oyceter: man*ga [mahng' guh] n. Japanese comics. synonym: CRACK (manga is crack)
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Nan Kongyuu (I'm using the romanization on the cover, which is non-standard. Standard romanization is Nan2 Gong1 Yu4) (ETA: changed entry title for consistency) hasn't written very much so far, but she seems to very much like amnesia, dolls, clones, pretty goth clothes, and lonely people. Her stories tend to have non-human beings who are more human than the actual humans, non-human beings suffering from loneliness inflicted on them by humans, humans suffering from even greater loneliness, and broken people finding and helping each other. If you can't tell, I already adore her.

It also doesn't hurt that her art and paneling are gorgeous (apologies; I have no scanner here so you get photos. Also, I am not sure the latter is the best example of paneling, but I love it anyway). Her art reminds me a little of Yuki Kaori and X-era CLAMP in its lush detail, jeweled and fringed eyes, and emphasis on tears, lace, wispy hair, and even more lace, and many of her stories have aspects that are taken from Yuki Kaori and CLAMP as well. Unlike Yuki Kaori and CLAMP, her stories tend to be much smaller in scope and more melancholy (as opposed to cracktastically angsty).

Qidan Melody - This is an earlier work (or her first work), and it shows. The first story is about a Qidan girl and a silver-haired Taotai boy who ends up living with the Qidan tribe (in Mongolia). It's very boring, the paneling is crowded, and none of the characters are memorable.

The second story is about a Taotai boy who must guard their princess, who supposedly has the power to fend off attacks from other tribes. It starts out with the boy carrying the wounded princess, thinking that this was the first time he let emotion take priority over duty, and look where it got him. The story seems very standard: the boy is told over and over that he must not let emotion get in the way of protecting the princess, the princess likes him but is rebuffed. But I liked how the princess grows from being a Sakura-esque happy, optimistic princess to a withdrawn, angsty teen, and while the twist at the end wasn't handled as well as it could have been, it was different and melancholy enough to satisfy me. Also, amnesia!

The third story is a retelling of "The Emperor and the Nightingale" as a love story between a famous tea house singer named Nightingale and the only person she sings for. It has gorgeous art that reminds me of X-era CLAMP, and I probably like it more than it deserves for the art.

Lonesome Eden - The title is "Sand Dreams" in Chinese, but the English title on the volume is "Lonesome Eden." This was the first volume of hers that I picked up: "God's most beloved doll wants a companion" plus the goth-ish cover were enough to hook me. The pictures linked a few paragraphs above are both from this book. There's a beautiful garden somewhere occupied only by a god and its favorite doll, who can move and talk. But eventually, the doll gets lonely and asks for a companion. The god lets people come into the garden, but in turn, the doll must stay silent.

I really loved this volume; all the people who wander into the garden are broken, and some of them end up hurting the doll even more, albeit unintentionally, and the entire story is filled with regret and pain and hope. I love the doll the best, although the god's angst is even greater, largely because the god is less equipped to deal with pain and loss than the doll is. I also love that the manhuajia specifies that the god and the doll are androgynous.

There's a little story after the main one about an angel and prayer, and it is badly paneled and very boring. But the main story is lovely and quiet and sad.

White Garden - In the world of this volume, people have managed to create short-lived clones of themselves and managed to genetically mix humans with animals to create human-looking pets. I started this with trepidation, as I have been traumatized enough by mistaking Loveless for a Western and quickly finding out it was about cat ears of virginity and by reading [livejournal.com profile] rachelmanija's account of Man's Best Friend. Thankfully, there is no bestiality.

Instead, though Zhan looks like a purple-eyed human, he barks and jumps around like a dog, and people treat him like a dog. He's a little more intelligent than most dogs, but he's definitely not human. I was still squicked out by the idea of keeping a human-looking animal as a pet, but the manhuajia is critiquing the creation of the dog-humans, so that didn't end up putting me off. Much like Lonesome Eden, White Garden is about Zhan's attempt to find a permanent owner. His first owner is drowning in his own grief, and Zhan ends up bearing the scars. I liked that the manhua condemns the owner's actions even as it elicits sympathy for him; there's not the usual excuse of "Oh, this person is in great pain, therefore the pain he causes for other people magically is made okay."

I ended up crying through this, though I think Lonesome Eden is a better piece of work. On the other hand, Nan Kongyuu does a really good job of capturing the responsibility people have for pets and some of my own big pet fears (mistreatment and abandonment of the pet, rescue animals growing old and no one adopting them). I also love how it weaves together the human-looking pets with the short-lived clones; both created for human convenience, both frequently hurt and abandoned at human whim.

(no subject)

Mon, Jun. 23rd, 2008 03:06 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] jinian.livejournal.com
White Garden sounds really interesting, especially in contrast to the usual angst and animal people. Or maybe I am just into clones.

(no subject)

Mon, Jun. 23rd, 2008 04:34 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] rachelmanija.livejournal.com
Ooooo... That vine picture reminds me of "God, please violate me."

(no subject)

Mon, Jun. 23rd, 2008 06:21 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] la-vie-noire.livejournal.com
Wow, that looks amazing, the last one fills me with curiosity (and the art is gorgeous). I will hunt for this!

(no subject)

Thu, Jun. 26th, 2008 09:22 pm (UTC)
Posted by [identity profile] la-vie-noire.livejournal.com
Thank you so much!

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