Of Swords and Parasols

Unspecified U.S.? I thought it was set in LA or San Francisco.

I want to kick Not!Leon in the head pretty much all the time. Note I have not bothered to learn his name.

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It seemed to be one or the other, but I think it was never actually said. I actually remember someone commenting on that in a review of the series not long ago, but can't remenber who or where. (Though again: Have not read in a while! Missing copies! Woes! Actually, thinking about the other series that are missing, I wonder if I subconscious boxed every "kinda-halfway-not-really-but-we-count-it" shounen-ai series I'd read until the 3 years ago together, because that's most of what went missing. Actually, I kinda need that box for yuletide beta...IT ONLY WENT BETWEEN THE PARENTS' AND MY APARTMENT!! HOW COULD IT GO MISSING!!! Err...have gone way off topic...)

I kinda like not!Leon, he just...doesn't really go well with D. I think the mangaka was making sure she didn't replace Leon with Leon 2.0, but was so focused on that that she forgot he needed to be a good foil for D.

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Get

cerusee over here; she is Petshop Girl, she will know! But I am certain it was definitely set in California for...reasons I can curiously not articulate. Possibly the sunshine and immigrant population and Leon's Hawaiian shirts!

You are right, not!Leon is not a good foil for D. The Tokyo series feels weird to me because it's a continuation (a la Saiyuki / Reload?) only not, because PSOH Original-Flavor had a definite character-climax-y change thing going by the end for both Leon (the stubbornly meddlesome No-Nonsense Cop!) and D (the morally ambiguous Mysterious Shopkeeper!). Where do you go from there? Preferably not to Square One...? So starting things over in Tokyo with D as the Mysterious Shopkeeper again only works if you wipe out the squishy human feeeeelings that had snuck up on him by the end of Original Flavor, which, no; or if you contrast his inhumanity against someone even more amoral, which...may be the intention with not!Leon? Only he doesn't have a moral high ground to defend or compromise, like Leon of Squishy Human Law and D of Nature Red In Tooth & Claw, and he's not interested in D or the supernatural D represents except as it impacts not!Leon's business. He is a person Leon would hate instantly and there's not enough personality click to see why D would feel any different.

The situation reminds me a lot of the X-Files reboot, when No-Nonsense Cop Doggett replaced Mysterious True Believer Mulder as the lead and skeptic Scully was the new True Believer. It didn't really work, in part because of sloppy writing, in part because every time there was a non-Monster O' The Week ep it was like they were shouting "HEY, GUESS WHO ISN'T HERE? ~~LEON/~~MULDER! CHECK OUT THAT HIM-SIZED HOLE!" But it did work for me to the extent that I actually liked Doggett, who was reasonable and moral and respectful of Scully even while making You Are Crazy faces at her. You could see why Mulder&Scully and Scully&Doggett could work well together despite Mulder and Doggett hating each other like cats on fire.

Meanwhile not!Leon twangs my every nerve, and there are only so many Animals O' The Week* I can take, individually interesting as they may or may not be. I didn't read 10+ volumes of, effectively, an anthology series because I was frantic to know whether D would get up to his wacky animal tricks again and even survive them. (he would. and did.)

*strangely this does not bother me at all in Mushishi, perhaps because human connection is a big factor of the series, and Ginko is an especially warm and fuzzy Mysterious Shopkeeper.

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I'm sure cerusee will be along eventually!

There's a gentler tone to the series than the first-IIRC, in early volumes, D was largely giving out pets to punish people, not the pets are mostly going to people who need help and comfort-so I think D is still changed, but I agree about it starting back at square one. Though I wonder if it will be a case of D humanizing not!Leon, given the quarantine chapter?

And speaking of animals, I want more of the ones we already know!

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smillaraaq.livejournal.com

I'm pretty sure it was L.A., having recently binged on both series -- and even checking the first volume of PSOH:Tokyo, the little introductory letter talks about the new tenant's previous business being in the Chinatown in Los Angeles.

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The original series was set in LA.

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And this is why I'm unreliable.

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Enh. You just haven't pored over source material for ficcing purposes, that's all. ;-)

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There's also the MISSING FOR THREE YEARS part. Otherwise, I would have reread it before starting the new series.

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That has less of an impact than you might think. I loaned vols 1-5 to a friend 4 years ago and haven't seen them since.

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lady-ganesh.livejournal.com

But it did work for me to the extent that I actually liked Doggett, who was reasonable and moral and respectful of Scully even while making You Are Crazy faces at her. You could see why Mulder&Scully and Scully&Doggett could work well together despite Mulder and Doggett hating each other like cats on fire.

Yes! And this is why I have been skeptical of trying Tokyo, because I was so happy with Original Flavor Petshop and I don't want that beautiful dream to end, especially in favor of something that's going to frustrate and/or disappoint me.

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I *adore* Petshop of Horrors, and all things Akino, and although I do not in the slightest regret the existence of the thus-far-sub-par Tokyo, or my reading it, I think the choice to not read it, and leave the beautiful dream of the original series ending intact, is not unwise.

Hopefully, if Tokyo ever reaches that level of awesome, someone will remember to alert you. :D

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I am pretty sure the first series was set in LA, but I do not remember why I am so sure. It's been a while.

PSOH: Tokyo doesn't tickle my funny bone nearly as effectively as the original, but I love D like I love salt, and dig Akino's stringy art and lanky character designs so much that I'm perfectly content to hang around indefinitely, waiting for her to eventually get around to more Leon-related plot stuff.

I do have a bit of a soft spot for tales o' the [insert weird scenario] format to begin with, though, so even when my beloved D is back to being more of a framing device than a story in his own right, I get something out of the books, even though, like most people, what really made PSOH leap out at me was D and Leon's evolving relationship. I find Woofei mildly entertaining on the strength of how much D annoys him--D needling people is a major part of his charm--there was one nifty scene, probably back in volume one of Tokyo, in which D needled Woofei in ways that indicated Woofei had some kind of parent-related Secret or Trauma, which might make him more interesting. I wish Akino would follow up on that already.

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iamthemurderer.livejournal.com

I love, love, LOVE Petshop of Horrors.

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alexandral.livejournal.com

I was wondering if I should check the anime version of it. Do you rec? Is it child-suitable?

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smillaraaq.livejournal.com

The OVA is only four episodes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Shop_of_Horrors#Episodes) -- they're reasonably faithful adaptations of some of the individual arcs from the manga, but you really don't get the whole sweep of the interactions with Leon (and his little brother) and D, and how they're all changed by each other.

As for child-suitability -- well, it is a horror series, and there are some fairly scary, gory moments in there, particularly in the first two episodes. I suspect it might be too confusing and too scary for a small child. Older kids who aren't phased by violence or scary creatures would probably be OK with it.

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I like the anime, but the episodes are fairly dark morality tales. I personally wouldn't show it to a child, there's some 'pets eating owners' and other violence that really push it into older children/teens for me.

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I've actually never seen the anime, so I couldn't say. The manga stories, though, are often fairly dark.

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desdenova.livejournal.com

Like others, I'm sure that Original Petshop was specifically set in Los Angeles. Even so, I think you're right that the prominence of Kabuki-cho as a setting in the new series can be put down to the author's greater familiarity with the setting. I'm fine with that, really--trying to replicate OPSH without the D-Leon relationship wouldn't work for the reasons octopedingenue gives. So, it seems to me that instead, Matsuri Hino is writing something that is less character-focused and more place-focused.

The cat Femto is not from the original Petshop, he's from one of her other series--the title is stated in the PSH-tokyo volume, maybe in the author's notes?

It's never been clear to me whether the animals change shape, or change humans' perceptions of their shape, or even if there's a meaningful difference between the two interpretations.

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Femto's story was stated as being in "Reisho," but wasn't sure if it was a series or chapter title.) Time to hunt it dowm.

I remember scenes in the first series were one person was seeing a humanoid pet, and another was seeing an animal.

Matsuri Hino is writing something that is less character-focused and more place-focused.

This made me choke a bit, as Matsuri Hino is Vampire Knight's mangaka. PSOH is Matsuri Akino.

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desdenova.livejournal.com

D'oh.

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Can you imagine those two swapping out series?

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NOW I can!!!!

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BTW: have you read Captive Hearts and/or Wanted? Can you give an opinion catered to someone who would be a Vampire Knight fangirl were she not creeped out by Kaname, and the way the entire cast seems to take it for granted that Yuki is his property?

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I have read both, sort of? Wanted: read once, years ago, in scanslation so bad I didn't notice at first I'd read chapters out of order. Captive Hearts: have once read the officially translated first volume, as I no longer trust Matsuri Hino scanslations that aren't of VK. (The Merupuri babeldom of "I want to spend myself in Airi" is priceless.)

Wanted IIRC was basically that bit of The Princess Bride in which Dread Pirate Roberts sorta-kidnaps Buttercup, if he'd actually succeeded in sorta-kidnapping her, and then they'd both been slow to realize they were each other's Long-Lost Twue Wuv, amid various piratey hijinks. I'm saving the official translation for a rainy day to read when I need cute fluff fix I won't feel compelled to analyz.

If you were able to roll with the pedophilialalala of Merupuri, you should be fine with Captive Hearts, as I would group it with the Sublimated Kinky Fun for the Whole Family at which Hino excels. Basically, spoiled rich guy finds out (cue his FREAKING OUT) that he's prey to a hereditary curse that makes his family flip out into SLAVISHLY DEVOTED SERVANTS to another particular family, of whom there is only one living (young, sweet, gorgeous, female) member left. Who to her credit responds to his sudden spasms of prostrating himself adoringly at her feet by FREAKING OUT on behalf of his free will and vowing to break the curse, while he is freaking out less as it becomes increasingly blurry how much of his following her around like a lovesick overprotective puppy is due to Insidious Mind-Control Curse and how much is due to Hot Chick Making Big Empathetic I-Will-Protect-You Eyes At Him. I'm only one volume down, but I'm hopeful it won't go all "SLAVERY IS HOT!" as so far it's the most fluffy S&M With Bonus Class Divide Draaaama ever.

I like Kaname, but I think he and D would also get along with terrifying ease, which is not a plus for either of them. Though the series-swap of Count Kaname in a flowing robe and cranky Officer Zero busting in for a tea and pastries is hilarious beyond words. (I guess Leon is off patrolling Vampire High School? OH MAN.)

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I'm not sure I would have survived MeruPuri scans.

Meru Puri..I just kinda "LaLaLa"-d my way through it, really...

(There aren't little boys who grow in the dark and mutually declare love for girls twice their age, right?)

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I know you sexualize me like a young thing would and I think I like it~

Merupuri...I read it long and lovingly and squirmed like mad. I don't think Matsuri Hino characters ever have to actually have sex, they are so fulfilled(?) by the free-floating kink vibes of chaste BADWRONG.

(Not so far! But guy does get control-freaky a bit a la "MY LADY MUST NOT BE BESMIRCHED BY WORLDLY EVIL" at times; hopefully that will ebb with the foot-kissing curse.)

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You know, obsessive devotion can have it's appeal *eyes Basara's pirate queen and her boytoy for a moment, not to mention every Clamp character ever* but there are limits.

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...I would read that.

I feel that Akino could make the freaky romance of MeriPuri or the tired forbidden romance trope of Vampire Knight work for me. And I think Hino would draw smashing pets, and perhaps beef up the romance in Kamen Tantei.

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I so need to finish Kamen Tantei. I love its strange little meta-obsessed self to smithereens, but can only read it when exactly in the right mood, like Mushishi and Omukae Desu.

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I'm two volumes behind on Genjyu no Seiza for the same reason.

You know what I can read just about any time at all, no matter what my mood? Anything by Tezuka. I have no clue why.

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The only Tezuka I've actually enjoyed so far were Dororo and bits of Princess Knight. MW, Ode to Kirihito, and (especially) Apollo's Song all had me going, "Yep, the art is awesome, and I am now swearing off sex forever."

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Well, those are all the freaky ones.

Older works like Lost City and Astro Boy are just fun (boy's adventure stories,and not much else, although still historically important), and stuff like Phoenix and Black Jack is darker and weirder and more ambitious, but less mindfuckish than MW and Apollo's Song and Ode to Kirihito, and Adolf. Dear god, what an upsetting story that was.

And then there's Buddha, which I think I am even more in love with as time passes, even though I only read it once. It's just still percolating through my skull.

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chomiji

The new series is interesting enough to keep reading, but it's just not the original, sadly. I think not!Leon is pretty boring and one-dimensional.

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