Hiwatari Saki - Please Save My Earth, vol. 05-21

[oyceter]

So, coffeeandink pointed me to her first entry on PSME: "I think there was a day today but I was reading through twenty volumes of Saki Hiwatari's Please Save My Earth as quickly as humanly possible and I missed it."

That basically sums up my weekend so far, with "a lot of random manga in addition to PSME" standing in for "PSME."

I also discovered that the first four vols. I read were not in fact the first four of the translated edition, but of some bulk compiled edition. Oh well. Am not bothering to change the first entry, as it is spoiler free.

I think I would have been much more emotionally affected by this if I hadn't completely screwed up my sleep cycle and therefore felt as though I was drifting through clouds for the past two days.

That said, I cannot believe Hiwatari made me like RIN! RIN! I am still boggled by his engagement to Alice, but it is more on the age line and less along the "OMG CREEPY EW!" line. Like, I am also not sure if I forgive him for everything, or if I buy his sudden change of heart, but having your eight-year-old personality overrun by an insane reincarnated moon scientist intent on revenge and did I mention the insane? really explains a lot.

I also still do not buy that Alice is in love with him, largely because... EIGHT!

I sort of wish we had gotten more of Enju and Shusran, because I liked them, and I will pretend that Issei/Sakura is femslash. Sort of.

But I really like how the ending of the series focuses not on the past, but on letting go of the past, and that destroying the moon base in the end is the right choice. And I like that people do get to break out of their destinies a little, and that Alice and Rin are together because they are Alice and Rin, not Mokuren and Shion (no matter how implausible I still find Alice/Rin).

I also very much liked how, in contrast to the usual "girl's story getting overtaken by boy's story," Shion's tragic backstory comes first, and THEN we get Mokuren's. And I love how knowing Mokuren's story completely changes some of the nuances of what we know; it made the rape scene much less squicky for me (I do still find it squicky, but I also find it a lot more plausible). And yes, it is such a stupid romance misunderstanding! But it still ended up working because of Mokuren's background!

I cannot believe I ended up really liking Mokuren despite her being the perfect woman whom all other women despise because she is just that perfect.

And, um, amazingly, I do not hate Shion, despite almost invariably hating all alpha bastard heroes who excuse their behavior because of their tragic childhoods. I think what may have made the difference for me was the emphasis on Shion's absolute resentment, which I found completely understandable and plausible, even if it's not necessarily logical. Just... the way he resents those more privileged than him (Mokuren, Gyokuran) reminds me a lot of some class conflicts I've seen.

I am not actually sure if I can say anything about the nuances of characterization, not because it's not there, but because my brain is completely fried and I have been having a really hard time following things from panel to panel, much less from volume to volume. But! I would love examples in the comments! Because I suspect I do not remember a ton.

Also, PSME has a scene that has surpassed "Please eat a hunk of my flesh" as the expression of ultimate devotion: "Sister! Here, throw up in my hands so you won't get your futon dirty!" (definitely not as romantic, but that is devotion for you!)

Comments

[telophase.livejournal.com]

Also, PSME has a scene that has surpassed "Please eat a hunk of my flesh" as the expression of ultimate devotion: "Sister! Here, throw up in my hands so you won't get your futon dirty!" (definitely not as romantic, but that is devotion for you!)

You need to read Inubaka, in that case.

[oyceter]

Oh dear... is there a lot of vomiting? I have to say, that expression of ultimate devotion makes me raise my eyebrows and go "Ew" more than it makes me think "Awww, what a nice brother."

[telophase.livejournal.com]

No...not vomiting. Inubaka is about a girl who has the Golden Touch with dogs, who goes to the big city and gets a job in a pet shop there.

Let's just say the meet cute scene is unforgettable.

And it's repeated in book 2.

One word:

[larryhammer]

:-)

Re: One word:

[oyceter]

^_^

[tatterpunk.livejournal.com]

(definitely not as romantic, but that is devotion for you!)

My favorite "only in manga" expression of devotion comes from Shinjo Mayu's Haou Airen (a title I really don't recommend), where the estranged romantic couple are (for the seventh time) pulled apart by misunderstandings and the cruelty of the world, but not before the heroine gives the hero a blood transfusion to save his life.

So when she leaves him, what does he do?

He bites open his own wrist and starts making out with the wound. Tongue and everything.

...

I know there are funnier incidents, or grosser ones, or even more random ways to show how badly someone is love's bitch in manga, but that one just takes the cake for me.

[oyceter]

*snorfle* OMG priceless!

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I can't believe Hiwatari made me like Rin! And Shion! But mostly Rin!

There's a sequel series about Alice and Rin's son which is much too sweet and also cosmologically somewhat confusing, but I read it anyway.

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

a sequel series about Alice and Rin's son

What!? I did not know that!

oyceter, I forget how many volumes are in this series. Have you finished it? It sounds like it, but I do not want to inadvertently spoil you....

Rin's reaction to cats makes so much more sense after we've met Kyaa. And given that the moon people are only a few inches tall, Kyaa was probably about the size of a normal house cat.

[oyceter]

I have finished! Thanks for asking ^_^.

The moon people are only a few inches tall? OMG! How did I not realize this?

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

How did I not realize this?

It probably shows up at most in a few panels and then is never mentioned again. It did not come up at all in the anime. When I saw that in the manga, I was dumbfounded. I had no idea! I thought they were the same size as us.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I am not sure the mangaka always remembered it. It was so weird!

[oyceter]

Wait, so were all the plants wee bitty plants too? *so confused*

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

I think I will just excise those panels from my personal canon.

[oyceter]

Hee! I do not even need to excise, as I do not remember any of this to begin with!

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

It's called Boku wo Tsutsumu Tsuki no Hikari and there are four vols so far. It just started running a few years ago. (I have the first vol but haven't read it yet.)

[thomasyan.livejournal.com]

Thanks for the info! I think I shall wait for more volumes to come out before seeking it out. I like to inhale my crack manga and anime.

[oyceter]

I know! I am boggled! But the whole "overtaken by crazed moon scientist" explanation really works!

I saw Tower of the Future (I think) in a UBS over the weekend but narrowly avoided getting it in favor of reading Global Garden, which has much prettier art.

[coffeeandink.livejournal.com]

This was a wise decision! I have read four or five volumes of Tower of the Future and it feels like the main story only started in the latest volume, which is taking a bit too long, even for manga. Global Garden, by contrast, starts in volume one and has genderbending, Norse mythology and Albert Einstein.

[oyceter]

Oh good, the UBS only had 1-3, so I wouldn't have gotten to the main story anyway.

Genderbending! Norse mythology! I had no idea! I knew about Albert Einstein and time travel, and that seemed cracktastic enough!

[larryhammer]

Not really time travel, but explaining any more would be a spoiler. It's truly awesome, though -- it blew my mind when I got to the mythological identity of [spoiler].

---L.

[kyuuketsukirui.livejournal.com]

You should definitely try Tower of the Future at some point. I really liked it. Actually, the only one of her post-PSME (I haven't read her pre-PSME stuff at all) series I don't recommend is Cosmo na Bokura. It's okay, but only four vols and not that interesting (no past lives!). It's about a witch and her black cat who can turn into a guy, IIRC (it's been years since I read it).

[oyceter]

I think I'll wait a little until more of it comes out so I can read it all at once, but will keep an eye out for the others, thanks!