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]

As I told avierra, I just don't feel like arguing with Red about something as trivial as a movie. And anyway, it's not fresh in my mind anymore. It's not always about right and wrong in an absolute sense. Of course the right thing to do would be to write the review.

I've tried to get Karl to say what he likes me to wear ... the only preference he's ever expressed is that he doesn't like things that hide the fact that I have boobs ... he's also pretty sensible about "I think it's more important for you to wear things that make you feel sexy."

Elegant!!! You are elegant! Even with kitty-cat ears on! You are not trashy! I am so working on a bit of a girl crush on you, so don't talk nonsense, smilla!

[chomiji]

Well, the point about the clothes-preferences, of course, is the opposite - he was open-minded about anything except that!

Hey, stop second-guessing my taste, you opinionated elegant thing! Just because I don't like most conventional girl-stuff doesn't meant I don't know elegant when I see it! We can go over the People mag Oscar gowns issue together sometime - you'll see!

I like those earrings, although they're larger than I can usually make myself wear. I like that kind of peacock-effect with black. Did I ever show you the silk scarf Kat got me - iridescent turquoise and deep magenta and black, all shadow-striped with alternating solid and sheer bands?

> shrug <   Part of me is actually afraid she'll think less of me if I support something she's already branded as sexist. If the stuff hits the fan, I'll try to explain it to her. Otherwise, I'm letting that puppy snore.

[chomiji]

The trouble with large earrings and me is not so much the weight - it's that with my cropped hair, really large earrings sort of wear me!

Scarves get lost ... I used to have more. I like really big, shawl-sized squares, and that's a size that's not all that easy to find. That shadow-striped one is my almost-warm-weather scarf, and the weather's been so wacky, I don't think I ever wore it this season. The gold-shot one is from Karl's sister. Silver would be better for me, but it's usable - the intense blue and red work.

[chomiji]

Heee, I'm so used to the idea that I have rather a stern face (partially because of my nasty frowny things next to the inner ends of my eyebrows ... ), that I hadn;t thought of myself as having soft coloring, but these days. you're right.

(Sorry about trying to drop the Hodgell discussion in the other thread ... I had visions of it growing like this one, and DO NOT WANT. I should never have started talking about Jame, but it was almost unavoidable - I've been flinching reflexively every time I read the idiot's name.)

[chomiji]

> sob! <

I used to have higher-contrast looks! My skin was never her pink-and-white (she got that from Karl), but my hair was darker! But the very dark hair coloring was too harsh ... something about my complexion has faded.

You know - the little vertical wrinkles on each side of the space at the top of the nose, just inside the eyebrows. The ones that the reverend Jikaku told Sanzo would go away (at least a bit) if he smoked! The funny thing is, they don't usually show up very well on Sanzo because of his thick bangs - the only one of the boys who usually has them showing is Gojyo! (And his aren't always vertical - they sometimes slant. I guess his are cynical-grin lines rather than frown lines ... .)

(frowny lines and Saiyuki guys' expressions)

[chomiji]

Arrgh, I'm never gonna catch up with these ... !

Yeah, that must have been one impossibly cruddy period in his life.