Basara Vol 1

Kicking off something I've been mening to do for a while(which is reread Basara and post scans from each volume as I go)

For those who haven't heard of/haven't read my posts about Basara, Basara is a romance about two war leaders who fall in love, not realizing that the other is the one they're at war against.

Two children are born, each prophecied to be the "child of destiny" who will overthrow the king and rule in his stead.  One is the kings youngest son, Shuri, the Red King, and the other is a boy born to a desert village of blacksmiths, Tatara.  Tatara is hailed as a hero from birth and treated like a savior, while his twin sister, Sarasa, though not mistreated, is essentially viewed as the scraps that came with him.  Meanwhile(though we don't learn this until later) Shuri is branded as a slave and shipped off to be raised in obscurity by relatives, while the king allows Shuri's kingdom to be overrun by bandits and criminals, so that when Shuri is sent to rule it, it's essentially a hellhole. As a result, Tatara grows up with with a deep sense of responsibility and Sarasa with a longing to be valued for herself, and Shuri is forced to become shrewd, cold and ruthless to survive, and hides his pain behind a playboy facade.  Once he's cleaned up his kingdom(as we later learn) Shuri sets out to achieve his destiny and reform the corrupt government by overthrowing his father and putting a better king in his place.  But first, he has to obliterate his rival "child of destiny."

( 50~ scans )

Basara Vol 1

Kicking off something I've been mening to do for a while(which is reread Basara and post scans from each volume as I go)

For those who haven't heard of/haven't read my posts about Basara, Basara is a romance about two war leaders who fall in love, not realizing that the other is the one they're at war against.

Two children are born, each prophecied to be the "child of destiny" who will overthrow the king and rule in his stead.  One is the kings youngest son, Shuri, the Red King, and the other is a boy born to a desert village of blacksmiths, Tatara.  Tatara is hailed as a hero from birth and treated like a savior, while his twin sister, Sarasa, though not mistreated, is essentially viewed as the scraps that came with him.  Meanwhile(though we don't learn this until later) Shuri is branded as a slave and shipped off to be raised in obscurity by relatives, while the king allows Shuri's kingdom to be overrun by bandits and criminals, so that when Shuri is sent to rule it, it's essentially a hellhole. As a result, Tatara grows up with with a deep sense of responsibility and Sarasa with a longing to be valued for herself, and Shuri is forced to become shrewd, cold and ruthless to survive, and hides his pain behind a playboy facade.  Once he's cleaned up his kingdom(as we later learn) Shuri sets out to achieve his destiny and reform the corrupt government by overthrowing his father and putting a better king in his place.  But first, he has to obliterate his rival "child of destiny."

( 50~ scans )

*brain goes pop with blind rage* (or, misconceptions about shojo manga)

So, I decided to look up pics and info about Haou Airen, a manga dangermousiehas been talking about lately(in a "diediedie you horrible mysogynistic book!" way) to see if it's as bad as it sounds.  Before I got very far, I stumbled across this lovely gem about shojo manga. (dangermousieis this the one you mentioned a while back?)

If you don't want to read it, it's essentially about most shojo being about dormat heroines who let themselves be physically and sexually bullied by domineering men.  Which?  Not in the books I read. Your biggest clue about how the article as a whole will go is when, near the beginning, critics are belittled for looking at quality first.  For the most part, it seems the writers hated Hana Yori Dango and Hot Gimmick, and just read bits and summaries of the others.  And the summary/example at the beginning?  Never read a shojo like that myself.

Now, first I WILL give them credit of pointing out Alice 19th as a book where the dormat becomes  a strong character(which is why I liked that book, though nothing tops Juuni Kokuki/Twelve Kingdoms in that regard), referring to Basara as well-written(though they more than lost those points with other things about Basara) and apparently getting the point of the rtole of sex in Mars. And for other things...well, I won't touch Sensual Phrase for some of the reasons detailed.  However, I was bored by the first volume of Hot Gimmick and didn't bother to read more, but according to the article, the hero demands sexual favors from the heroine, which I didn't remember at all(and I checked with  forgottenpolish, who HAS read it and she says that I remember correctly and that's not the case) 

But then they go and bring up books like Hana Yori Dango.  Now, I haven't read the manga but I HAVE watched the Japanese live action series, and I'm currently about 2/3s through Meteor Garden, the Taiwanese version.  And...huh? Makino/Shan Cai gives as good-if not better than-she gets and never allows herself to be dominated, sexually or otherwise.  She makes Si/Domyoji work harder than any other guy I've seen have to work. Which makes me wonder just what "Tsukushi from Boys Over Flowers is for the most part a strong female character who stands up for herself and her beliefs, so why on Earth does she think the assholes around her (guilty of repeat physical and/or verbal and/or emotional abuse offenses) are worth considering a relationship with? " has to do with the series beyond the first phrase.

And their examples?  Very little context is provided for them, in text or pictures.  As such, I am going to take all of it as the one picture and scene that I recognize, which is this:



from the Basara anime(I posted the actual scene from the manga here last night.) It's beside a section about manga where the hero rapes or almost rapes the heroine.

The context? He trips her, tries to kiss her, and gets punched in the face for his efforts.  It's made clear that he gets the concept of "no means no" and abides by it. The scene establishes that, yeah, he's a playboy, but only if the girl is willing to go for it(it's just rare that a girl objects, but when she does, he pays attention)  I'd hardly give it cause to be the chosen example for women who fall for rapists and attempted rapists.  In fact, I'd say it's the opposite.  Given that the one "example"I recognize is actually the opposite of what they're implying, all I can do is assume that, given actual context, the other "examples" have as much merit.

( this next paragraph has a spoiler for Fruits Basket )

Now, I'm not saying that they don't have any good points(because the core problems they have are valid in some cases stated) or that no shojo titles are like that(because they are) just that based on the shojo I've read and what I know of the titles listed that I'm familiar with, they're apparently as well connected with the reality of the genre as they seem to think the genre makes its readers.  Which is "not very."

ETA: I just realized that I am VERY happy that some books...like Samurai Deeper Kyo...aren't shojo...they would have filled up SCREENS on SDK.

*brain goes pop with blind rage* (or, misconceptions about shojo manga)

So, I decided to look up pics and info about Haou Airen, a manga dangermousiehas been talking about lately(in a "diediedie you horrible mysogynistic book!" way) to see if it's as bad as it sounds.  Before I got very far, I stumbled across this lovely gem about shojo manga. (dangermousieis this the one you mentioned a while back?)

If you don't want to read it, it's essentially about most shojo being about dormat heroines who let themselves be physically and sexually bullied by domineering men.  Which?  Not in the books I read. Your biggest clue about how the article as a whole will go is when, near the beginning, critics are belittled for looking at quality first.  For the most part, it seems the writers hated Hana Yori Dango and Hot Gimmick, and just read bits and summaries of the others.  And the summary/example at the beginning?  Never read a shojo like that myself.

Now, first I WILL give them credit of pointing out Alice 19th as a book where the dormat becomes  a strong character(which is why I liked that book, though nothing tops Juuni Kokuki/Twelve Kingdoms in that regard), referring to Basara as well-written(though they more than lost those points with other things about Basara) and apparently getting the point of the rtole of sex in Mars. And for other things...well, I won't touch Sensual Phrase for some of the reasons detailed.  However, I was bored by the first volume of Hot Gimmick and didn't bother to read more, but according to the article, the hero demands sexual favors from the heroine, which I didn't remember at all(and I checked with  forgottenpolish, who HAS read it and she says that I remember correctly and that's not the case) 

But then they go and bring up books like Hana Yori Dango.  Now, I haven't read the manga but I HAVE watched the Japanese live action series, and I'm currently about 2/3s through Meteor Garden, the Taiwanese version.  And...huh? Makino/Shan Cai gives as good-if not better than-she gets and never allows herself to be dominated, sexually or otherwise.  She makes Si/Domyoji work harder than any other guy I've seen have to work. Which makes me wonder just what "Tsukushi from Boys Over Flowers is for the most part a strong female character who stands up for herself and her beliefs, so why on Earth does she think the assholes around her (guilty of repeat physical and/or verbal and/or emotional abuse offenses) are worth considering a relationship with? " has to do with the series beyond the first phrase.

And their examples?  Very little context is provided for them, in text or pictures.  As such, I am going to take all of it as the one picture and scene that I recognize, which is this:



from the Basara anime(I posted the actual scene from the manga here last night.) It's beside a section about manga where the hero rapes or almost rapes the heroine.

The context? He trips her, tries to kiss her, and gets punched in the face for his efforts.  It's made clear that he gets the concept of "no means no" and abides by it. The scene establishes that, yeah, he's a playboy, but only if the girl is willing to go for it(it's just rare that a girl objects, but when she does, he pays attention)  I'd hardly give it cause to be the chosen example for women who fall for rapists and attempted rapists.  In fact, I'd say it's the opposite.  Given that the one "example"I recognize is actually the opposite of what they're implying, all I can do is assume that, given actual context, the other "examples" have as much merit.

( this next paragraph has a spoiler for Fruits Basket )

Now, I'm not saying that they don't have any good points(because the core problems they have are valid in some cases stated) or that no shojo titles are like that(because they are) just that based on the shojo I've read and what I know of the titles listed that I'm familiar with, they're apparently as well connected with the reality of the genre as they seem to think the genre makes its readers.  Which is "not very."

ETA: I just realized that I am VERY happy that some books...like Samurai Deeper Kyo...aren't shojo...they would have filled up SCREENS on SDK.