Rocket Bomber

Emma, vol. 2
Writer & Artist: Kaoru Mori
Published by: CMX

200 (190) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to Left
Vintage: 2003. US edition Dec. 2006.
Translation & Adaptation: Sheldon Drzka
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Design: Larry Berry
Editor: Jim Chadwick

Publisher’s Rating: Teen Plus, for “Suggestive Situations”
isbn 978-1401211332

##

Premise: A comic that reads almost like a BBC/Masterpiece Theater historical drama — a young Victorian gentleman (wealthy, but not aristocratic) falls for an almost-perfect maid, who also falls for him in her own shy, halting way, but since the two are British and this is Victorian England, nothing really juicy happens.

##

Review:

After watching the anime [which stretches the first volume (and the first chapter of this volume) to fill almost the whole of it’s first season] I’d forgotten how quickly the series turns dark.

Chapter 8, the opener here, is marvellous. Not only is there the actual first date between William and Emma — with a least a kiss shared (it’s hawt; Emma takes off her glasses) and you can infer as much as you want but only a kiss is depicted — but oh, what a date: The Crystal Palace! The flora, fauna, artefacts and spoils that only a global empire can collect, and all the architectural and historical detail an obsessive manga-ka can muster… I want to scan and post all of it.

Instead, I’ll just tease you with a single panel.

More introductions in this volume as well; it turns out William has a number of siblings not previously revealed, and they all manage to come home at about the same time the plot takes a turn away from easy romance.

[I also just really like that panel, don’t mind me]

Without spoiling too much, Emma faces a major change in her circumstances, and this means also that her relationship with William, already ephemeral and possible in it’s own way only so long as the two (and the select few around them) were able to delude themselves, must also come to an end.

A lot of drama builds around that. Emma comes to terms much more quickly, perhaps, though she also has to deal with grief and the prospect of being truly alone. It’s hard to pick just one chapter from this volume as most important, since each chapter piles it on, upping the stakes and expanding on the commentary on the differences between Victorian classes. Instead of picking the easy one (chapter 13) I’m going to pick two and juxtapose them:

In chapter 11, “Eleanor at the Banquet”, William concedes in part to his father’s wishes and escorts young Eleanor, his prospective fiancée, to a society dinner party. Eleanor is obviously smitten, and Mori takes pains (and about 17 pages) to show that the two actually do share some chemistry; if it weren’t for a chance meeting with a certain maid, this would be an entirely different romance story, quite suitable for a number of Harlequin romance pulps. Still, Eleanor is a débutante to high society, and her ‘troubles’ and ‘travails’ are merely cute.

In chapter 13, “Farewell Emma (Part II)”, William receives the tragic story of Emma’s childhood, second-hand, related to him by Al — a neighborhood handyman and an old friend of Kelly Stowner, Emma’s employer — and the glitz and excess of the banquet is starkly contrasted by the prospects an unwanted orphan faced in Dickensian London. This is a less-than-subtle jab at the world William comes from, and the banquet he so recently attended. The chapter also serves as an interlude in a long series of missed meetings: for the last half of the book, William and Emma attempt to meet each other, but never make the connection. Emma’s self-doubt slowly crystalized into a resolve to leave London, and abandon William; in parallel William’s search for Emma escalates into an almost frantic, breathless pursuit.

The cliff-hanger this volume is William just missing Emma as her train leaves King’s Cross Station. (with an excuse for more architecture, and a really nice two-page spread.)

[go ahead, compare Mori’s art to historical photographs and illos. Dare you.]

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Through the week and into next weekend, I’ll be re-reading a volume every night, and attempting to post my reflections on each book the following morning — but given my odd work schedule (retail, and the store’s open morning noon and night) it may not always work out… exactly daily.

##

Emma, vol. 1
Writer & Artist: Kaoru Mori
Published by: CMX

192 (181) pages.
Original Language: Japanese
Orientation: Right to Left
Vintage: 2002. US edition Sep. 2006.
Translation & Adaptation: Sheldon Drzka
Lettering: Janice Chiang
Design: Larry Berry
Editor: Jim Chadwick

Publisher’s Rating: Teen Plus, for “Suggestive Situations”
isbn 978-1401211325

##

Premise: A comic that reads almost like a BBC/Masterpiece Theater historical drama — a young Victorian gentleman (wealthy, but not aristocratic) falls for an almost-perfect maid, who also falls for him in her own shy, halting way, but since the two are British and this is Victorian England, nothing really juicy happens.

##

Review:

To put it into Hollywood movie terms, the two leads “meet cute” in chapter 1: William comes to visit his old governess, Mrs. Stownar, but pauses at the door long enough before knocking (he’s a tad embarassed; it seems he hasn’t bothered to visit for some time) such than Stownar’s maid, Emma, in a rush to run some errand opens the heavy front door full in his face.

Chapter one is a good intro to the relationship that drives the series: we have two good looking leads who obviously like each other (they even manage a date of sorts by pg. 27, sharing a conversation while walking in the park) but this is England in the 1890s (or later? the toy biplane on pg. 31 is an anachronism — after I’m done re-reading the whole series I’ll see if I can’t sleuth out the year) so they can’t just pop off to the local Love Hotel and do what is obvious.

Following chapters slowly introduce the other main characters (and flesh out those already introduced) and include what would seem to be the two main complications to William/Emma: William’s friend, Hakim, a foreign born Prince, and William’s fiancée Eleanor. [oops. Spoiler! …but it comes as just as much of a shock to William, and is the cliff hanger which ends this volume.]

For my money, the most telling chapter is chapter 4, “The Love Letters”. It shows first, that William is obviously smitten with Emma, but also that he is not the only one: she is known even by the local shopgirls as a local beauty, she’s a topic of discussion at the local gentlemen’s club, receives stacks of love letters (incl. one from the mail carrier that delivers them) — on two points there is general agreement, though: she’s quiet & shy, and she always says no.

Perhaps this is necessary, to build up Emma as some sort of paragon to make William’s pursuit (& Hakim’s for that matter) excusable, given the class differences. It also serves as a sort of second introduction, for William has only just met Emma, and sure, they spent a pleasant afternoon together, but his obvious discomfort in how other people talk about Emma as both woman and topic of rumours — not to mention how many other men would court her — makes her seem an unobtainable object even though she is obviously also a person, and one who responds to him in the oddly Victorian manner.

From the outset, one of the two main conflicts is within William, as he must resolve what he feels for Emma, vs what is expected of him. The other conflict is of course external, as our two star-crossed lovers (thought the use of the term ‘lovers’ is a bit strong in this context) will always have to overcome the class divide between them.

##

I may make this all seem stern and dark and melodramatic: before I close the book on volume one, let me point out that the series has a light touch and a fair amount of humour. The slower story-telling pace allows us to gradually add details to each character, and in each chapter there are under-breath asides, bits of conversation, and included details (like the Victorian equivalent of porno mags) that add a fair bit of humour to the books, to say nothing of Hakim’s entourage and elephants.

Yes. Elephants.

The book is an invitation to a historical London you might never have seen before, particularly it’s common people, the working class that supports the thin upper crust. It’s the scenes set in the market streets, or at the pub, or in Emma’s small, plain room when she’s by herself and writing rejection letters, or combing her hair, or remembering when she first got her glasses — these are the compelling moments in the book.

[volume 2 posts late tonight]
Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Good Morning and Aloha: our first link of the day is from Wilma Jandoc of the Honolulu Star Bulletin

“The stereotypical uprightness and gentle virtue of the era as shown through the main characters give “Emma” a calm dignity that is often foreign in contemporary shoujo manga — there is no teen hyperactivity, no whirlwind of cliques and cat fights. Such gentility is made more vibrant by author Mori’s beautifully detailed artwork — from roadways to house interiors, from corsets to hairdos — and the inclusion of actual period items that show her passion for and extensive research into the Victorian age. In the face of this, we can’t help but hope that somehow, some way, it will work out for William and Emma.”

It’s an older article (Aug. ’08) but also includes a look at the first 12-ep. Emma anime box set released by Nozomi/Right Stuf

“The television version makes use of long stretches of silence and slow-moving animation at times — perhaps reflecting the many wordless scenes in the manga that rely only on well-placed people and items, detailed facial expressions and deliberate movements — but it never makes you impatient. Instead, it builds things slowly, allowing you to fully take in the beauty and pain of an impossible love.”

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

Having expressed some regret at being late to the SV&R MMF, first out of the gate this time is Garrett Albright of Yen Plus Info:

“No, Emma is the personal maid of Kelly Stonwar, an elderly retired widow who plays something of a mother figure to the orphaned Emma after taking her in. Her maid frock is modest and simple, and she has yet to bare so much as an ankle – I’m at a loss as to why CMX slapped a “Teen Plus” rating on the back cover. And unlike Black Butler, the domestic servant in question is wholly human and spends her day cooking and cleaning rather than fighting bandits and solving mysteries.

…

Furthermore, I felt Emma herself as a character was a more interesting element of the comic than the romance between her and William. What does that mean when the story is supposed to be a romance? The whole is lesser than the sum of its parts.”

Click here for the archive of all Emma Manga Moveable Feast links

The nominations are over and the votes are in: Yuki Urushibara’s Mushishi will be the topic for the next Manga Moveable Feast.

Most promisingly, there is another blogger waiting in the wings to host the April event, but I won’t spill the beans until details are finalized and he/she has the opportunity to make their own announcement.

Mushishi is another fairly substantial series: also 10 vols. (2000-2007, Del Rey) and also with an anime adaptation (26 eps, licensed by Funimation) but I think this is just a coincidence; the second place finisher was Ai Yazawa’s Paradise Kiss (5 vols., 2000-2004, Tokyopop) and three one-shots & other shorter series made up the bulk of the remaining nominations.

I leave it to our next host to determine the best way to select the May MMF (Though my vote may just go to Paradise Kiss) — but my experience in this process leads me to suggest combining the nomination and voting into a single post: perhaps instead of a separate poll, I should have just counted the comments as votes?

From the Publisher, CMX:

Meticulously researched and beautifully rendered, EMMA is a beloved, award-winning series that was adapted into an acclaimed anime series in Japan. In Victorian-era England, a young girl is rescued from a life of destitution and raised to become a proper British maid. Emma meets William, the eldest son of a wealthy family, and immediately falls in love with him. William shares her feelings, but the strict rules of their society prevent their relationship from ever coming out in the open. Traditional class distinctions and rich, historical details provide the backdrop for this appealing romance.

Emma is a 10 volume manga series by Kaoru Mori, who also wrote the similar one-volume Shirley manga (also licensed by CMX) and the currently ongoing Otoyomegatari. Emma was published in Japan by Enterbrain, which first serialized the story from Jan. 2002 to May 2006 in the monthly Comic Beam (described on Wikipedia as a seinen manga collection, that is to say, one who’s target audience is usually young men, aged 18-20, though the unknown Wikipedia author also states “Its small but loyal readership is regarded as consisting largely of a hard core of otaku, art students, and manga-literate hipsters.” Comic Beam was also home to Bambi and Her Pink Gun, Desert Punk, King of Thorn, and Junko Mizuno’s Fancy Gigolo Peru.)

Emma is a bit unusual for manga, not in it’s attention to historical detail, but that the historical details have nothing to do with Japan: Mori clearly loves her source material, and tries very much to place the reader in 1895 London. Though Emma is not the source for the Japanese fascination with maids, Mori’s eye for details (and appealing characters) have inspired at least one Emma-themed maid cafe, which may no longer be open, and for those who must: You can buy both her maid uniform and Emma’s distinctive glasses at the official Enterbrain Emma site.

Emma was also adapted into a 24-episode anime series [split over 2 seasons, in 2005 and 2007] by Studio Pierrot and TBS, which has been licensed for the US by Nozomi Entertainment.

For the purposes of the MMF, as noted in the call for participation, I’ll be happy to link to (or host on this site) reviews and views about Emma the manga, Emma the anime, or Shirley — Kaoru Mori’s other maid story, set in Edwardian rather than Victorian England.

I’m going to try to also post a daily diary, as I reread the first seven volumes, one a day, with an eighth day for Shirley and Emma vols. 8-9, and a final post Sunday next for volume ten and the series conclusion. (If you’d like me to include your reviews of the individual volumes — perhaps even some you’ve previously written — on the ‘appropriate’ day, just drop that in your message when you email me the link)

Please bookmark http://www.rocketbomber.com/mmf, which serves as the hub (and archive) of all links, and watch my homepage for the new Emma links as they come in.

Submissions, links to articles you’d like included, and any questions should be emailed to matt [at] rocketbomber [dot] com — or you can reach me (at odd hours) on Twitter @ProfessorBlind.

Even if you are just a reader: Thank You for joining us in the Manga Moveable Feast!

An announcement on the recent Tokyopop Insider webcast/webinar/whatever that Gakuen Alice would see accelerated release (along the lines of—but not to the extent of—Viz’s Naruto and One Piece initiatives) combined with this post from Manga Widget reminded me quite strongly of a post I wrote 27 July 2008 — no, you don’t have to click that last link, I’m about to re-post the pertinent bits below.

There are factors that make a manga more appealing to your average shopper. In true game fashion, I’d describe these as “attack bonuses” or “force multipliers”

From the Jul 08 article:

Manga Force Multipliers
also known as ‘intangible sales factors’

Cartoon Network Afternoon Anime Broadcast:
Instant Win. Hire another two translators to get the books out faster, and hire an accountant to count the money,

Adult Swim 10pm Broadcast
+5

Adult Swim 11pm Broadcast
+3

Adult Swin post-Midnight Broadcast
+2

Other Cable Broadcast
+1

New. (volume released in the past month)
+1

Volume Five.
The customers like longer series: part of that is the appeal of long-running stories; mostly it’s that 5 volumes take up at least 4 inches of shelf space and combined with even rudimentary graphic design a block like that will catch the customers eye. +1

Frequency.
Viz has capably proven that releases every other month seem to engage the fan base moreso than titles that slowly exit the gate at the rate of 2 or 3 a year. The average 14-year-old fan just can’t wait that long — their interests change before you can get the next book out and into their greedy mitts. If you’re Dark Horse and you’re selling to the 30-year-old-with-a-14-year-old-mindset the math is different, but most publishers need to pump the volumes out faster. Bi-monthly merits a +5, 4-a-year gets you +1, anything else is a push (or a negative).

Anime available on DVD
+2

Anime available as a Fansub
+8

Sucks. Yes. But this is our customer base. They also hang out in the aisles, reading reading reading without buying anything. Cheap frickin’ bastards, the lot of them. It is what it is, though: We’re looking to capture the percentage that buys, not the rest, and shop-wear and unwrapped 18+ titles are just the cost of doing business.

And yet, I have a dream… a GN-only store that would not only cater to these sponges, but would sell them coffee and pastries until they do come around to buying the books they read.

related:

Manga available as scanlation
+1

This kinda-sorta-helps but not for the reason you think: it’s not that online comics sap legitimate bookstore sales, it’s that we hate hate hate reading comics online. Give us the anime adaptation, or give us a book. …there is no such thing as bad publicity, though; An online manga is just a teaser: If a person is ever going to buy a book than a scanlated chapter merely whets the appetite. The rest weren’t going to buy it anyway.

Fansubs are a different model: online video might as well be DVD for most consumers. It takes an exceptionally bad sub (or shite video quality) to keep a fan from downloading. A significant fraction download anyway (and complain about the legitimate DVD dubs and subs not being ‘authentic’ on forums).

(I can’t explain that, and won’t try)

##

Proofs:
Cartoon Network Afternoon Anime Broadcast: Pokemon
Adult Swim 10pm Broadcast: (historically) Dragon Ball Z, Inuyasha
Adult Swim 11pm Broadcast: Bleach
Adult Swin post-Midnight Broadcast: Death Note
Other Cable Broadcast: numerous 3rd tier titles on AZN, Jetix, Sci-fi, Starz, Toon Disney and ABC Family — take yer pick.
New: you know, I’ve started posting these weekly.
Volume Five: Vampire Knight
Frequency: Duh. Naruto
Anime available on DVD: many previously cited, also Fullmetal Alchemist, Full Metal Panic, and .hack//
Anime available as a Fansub: right now? Rosario+Vampire
Manga available as scanlation: Any. Naruto and Negima spring immediately to mind, however.

That’s only my take on it.

And 20 months on, I think this is still a fair take on the popularity of some titles vs others.

…with a bag of stale pretzels.

You ever been in a situation where a friend of yours was throwing a party, but you had to work until 10 that night and couldn’t make it until well after the shindig was underway, and folks had come, drank, hooked-up, and left before you even made it out to your friend’s place?

And you heard about the awesome jello-shooters, and the single-barrel bourbon, and the imported beer, and it’s all gone by the time you roll up and the only thing that’s left is half a keg of cheap, evil-smelling american lager, a bowl of stale pretzels, and what appears to be the all-male membership of the local uni “Frat Boy Studies Club” losing to the Intramural Beer Pong Team?

Still, a kegger is a kegger even if you’re late, and the only thing to do is start drinking.

##

My belaboured analogy aside—

There has been a lot of twitter and blog activity around this guy, Nick, and what his half-assed comic book might mean for new publisher Radical, and also what his actions and the vehement reaction on the part of a fraction of manga fans might say about both the alleged plagiarism and other acts of outright theft — like, say… fansubs, scanlations, and things-out-there-pretending-to-be-fansubs-and-scans that are just sleazy, lazy rips of officially licensed product.

Pro Tip: Icarus is not a scanlation group, and [R1 DVD] in a bittorrent filename is theft, straight up.

Deb has the best summary up, and the conversation continues (on twitter and in the comments at manga.about.com) and Really, This is a Gift that Keeps on Giving — we could argue free vs artist vs fan vs responsibility vs expectation vs sustainability vs what is wanted vs what is owed vs market factors vs New Media bullshit until the eventual heat death of the universe. There are partisans on all seven (eight? thirteen?) sides willing to argue their points to the bitterest of bitter ends, and nothing happens — and for some, ‘nothing happens’ is exactly what they want: no change at all to the status quo that enables their bad and illegal habits.

Sure, you like manga and anime. You can tell me so on the internet, you can quote Haruhi chapter and verse and can argue the finer points of Gundam Wing vs Macross Frontier. You’re a geek and a nerd and an expert and I’m just a poseur who shouldn’t have an opinion (or be allowed an opinion) because I dirty myself with the actual commerce of manga — since I sell books for a living it should be past obvious that I’ve sold out.

Gods, so much is wrong with our society, internet or otherwise.

Anyway.

For those of you willing to consider the alternate point of view, I have three links for you. Two years ago I started to research fansubs for a column, but I never managed to finish writing it, and now a lot of the points are moot, or superseded, by events that have occurred since. But, my early readings are still valid (or more valid) and I’d like to share:

The Ethics of Fansubbing, credited to ‘dejiko’ at everything2.com from July 2000. This is an early take from a former fansubber and how things were about to go horribly wrong 10 years ago http://everything2.com/index.pl?node_id=634984

I’m not a lawyer, but this guy is: go read “Of Otakus and Fansubs: A Critical Look at Anime Online in Light of Current Issues in Copyright Law” by Jordan S. Hatcher http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/ahrc/SCRIPT-ed/vol2-4/hatcher.asp

and

Ask John @ AnimeNation from March 2008, Does the Anime Industry Deserve Some Blame for the Popularity of Fansubs? http://www.animenation.net/blog/2008/03/04/ask-john-does-the-anime-industry-deserve-some-blame-for-the-popularity-of-fansubs/

##

So now I may never write that column, and these are all older links (showing that this is not a new problem by any stretch) but at least the effort wasn’t wasted.

Update 6 March 7:00AM: I’ve taken the poll down, as voting is closed, but you can still see the final results here: http://www.blogpoll.com/results_180658.html

Yes, I included a ‘none of the above’ option but I hope you won’t use it. (If you do, you’re obligated to list a different title in the comments.)

Voting will be open until 6 March; I’ll make an announcement alongside the first posts for the Emma MMF. Thank you for participating — this blogging experiment wouldn’t work without the support of everyone.