#roji

talk to my back, by yamada murasaki

finished reading one of the most raw and heart breaking manga. “talk to my back” by yamada murasaki explores the fantasy of the perfect nuclear family, the oppression and alienation imposed on housewives, and the way in which husbands view their wives as mere accessories.

to me, the way the story is told is very agonizing, which makes the message even more impactful. being an episodic manga, it shows the passage of time for a housewife who finds herself trapped, with nowhere to run or anyone to lean on. it addresses how many women are led to believe that they will only find happiness and purpose in life after marriage, only to find themselves trapped with a man who no longer even sees them as human beings. for many men, their wives exist to satisfy their desires and to be invisible.

one of my favorite parts is how motherhood is explored and how it doesn’t shy away of showing how it is sold to us as absolute purity, often making women feel guilty for finding their voice within their own homes. a woman's individuality is sidelined for the greater good stemming from the illusion of the perfect mother. this is my first experience reading anything by yamada murasaki, but i’m definitely going to explore more of her works. i’m impressed with her storytelling, her paneling and the whole structure of her narrative.

“talk to my back” by yamada murasaki is published in english by drawn & quarterly. i bought the digital version but i know they still have physical as well

kageki shoujo!!, by saiki kumiko

finally caught up to kageki shoujo: a story marked by dedication and loyalty, which is often used as a barrier to hide nightmares such as bulimia, aesthetic pressure, and shattered dreams. it also dives into familiar drama, the idol industry and brings kabuki to the table as well.

i have to say: i was very hooked on kageki since the start. i loved how the story was told and the main characters, love the underdog storytelling being used on sarasa and how she bloomed when she was on stage. this also happened because i always love stories that introduces me to a new form of art that i’ve never heard before, so i was completely intrigued by it and wanted to know more and more (and it being told from the perspective of students and their professors also made it so fun, since we had different generations interpretations of it, and the mains plot not being focused on who’s already at the top, with only flashbacks here and there, made it more interesting in this case).

my main criticism about it is that sometimes it offers way more than it can handle. we have kouka, kabuki, narata’s pass with the idol industry, sarasa’s very confusing bloodline…it’s a lot. sometimes, i feel like there’s way too many threads being left behind that will have to be picked up at a time that might clash with other plot line. the fact that some other characters' stories were explored in greater depth in extra chapters made the dynamic between the main narrative and the smaller plots inserted here and there lighter, since we didn't stray too far from the main line of thought to enter another. i think it does makes sense to drag sarasa’s plot line further since she’s the main character, of course, but at times it gets tiring. the part that i loved the most was when she had to confront her resentment regarding kabuki and how she could never have the chance to participate on it, using her frustration to pump up her acting.

the clash between the two different theaters was also something i really liked, and how sarasa’s past with kabuki is slowly creeping into her movements is extremely interesting. she uses it on her favor even if she has no idea about it, which is nice. it’s not something forced, rather something that’s inside her already.

the friendship plot was sweet and the acting part of it all was very well explored, mixing scenes with the girls wearing uniforms and how they would look if they were on stage. it does brings the love for acting very clearly, specially when they are training for a new play. i’m also glad that the story brought up topics about the pressure of having an extreme slim body to be able to perform (although i do think it was “resolved” rather quickly, i wish they would come back to it), and the way they explored ai’s assault and her trauma. i think there’s a lot of things to be developed still, so i will wait. i admit that vol 15 having 40%ish dedicated to the plot of their next play threw me off a little, since i wanted *them* to tell me the story, but i’ll let it slide.

very excited to what’s to come!!! can’t wait to dive even more deeper into the story! (also not that important but the comments about sarasa’s curly hair annoyed me a little NDKANDJA)

"kageki shoujo!! by saiki kumiko is published in english both physically and digitally by seven seas

i’d like to write about love, by roji

i have a very soft spot for roji-sensei’s works. i like how it’s always very focused on communication and how romantic love works differently for everyone. and ofc “i’d like to write about love” wouldn’t be different from that: a story about two people learning to connect.

it’s very good to know more about keito, since i’ve been very curious about him, however i do think that anyone who would like to read this one needs to read all about my two dads since i believe it talked way more of his internal homophobia there. here we’re more focused on exploring how difficult it is to him to be open and true to people around him, since he’s always extremely afraid to be hurt or left behind. it connects a lot with furukawa’s own problems with not feeling capable of helping people, which makes their communication very good and very nice to explore.

i do wish we had more, in a way. wish the story were longer and we could explore more of the characters and their internal conflicts. i wanted to know a lot more of their families and their traumas. it’s a very fast read that could use some work here and there, since i felt like a lot was left unsaid. however i do like how the story ends up being focused on “two people who love each other and are learning to fall in love”, since it’s a stand alone volume.

in the end, i can’t help it but always have a soft spot for all the characters roji creates, wishing i had more of them. seeing riri again made me so happy, i love this little angel

i’d like to write about love by roji is published in english digitally by animate international

final volume of gene bride, by takano hitomi

last volume of gene bride was most definitely packed. we finally had all the answers we were looking for and a bigger commentary on the debate of women not been seen as humans or even have their rights be consider, which i do appreciate and respect a lot.

while i don’t feel like the ending was rushed, i would also like, even more than anything, for all the information we received in the final volume to be disseminated throughout the four total volumes. it left a taste in my mouth that things resolver way too easily way too fast, when in my opinion the writing shinned way more when it slowly solved all the problems that were brought up with a little more calm and “difficulty”. that being said, i still did like the work as a whole. i liked a lot. i think it’s very good to have a manga that discusses sexual assault and the erasure of women in society very openly, and uses the sci-fi subtext to push that debate even further. the mystery of the school as a whole add a more interesting taste to the narrative, which makes us crave more.

i firmly believe it’s a story that is better when read in one go, which i do plan on rereading. there were a lot of small details that i missed in between a volume or two that would be very helpful for me not to feel so lost. but it can also be a “me thing”, since i’m not the biggest sci-fi expert in the world.

i think that, if we had everything more spread out, we would even have more time to develop more of the characters, give them more time to breath in between actions. some of them did feel very flat to me, or more like they had potential, but wasn’t used to the max. the easier solution in my opinion would be to erase some that didn’t add anything important, so it would give more time to the ones who were really making the plot move forward. reading the author’s words at the end, i feel like i understand her choices a little more and i honestly respect her for creating such an intriguing story that further exposes the absurdity that women have faced in society throughout the centuries.

i will miss gene bride! wish we had more volumes, but if the author is satisfied with what she could deliver with 4 volumes, specially the main theme she wanted to approach, all i can say is that i fully respect that.

gene bride by takano hitomi is published in english both physically and digitally by seven seas

yon, by camille broutin

vol 1 of “yon” by camille broutin was intriguing. it’s a french manga about girls truing to survive a so called “event” that will possibly kill them. the way that the story flows and the art gives the sensation of a continuous silence, which contrast with the girls’ desperation.

i don’t have a very solid opinion of it, since it’s only vol 1. the story is still developing and the characters are still taking shape, but i’m curious enought to want to keep reading it.

“yon” by camille broutin is published in english by europe comics

illumination, by yamashita tomoko

no matter how many works i read, i will never cease to be impacted and get chills from the way yamashita tomoko tells her stories, all immersed in understanding how relationships and emotions collide. she’s a mastermind in dissecting the mundane and exploring its pain.

her short stories always leaves me breathless. “roses, thorns and shattering clang” was my favorite by far and in my opinion reflects a lot with her most recent works, which shows how much she’s been diving deeper into exploring humanity (crazy to think it’s from 2008).

and one that made me go “oh, this is so her” was most definitely “about that person”, a story about how we never know the impact we cause in other people’s life and what will be left of us when we’re gone.

I usually wait until the end of the month to collect the books I’ve read, but I’ve honestly been reading too much over the past few months and I’ve developed a bit of a backlog… it’s normal for me not to mention some of the less remarkable books if I read more than twelve, but there’s now too many I haven’t gotten a chance to talk about, some of which I’d really like to mention before the end of the year. So here’s a surprise mid-month book review! Gives me something cosy to do during the bad weather in any case