Ogawa Yayoi - Tramps Like Us, vol. 11-12 (Eng. trans.)
Sun, Aug. 19th, 2007 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceterOk, it really does feel like Ogawa is winding things up for the grand finale.
I'm really glad that Hasumi and Sumire ended up breaking up; I hate hate hate watching relationships drag on forever, even if it's not between two obviously wrong for each other people. Uh. That is to say, I do not think Hasumi and Sumire are awful together, but I suspect Sumire will be happier finding a more unconventional relationship and Hasumi will be happier finding a more conventional one. This makes me a little sad, as the series keeps almost pushing the gender boundaries that I want it to, but doesn't ever quite make it there.
I very much liked how Ogawa handled the breakup; just two people sitting down on a bench and figuring out that they weren't necessarily right for each other. I liked that Sumire didn't have hysterics over Fukushima. I can't remember if she told Hasumi about Momo as well, but for some reason, I feel she did.
And Momo! Momo cut his hair! Woe! Momo moved out! I am traumatized along with Sumire.
I love that Momo's finally decided on his own life path, but on the other hand... I'm really sad that it's come with the assumption of a more traditional gender role (taking charge, being the "man" of the relationship), as symbolized by his giving Sumire a more erotic kiss and actually being a sexual threat of sorts. And that Momo's (should I call him Takeshi now?) coming of age is also symbolized by him telling Sumire that he wants to marry her and have kids. One of the reasons why I loved this series so much is the odd, not-quite-romantic, not-quite-not relationship between Sumire and Momo. And even though I was pretty sure the mangaka wouldn't leave it that way, I'm still sad that it's coming to an end. I just hope the power dynamics between the two won't shift that much, although I suspect it will.
I'm really glad that Hasumi and Sumire ended up breaking up; I hate hate hate watching relationships drag on forever, even if it's not between two obviously wrong for each other people. Uh. That is to say, I do not think Hasumi and Sumire are awful together, but I suspect Sumire will be happier finding a more unconventional relationship and Hasumi will be happier finding a more conventional one. This makes me a little sad, as the series keeps almost pushing the gender boundaries that I want it to, but doesn't ever quite make it there.
I very much liked how Ogawa handled the breakup; just two people sitting down on a bench and figuring out that they weren't necessarily right for each other. I liked that Sumire didn't have hysterics over Fukushima. I can't remember if she told Hasumi about Momo as well, but for some reason, I feel she did.
And Momo! Momo cut his hair! Woe! Momo moved out! I am traumatized along with Sumire.
I love that Momo's finally decided on his own life path, but on the other hand... I'm really sad that it's come with the assumption of a more traditional gender role (taking charge, being the "man" of the relationship), as symbolized by his giving Sumire a more erotic kiss and actually being a sexual threat of sorts. And that Momo's (should I call him Takeshi now?) coming of age is also symbolized by him telling Sumire that he wants to marry her and have kids. One of the reasons why I loved this series so much is the odd, not-quite-romantic, not-quite-not relationship between Sumire and Momo. And even though I was pretty sure the mangaka wouldn't leave it that way, I'm still sad that it's coming to an end. I just hope the power dynamics between the two won't shift that much, although I suspect it will.
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Mon, Aug. 20th, 2007 06:49 am (UTC)I started this title a while back when I worked in a bookstore, but after leaving never quite seemed to pick it up again. I did watch the live-action drama version of it, Kimi wa Petto, and that made me happy enough. That had a much more ambiguous ending; I'm wondering if the scriptwriters saw the same potential in the storyline as you did, the same thing I loved as well, and stuck with it.
I feel like I see so many mangakas start out with interesting, envelope-pushing ideas, and then gradually ratchet them back to more conventional storylines.
(Masami Tsuda, I'm looking at you. Among others.
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Mon, Aug. 20th, 2007 12:59 pm (UTC)She told him she had somebody else, but not who it was.
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Mon, Aug. 20th, 2007 01:38 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 20th, 2007 06:46 pm (UTC)Nooo! You brought up Masami Tsuda just when I had almost forgotten about the debacle that was the KareKano ending! ;)
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Mon, Aug. 20th, 2007 06:46 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 20th, 2007 06:47 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Mon, Aug. 20th, 2007 07:15 pm (UTC)I may write a post about Asian Drama's I'm watching right now featuring girls disguised as boys, because there are that many.
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Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 12:20 am (UTC)Oooooo doooo ittttt!
Hey, I forget -- have you read (or seen, I think it's been adapted too) Hana Kimi?
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Tue, Aug. 21st, 2007 12:29 am (UTC)I would kill for the girl playing Mizuki in the JDrama to play Haruhi in a live action version of Ouran.
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Sat, Aug. 25th, 2007 06:28 am (UTC)Ack, sorry about the Tsuda thing! *g* That was just uppermost in my mind. and will be for some time. sigh.
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Sun, Aug. 26th, 2007 07:31 am (UTC)(no subject)
Sun, Aug. 26th, 2007 07:42 am (UTC)