oyceter: (godchild evil parrot of DOOM)
Oyceter ([personal profile] oyceter) wrote2008-04-18 02:24 pm

Higuri You - Cantarella, vol. 10 (Eng. trans.)

Eeeeeeee! Finally, one of my local Borders actually has a new release!

Now if only they would read my mind and stock After School Nightmare 7, which Amazon tells me is out.

Leonardo cameo!

Also, to my surprise, I found myself less engrossed in Lucrezia, Cesare and Chiaro's storyline, and utterly caught up in Alfonso and Sancia.

A large part of this is because Alfonso is Hakkai: ever smiling, in love with his older sister, missing a right eye due to said incestuous love, and unfailingly polite. But thankfully, he is not a merciless youkai killer, and he has sort of completely and totally won me over.

Well, I was won over in vol. 9, but this further cements it.

But! The hug from the back and the desperation! The fact that he actually lets her go when she says he's hurting her! The constant swearing of total devotion!

And I really love the relationship among him, Sancia and Lucrezia, especially the way Higuri is not going with jealous women. I particularly love him and Lucrezia bonding over unrequited incestuous love, which totally cracked me up. Cantarella! You have not one completely canonical incestuous relationship, but TWO! Awesome!

And! I love Lucrezia and Sancia bonding, and Lucrezia telling Alfonso that she'll protect Sancia for him. And, oh, the bit when he sings and Sancia actually gives him a kiss!

And! Even more! I mostly just adore Sancia to pieces. I love Lucrezia as well, even though she is very Standard Shoujo Heroine, and I really really love how Sancia is not being penalized for her sexuality, and how she gets angst and is, of course, sexual to hide an easily wounded heart, a la every romance hero ever. On the other hand, it would be nice if it were not because of an easy wounded heart as well, but I am still too pleased about her not being penalized for sleeping with two Borgias and other random people to care.

In fact, now I am terrified that Alfonso will die tragically in Sancia's arms. I was so terrified that I went and checked history on Wiki. Spoilery speculation for future volumes below (normally I would not cut for historical fact, but I am guessing Alfonso's fate is not well-known in history?):

Possible historical spoilers for future volumes

Aiiiieeeee! Of course he dies! Assassinated by Cesare! I am so not surprised. I largely think only Sancia and Lucrezia will make it out of this manga alive. On the other hand, while I am a sucker for tragic dying in loved one's arms, I am also hoping Higuri does something cracktastic and insane and makes it seem like he dies, only to spirit him away to a monastery or something.

I am still a little amazed by how these two siblings have overtaken my Chiaro-Lucrezia-Cesare unresolvable, completely displaced affection, occasionally incestuous triangle squee, but it has! Not that I am hoping for less for the above three, but there really wasn't that much of them in this volume.

I think I may have used up my exclamation point quotient for the week in writing this.

ETA: I cannot believe I forgot! But: NOOOOOOOO! Hiatus?! WOE! Why are all my wonderful shoujo gothic crack manga being taken from me?

At least there are still Vampire Knight and Fairy Cube.
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[identity profile] shewhohashope.livejournal.com 2008-04-18 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
Amazon tells me that After School Nightmare Volumes 6 and 7, and Persopolis will be at my house at some point between the 1st and 15th of May (I'm cheap and got the supersaver delivery)!

I worked my way through Absolute Boyfriend 1-4 and Samurai Deeper Kyo Volume 1 and I don't even like Absolute Boyfriend. But I'm evidently in a manga mood, preferable Gothic Shoujo. Without spoiling me, is Cantarella my thing?
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[identity profile] coffeeandink.livejournal.com 2008-04-18 09:56 pm (UTC)(link)
My comics store says they will have AFN7 next week! I am so excited!

[identity profile] meganbmoore.livejournal.com 2008-04-18 10:02 pm (UTC)(link)
*skips all spoilery stuff*

HIATUS? WHAT? NNNOOO!!!

I just got Vol 2 from Amazon today and was going to read it and vol 9 after I got caught up on Claymore...but...but...hiatus?

Woes...

[identity profile] lady-ganesh.livejournal.com 2008-04-20 03:15 pm (UTC)(link)
Oh God I have to catch up on this. I stopped reading in part because I was terrified it would get worse, so knowing it DOESN'T...