Forum - View topicJason Thompson's House of 1000 Manga - After School Nightmare
|
Goto page Previous 1, 2, 3 Next Note: this is the discussion thread for this article |
| Author | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
|
Escapingfate
Posts: 3 |
|
||
I second that! I really like this column because it exposes fans to non-mainstream manga. I feel like Viz's older long running Shoujo manga don't get nearly as much recognition in the States as they should have; and they're all my favorites! Ex: Basara, Please Save My Earth, and Banana Fish Manga readers looking for thought-provoking, awesome plot and characters, or just great read in general should check out those titles =D I read After School Nightmare a while back so I don't remember it too clearly but I get the impression that I agree with the review. I will have to check it out at a local library which has the complete series THANK GOODNESS. As for expensive OOP manga volumes...check out Basara 20, 19, 18...20 goes for around $300+ for a new copy *sigh* |
|||
|
|||
|
maaya
Posts: 976 |
|
||
|
Nice pick. I always got the impression that this series has been overlooked most of the time.
As for the ending. I really liked it. Imho it made a lot of sense, all while being a big surprise. Do not read the spoiler o_O spoiler[I took the whole school life part as a metaphor for the "difficulty of being born". The babies that don't manage to overcome these difficulties end up being a miscarriage. While in Mashiros case only one of the twins was able to survive. And if I remember correctly the nurses are actually the mothers (at least same face and hair style, only different color), which fits nicely with the way they guide each child and know so much about it. The black moon then looked like a symbol for the "cycle" of 9 months of pregnancy. Of course you could also add the whole "rebirth" idea, i.e. the dead children have to overcome their past lives to start anew (but I didn't really think about that the first time I read the series).] Setona Mizushiro is one of the most creative shojo authors right now. Her new stories Black Rose Alice and Heartbroken Chocolatier are also very nice, and different from the standard stuff. |
|||
|
|||
vashfanatic
 Posts: 3489 Location: Back stateside |
|
||
Another manga I read through my library, and the last person I recommended it to was able to find the whole thing as well. It's awesome to own something you love, but failing that, just being able to read it is the next best thing. As always, check out your local library! Oh, and yes, please read Basara. One of my favorite shoujo manga of all time in part because it's so atypical of shoujo manga, i.e. lots of action along with the interpersonal drama. |
|||
|
|||
simside
 Posts: 29 |
|
||
|
This was one of the few manga I didn't (and couldn't) spoil myself silly on for the ending while it was coming out. I had an absolute blast trying to guess what was going on, and I recall being disappointed by the ending, but only because I found it deeply disturbing and was completely unprepared for it. I didn't see it coming at all, and it's so rare when that happens. It did make me start at the beginning and re-read the whole thing to catch all the hints.
spoiler[Purgatory was my best guess, too. I thought they were ghosts competing and putting their complexes to rest so that they could pass on, or whatever. Rebirth, as someone else mentioned, isn't really that far off, but imagining all this complex stuff going on between the souls of unborn babies rocked my world in ways I wasn't prepared for. Mizushiro is an amazing writer, that's for sure.] I remember Go!Comi basically stopped their releases very soon after this volume came out. As nasty and sad as it always is when a publisher goes out of business, from an unfinished story standpoint, not getting the last volume of this series in English would have been the worst cliffhanger ever. I always think about that piece of luck whenever I think of unfinished series.
I think the most insulting OOP volume I've ever had to pay for is the 10th volume of Knights of the Zodiac. Currently the used prices are hovering around $50. I bought it years ago, and only paid a little over retail for it, but I still hated myself for shelling out for that book. But I couldn't just not read it. |
|||
|
|||
|
Graceful Nanami
Posts: 303 Location: United States |
|
||
|
Escapingfate adn vashfanatic, you guys know what's up!
 It makes me happy that people still recognize Basara. It's my favorite manga and nothing will ever change that. It's so epic and well-written and gorgeous. Nothing compares to it for me. And so few people know about it in the States because it's different. Shame.
|
|||
|
|||
Cutiebunny
 Posts: 1747 |
|
||
|
Yeah, when I saw the pic for the entry on the main page, I said "Looks like it was drawn by Mizushiro-sensei"..and, I was right.
I agree. I really like Black Rose Alice. Dmitri is one sexy beast. |
|||
|
|||
|
Escapingfate
Posts: 3 |
|
||
|
I'm really thankful that Go Comi managed to complete After School Nightmare before becoming defunct. Truly respect them so much more now that I know they held on for their fans for that last volume!
RIGHT BACK AT'CHA! It's still surprising to find another dedicated Basara fan even in the manga community. Also one of my top 10 mangas and you are right when you say that nothing can change that! It's funny because you pretty much said everything I had to say. At first, I was put off by the art-style but the brilliance of the characters and plot held me to the story until I began to find the art aesthetically pleasing! I don't even know when I made that shift but it's irreversible now -- I find all of Tamura's art gorgeous. Most of the time, epic stories are a miss for me because of the length, weakness in plot (no twists and it's just plain linear), and large cast of characters. I find stories that contain too many characters cluttered most of the time because the side characters are not even developed that well and it takes away time for the main character's development. Not the case for Basara at all. I found attachment for practically all the characters which is pure genius on Tamura-Sensei's part. Something about her story-telling is just right =) I've even gone as far to collect this series in English but sadly the hunt for volumes 18, 19, and 20 is HORRIFYING 
OOP is every collector's worst nightmare 
|
|||
|
|||
|
Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2607 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
|
||
That's a good reason for it being set in high school. After all, spoiler[that's a time when people are going through great changes, often "reinventing" themselves, or allowing/forcing themselves to be "reborn.", That fits with Kureha's whole "Little Red Riding Hood" image as well - while it's generally interpreted as a rape allegory ("to see the wolf" was 17th century slang for loosing your virginity), fairy tales are also another way to show children finding their ways in the world, especially the "Hansel and Gretel" and "Little Thumbling" stories. I find that Mizushiro uses high school a lot in her works, not so much as a setting, but as a means to an end. X-Day and Diamond Head also use it as sort of a metaphor for life.] ] |
|||
|
|||
Relairknight
 Posts: 128 |
|
||
|
Good review and I'm glad that such an underexposed series gets a write up. Definitely one of the most thought-provoking and original series I'd ever read, great job!
|
|||
|
|||
|
hack_benjamin22
Posts: 136 |
|
||
|
I think this is one of the most beautiful, heartwrenching series I have ever read.
I'd recommend it to anyone. |
|||
|
|||
Potato07
 Posts: 11 Location: Canada |
|
||
|
Wow, this is so nostalgic.
I also like this tricky ending very much. I think it is a perfect ending. spoiler[Mashiro has survived the fight and is born into the real world.] To all Basara fans here: count me in! Basara is my all time no.1 shoujo manga. I would love to read its review by Mr. Thompson too. |
|||
|
|||
enurtsol
 Posts: 14761 |
|
||
|
|||
|
Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2607 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
|
||
Holy crap!!  And here I thought my LRRH paper/presentation was over and done with. At least the last line of the Charles Perrault version (before the moral) is still sexual in any century, if you look at it the right way. 
|
|||
|
|||
|
ptolemy18
Manga Reviewer/Creator/Taster
Posts: 357 Location: San Francisco |
|
||
I'm totally going to review Basara! Don't worry! It might not be for a while though. It's hard for me to list my favorite scenes in Afterschool Nightmare, but two of my favorite strange moments (apart from the ending) are: spoiler[(1) When Mashiro actually sleeps with Kureha. This scene, although brief, goes WAY off the charts in terms of what's 'usually' acceptable for the protagonist to do in a shojo manga. I mean, maybe you could say it's yuri fanservice, but... unexpected!! (2) When Mashiro is holding Kureha's hand as she hangs off the edge of the cliff, and Kureha asks her if s/he really loves her. What happens after that.... ..... my heart broke. (Yeah. I'm a pushover.)] |
|||
|
|||
|
Graceful Nanami
Posts: 303 Location: United States |
|
||
|
Yay Basara! Can't wait to read your review whenever you do it. Haha. We'll hold you to it.
I can't tell you how many times I actually shed tears while reading it and how many panels I actually re-read 5 times in a row. Trying to wrap your brain around what is actually happening in the story is a very difficult task because it's so well done and fleshed out. And Ageha and Asagi are two of the best fictional characters ever written. Just sayin'. I haven't read 7SEEDS yet, though, because I don't like reading magna on the computer. >___> I'm mad at myself. |
|||
|
|||
 |
All times are GMT - 5 Hours |
|
|
|
Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group