Forum - View topicREVIEW: House of Five Leaves GN 5
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astro98
 Posts: 12 Location: Australia |
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maaya
Posts: 976 |
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Art styles are very subjective indeed. The "art" grade is kind of a difficult issue. I believe it should reflect the actual skill of the artist (perspective, anatomy etc.), but I realize that is also very difficult to judge if you haven't somehow studied these things and not necessarily what most readers are interested in either.
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
 Posts: 2607 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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I very much agree, and as my background is in literature, I generally ask my sister, who is an artist and went to art school, for her opinions to give me a bit more to go on. Still subjective, yes, but at least there's an expert opinion involved. |
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dm
 Subscriber Posts: 1359 |
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Yes, it's subjective, but, like astro98, I really like Ono's art. It suits her (somewhat melancholy) storytelling and setting well. Yes, it's not very expressive in House of Five Leaves, but she's writing about a group of stone-faced stoics. Look at her women --- there's a lot of subtle expression there (and you can see the subtle expressions at work in her Italian books, too).
It may take getting used to. I think I was initially put off by her character art when I first saw it in Ristorante Paradiso, too, but it's grown on me as I follow her stories and characters. Thanks for the review, Rebecca! I hadn't noticed the parallels between Bunnosuke and Ichi's personalities. I'll have to go back and look at the volume again with that in mind. |
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poonk
 Posts: 1490 Location: In the Library with Philip |
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The sole reason I started reading this series is that I found v01 & 02 for $5 each at a Borders closing sale last summer and figured for that price I could take a chance. I quickly discovered that I really wanted to see where this story goes and snapped up v03. Now I'm preordering every volume (and that NISA boxset of the anime out in March).
Regarding the art I guess I can objectively see how Ono's work may be a turnoff for readers who identify manga with a certain art style but if one can't "get past" the art* long enough to enjoy the story then it's truly their loss. I for one found myself so invested in the story and the emotional nuances the characters display (whether it's the artist's intent or pure personal interpretation) that the "frog-mouth/bug-eye" complaint that one often sees in HoFL reviews doesn't even register with me anymore. Quite the contrary, I find Ono's art lovely. It's often reminiscent of woodblock prints-- simple designs, clean but thick lines, and limited color palette (on covers). As for her characters' "expressionless expressions," I still feel I can read into them (& the situation) enough to grasp what's being conveyed and in turn, if a character's emotional state is unclear then maybe it's meant to be. This is probably actually one of the reasons I found myself so immersed in the story despite its admittedly slow nature. *I hate using that phrase because I disagree with what it implies in this case, i.e. I don't feel Ono's work is something one needs to struggle through to enjoy the story. |
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Princess_Irene
ANN Reviewer
Posts: 2607 Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City |
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Good points, all, about the art. You're right, dm, the subtlety of the women's expressions, particularly Otake's, are wonderful, and I think Ichi also has some moments of almost-emotion that add to his character. I also agree with poonk about the woodblock quality (damnit, I was going to mention that in the review!!); there's one splash page of I think Otake in volume three that really showcases that.
Unfortunately I know a lot of people, particularly younger readers, who just won't read her books because they're "ugly."  Yes, she has some anatomical issues and her art isn't aesthetic or what we think of as "manga," but it does work for the story. I try to give art "technical" grades, hence that thing about asking my sister, and Ono doesn't quite make it as an artist in that regard. But poonk is right - not reading this because of the art is a mistake.
Glad I could point out a character parallel you missed, dm! I'll be really interested to see how things progress between Bun, Masa, and Ichi. I think Masa's due for some major character development between those two. |
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LaFreccia
 Posts: 324 |
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The funny thing is that the very distinctive character designs are an important part of why I thought the anime looked so great. I'm really not much of a manga reader, soI'm saving up for the anime release.
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MaxSouth
Posts: 1363 |
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I agree with your sister. This artistic style is artificial -- artist made heroes looking ugly just for the sake originality. This is cheap way to come up with "unique style". I can start drawing comics/manga where one of heroes' eyes is placed on the forehead, it it will be "unique style", too. But this is not going to be "art". |
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salvationtoakuma
 Posts: 4 |
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I respectfully disagree because I never felt it was that ugly. Plus, I think this is just the author's drawing style. She writes yaoi under a different penname but uses the same style, I have no idea how that would help it sell. |
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OniTasku
Posts: 78 Location: Santa Barbara, CA |
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Knocking an art-style, 5 volumes in, seems like a bit of a low-blow (so to speak). While artistic style and ones reaction/expression of it is incredibly subjective, possibly one of the most difficult things to "grade" manga (and comics, in general) on, I don't think that the artist's style should have that great of an effect on the overall rating itself.
Ono Natsume's style is quite unique, and certainly not the mainstream style anyone would be used to, but it is simply a foil to better illustrate and integrate with her style of story-telling. That said, her grasp of anatomy seems pretty darn good -- so I'm not exactly sure where some people are getting off, saying that it is somewhat skewed. Proportions may be a tad exaggerated, but manga is no stranger to breaking those laws. This certainly isn't a CLAMP work, with 8 or 9 head-tall people and incredibly awkward positioning. No, her poses for the characters are quite natural and well defined. I'm not exactly sure what medium Ono uses for her illustrations, but it is itself very unique (the only closely related style I can see is that of 竹 - Take, who illustrated NisiOisin's Katanagatari light novel series). It is purposely drawn that way to invoke a certain style, to pace the story a precise way. It's a very meticulous manner and thus, is very hard to judge one way or another; this is mainly one of my reasoning for thinking judging a manga/comic poorly solely on artistic style is a bunch of bullocks...but that in itself, is a personal opinion and I don't mean to come off as offensive. |
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enurtsol
 Posts: 14761 |
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That could easily be done with artists like R. Crumb! 
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tuxedocat
 Posts: 2183 |
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I don't even bother defending Natsume Ono's art anymore. Any review about Ono is going to knock the art, and there will always be some inarticulate bashing in the comments section.
I personally find her art fitting for the setting. The hangdog expressions of the the characters reflect (most often) a life that fell far short of expectations. On top of that, her storytelling is laconic, subtle and completely character driven. I am a dedicated fan. ---Even so, I found the pace of anime adaptations of House of Five Leaves and Ristorante Paradiso more accessible to the uninitiated. You still have to sit through the laconic, character building narrative, but the payoff is worth it. At the end, you find that you have become quite attached to her characters. |
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