Even tanglier than the primaries!

Wow, KMT victory. This is going to be interesting, especially since there's a KMT majority in the legislature as well. I am still undecided as to my own politics re: Taiwan, so this is more of a deep "huh" from me.

Hayakawa Tomoko - The Wallflower, vol. 04-06 (Eng. trans.)

I read these three volumes very far apart, so I've forgotten a lot.

Sunako and the four "beings of light" continue to live together, and Sunako's aunt randomly pops by or calls every so often and threatens the guys so the plot can move forward. I think she is the Kanzeon Bosatsu of the series, only sadly with less hermaphroditism and sarcasm. Also, Sunako's aunt hasn't read the book ahead of time.

All the incidents are one-shots, which probably contributes to my poor memory of them. I'd like more of an arc now that the series has hit vol. 6, especially since there are quite a few more coming. We did have a surprise visit from Sunako's past, along with a brief flashback to the guys' first days in the mansion, but those were played more for fun than for emotional depth.

I continue to love Sunako's weirdness, but the wacky hijinks of girls chasing after the four guys and the exaggerated reactions are getting a little boring without more characterization.

Nakamura Yoshiki - Skip Beat, vol. 01-03 (Eng. trans.)

Mogami Kyoko has dedicated most of her life to her childhood friend Shotaro's dream of being an idol, including moving to Tokyo with him to basically act as a combination housekeeper/secretary/babysitter. When she overhears Sho telling another woman that he brought her along only to help himself out, she decides to become an idol and smash him down to size.

So far, Kyoko isn't doing so well with the "making her way into show business" thing, largely because she doesn't want people to love her enough (that's what the talent company's president says). Now she's got to somehow acquire said feelings of love, even though vengeance is the emotion spurring her on.

While I like Kyoko's vengeful evilness, I am still somewhat disturbed by the whole "you cannot succeed in show business unless you want people to love you!" thing. It reads too much like various exhortations for women to please other people. Also, there's a plot through vols. 2 and 3 that involves what I hate the most -- two women pitted against each other.

I am glad that it's for work and not over a man (though it partly is as well), but it's still irritating, particularly since romantic interest and star talent Tsuruga Ren does everything perfectly and without effort.

I'll probably keep reading this, just because the library has it, but I'm not a fan yet.

Okazaki Mari - Suppli, vol. 01-02 (Eng. trans.)

Possibly I have been bingeing on manga this weekend...

Fujii Minami is a 27-year-old women in the advertising industry. She's basically completely dedicated to work and has no social life to speak of, which may be why her boyfriend of seven years ends up dumping her.

I think reading this alongside some other shoujo series may have lowered my tolerance for shoujo; it's so nice being able to read about protagonists who have to work, manage bills, and are my age. That said, much like Tramps Like Us, I like how this series has been reflecting what women actually have to deal with, but I also wish that it would go into a critique of the culture, instead of having the heroine trying to figure out how to succeed within the constraints of the system.

I suspect this may end up disappointing me like TLU did, but we'll see!

So far, the love polygon seems to be Fujii; her slightly younger co-worker Ishida, who likes her; same-year co-worker Ogiwara, who is getting over a breakup of his own; and Watanabe, who is now interested in Ishida after learning about his interest in Fujii.

Then there's Yugi, who's someone's "the other woman."

That said, the two volumes actually spend more time than I had expected on Fujii's work life. Her co-worker Hirano is a forty-year-old woman who is pitied by most, but Fujii finds that Hirano is more than she looks.

I'm disturbed by calling women working hard and by implication acting like men "drag queens," though the translation note in the back says that it's "okama" (lit. "pot," slang for gay or effeminate men*). While I can handwave politics more in shoujo, given the already surreal surroundings -- no high school actually works like that -- it's much harder in realistic josei, especially since it's so close to home.

So, I think I will end up disappointed in terms of politics, but it's still nice to be reading about working women dealing with the glass ceiling and sexism.

(Also, whee, now I need a "josei"** tag!)


* Thus, "okoge" (lit. the burnt rice that sticks to the bottom of the pot, slang for straight women who hang out or like gay men).

** I debated making it "josei" or "ladies," since it's actually "ladies" in Japan, but as I went with "shounen ai" instead of "BL," I guess I am following the American version.