Sunday, August 26, 2012
Hot Gimmick is a pretty controversial one… when I think of “terrible” shoujo I usually think more in terms of competence of execution (art, panelling, pacing, storytelling) and HG is actually fairly competent in all of the above except for the fact that it romanticizes a gross abusive relationship and all the characters (except Shinogu) are terrible people you want to punch in the face, haha. What I’m more surprised about is how often Yuu Watase showed up (Absolute Boyfriend, Imadoki, and Fushigi Yuugi are all hers), because… she’s actually the mangaka that got me into manga, so I’m a little protective I guess. She’s fairly average as far as they go but I really respect her for a) how very prolific she is, b) her quality of art, and c) how much she’s improved over the years. She’s very creative with her characters and I think her current series (Arata Kangatari) is actually pretty cool, not least because hey, it’s a shounen manga written by a primarily-shoujo author. Also, she wrote Fushigi when she was 18 so I cut her a lot of slack for that. She’s not at the level where I’d recommend her to everyone I know, but I don’t feel any of her series are at the level where they’d rank as the “most terrible manga ever” (except maybe I’m lying, I really didn’t enjoy Ceres: Celestial Legend, haha). Just my thoughts!

Hot Gimmick is a pretty controversial one… when I think of “terrible” shoujo I usually think more in terms of competence of execution (art, panelling, pacing, storytelling) and HG is actually fairly competent in all of the above except for the fact that it romanticizes a gross abusive relationship and all the characters (except Shinogu) are terrible people you want to punch in the face, haha. What I’m more surprised about is how often Yuu Watase showed up (Absolute Boyfriend, Imadoki, and Fushigi Yuugi are all hers), because… she’s actually the mangaka that got me into manga, so I’m a little protective I guess. She’s fairly average as far as they go but I really respect her for a) how very prolific she is, b) her quality of art, and c) how much she’s improved over the years. She’s very creative with her characters and I think her current series (Arata Kangatari) is actually pretty cool, not least because hey, it’s a shounen manga written by a primarily-shoujo author. Also, she wrote Fushigi when she was 18 so I cut her a lot of slack for that. She’s not at the level where I’d recommend her to everyone I know, but I don’t feel any of her series are at the level where they’d rank as the “most terrible manga ever” (except maybe I’m lying, I really didn’t enjoy Ceres: Celestial Legend, haha). Just my thoughts!

Posted at 9:28 PM 24 notes Tags: in which I read too much manga replies Also Fushigi gave me Nuriko who is my favorite precious cross-dressing baby so I can't hate it

Notes

  1. ask-swizzle-theswizz reblogged this from minuiko
  2. partylikeits1981 reblogged this from minuiko and added:
    Yuu Watase is my most conflicting mangaka. I absolutely LOVE half of her works and DESPISE the other half. Like for...
  3. tuxedogum reblogged this from minuiko and added:
    she really didn’t...write shojo manga and was/is totally uninterested
  4. dianalilwashu said: Agreed about Watase - Fushigi Yuugi was also what really got me into shoujo manga! I’d only vaguely read Pokemon before, preferring anime to manga. So I’m clearly biased too, but, but, Fushigi Yuugi (the manga) was SO GOOD. I don’t understand how anyone can hate it. ;_; The…
  5. raeistic said: Haha oh I lovee Yuu Watase’s stuff! Her art is just gorgeous and her guys to die for. I totally get you on the protectiveness. But as someone else said, her plots ARE all pretty much the same thing … xD;; Still enjoyable for the most part tho
  6. teardropcrystal said: I love Fushigi Yugi and YW’s art, but I tried a few other stories of hers and they all basically had the same plot. main is quirky, bffs with pop girl. saved by a hot guy, powers awaken, betrayal, graphic death, love wins. I would elaborate but space
  7. kerriwon said: i actually thought Hot Gimmick was one of the better ones. plus the art is gorgeous.
  8. starvingstarling said: I remember reading Absolute Boyfriend! I wanted to read Fushigi Yuugi but never did. The “no private parts”-style sex scenes made me blush at the time.
  9. possiblyused said: Ah, I remember Hot Gimmick. I bought every volume, hoping to be with anyone BUT Ryoki. She did anyway in the end… The guy verbally abused her, she clings on to believing ‘he’s kind sometimes.’ PUNCH EVERYONE
  10. spiderlillian said: I actually like some bits of Fushigi (including Nuriko), but I mainly couldn’t stand Miaka most of the time. But it’s been a while, so w/e.
  11. beresbel said: I hated who the girl ended up with in Ceres.
  12. belovedyuu said: Yuu Watase ftw! -high five-
  13. minuiko posted this