Of Swords and Parasols

Or rather, about 60 pages of it.

Ok, so, you know how I don't read much shounen-ai/yaoi?  Certainly not enough to be familiar with all the tropes.  Anyway, I checked this out because it's Higuri You and I only have a few volumes of Seimaden left to read and who knows when any more of my beloved Cantarella will come out.

It's set in turn-of-the-century Paris and is about Florian, ayoung nobleman whose family is recently destitute, and Ray, a rich jewel thief.  Ray falls in love with Florian's amethyst eyes and buys him from his mother (to be fair, she objected to this and Florian volunteered so that she wouldn't have a heart attack choosing between him and a family jewel) and then they start acting out an Old School romance novel with much posturing and expressions of outrage and denial from Florian and much alpha posing from Ray.  And mostly, I was deeply amused by the Old School Romance Novel As Manga-ness of it.

Then I got about 50 pages in.

( Spoilers could turn genre disinterest into fear. )

Wow, some of these have been sitting in my hard drive for months.

20 x Cantarella
13 x Seimaden
20 x Misc. Higuri You Art
24 x Tarot Cafe
21 x Dichen Lachman

Teasers:

  


( the rest )

( I haven't had fanservice of a certain variety this good since certain parts of Tsubasa and Samurai Deeper Kyo. )

In the afterword, Higuri You says that she gets letters saying that she should get rid of Hilda so that Laures and Tetius can be together, but that that wouldn’t work because Laures is straight. This amuses me because…err…aside from Seimaden and Cantarella, aren’t most of her works shounen-ai or yaoi? It also makes me wonder what she says to similar letters about getting rid of Lucrezia and/or Sancia in Cantarella.

My current goal is to finish this, X/1999, and Godchild by the end of the year. I’m not sure that’s a wise goal. It also depends on whether or not Rightstuf sends me vols 8-9 of Seimaden, and how long they take to get here.

PS-Am this close to waging sound war with the people in the apartment below me.

Angel’s Coffin is a single volume manga about the affair between Crown Prince Rudolf of Austria and Baroness Marie Vetsera near the end of the 19th century. As told by Higuri you, the mangaka of Cantarella and Seimaden. This means contracts with demons and more romantic angst and melodrama than you know what to do with.

Seto is an ancient god who was sealed away by a Catholic monk for centuries until a demon named Baphomet made a deal with him: he’ll free Seto, but only if Seto agrees to “lay waste to the first human you set your eyes upon.” The human who frees Seto is Marie Vetsera, a young noblewoman who is hopelessly in love with the married, womanizing crown prince. Seto, naturally, falls in love with Marie almost immediately, and agrees to help her meet the prince while angsting over the fact that he’s supposed to be ruining her life.

I’m far from an expert on the events in question, but the manga does seem to be relatively faithful to history, supernatural elements aside. Unlike Cantarella, where history is pretty much rebuilt around the supernatural elements, Angel’s Coffin’s supernatural elements are additions to the plot to provide more romantic angst. I admit, while Rudolf is a good character and the political aspect of his life is interesting, he doesn’t grab me much as a romantic lead. I can, however, understand why a sheltered seventeen-year-old girl would think he was the best thing ever. On the other hand, the scenes of Seto being a dork and angsting over being in love with Marie and how he’s supposed to ruin her life while she’s fangirling Rudolf are great.

( spoilers )

And now to wait for Crown to come out and read the rest of Seimaden while I wait for Higuri You to pick up Cantarella again. That’s never going to happen, is it?

I must confess, I don't know that I like Laures that much.  The incredibly popular "manslut because of angst" trope has absolutely zero mileage with me (I think the only character ever where it didn't cause my opinion of them to drop is Gojyo) and it loses even more ground when it's because of romantic angst.  Still, he seems to be laying off that.  My main use for him, though, is saving Hilda and angsting over her and doing dramatic things there.  He does those in ways my inner 13-year-old likes.

Ok, seriously, is anyone in this AU NOT in love with their sibling?

( it's all going to end in a giant ball of angst, i can feel it )

 

 
I need a "triangle of epic doom" icon or some such.

Long ago, a man named Laures sold his soul and became a demon lord to save the life of his lover. Sadly, she died anyway and he was still a demon lord.  Now she's been reborn as Hildegarde, an amnesiac dancer.  Lots of men think she's up for grabs, but Laures, not explaining who he is, assigns himself as her protector from skeevy men after her virginal self, but never touches her himself.  Well, that's what she says.  There's lots of holding and kissing and whatnot going on there.  I guess it only counts a touching if there's actual clothes being torn off and/or sex.  To give Hildegarde credit, she gives him a lot of flack for his "mysterious but unexplained protector" routine and calls him on his alpha maleness, no matter how hot she may think he is.  The fact that he tends to slut around to keep himself from ripping her clothes off doesn't go unmentioned.  (And I'm not remotely reminded of another kinda-evil, demon-like male lead of Higuri You's who also goes around smexing up other people to keep himself from ravaging the object of his affection at all.  Nope, not in the least.)

Except, remember that amnesia thing?  Apparently, Hildegarde was part of a now-nearly-extinct tribe, and had already acquired herself a mortal True Love named Roddrick by the time Laures found her.  Guess who else from the tribe is alive?  And wants his girlfriend back?  And claims his romantic rival both wiped out the tribe AND gave her amnesia?  Oh, and has magic powers, can't hold your own against a demon lord without them.  Meanwhile, Laures claims that he can't take Hildegarde, she has to give herself to him "body and soul," and  Laures's angelic-looking minion wants him to just get it over with so Laures can be evil full time.

Reincarnation, selling one's soul for true love, amnesia, demon lords, melodrama, cheese, crack, and another Love Triangle Of Epic Doom!!!!  Really, half of it almost feels like a trial run for Canterella, and I have no idea if it's actually GOOD, but it's quite fun in the 90s shoujo way.