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The epicurean balances pleasures
Four stories in the latest 100 Demons, because the first one is a 60+ pager. Two of them I've read: the one published in the Hyakki Yakou special anthology and the one in the Nov '06 Nemuki, because I was buying Nemuki earlier this year in my Hyakki Yakki hunger. Next tank, if there are 5 stories as is usual, I'll have read three of them. And on balance-- yeah, tanks are better than monthly.
One story alone is never enough. But a whole tank, to be savoured in leisurely fashion (because with Ima leisure and many rereadings are a necessity) gives the feeling of a full-course meal. Worth the wait, then. The more so as Ima is focussing rather on Uncle Kai these days: not in a back story way, alas, just in a 'in every story' way. This is good, as revealing much of Kai's MO over time, and bad, as neglecting Aoarashi. But artists must follow their bliss.
But I do wish Phantom Moon came out in the A5 wide format as well. Ima's details need as much space as possible to be appreciated, and the twisy plot ones especially need elbow room. (The other reason not to continue with Nemuki is that she really doesn't benefit from being printed in blue or pink, as is the phone book's sad habit.) PMT has the twistiest plotting she's capable of, which is saying a lot: with a few honourable mentions in Hyakki Yakki-- like the anthology story that has a woman waking in hospital with her memory stopped somewhere over a year ago. You the reader know only what she knows, including her conjectures as to what happened. All this is not helped at all by Ritsu and Kai having classic Ima-type subjectless topicless watercolour exchanges about something identified only as 'are'.
Equally, my Master of the Haunted Inn bunko has more stories than the single volume I read at![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
paleaswater's, which is happy. Equally it's a bunko which is sad. Bunko format may be the saving of the personal Japanese library but the disservice it does to a mangaka's art is hideous. And MotHI is so redolent of period and so aesthetically suggestive, it deserves a wide-han format.
One story alone is never enough. But a whole tank, to be savoured in leisurely fashion (because with Ima leisure and many rereadings are a necessity) gives the feeling of a full-course meal. Worth the wait, then. The more so as Ima is focussing rather on Uncle Kai these days: not in a back story way, alas, just in a 'in every story' way. This is good, as revealing much of Kai's MO over time, and bad, as neglecting Aoarashi. But artists must follow their bliss.
But I do wish Phantom Moon came out in the A5 wide format as well. Ima's details need as much space as possible to be appreciated, and the twisy plot ones especially need elbow room. (The other reason not to continue with Nemuki is that she really doesn't benefit from being printed in blue or pink, as is the phone book's sad habit.) PMT has the twistiest plotting she's capable of, which is saying a lot: with a few honourable mentions in Hyakki Yakki-- like the anthology story that has a woman waking in hospital with her memory stopped somewhere over a year ago. You the reader know only what she knows, including her conjectures as to what happened. All this is not helped at all by Ritsu and Kai having classic Ima-type subjectless topicless watercolour exchanges about something identified only as 'are'.
Equally, my Master of the Haunted Inn bunko has more stories than the single volume I read at
paleaswater's, which is happy. Equally it's a bunko which is sad. Bunko format may be the saving of the personal Japanese library but the disservice it does to a mangaka's art is hideous. And MotHI is so redolent of period and so aesthetically suggestive, it deserves a wide-han format.
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Regardless, would you mind if I friended you? We seem to share a certain interest in Japanese folklore and translation.
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Dramatic tension where it doesn't belong - such as, perhaps, Aoarashi planning to eat Ritsu after he turns eighteen? When I saw that in the summaries, my reaction was something along the lines of "...I knew I needed new glasses."
*shrugs* I generally don't care for the results when people try turning manga into anime or vice versa. Likewise with novels. But curiosity is a powerful force...
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