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Shimura posting continues, this time with Koi-iji (Love Glutton).

Koi-iji (Love Glutton), (2014-2018) - While listlessly refreshing Shimura's Mangadex page, I saw this series had been scanslated and was finished and decided to treat myself. I'm glad I did! Koi-iji is Shimura writing in a comic mode. It's a self-indulgent, fun, and speedy series that at once returns Shimura to a familiar mode romantic comedy feat. complicated romantic entanglements. Shimura comments that she put out chapters for this series really fast, so clearly, something about themes and characters really spoke to her.

Our protagonist is Ohara Mame, a 30 year old woman who's been in love with her neighbor, Akai Souta, age 35, for the last twenty years (?!?!). Souta owns a cafe next to the Ohara's bathhouse. His wife, Haruko, has recently died after a long illness; he has a ten year old daughter, Yu, who's very attached to Mame; his first love is Mame's older sister, Yume. Did I mention that Mame's confessed her feelings to Souta at least three times and was rejected each time? Or that, in chapter one, Mame confesses AGAIN and Souta tells Mame bluntly that he was hoping Shun or someone else would marry Mame because, he says, "In the back of my mind, I always thought, 'It doesn't have to be me.'" Ouch!!!? Or that Souta has a little brother, Shun, whose first love was Mame? Or that dead wife, Haruko, was Yume's best friend? And, and, and, and—and! And then!

2800 words of Shimura posting........ )
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I've been a fan of Takako Shimura's manga since reading the first chapters of Aoi Hana/Sweet Blue Flowers back in high school and have read a decent number of her professionally published works, mostly through scans. Shimura is a pretty consistent author in terms of her strengths, preferred narrative beats, and sensibilities. Her settings are usually contemporary, her narratives are often romances, and her character writing is unusually excellent, both within the genre and in the wider world of manga.

It was really exciting going through the last twenty years of Shimura's works. Her art and writing are great in the early days, and they get better as she continues iterating on similar themes and concerns over the years. The pacing of her works is pretty neat when you read them all at once… it's also pretty rewarding going back through someone's work and going, Oh, I get what you're doing here now!!! … I'm better at reading things… thank god I'm smarter than high school me…

The Sweet Blue Flowers review wound up being 2,000 words, so the Shimura blogging will continue at a later date. Please look forward to it!
 
Sweet Blue Flowers/Aoi Hana, 2004-2013 - Looking back on this series, I'm really impressed by how fucking dire Fumi's situation is at the start of the manga… oh, so you've moved back to Kamakura, you've been in a secret relationship with Chizu, your older female cousin, and you find out you've been dumped when your mom buys a cake wishing her a happy marriage?? In chapter one?? No wonder she's crying all the time.

More )
 
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Would you believe I picked up Scarry's The Body in Pain right before getting surgery and thought, "Sure, that's a great reading pairing?" Anyway, lol here are some thoughts on shounen manga I've read.

 

Kaiju no. 8 )

  

Akane no Banashi )

 

 

 

Hunter X Hunter )
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High stress last few weeks, for reasons definitely preventable but I'm still irked about them anyway in a deserving way, in my opinion!! This post has an unexpected theming on autobiographical works... well no. Some autobiography, some identity themed books... you know, let's just say I was keeping busy, book-wise. 

 

One! Hundred! Demons!, Barry )My Death, Tuttle )

 

Birthgrave Trilogy, Lee )

 

 

Silver Metal Lover, Lee )The Dry Season, Febos )

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