedient, trying hard to find his own niche. and all along he avoided 'team'(street gang gave him v. bad memory. he shot someone in order to protect a friend) and he prayed every night in order to clear his sins. He avoided 'team' because his control buttom would be off whenever he gets too intimate with his friends. If someone provokes his friend (out of bad intention obviously), he might just go a bit out of his way. Only Lizi understood him. Both sisiter n brother were avid NBA fans and Michael was excellent basketball player. ( he never smiled when he first came into the family. one day Lizi brought him to the neighbourhood and they played basketball together, that was the first time Michael smiled.) Although he was excellent he avoided joining the school team. the team leader was so pissed (he bugged him persistently...) and he just couldn't understand why Michael wouldn't join them. Later Lizi gave him a very abstract picture. that everyone has two angels, one by each side. the right wing allures you and the left wing pulls you back. Michael was scared his 'button' would be switched on by the right.
some eccentric figures.
Simen- top seed in archery. loves to bully Michael. he's heir to their family business- guess what it is, a shrine. He's going to be a 'priest' in a sense, because I can't find a proper word for that exclusive Japanese term. Once he asked Michael what animal he would be if reincarnated. I forgot what Michael said. But Simen, he wanted to age like an eagle. Those eagles that roam the northern sky. He showed Michael a very pretty feather, pure white with a strong stem. Eagles aren't borne with those feathers. only when they age does their tail feather turn white, that blends with the snow as they fly.
Michael's friend(I forgot his name...) - loves to collect all kinds of stuff, from bugs specimen to sushi combo. his mum was scared of his room because eerie features were strewn around. once his poor mum tried to clean up his room, she spotted a huge black bug soaked in formaldehye and scream!!!!! one joke, a bunch of guys were discussing about their watches. 'what brand is yours?' 'G-shock' 'Rolex' &$%4, etc etc. when it came to this guy... , he wore a sundial... and 'whatt time is it' ---two streams of tears rolling down his eyes. It's a cloudy day...
Michael never saw snow before. when he did see it, he was so excited he buried his face in the snow piled ground and laughed at his art work- a sculpted mask in the snow.
there're lots of other quotes. such as 'one's room is his private world' what you would put on your desk or hang up on the walls all reflect your innermost desires.
fingers tired, to be continued next time
No comments:
Post a Comment