1/22/23-1/28/23

Dirty Rotten Scoundrels

You know, I feel like we have no modern-day equivalent to Steve Martin. There are so few people who can just play an asshole that you can’t help but like the way he can. We do, however, have a good deal of British actors who can sleepwalk through a movie they’re not interested in. Michael Caine does fine enough for what he’s given, but he’s mostly flat and unemotional.

Neon Genesis Evangelion 3-in-1 Edition Volumes 3, 4, and 5. original concept by khara, story and art by Yoshiyuki Sadamoto

These books have been haunting me since I finished volume 3 of the series. I was always going to be wary; as I’ve said before, I’ve never been a huge fan of NGE. I never quite “got” what the hype was about. But it looks my reservations were unfounded as Sadamoto makes some bold decisions that not only make the series stand out on its own, but makes me like it a bit better than the source material. Perhaps working on it over 20 years helped with that, I don’t know.

The thing I keep coming back to is how much I enjoy the characters in this version of the story as opposed to the anime. Shinji’s angst is much more reactive protagonist and his angst is tied into the things that happen in the story; it’s easier to understand and empathize with his situation. Plus, he never jacks off to someone who is basically comatose in a hospital bed. Rei’s developing humanity is explored more and her relationship with Shinji is more pronounced. I never hated nearly anyone.

The biggest change when it comes to characters arrives in the form of Kaworu. In the anime, he shows up literally right before the two-part series finale and is just sort of gentle, loving presence that Shinji can attach himself to emotionally. Here, he shows up much earlier and reads as much more alien and even somewhat autistic. He has trouble understanding Shinji’s emotions, but can’t help but be compelled to try and get Shinji to love him, despite Shinji’s constant rejection. Their relationship feels more developed and they even share a kiss at one point, bringing the homoerotic undertones straight to the surface. Sadamoto even says in the back of one of the volumes that he laments that Shinji and Kaworu couldn’t have had a more explicitly romantic relationship.

I also prefer the ending to the manga series and it’s more hopeful note than The End of the Evangelion. I wanted the characters in the manga series to have a more happy ending than the ones in the anime, and it delivers on that.

If you’re like me and found yourself bouncing off the main Evangelion series, I would recommend this. That’s two different Gainax series now where I prefer the manga adaptions to the original series (the other one being FLCL). Of course, I assume that means if there was a Royal Space Force: The Wings of Honnemaise manga I would hate it.

Cola Madnes by Gary Panter

The famous “lost Jimbo graphic novel” from Gary Panter is just as good as the first time I read it. It still has the same scribbly and energetic linework and frantic action as other works in the Jimbo series, and if you like that, you’ll like this (if you can get your hands on it). It doesn’t feature nearly the level of experimentation and stylistic departures that Jimbo in Paradise has, but it’s still a pretty solid. I can also understand why the Japanese publishers would reject it.

Iceland by Yuichi Yokoyama

A sequel to World Map Room, it’s the same strangely-designed, but still stoic-faced characters trying to find one of their friends in a land of ice (it has nothing to do with the real-life country of Iceland). Like its predecessor, the bizarre incongruities of everything kept me interested in the manga, and gives it some solid humor. Everything about it seems like it should be a ridiculous action comic: the panels are angled and dynamic, the sound effects dominate each panel, and yet it’s in service of a mundane story. It’s ridiculous to such a degree that I can’t help but love it. My favorite part was likely the fact the TV at the bar that they visit has a broken volume function and they can’t turn it down. If you get it, you get it. If you don’t, you’re gonna stare it confused.

Disappearance Diary by Hideo Azuma

The true story of an alcoholic as he battle homelessness, drifting through Japan, getting odd jobs, and finally getting a stint at rehab. And it’s a comedy.

Azuma goes into detail about how, after becoming a successful mangaka in Japan, he found himself getting overwhelmed, and while on a research trip, spent all of his money on booze and decided to just stick around and live in the wild despite having a wife, and a house back at home. Then, he does it again, the madman! Except then he gets a job in utility work and sticks around for a while before coming back to manga and slipping into alcoholism so severely he ends up involuntarily admitted to a rehab ward in the hospital.

It’s an interesting gook into the world of homelessness in japan, the exploitative nature of the manga industry, and the trials and tribulations of trying to overcome severe alcoholism (we’re talking visual hallucinations, here). But it’s all done in such a cute art style and with such levity that it never feels as dramatic or depressing as it could’ve been. And I liked the fact that the portrayals of the characters are rarely treated with shame, judgment, or pity as you might expect of any depiction of society’s undesirables. After all, Azuma fits into that category himself at multiple points and in multiple ways.

The thing that does turn me off a bit is knowing that Azuma was a key figure in the popularization of Lolicon doujinshi in Japan (Lolicon stands for “Lolita complex” and if you can’t figure out what that means from that explanation, there’s no helping you). It’s not the entirety of his career output, but it is weird how casually it’s brought up. Although, it is kind of funny that he gets together a group of lolicon artists who vow to “drive Yaoi out of Comiket.” As a gay man, I tend to find Yaoi offensive as a genre (those men are simply far too thin), I’m gonna say I’m much more okay with it than I am with Lolicon. Still, it’s not a factor in the narrative here, but it’s just an uncomfortable fact.