Tsuda Masami - Kare Kano, vol. 12-15 (Eng. trans.)
Thu, Dec. 1st, 2005 12:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterI confess, I read vols. 12 and 13 several months ago, and I don't remember anything about them at all. I think some of it has to do with the strange sci-fi play that the students put on?
Anyhow, the manga starts to pick up speed again after several volumes focusing on Souichirou and Yukino's friends. Not that I actually minded the focus on their friends; I like being able to see the different relationships going on. But the bit on the school play between the friends' arcs and this current one dragged on a bit...
Souichirou's dark past finally comes back to haunt him! The first few books of the series were all about Yukino and how she's been changing; taking off the mask that she used to present to the world and really finally being able to be herself. Arima's mask is sadly more difficult to take off, seeing as how they involve repressed memories of being beaten by his mother and being hated by most of his family.
It's good, it really is. But I just can't help feel a wee bit disappointed that there is a dark past with abuse and trauma. On the one hand, I don't mean to make light of it, but on the other... it is nice having a quiet shoujo series like Kare Kano without quite as many cracktastic, melodramatic moments. This is not to say that I don't like cracktastic melodrama, because.. hey! Cracktastic melodrama! With wings!
The nice thing is that while Tsuda does focus a bit on a abuse part, in the end, it's still about Yukino and Arima. The manga juuust avoids a romance trope that I really dislike (the love of a good woman saving the tortured, mean guy), although Yukino's protestations almost made it not work for me. In the end, I like that Arima has to learn to accept himself, because that's one of my favorite things about this series. I like that it's about people just sort of figuring themselves out.
Anyhow, the manga starts to pick up speed again after several volumes focusing on Souichirou and Yukino's friends. Not that I actually minded the focus on their friends; I like being able to see the different relationships going on. But the bit on the school play between the friends' arcs and this current one dragged on a bit...
Souichirou's dark past finally comes back to haunt him! The first few books of the series were all about Yukino and how she's been changing; taking off the mask that she used to present to the world and really finally being able to be herself. Arima's mask is sadly more difficult to take off, seeing as how they involve repressed memories of being beaten by his mother and being hated by most of his family.
It's good, it really is. But I just can't help feel a wee bit disappointed that there is a dark past with abuse and trauma. On the one hand, I don't mean to make light of it, but on the other... it is nice having a quiet shoujo series like Kare Kano without quite as many cracktastic, melodramatic moments. This is not to say that I don't like cracktastic melodrama, because.. hey! Cracktastic melodrama! With wings!
The nice thing is that while Tsuda does focus a bit on a abuse part, in the end, it's still about Yukino and Arima. The manga juuust avoids a romance trope that I really dislike (the love of a good woman saving the tortured, mean guy), although Yukino's protestations almost made it not work for me. In the end, I like that Arima has to learn to accept himself, because that's one of my favorite things about this series. I like that it's about people just sort of figuring themselves out.