Forum - View topic"Emma" from CMX Manga
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chicogrande
 Posts: 190 Location: Huntsville, Alabama |
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I was browsing through my local comic shop's Manga section. My eye quickly scanning clone after clone of the usual Japanese manga formulas: the love stricken high-school girl falling through a magical portal trasporting her to a mysterious world of incredibly handsome men where she finds out she is the long lost princess of a now dead king and queen who were betrayed by a busty sorceress of pure bitch evil who now rules with an iron fist and has a taste for SM. Yes, the classics.
Next to the raging ninja action of Naruto was this little unassuming cover lacking the usual FHM-like babe action about a maid in 19th century England called Emma. A story of love, of course, in a class conscious society where a maid with a misterious past and fetching looks attracts the attentions of a young gentleman. 
Very shoujo for sure, but it sure is different from the usual, imo. Art and story by Kaoru Mori, it is evident from the first page that, to me, a lot of research has been done to recreate 19th century England. Ms. Mori has certainly put a lot of effort in her work. I quickly picked up vols. 1 and 2 simply because this wasn't the usual stuff we are accustomed to. I for one, am happy with the story so far. And, I came across an interesting bit of trivia at the end of the manga. It seems that Ms. Mori's work, originally released in 2002, "created something of a phenomenon in Japan and is said to have spawned an interest in English maid 'cosplay' with fans dressing up in the attire of the series." Could it be she was the one responsible for the maid-mania in Japan? Are maid cafes the commercial descendant of Ms. Mori's work? Hm. |
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zliplus
Posts: 27 Location: St. Jerome's, Waterloo, Ontario, Canada |
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No. The maid-mania existed long before Emma's 2002 release date. Furthermore, if I'm not mistaken, maid cafes and the like were developed more from the stereotypical/traditional French maid outfit. |
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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I wouldn't classify it as shojo at all, both in the technical sense (it was serialized in a seinen mangazine) and the actual content. It is quite an exellent read though. Mori has impressive storytelling abilities; it's rare for a manga (especially one published in the US) to forego long-winded and melodramatic conversations as a tool to develop relationships (this is Victorian England after all) and instead use the visual narrative, which she does almost perfectly. Certainly a standout release for 2006 that I'd recommend to just about anyone. |
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Steve Berry
Posts: 522 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
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Ah, Emma-- I love this title. Reminds me very much of the sort of ornate world one gets in Pride and Prejudice. The love story is also very well done, and generally pleasantly reserved. If only they'd release the anime here in the US. Perhaps if this sales well it'll cross over too.
People have complained about CMX before, but I think their release of this is very well done-- like the cover paper, think the translations are smooth, and they even translate all of the sounds right there on the page as art.... Its rather old-school of them, but I much prefer reading manga that way-- and their sound art doesn't really seem to alter the art on the page at all, IMO. Great release, that only gets better as it goes. Nice, clean pen and ink line work too. I like her art style. At times, it reminds me of YKK. |
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slickwataris
 Posts: 1334 Location: Carol Stream, Illinois |
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I have yet to find it at Borders. The anime really surprised me last year.
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Emma is probably one of my top releases for 2006 for even with only two volumes. I'm a sucker for historical pieces, and even moreso for high quality ones.
It doesn't even end there when it comes to development of relationships. She uses imagery very well when it comes to displaying mannerisms and events. One of the more subtlety touching moments in volume two was when spoiler[we see Emma's actions after Kelly Stowner dies.] Its a marvel for its medium, in some ways.[/spoiler]
Comic book stores seem to carry volumes of in, in addition to Barnes and Nobles. It's a bit of a surprise that Borders doesn't carry. |
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hanachan01
 Posts: 504 |
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My friend, who is a huge Victorian freak, is obsessed with the manga and anime. I also like them. Even though their world is so different then ours, the characters are relatable.
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pieisexactlythree
 Posts: 72 Location: Portland, OR |
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I couldn't agree more with the comments above. This is a very refreshing departure from almost all of the other titles out there. I've seen roughly half of the first season of the anime and I'm extremely impressed with the detail and subtlety put into it. For example, every episode is footnoted with historical trivia explaining the more esoteric aspects of 19th century English life. Japanese productions are often rather sloppy with this stuff, but as a devoted Anglophile, I haven't spotted a single error or inaccuracy. It compares well to BBC's 6hr Pride & Prejudice in that regard. I love this series.
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Wakaiba
 Posts: 62 |
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Works like Hanaukyo Maid Team probably inspired maid cafes more than Emma. |
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smoochy
 Posts: 367 Location: Texas |
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I picked up and read the two volumes released today, and I'm very pleased. I'm not usually much of one for romance manga, too much that has been recommended to me has been bad, but this was a very good read. I look forward to subsequent volumes.
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Steve Berry
Posts: 522 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
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Well, in truth-- my understanding is that these informational sections ("Whisper's Guide") about Victorian life are solely the work of the fansub group. They're very well put together though, and very informative. I wish they had something like it for the manga's release though too. But yeah, it's a prime example of how fansub groups can do very very good work for a show, and improve it's appeal.
I agree on both accounts. The comparison to P and P was partly what drew me in as well. As for future volumes of the manga-- they only get better. To me, the first vol, in particular, always felt rather jumpy-- narratively speaking. This is her first work, and in the beginning, I felt like she's just happy to get to be drawing all the time. I get that feeling in particular from the little sections in the back where she draws herself-- which btw, I absolutely adore. Those sections are soooo funny to me, I don't know why. Her enthusiasm for the subject is very honest and contagious.  Anyways, each chapter is fine in and of itself, but the story seems to sort of meander until vol 2 starts up-- from there on out, things really hit their flow, as if she had really grasped the story she wanted to tell.
Re: Mori as a writer-- I really like her use of silence-- it's one of my favorite aspects of her style. The subtlety of the spoiler[kiss ]scene in vol 2 is great, as is the chapter about Emma cleaning house spoiler[after Kelly's death] in vol 2 as well. These could be so overwrought, but they come off being very emotionally true. These sorts of chapters and moments also remind me very much of the mood and feeling of Ashinano's YKK, although his work is obviously far less plot driven-- the kind of reading experience where I just soak it in, at a very gentle pace, paying attention to the detail of the dialogue and the looks on their faces, trying to read all the thing that are left between the lines. |
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slickwataris
Posts: 1334 Location: Carol Stream, Illinois |
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yeah well I went to Borders again last week and they had the second volume on the shelfing cart  . I already ordered the first 3 volumes from right stuf though.
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pieisexactlythree
Posts: 72 Location: Portland, OR |
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Wow, I'm impressed. I'm really quite surprised Pierrot didn't think of this themselves. I've read that one of the reasons the series went so far over budget and crapped out at 12 eps instead of the intended 36 was the fact that, in addition to Mori's original research, they hired a historical consultant to make sure all the details were accurate. |
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Steve Berry
Posts: 522 Location: San Francisco Bay Area, CA |
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All of which is true, to my understanding. Obviously that research payed off (as Whisper's Guide actually has obscure, historically correct stuff to talk about from the anime), but not enough to make the guide. I wonder if they'll do something similar though, if they ever release the anime stateside. Would be nice. I'm also really looking forward to vol 3 in March-- should be good for prep for the second season coming out in Spring. !!
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