AI YORI AOSHI (VOLUME 5).
July 11th 2008 23:06
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: 2001 Hakusensha Inc/2004 Tokyopop Manga.
Production Team: Kou Fumizuki – story & art, Alethea & Athena Nibley – translation, Jamie Rich – English translation, Patrick Tran – retouch & lettering, James Dashiell – graphic designer, Yoohae Yang – production artist and Gary Shum – cover design.
Cost: US $9.99.
Usually I am not a big romance fan, at least not in the sense of the word as it generally accepted within mainstream society which is usually taken to mean things involving boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl beneath the light of the silvery moon which for no apparent reason suddenly explodes (Thank you Douglas Adams). So when I found this particular manga sitting on the shelf at my local library it was something slightly out of left field for me to pick it up and borrow it, still I have been surprised before (to whit Sorcerers & Secretaries which I reviewed a while back) so even though I had no idea what this was going to be all about I felt that it was worth taking home and giving it a read.
Looking on the back cover there is a genre description that reads comedy/romance which is fairly on the money although for my two cents worth I’d tack onto that the words magical realism. Magical realism? What the heck is that I hear you ask, no doubt thinking perhaps I have lost my marbles, good sense or all of the above. A few years back when I was a slightly younger man and just starting on my Bachelor of Arts degree in the wilds of New England (NSW Australia) in the esteemed university town of Armidale I was studying an English literature course, it was a first year subject and the very first subject I did in my BA so admittedly it was with some trepidation that I embarked on my journey into a field I had hitherto only received the mildest exposure. One of the texts that was set for this particular unit was Gabriel Garcia Marquez’s “Chronicle of a Death Foretold”, a work of magical realism which is apparently a genre very popular within the Latin American nations. Essentially magical realism uses fantastic events and imagery as a device to drive along its drama, thus you can have things like magic in the traditional sense, rainfalls of flowers, dancing talking dogs’ et al as long as it’s consistent with the stories dynamic and overall plot. Ai Yori Aoshi has that element within it, at least this particular volume does.
So what is it all about? Well the two primary protagonists in this story, Kaoru Hanabishi and Aoi Sakuraba are two lovers living in a very strange arrangement brought about by the circumstances of their mutual history. Kaoru is the heir to the wealth Hanabishi Zaibatsu and at an early age he was taken away from his mother and raised to be the corporate heir until he eventually rebelled against the harsh responsibilities placed on him to live and make his own life. Aoi was his betrothed in an arranged marriage agreed between the two families many years ago, she was sent to try and persuade Kaoru to return to his family and his responsibilities. Instead she ended up seeing Kaoru’s perspective on things and left her own family to live with him, her mother rather than risk losing her daughter allowed this to occur. The proviso is that the two can live together but only under the watchful gaze of Aoi’s guardian Miyabi Kagurazaki. To the world at large Aoi is actually Kaoru’s landlady and he the lodger living in the boarding house next door to her family residence. A strange set up yet it is one that the two are willing to endure as they are both deeply in love with each other.
Naturally even though this is a rather convoluted set up you’re no doubt thinking to yourself well what the heck has this got to do with magical realism? That’s where Santa comes in, and not the Santa that everyone here in the West is used to and grown up with. No this Santa is a rather cute sexy looking girl who is capable of flight as well as various other magical feats. One early evening as Kaoru is knocking off from his part time job he heads home and gets hit in the head by a strange magical medallion, picking up the medallion he muses over it briefly then continues on to his temporary abode. Knackered from a hard day at work he lies back on his bed and drifts off into sleep, only to find himself suddenly awoken by a rather attractive girl who claims to own the medallion, apparently she needs it to get back to her home in the North Pole.
Much wackiness ensues from this point on as Kaoru gets to know Santa and she in turn peers deep into the heart of this earnest young man. This is what I feel is magical realism and no doubt much of it is also prompted by Kaoru’s yearning for his betrothed and an ordinary life together, as well as his sadness at being parted from his mother at such a young age. It is a sad yet uplifting part of the story and as it unfolds Santa herself comes to hope that in time Kaoru will be united with that one pure true love of his. Ai Yori Aoshi is a very touching and upbeat story filled with moments of laughter, magical realism, resolve and romance it is a pleasant reading experience. Like I said at the start I am not much of a romance reader but after spending an hour or so reading this story it was enjoyable, well worth getting hold of and perusing.
Production Team: Kou Fumizuki – story & art, Alethea & Athena Nibley – translation, Jamie Rich – English translation, Patrick Tran – retouch & lettering, James Dashiell – graphic designer, Yoohae Yang – production artist and Gary Shum – cover design.
Cost: US $9.99.
Usually I am not a big romance fan, at least not in the sense of the word as it generally accepted within mainstream society which is usually taken to mean things involving boy meets girl, boy falls in love with girl beneath the light of the silvery moon which for no apparent reason suddenly explodes (Thank you Douglas Adams). So when I found this particular manga sitting on the shelf at my local library it was something slightly out of left field for me to pick it up and borrow it, still I have been surprised before (to whit Sorcerers & Secretaries which I reviewed a while back) so even though I had no idea what this was going to be all about I felt that it was worth taking home and giving it a read.
Naturally even though this is a rather convoluted set up you’re no doubt thinking to yourself well what the heck has this got to do with magical realism? That’s where Santa comes in, and not the Santa that everyone here in the West is used to and grown up with. No this Santa is a rather cute sexy looking girl who is capable of flight as well as various other magical feats. One early evening as Kaoru is knocking off from his part time job he heads home and gets hit in the head by a strange magical medallion, picking up the medallion he muses over it briefly then continues on to his temporary abode. Knackered from a hard day at work he lies back on his bed and drifts off into sleep, only to find himself suddenly awoken by a rather attractive girl who claims to own the medallion, apparently she needs it to get back to her home in the North Pole.
Much wackiness ensues from this point on as Kaoru gets to know Santa and she in turn peers deep into the heart of this earnest young man. This is what I feel is magical realism and no doubt much of it is also prompted by Kaoru’s yearning for his betrothed and an ordinary life together, as well as his sadness at being parted from his mother at such a young age. It is a sad yet uplifting part of the story and as it unfolds Santa herself comes to hope that in time Kaoru will be united with that one pure true love of his. Ai Yori Aoshi is a very touching and upbeat story filled with moments of laughter, magical realism, resolve and romance it is a pleasant reading experience. Like I said at the start I am not much of a romance reader but after spending an hour or so reading this story it was enjoyable, well worth getting hold of and perusing.
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