In These Words Manga
Nichole Wernett
GuiltPleasure was founded in 2010 as a collaboration between an artist and a writer, with a desire to introduce a bold new form of art and storytelling to fans of the Yaoi/BL doujinshi, manga and novel publishing world. Since then, GuiltPleasure has grown from a US-based doujin effort into an international, multi-language publishing group of dedicated individuals with a common mission to deliver a high standard of homoerotic entertainment. Not your everyday BL, GuiltPleasure explores darker themes and unconventional plotlines, testing the boundaries of the human psyche. Never predictable, our works promise a journey into the uncharted, often feared depths of the sensual mind. Join us...
Summary & Review:
So I finally got my hands on this after Amazon canceled my order twice for it. I found it by some kind of divine happenstance at a comic/manga store I was visiting for the first time and grabbed it up as fast as I could. And I don't regret it. The story focuses on the main character, Asano Katsuya, who has been assigned to be a psychiatrist for a convicted serial killer named Shinohara Keiji. But soon Katsuya starts developing strange dreams about Keiji's victims, referred to in the manga as identity transference, Katsuya experiences the events that happens to victims in his dreams.
Do not expect romance while reading this manga (although who knows how the end will turn out) but expect a psychological story that jumps from past to present in the experience of the victims of Keiji to his therapy sessions with Katsuya. At the beginning of this manga there is a short novel-like written section that sets up what is to proceed in the manga portion. At the end we get some cute, light-hearted omakes that contrasts the dark atmosphere of the manga.
This manga is not cute and sweet but the story is quite a trip. Mystery/psychological genres are kind of a favorite of mine and intertwining with yaoi doesn't seem like something that is done very often or very well at that. But In These Words is one of those that is done well. Although I don't think I'd be able to give it a stable rating at this point since it is ongoing, I'm expecting (and hoping) it continues to go along this path. Comparing it to another well done psychological yaoi series, Rika the Breeder and Tetsu x Rika, it has the same level of dark atmosphere that can sometimes be disturbing yet makes you keep wanting to read it.
The illustrations are very nice, as you can see from the cover. There are some full-page color illustrations at the front of the manga and the whole manga portion is very nice to look at. Katsuya is a very handsome man indeed!
Regarding the sex scenes, as stated above they are non-con and pretty graphic. Some have blood to give a fair warning. But I know you perverted fujoshi are kind of into that kind of thing so no need to worry, right? But I figured just to put that in there. ;)
Overall, yes, I would recommend adding this series to your collection although it might not be for everyone. It is kind of a heavy manga and is pretty "adult" in nature. But I am intrigued by it and thoroughly enjoyed it and look forward to the next volume.
Katsuya Asano is a world-recognized profiler who has been brought in to investigate a series of unusually gruesome murders of young men in Tokyo. The alleged perpetrator, Keiji Shinohara, has been arrested and is being set up for interrogation. Unbeknownst to Katsuya, Shinohara has actually requested to be cat-scanned by him. As the interrogation goes on, Katsuya starts having very strange nightmares that feel way too real and seem to be linked to the strange scars on his back. During these Dream Sequences, a man whose face is constantly shrouded in shadows tortures and rapes him, all while claiming to love him to death.
Moreover, Shinohara seems to be perfectly aware of the dreams of his interrogator, which troubles Katsuya even more. But are these truly dreams? Or are they deeply repressed memories? And is Shinohara really the murderer that Asano is looking for? As the line between dream and reality starts to fade, Asano wonders if he isn't starting to become insane himself, all while Shinohara seems to be playing with him, including sexually...
In more ways than one, In These Words stands out from the usual Yaoi production, mostly due to the thickness of the plot and the exquisite artwork. While it doesn't skimp on the explicit sex scenes, some of these scenes can border on Fan Disservice, given the unusual setting. And the overall atmosphere, constantly striding the line between dreams, madness and reality reminds strangely of the works of Satoshi Kon.
The words "anime" and "manga" both originate from Japanese, and have no English roots (though "anime" comes from French). To me, it doesn't make sense for an "s" to be attached ("animes" and "mangas"). However, I still see people do this quite frequently, so it's hard to tell for sure.
- (uncountable) An artistic style heavily used in, and associated with, Japanese comics, and that has also been adopted by a comparatively low number of comics from other countries.
- (countable) A comic originating in Japan, regardless of the artistic style.
- (rare, countable, chiefly proscribed by fandom slang) A comic in manga style, regardless of the country of origin.
So in the case of anime, the non-proscribed (or exclusionary) plural is unchanged, but the rarer proscribed plural can be used with an "s". The case with manga seems to be either way as far as Wiktionary is concerned.
The Collins Dictionary, the New World Dictionary, Oxford Dictionary all say that manga is also the plural form. Horever, the Macmillan Dictionary says that mangas is the plural form (need to click on "Word Forms").
If you want to go based off of Japanese, then the plural would just be "anime" and "manga". There is no normal way to pluralize these words in Japanese; rather, you would say something similar to "anime shows" instead of specifically multiple anime.
Even though they are Japanese words, if you are using them in English sentences, it's not all that weird to pluralize them like an English word. Café comes from the Romance languages, but would you be all that irked if someone said "There are two cafés on that street"?
It's mainly just preference. Since the Japanese language does not have a way of pluralizing that applies to most of their words (like adding an 's' to the end of words in English), it is usually left to preferences.
Moe as a concept for which it is difficult for me to come to a definite conclusion. I consider myself a lover of kawaii, or cute, culture. There are characters who are made to appeal to moe fans who I like. A lot of the anime which cashes in on moe depicts a solely female cast, with female friendship at the core. K-On! (a definitively moe title) is a tale of a group of girls learning to play instruments. Three of the songs from K-On! are on my favorites playlist. But sometimes, like when I tried playing Hyperdimension Neptunia: Producing Perfection years ago, I get the distinct impression that this thing about girls is not necessarily for girls (mostly when I was tasked with giving one of these girls a bath and I quickly turned off the game). And I get uncomfortable with the idea of someone sexualizing these characters, or deciding that they have more value than real women.
In Japan, people of all ages and walks of life read manga. The medium includes works in a broad range of genres: action, adventure, business and commerce, comedy, detective, drama, historical, horror, mystery, romance, science fiction and fantasy, erotica (hentai and ecchi), sports and games, and suspense, among others.[4][5] Many manga are translated into other languages.[6][7]
Manga-influenced comics, among original works, exist in other parts of the world, particularly in those places that speak Chinese ("manhua"), Korean ("manhwa"), English ("OEL manga"), and French ("manfra"), as well as in the nation of Algeria ("DZ-manga").[38][39]
The word "manga" comes from the Japanese word 漫画[40] (katakana: マンガ; hiragana: まんが), composed of the two kanji 漫 (man) meaning "whimsical or impromptu" and 画 (ga) meaning "pictures".[41][42] The same term is the root of the Korean word for comics, manhwa, and the Chinese word manhua.[43]
In Japanese, "manga" refers to all kinds of cartooning, comics, and animation. Among English speakers, "manga" has the stricter meaning of "Japanese comics", in parallel to the usage of "anime" in and outside Japan. The term "ani-manga" is used to describe comics produced from animation cels.[49]
Regardless of its source, an explosion of artistic creativity occurred in the post-war period,[57] involving manga artists such as Osamu Tezuka (Astro Boy) and Machiko Hasegawa (Sazae-san). Astro Boy quickly became (and remains) immensely popular in Japan and elsewhere,[58] and the anime adaptation of Sazae-san drew more viewers than any other anime on Japanese television in 2011.[50] Tezuka and Hasegawa both made stylistic innovations. In Tezuka's "cinematographic" technique, the panels are like a motion picture that reveals details of action bordering on slow motion as well as rapid zooms from distance to close-up shots. This kind of visual dynamism was widely adopted by later manga artists.[59] Hasegawa's focus on daily life and on women's experience also came to characterize later shōjo manga.[60] Between 1950 and 1969, an increasingly large readership for manga emerged in Japan with the solidification of its two main marketing genres, shōnen manga aimed at boys and shōjo manga aimed at girls.[61]
Modern shōjo manga romance features love as a major theme set into emotionally intense narratives of self-realization.[66] With the superheroines, shōjo manga saw releases such as Pink Hanamori's Mermaid Melody Pichi Pichi Pitch, Reiko Yoshida's Tokyo Mew Mew, and Naoko Takeuchi's Pretty Soldier Sailor Moon, which became internationally popular in both manga and anime formats.[67] Groups (or sentais) of girls working together have also been popular within this genre. Like Lucia, Hanon, and Rina singing together, and Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, Sailor Jupiter, and Sailor Venus working together.[68]
aa06259810