Sorcerers & Secretaries Volume 2
February 25th 2008 02:08
Category: Graphic Novels/Comics
Publisher: Tokyopop Manga.
Created by: Amy Kim Ganter.
Art & Story by: Amy Kim Ganter.
Letters: Star Print Brokers & Lucas Rivera.
Cover Design: Anne Marie Horne.
Cost: US $9.99.
Usually when you come across a manga that’s been translated from Japanese into English they often keep the Japanese format, you still read it from right to left, why they do this I have no idea but its not something that really throws me out. So when I came across this particular work and discovered that it was printed in an English format, i.e. left to right, it surprised me. The obvious conclusion to make is that even though Tokyopop is a Japanese firm this particular manga has probably been published with the English speaking market in mind, certainly the creator/author/artist is from New York state and possibly an English speaking background as far as I could tell from the brief bio at the back of the manga.
This romantic comedy is not my usual kind of fare, but then again I never thought I’d say that the Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya was an enjoyable viewing experience either, so when this particular work cropped up on the shelves at the local library I thought what they hey and proceeded to borrow it. Now admittedly when I picked it up from the shelf I didn’t really have an idea precisely what it was about, I never really trust what they say on the back of a manga, DVD, graphic novel, comic etc. Sometimes the blurb on the back bears no real relation to the actual content of the item concerned and you’re often left wondering if the person or persons who created the blurb actually had any contact with the item or material they were writing about. The one thing that did occur to me was perhaps this might have been a maho shojo (magical girl) kind of story along the lines of Kiki’s Delivery Service, on opening up the cover though and reading the first page I realised that my guess whilst having some degree of validity was not quite on the money.
In this story there are two stories running intertwined which if you can pull it off shows what skill and talent you have as a storyteller and judging by her efforts Ms Ganter certainly fits the bill. Our main protagonists in this tale set in what appears to be the streets of Brooklyn (I’m guessing about locale but something about the art work makes me think Brooklyn) are Nicole, Josh, Riley and Susan. Josh and Riley are flatmates, Josh works in a book store; Bell Books where he occasionally gets ragged on by the female head cashier whilst his flatmate, Riley, is a devil may care lady-killer who is working in the field of graphic design. Into this mix of real world characters are the fantasy characters of Ellon, Sonneth and Syra who are the protagonists in the story that is intermixed with the escapades of Nicole and her contemporaries.
Aha I hear you say this is a story where the real world characters suddenly find themselves transported into a magical world where they become heroes with awesome powers and then they return to their mundane lives after a particular menace has been thwarted. Not even close, not by a long shot, no the characters of Ellon et al are actually characters in a story that has been written by Nicole. It seems that Nicole has long harboured dreams of writing fiction and fantasy fiction in particular. She sees these characters in her dreams and writes down their exploits in her dream log and over time this has grown into an ongoing story that she has patiently been writing for some time now, it’s a side of her that even her mother is unaware of. Being products of her dreams there is a vividness to the characters that make them literally seem alive and in their own world that intersects with that of Nicole, in fact on the first page their seems to be some parallels between Ellon and Nicole’s erstwhile suitor Josh. So in this way it is something of a maho shojo manga, Nicole is a magical girl because of her creativity, her imagination and her dreams and with these she works her own unique brand of ‘magic’.
As with any Romance based story Love is a strong ingredient in this tale, the love between Nicole and Josh as well as the emerging love between Riley and Susan. Though the other important and equally vital aspects within the tale are dreams, imagination and creativity. Nicole is a girl doing a business degree at university on the advice of her mother who runs the family business back in Nicole’s home town, the problem is that even though she is working hard at her degree and trying to do the best by her mother Nicole is a dreamer, a creative talent that has been repressing her talent in order to do what is ‘right’. She feels torn between her desires to succeed at her course and her desire to write and create, its only when her suitor Josh actually reads her dream log in which the story of Ellon is told that she gains confidence in revealing her creative talents to a wider world. From his own perspective Josh, who has been trying to find some common ground with Nicole is now even more smitten with her and resolves to try and help her with her creative efforts; as Paul Kelly would say “From little things big things grow.” The fact that she has this incredible fantasy world within her head and a talent for storytelling seems to cast a literal spell on the Bell Books peon.
It was the multiple aspects of creativity, imagination and being a struggling student that got to me, I could really emphasise with the character of Nicole being a frustrated writer myself and having little confidence in my abilities as a storyteller and trying to finish a piece of writing let alone trying to get myself published either by a magazine, website or major league publishing house. I’ve also been a struggling student myself, attempting to get my BA was no bed of roses though I am sure that I didn’t have it half as hard as a lot of other students. So with this commonality I found it very easy for me to emphasise with the character of Nicole and from that point it became relatively easy for me to enjoy a story that normally wouldn’t draw my attention. As has been said previously romance is not my usual fare but that being said this story was enjoyable, it was a beautiful story filled with moments of laughter, tragedy, high drama and hope as well as the romance and emerging love between the various protagonists. Top marks to Amy Kim Ganter and Tokyopop Manga for producing such high quality work.
Created by: Amy Kim Ganter.
Art & Story by: Amy Kim Ganter.
Letters: Star Print Brokers & Lucas Rivera.
Cover Design: Anne Marie Horne.
Cost: US $9.99.
Usually when you come across a manga that’s been translated from Japanese into English they often keep the Japanese format, you still read it from right to left, why they do this I have no idea but its not something that really throws me out. So when I came across this particular work and discovered that it was printed in an English format, i.e. left to right, it surprised me. The obvious conclusion to make is that even though Tokyopop is a Japanese firm this particular manga has probably been published with the English speaking market in mind, certainly the creator/author/artist is from New York state and possibly an English speaking background as far as I could tell from the brief bio at the back of the manga.
Aha I hear you say this is a story where the real world characters suddenly find themselves transported into a magical world where they become heroes with awesome powers and then they return to their mundane lives after a particular menace has been thwarted. Not even close, not by a long shot, no the characters of Ellon et al are actually characters in a story that has been written by Nicole. It seems that Nicole has long harboured dreams of writing fiction and fantasy fiction in particular. She sees these characters in her dreams and writes down their exploits in her dream log and over time this has grown into an ongoing story that she has patiently been writing for some time now, it’s a side of her that even her mother is unaware of. Being products of her dreams there is a vividness to the characters that make them literally seem alive and in their own world that intersects with that of Nicole, in fact on the first page their seems to be some parallels between Ellon and Nicole’s erstwhile suitor Josh. So in this way it is something of a maho shojo manga, Nicole is a magical girl because of her creativity, her imagination and her dreams and with these she works her own unique brand of ‘magic’.
As with any Romance based story Love is a strong ingredient in this tale, the love between Nicole and Josh as well as the emerging love between Riley and Susan. Though the other important and equally vital aspects within the tale are dreams, imagination and creativity. Nicole is a girl doing a business degree at university on the advice of her mother who runs the family business back in Nicole’s home town, the problem is that even though she is working hard at her degree and trying to do the best by her mother Nicole is a dreamer, a creative talent that has been repressing her talent in order to do what is ‘right’. She feels torn between her desires to succeed at her course and her desire to write and create, its only when her suitor Josh actually reads her dream log in which the story of Ellon is told that she gains confidence in revealing her creative talents to a wider world. From his own perspective Josh, who has been trying to find some common ground with Nicole is now even more smitten with her and resolves to try and help her with her creative efforts; as Paul Kelly would say “From little things big things grow.” The fact that she has this incredible fantasy world within her head and a talent for storytelling seems to cast a literal spell on the Bell Books peon.
It was the multiple aspects of creativity, imagination and being a struggling student that got to me, I could really emphasise with the character of Nicole being a frustrated writer myself and having little confidence in my abilities as a storyteller and trying to finish a piece of writing let alone trying to get myself published either by a magazine, website or major league publishing house. I’ve also been a struggling student myself, attempting to get my BA was no bed of roses though I am sure that I didn’t have it half as hard as a lot of other students. So with this commonality I found it very easy for me to emphasise with the character of Nicole and from that point it became relatively easy for me to enjoy a story that normally wouldn’t draw my attention. As has been said previously romance is not my usual fare but that being said this story was enjoyable, it was a beautiful story filled with moments of laughter, tragedy, high drama and hope as well as the romance and emerging love between the various protagonists. Top marks to Amy Kim Ganter and Tokyopop Manga for producing such high quality work.
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