Shaman Warrior, vols. 1-5 (Park Joong-Ki)

[chomiji]

Shaman warriors have the ability to transform their bodies in various ways, making them formidable war machines. As this series opens, a legendary shaman, Yarong, meets his death under circumstances that seem highly suspicious to his servant, the massive fighter Batu. Batu swears to defend his master's child, Yaki, but he soon finds this far more difficult than he expected: shaman warriors are being hunted down and killed, with the circumstances of Yarong's death being twisted to provide an excuse. Batu at last decides he must take desperate measures to ensure that little Yaki survives and becomes able to defend herself.

Thus far, this is playing out like an almost gender-blind shounen/seinen adventure. There are more male characters than female characters (especially in the first volume), but the female characters we've encountered thus far are fighting, doing magic, and adventuring along with the men. These female characters are also generally drawn with reasonable bustlines and amazingly modest clothing. The story includes betrayal, loyalty beyond the grave, a variety of non-romantic attachments (siblings, master-servant, parent-child, team mates, etc.), and complex politics. The artwork is gorgeous, illustration rather than cartoon, along the lines of Inoue's work on Vagabond and Samura's work on Blade of the Immortal (and when we do encounter grotesques, they're all the more unnerving because they're so well-drawn).

Oh, and telophase? Batu the Destroyer traveling with little Yaki is just your kind of thing!

Shaman Warrior, vols. 1-5 (review)

(FYI - that's teenaged Yaki in the icon.)

OK ... wild theories time. The Mr. and I don't think Yarong was Yaki's father. We think Yarong was Yaki's mother.

This may sound like total crack - after all, we have a number of pictures of bare-chested Yarong in vol. 1, and that's a totally masculine-looking torso, very much in the realistic mode: not tapered and bishie-ish, but compactly muscled and slightly stocky. But think about how Yarong has a tiny baby, and Batu keeps urging him to take it easy because "you can't fight anymore. Your body can't take it" and the General who sends Yarong off on his fatal mission apologizes that he had to "inform you of this while your body is still changing," and then later this same General thinks of Yarong with this statement:"I have plucked the most beautiful flower in all Kugai ... ."

I guess only time will tell.

Park gets a little weird with names: there is a character called Genji (female, and supposedly Batu's sister) and another called Aragorn (the tattooed warlord of a clan that's being forced out by the General). Genji is a lot of fun - frankly outspoken, a skilled fighter, and a master of disguise. Aragorn's a pretty good character too, but I keep twitching every time I read that name ... .

Yaki's experiences in the Butcher Camps are all too realistic, except in one area, and I think Park is actually to be commended for not going for the sexual angle in most of what happens to her. I also like how Yatilla gives her a reason to go on and be strong. He's a very promising character, and I hope we'll see more of him.

My only regret thus far is that Yarong was killed off so soon. He was just my sort of character.

Comments

[chomiji]

Arrrgh ... well, now, of course, I'm worrying that I might have hurt your feelings.

But I think maybe now you can see why I was so upset and at sea when Red was badgering me about reading more feminine types of literature. It's really not a mindset that comes naturally to me at all, and I had a good deal of my childhood and adolescence being faced with my female inadequacies at the hands of my mother, other relatives, and snarky girls at school. It was to the point where when guys came on to me, I thought they were making fun of me.

When I finally got to feeling somewhat better about my looks - and I thank my blond-haired college guy and Karl for that - it was on my own terms. This meant acting more confidently, getting more exercise, getting better haircuts, and making sure that my clothes fit properly - not by the usual makeup-makeover, changing the way I dressed completely to something more feminine, and so on. I was still wearing pants whenever I could, T-shirts were still my wardrobe staples, but I felt comfortable in my skin, and it showed - guys wanted to talk to me at cons and so on. Of course, the fact that I had a steady at that point helped ... which is pretty ironic.

But I have very strong knee-jerk reaction to an emphasis on looks and on the idea that that's the main "weapon" a woman can bring to a dicey situation. I can get what [I think] you're saying - her (and possibly your) "talisman" in that sort of situation is the ritual of the warpaint ... mine would be far more likely some ritual deep breaths to trigger relaxation so that I could meet the opponent's gaze calmly and speak confidently and convincingly - which I know that I can do, if I'm calm.

I think another part of my negative association with makeup is that to me, it has a masklike aspect - obfuscation, dissembling, misrepresentation. I don't like to flirt, either, because that seems to me to be presenting a false front. I fiercely need to be liked, but I want it to be the real me that people are learning to like - I don't want there to be a time later on when they find out that I'm not really like what they first found interesting or attractive. It's bizarre to what lengths and in what directions insecurity can grow.

(It's amazing how deep and how serious these discussions get, isn't it? I'm sorry ... .)

[avierra.livejournal.com]

It's interesting what maekup represents to people, I mean, people have been putting colors and designs on their face and bodies since before recorded history. It's practically part of the human condition, I think. Although, having said that, I personally almost never wear it; in fact, I can't think of the last time I did. I suspect it has something to do with my mother, who (when she can afford it), wears full warpaint at the slightest pretext. So maybe in reaction that that, and maybe because my husband has a strongly negative reaction when I do (possibly because I don't apply it well, I don't know ;P ), but I do get that it makes some people feel better and more mentally prepared (as it does with my mother).

I think it's pretty interesting what people use to put themselves in a particular mindset, or as a coping mechanism. I am not sure I have a "face the world" mechanism, unless it's to think about things to the point of overthinking, sometimes, and just screw my courage up and do what I have to do. Then I vent to my husband when it's all done. ;)

[chomiji]

It's funny ... mulling this over (a lot today), I think it was more a case of confounded expecations. I found myself thinking of what kispexi2 was saying one time, about how every so often she really gets smacked in the face with the fact that just because people online are in synch with her on some issues, it doesn't mean they're in synch on all issues. And I think that's what happened here - I was expecting a very sympatico character, and right off, there was this big gap. And a little feeling of "Oh noes, these people I really like really like this character and identify with her and I want to shake her until her teeth rattle in her pretty li'l head! Woes! I am clearly not on the same wavelength as much as I thought I was!" and then my version of Gojyo's "Why am I so weak?" - "Why am I so weird?"

And then that made me angry, because I no longer put up with being made to feel weird. And so poor Sookie and her lipstick addiction took a much bigger hit than they deserved. Because I don't care if other people wear the stuff - I just don't like the feeling that someone thinks I should.

And very ironically, the Young Lady and I spent about an hour yesterday in Sephora, doing mother-daughter bonding over that very same stuff ... she wanted some concealer for blemishes and under-eye darkness, and she also bought some eye shadow, and we both tried on lip glosses (and complained about the stickiness in several cases), and I sniffed perfumes.

My husband doesn't think much of makeup one way or the other, unless there's too much of it. My Mom always wore at least lipstick, despite being an academic type, and she certainly owned and knew how to use the whole nine yards.

[avierra.livejournal.com]

And a little feeling of "Oh noes, these people I really like really like this character and identify with her and I want to shake her until her teeth rattle in her pretty li'l head! Woes! I am clearly not on the same wavelength as much as I thought I was!" and then my version of Gojyo's "Why am I so weak?" - "Why am I so weird?"

Hehe! No no... I hadn't thought about other ways Sookie could be perceived, so that was pretty instructive, actually. I don't think that's weird at all (or that Smilla and I are weird for thinking of her in a different way). I enjoy hearing about different interpretations of stories and characters (and isn't that why one has these sorts of discussions? ), and I think I take a lot more away when someone holds up their hand and says "Wait a sec, I don't think that at all..." (and I am usually the one saying that, so... ;D) People's feelings are what they are.

FWIW, I don't think Harris is presenting Sookie as an ideal. In fact, I think you may be on to something with pointing out the lipstick addiction, because in fact, Sookie does have a habit of focusing on the banal at times -- as her own personal coping mechanism, I suspect. I think Smilla was on to something when she said that Sookie focuses on her appearance as something that she has complete control over, and the mundania of daily living is something she also controls. She is mostly along for the ride for pretty much everything else. I don't think she's reactive, exactly, but she's situationally proactive (like with the Rattrays).

And very ironically, the Young Lady and I spent about an hour yesterday in Sephora, doing mother-daughter bonding over that very same stuff ... she wanted some concealer for blemishes and under-eye darkness, and she also bought some eye shadow, and we both tried on lip glosses (and complained about the stickiness in several cases), and I sniffed perfumes.

My 6 y.o. daughter is fricking OBSESSED with makeup and being "stylish." Which is sort of cute, but where the hell is a 6 year old coming up with that. I don't know who she's getting those kinds of ideas from, some popular kid, I guess. Which sort of breaks my heart, because I know... I KNOW she's never gonna be one of the cool kids. And her grandmother keeps buying her like Barbie makeup and so on, which really pisses me off. Ah well.

[chomiji]

Arrgh ... the pink princess thing is a stage that almost all little het girls go through. I was fond of princesses for a while there too, although I think I switched to mermaids fairly quickly (and this was pre-Ariel). All I can suggest is that you find some stories with princessy girls who do something else besides wear clothes. Or something that's just so fun and interesting that she can't resist it despite the fact that it's not princessy. Do you all have the Junie B. Jones books?

Another thing about Barbie is that she has stuff, and it appeals to kids who have the collector instinct. So if you can channel that into something else ... the Young Lady went in for Beanie Babies, for example.

You can also just put your foot down about the makeup - remind Grandma of all the problems with sexualization of young girls these days. Then decide when you're going to allow which pieces of feminine "advertising" and stick to what you decide. I told my daughter that she could have her ears pierced when she got her period, and learn to wear makeup and have shoes with more than 1-inch heels when she was getting ready for her Bat Mitzvah ("becomes a teenager" works just as well). It worked pretty well - she knew she'd be able to do it someday.

[chomiji]

Well, as noted, it was more a case of my demons coming out in reaction to over-expectations. I was clearly hoping for something like you apparently got with Lirael, partially because I've found so damned little good new fiction recently. If it weren't for manga, I'd be doing nothing but re-reading, I think.

I don't care for the pretty girl who thinks she's ugly either, but heroines don't have to be pretty at all. I'm fond of Maree Mallory in Diana Wynne Jones' Deep Secret, who's not pretty at all, really. But when the right guy falls for her, he suddenly finds that she looks "astonishingly good." It's always better to have characters' looks revealed by others' reactions, but in a first-person narrative, the author is kind of stuck unless she's awfully skilful - or resorts to the dreaded Mirror Scene (Cherryh claims that every author gets one and only one of those).

I've had on-again, off-again pressure implying that if I'd just stopped being me, I'd be happier, as recently as about 2 years ago. (That was the last incident where I tried to get closer to people at my synagogue.) The makeup/clothes was only part of it. It sounds like you had a pretty clear idea of your own style early on - I didn't glom onto mine until well into my 30s (some time I'll show you my party clothes ... soft, drapy black velvet or silk slacks, glittery sweater shells, fancy jackets ... ).

Yes, we were at Montgomery Mall! I tried on Une Jardin sur la Nile and liked it OK (just as well I didn't love it - very pricey!). Nordstrom's was having a "fragrance event" for Mother's Day, and someone had a Pink Grapefruit perfume, which was fun but very sweet, and faded within 5 minutes.

I actually have a lip gloss I like, that works more like a stain. But I can't remember who makes it - some department store counter thing, like Estee Lauder or something. It's a sheer wine tone. My lips are already pretty colorful (one of my few really good facial features, I think), so I like a sheer gloss to just change the tone. But if I'd found a lighter one I'd been able to stand, I would have bought it.

[avierra.livejournal.com]

Hehe, I sometimes wonder if there is anyone whose mother didn't screw them up. My mother wouldn't let me grow my hair long, and cut it short. (I know have very very long hair ;P ) I don't know why she was such a control freak over that, she wasn't over my wardrobe so much though.

It is interesting you mention the Shiseido ads. I wanted to be Siouxsie Sioux. For a time I was somewhat into the whole punk and later goth thing, and I still like the look, it is just that I think I look ridiculous in it, for the most part ;( I wasnt a kid though, I just thought she was amazingly beautiful and exotic and loved (and still love) her music. She has amazing bone structure and would be extremely beautiful even without the makeup. I am gonna attach some links, I am pretty sure there is strong Japanese influence, perhaps from Noh and Kabuki styles (but that is just a guess). Or perhaps Egyptianish with the eyes (or a mix), but the whole thing with the white mask and the red lips is all Japanese, I think.

http://www.austinyoung.com/menu/images/siouxsie_sioux_dreamshow.jpg

http://www.dianamystery.com/Siouxsie3.jpg

[chomiji]

I think my mother would have been delighted for me to have voiced any opinion at all about what I wore and so on. Mostly, I was exactly as caring about the whole subject as your average boy: I didn't want to cut my hair because it was mine (but all I ever did with it was keep it in a ponytail or a braid, because it was wavy-curly and tangled easily), and clothes had to be comfortable and not reveal too much of what was beneath them. And that was it. She was from a New York City garment-district family, and she was totally bewildered by how little I cared about all this stuff. I hated shopping for clothes and used to take a book along and hide under the clothes racks until my mother finished picking things out for me and dragged me out to try them on.

That's another reason why I love Ouran High School Host Club: Haruhi's attitude toward clothes and the whole boy/girl social scene is very much like mine was at that age.

The kind of clothes that suit my figure (no waist, busty, wide-shouldered, relatively narrow hips compared with the rest, potbelly like a guy) aren't generally pitched for teens, and I had a serious face almost from grade school on. So all those "fun" clothes weren't all that much fun for me!

I used to dream of being slim and having straight black hair - I'm not certain why - so all that Orientalesque stuff appealed to me, but I didn't ever think of it as applying to me in real life. It was a revelation - but not the sort you might think - during my early 20s, when I had contact lenses (can't wear 'em anymore), when my sister-in-law-to-be convinced me to have a makeover. The woman did me up with bronze and violet shades - very ethnic - and I woke up to the idea that a more Bohemian look might be the ticket, even though I had no intention of putting stuff on my face everyday to accomplish that. It took several more years to realize that lots of interesting layers just made me look more square. So I've settled into relatively simple clothes with clean lines and some Bohemian/arty accessories, especially earrings.

(And I had my colors "done" - I'm a Vibrant Summer, according to one of the popular classifications.)

[chomiji]

:-)

I think my equivalent girl crush was Annie Lennox of Eurhythmics, and I knew I could never, never look like that ... I was in my early 20s by then, anyway. (My fascinations in my teen years were all guys - Queen and David Bowie among them.)

I never wanted to be the Princess - I wanted to be the Princess' resourcesful, trusted best friend and confidante. But my idealized Princess was always very un-WASP. Long dark hair and a tawny-ish skin were much the thing ... .

[chomiji]

Well, I'm relieved! I spoke very much from the gut, without thinking what it might sound like, and then I was mad at myself.

Yeah ... I wanted to have a kid (kids, actually, originally) because I like kids - not for the usual reasons, I guess. And I found out that it isn't quite like taking care of someone else's - I didn't quite count on the conflicting emotional crap (or the post-partum depression). But even the way most women talk about their kids drives me nuts.

(And let's not talk about the hypocrisy inherent in my talking about anyone's makeup as a mask and an obfuscation when I'm dying my hair to hide the grey ... .)

Re: "Quick, someone call the Girl Police and file a report"

[avierra.livejournal.com]

It's funny, there was a thread on Fanfic_rants yesterday about mpreg fics, and a number of the writers there said pregnancy squicked them (not just mpreg). I never thought about women feeling that way. I don't mean anything by saying that, or to suggest that it is somehow women's destiny, I just didn't realize that some women were squicked, per se, by it. I just never thought about it, I guess.

I knew some men did though... I remember when I was pregnant I was sitting at the local music store waiting for my lesson, because towards the end Victoria would hook her foot under my ribs and kick the shit out of me (she thinks that she did that is totally awesome today, the little sadist ;P), and it hurt like hell for a few minutes, anyway, one of the guys there was watching my face, and he had the weirdest expression and he said "Is it kicking? I can't imagine what it's that's like, something moving inside of me like that" and I could tell he was totally repulsed.

I loved being pregnant though, and I loved how I felt. I had a number of problems with the pregnancy (and ended up with a c-section), but overall it was a very enjoyable experience for me. But, I was very motivated to have a child, and in fact went to extreme lengths to have one. I felt that it was something I needed and wanted to do.

So, I can totally understand that there is a converse to my own feelings, and I applaud people who make the decision that they are not parent material and who stick to their guns. I know there is tons of pressure from society and relatives to pump out kids; I would imagine it is difficult to resist. I know it from personal experience, and in our case it wasn't even because we didn't want kids (thereby adding to the pressure). There are too many people who aren't parent material, who have kids anyway, and I admire those who know they aren't and who decide to be the Fun Aunt or Uncle rather than a parent.

Re: "Quick, someone call the Girl Police and file a report"

[chomiji]

I like people, and I like animals ... for me, kids (including babies) are just somewhere on that same spectrum. I make eye contact and interact with babies and tiny kids the same way I chirp at birds and try to communicate with dogs and cats and squirrels and ... .

But the intense dependence and neediness of a very young child - particularly when I am the mother - was very exhausting and disturbing to me. I am extremely reactive to the moods and actions of people around me, and when I hear a crying baby or child, I can't ignore it at all. Care's babyhood was very rough on me ... .

It does not bother me that you don't want to have kids. The only thing that bothers me is what I sometimes see in childless adults, a complete dislike of children and an antagonism toward the idea that society should be spending any resources on them. A proper society has children, folks. And unless you're planning on instantly dropping dead the minute you start to show signs of the infirmity of age, you're going to want today's kids around, transformed into decent adults and feeling compassionate and like dealing with you, 20 or 30 years from now ... so better be preapred to make the investment, as a member of society.

[chomiji]

telophase introduced me to Mononoke, and I watched the first episode online. Again, I couldn't make myself sit for more than that. It was indeed very cool, what I saw of it.

I feel like I've been peeling off layers and layers of cocooning junk all my life, and the real me is only just emerging. I want people to love that person that I've become.

[chomiji]

It's very different ... you feel all those are part of the real you. I feel that any masks I've put on - successful student, my parents' (especially my mother's) daughter, suburban mom, dutiful employee - aren't me, and I resent them, and only put them on because the alternative was worse.

And yet I also know that feeling - where you said "someone who can't deal with that is telling me that only a certain limited part of myself is acceptable" - that's the business with Red and her attitude toward both my slash habit and my fondness for books with male protagonists, all over again.

I'm cross with that poor girl right now, and she doesn't even know it ... she came out so negatively about The Forbidden Kingdom that I decided not to blog it because I didn't want to get into an argument with her. And now I feel angry and resentful about it.

Does it help to know that when I see you, I'm proud to know this elegant person, and to think that she tells me special things?

[avierra.livejournal.com]

It's very different ... you feel all those are part of the real you. I feel that any masks I've put on - successful student, my parents' (especially my mother's) daughter, suburban mom, dutiful employee - aren't me, and I resent them, and only put them on because the alternative was worse.

Yeah, I was the good, dutiful daughter (until I wasn't, then I was crap), the good student, my husband's "enfrau" (his mom is German), and now I am "Victoria's mom." I guess I don't resent them so much as regard them with bemusement It seems like I have spent a substantial portion of my life trying to not live up to other people's expectations, only my own, which started with my refusing to be the dutiful daughter anymore. Of course, when you abandon that type of mask, then there are consequences for that too.

that's the business with Red and her attitude toward both my slash habit and my fondness for books with male protagonists, all over again.

This bothered me a bit... at the risk of speaking out of turn, I don't think one should self-censor based on someone's possible reactions. I also like m/m, and guys as protagonists. I am a straight woman, and I already know what it's like to be a woman and have a female perspective. It's like Jerry Seinfeld saying, "Why would I be a leg man, I HAVE legs." Plus, hot guys, doing hot guy things. Mmmmmm. But I digress, I was gonna say, I think if people don't like what one writes, they are free to hit the back button.

Although, I guess I should practice what I preach, my only filter has one person on it, my neighbor, who is a pagan who lists polyamory on her interests and so on; and yet the thought of her reading some of my more lurid entries makes me squirm a bit. I never have used it, but I still kind of wonder what she thinks when I review/discuss some of my yaoi books or manga. ;P Still, we're still friends, our kids play together, and she hasn't said a word about it one way or the other, so I guess she doesn't judge.

There was an interesting discussion over at Smart Bitches Trashy Books about f/f, slash and het and so on. It started off as a discussion about f/f romances being discriminated against and not published and quickly morphed in other directions, one of which was why many women prefer m/m to f/f. I do for the reason above... hot guys are hot to me; hot women are not so hot, that's just the way it is. For me. I also read trashy romance books (one of my dirty not-so-secrets ;) ), so het also works, haha. :D Although, I think recently I have become more interested in m/m. Perhaps it has an air of the forbidden about it that also appeals. (I hate people telling me what to do.)