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Konno Keiko - Words of Devotion, vol. 01-02 (Eng. trans.)
Mon, Mar. 24th, 2008 11:37 amThis is published as a two-volume series, but it's more like a set of connected short stories. Most of the stories center around Tachibana and Otani, two college roommates who have known each other since high school. The story begins when they encounter an old high school classmate, Yuki, who jokes and asks if they're gay.
We then go into Otani feeling jealous of Tachibana and Yuki's friendship. What I like a lot about the three Konno works I've read is that she actually has female characters, and that her female characters seem to have a life of their own. It's least noticeable in Kawaii Hito and most notable here; one of my favorite chapters was the one featuring Yuki's point of view on the two guys' relationship. Later on, in vol. 2, we get to see how Tachibana and Otani became friends and more, along with Otani's relationship with his girlfriend and how he basically mucks things up.
I like that their conflicts read as fairly natural; there are some unfortunate overheard conversations and the like, but mostly, the people in the stories tend to ask first and jump to conclusions later.
There are two other short stories about Otani and Tachibana's acquaintance Sho-kun, who's in a long-distance relationship with an American struggling actor. Then there's one about a girl's best friend and how he's falling for her ex-boyfriend, and one more about a guy who kidnaps another guy and chains him to his bed. The last is by far my least favorite.
One note: I was disturbed by how "homos" is used for "gay men." I'm not sure how much of this is the translation, though. My suspicion is that "homo" (in katakana) is an acceptable term in Japan for "gay men" ("okama" being the derogatory version), but that is based solely on one article written by Mizoguchi Akiko which contains the phrase "homophobic homos" ("homofobikku na homo"). I vaguely recall Mizoguchi being lesbian and the article as having a GLBT-political look at yaoi, but I also read it five years ago. That said, if my speculation is correct, I'm still curious as to why DMP's translators are choosing to translate it as "homos," since even if the term is the same in Japanese, the connotations seem to be very different.
Anyone know if any of the above speculation is correct or waaaay off the mark?
Anyway, I like Konno's art and her people, so I will probably be reading more if more gets licensed and/or published.
We then go into Otani feeling jealous of Tachibana and Yuki's friendship. What I like a lot about the three Konno works I've read is that she actually has female characters, and that her female characters seem to have a life of their own. It's least noticeable in Kawaii Hito and most notable here; one of my favorite chapters was the one featuring Yuki's point of view on the two guys' relationship. Later on, in vol. 2, we get to see how Tachibana and Otani became friends and more, along with Otani's relationship with his girlfriend and how he basically mucks things up.
I like that their conflicts read as fairly natural; there are some unfortunate overheard conversations and the like, but mostly, the people in the stories tend to ask first and jump to conclusions later.
There are two other short stories about Otani and Tachibana's acquaintance Sho-kun, who's in a long-distance relationship with an American struggling actor. Then there's one about a girl's best friend and how he's falling for her ex-boyfriend, and one more about a guy who kidnaps another guy and chains him to his bed. The last is by far my least favorite.
One note: I was disturbed by how "homos" is used for "gay men." I'm not sure how much of this is the translation, though. My suspicion is that "homo" (in katakana) is an acceptable term in Japan for "gay men" ("okama" being the derogatory version), but that is based solely on one article written by Mizoguchi Akiko which contains the phrase "homophobic homos" ("homofobikku na homo"). I vaguely recall Mizoguchi being lesbian and the article as having a GLBT-political look at yaoi, but I also read it five years ago. That said, if my speculation is correct, I'm still curious as to why DMP's translators are choosing to translate it as "homos," since even if the term is the same in Japanese, the connotations seem to be very different.
Anyone know if any of the above speculation is correct or waaaay off the mark?
Anyway, I like Konno's art and her people, so I will probably be reading more if more gets licensed and/or published.