Ashihara Hinako - Sand Chronicles, vol. 06-09 (Eng. trans.)
Fri, Oct. 22nd, 2010 03:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
oyceter(I feel H&C is the most fitting of my icons for this series.)
Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged about this. I think Sand Chronicles makes a jump from shoujo content to josei content in these volumes, although because it's still published in a shoujo magazine, I continue to classify it as "shoujo." (See also: Nana) Manga magazines, you wreak havoc with my attempting to define a genre in manga!
Also, much like Emma, the primary story of the series ends in volume 8, with 9 and 10 (not yet released in the US) containing several side stories set in the same universe.
Here, Ann goes from dating Fuji in high school to college and finally to work, where we finally go back to the opening scene from vol. 1 of the series. It broke my heart a bit to see who Ann was finally agreeing to marry, and I was so happy when she ended up breaking the engagement.
One of the things I love best about this series is how well Ashihara uses the passing of time (fittingly, given the series' original title "Sunadokei"). She's extremely good at capturing how middle school and high school relationships (both romantic and platonic) get strained and break apart, how Ann and Shika eventually reestablish contact, how all the characters keep trying different things in an attempt to move forward. I especially love that Ashihara lets almost all her characters date different people; there's no one true love they find and stick with forever. Instead, like the actual world of dating, you keep trying and sometimes things fall through, and nothing succeeds instantly. I love that none of these characters really do know who "The One" is for them. You see that with Ann's father's remarriage as well.
On a different note, I also love getting a look at people growing up from middle school through college and then to work; I feel even though there's a lot of manga that covers middle and high school, and a fair amount of josei that covers work, there's very little that spans the entire spectrum.
Most of all, though, I love that it is a series about Ann, about her struggle with her mother committing suicide so many years ago and how she's carried it with her ever since. I don't know if she is clinically depressed, but it is so nice to see someone who isn't the cute perky "Ganbatte!" heroine in shoujo, and oh, I sympathize with Ann so much when life just keeps wearing you down and wearing you away. I love that the finale revelation has almost nothing to do with her romantic life, that we don't see Daigo coming back into the picture until the epilogue, after Ann's emotional breakthrough.
Usually I'm not much of a fan of high school couples getting married, but Ashihara earned her conclusion every step of the way by showing what happens to so many couples after graduation and after showing us both Ann and Daigo (and to a smaller degree, Fuji and Shika) constantly growing and remaking themselves and trying to work things out on their own.
The shorts in volume 9 are a nice bonus to the series, particularly the long section on Ann's mother Miwako. And I loved seeing both Chi and Shika in New York (although one US flag is backwards, which made me giggle).
Wow, it's been a long time since I've blogged about this. I think Sand Chronicles makes a jump from shoujo content to josei content in these volumes, although because it's still published in a shoujo magazine, I continue to classify it as "shoujo." (See also: Nana) Manga magazines, you wreak havoc with my attempting to define a genre in manga!
Also, much like Emma, the primary story of the series ends in volume 8, with 9 and 10 (not yet released in the US) containing several side stories set in the same universe.
Here, Ann goes from dating Fuji in high school to college and finally to work, where we finally go back to the opening scene from vol. 1 of the series. It broke my heart a bit to see who Ann was finally agreeing to marry, and I was so happy when she ended up breaking the engagement.
One of the things I love best about this series is how well Ashihara uses the passing of time (fittingly, given the series' original title "Sunadokei"). She's extremely good at capturing how middle school and high school relationships (both romantic and platonic) get strained and break apart, how Ann and Shika eventually reestablish contact, how all the characters keep trying different things in an attempt to move forward. I especially love that Ashihara lets almost all her characters date different people; there's no one true love they find and stick with forever. Instead, like the actual world of dating, you keep trying and sometimes things fall through, and nothing succeeds instantly. I love that none of these characters really do know who "The One" is for them. You see that with Ann's father's remarriage as well.
On a different note, I also love getting a look at people growing up from middle school through college and then to work; I feel even though there's a lot of manga that covers middle and high school, and a fair amount of josei that covers work, there's very little that spans the entire spectrum.
Most of all, though, I love that it is a series about Ann, about her struggle with her mother committing suicide so many years ago and how she's carried it with her ever since. I don't know if she is clinically depressed, but it is so nice to see someone who isn't the cute perky "Ganbatte!" heroine in shoujo, and oh, I sympathize with Ann so much when life just keeps wearing you down and wearing you away. I love that the finale revelation has almost nothing to do with her romantic life, that we don't see Daigo coming back into the picture until the epilogue, after Ann's emotional breakthrough.
Usually I'm not much of a fan of high school couples getting married, but Ashihara earned her conclusion every step of the way by showing what happens to so many couples after graduation and after showing us both Ann and Daigo (and to a smaller degree, Fuji and Shika) constantly growing and remaking themselves and trying to work things out on their own.
The shorts in volume 9 are a nice bonus to the series, particularly the long section on Ann's mother Miwako. And I loved seeing both Chi and Shika in New York (although one US flag is backwards, which made me giggle).
(no subject)
Sat, Oct. 23rd, 2010 01:56 pm (UTC)I *loved* the short story in volume 9 about everyone's mothers, and while I'm looking forward to reading 10, I'll be sad when the series is over. Of course....then I can reread it all at once!
(no subject)
Wed, Oct. 27th, 2010 12:46 am (UTC)(no subject)
Sat, Oct. 23rd, 2010 05:14 pm (UTC)(no subject)
Wed, Oct. 27th, 2010 12:46 am (UTC)