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Black Gate (Vol. 1-3) (Nicola)
Black Gate (Vol. 1-3) by Yukiko Sumiyoshi
Pages: 640 pages
Ages: 13+
First Published: (2007,2008 Japan) Sept. 28, 2010 English Trans.
Publisher: Tokyopop
Rating: 5/5
First sentence:
Is a person’s life … set in stone?
Acquired: Received a review copy from Harper Collins Canada.
Reason for Reading: The publisher’s summary had me very interested plus I liked the idea of reading a small mangas series all in one go.
Dare I say it? I think this is the best manga I have read to date. What a compelling, epic saga that covers many years through flashbacks and skipping forward into the future. When a person dies a white gate opens in which their soul goes through to the other side (which the story does not explore) but on rare occasions a black gate will open and these gates are not satisfied with just one soul, they will try to suck the souls out of the nearby living and often cause mass destruction such as fires to gather as many souls as possible. Just as rare is a certain breed of people who can see these gates the Mitedamashi; they are also the only ones who can close black gates. This is the story of Hijiri, a boy, with a Mitedamashi guardian who grows to learn of his own special powers, his true background and his important role in the future. And I can’t tell you anything else because it’s just too exciting to find it out yourself as you read.
From the copyright dates, and some on-line searching, it looks like the individual volumes of this series were never published in English before, making this all-in-one edition the first English publication of a most awesome trilogy. Most manga series go on for several up to infinity volumes, so it is a real pleasure to sit down and read a series from start to finish, knowing when it ends, that really is the end. This story becomes very deep and without going into any detail it ends up questioning life and death. Do people who fear death so much have a right to put an end to death? If we could stop death, would that be ethical? Would it be good for us as human beings? Would we really want to live forever? When you think about forever do you really take into account how long forever actually is??
A truly brilliant story that had me glued to my seat, kept me turning the pages and had me finishing the book over the course of a day. The characters are all well-developed with pasts and certain things that motivate them to act and behave the way they do. Any character is worthy of being favoured by a reader and I think each will have their fans. Of course I liked Hijiri, the main character. So many people messed around with his life and yet he never stops caring and trusting. He starts off as a troublesome, mouthy little kid and grows to become a worthy leader. I also liked Michizane, a boy whose childhood was emotionally abusive and he is still not treated well, though it is through no fault of his own that he is not liked. He has an attitude to cover himself from being hurt and unfortunately often becomes the victim. But Hijiri befriends him right away (against his will) and eventually Michizine allows himself to care and trust. There are no long drawn out battle scenes, no s*x, no gory violence. What you do get for the Teen rating is the mild swear words (d@mn and h3ll) and after non-graphic kill scenes a spatter of blood or blood on hands, etc.
I can’t help but sound like I’m gushing, as I really did love this book and highly recommend it to fantasy manga fans or those who enjoy stories dealing with souls and death.
The Color of Earth (Nicola)
The Color of Earth by Kim Dong Hwa, translated by Lauren Na
The Story of Life on the Golden Fields Vol. 1
Pages: 319 pgs.
Ages: 16+
First Published: (Apr. 2009 Eng. trans) (2003 orig. Korean)
Genre: YA, realistic fiction, manga
Rating: 4.5/5
First sentence:
“Golly! Them beetles are matin’.”
Reason for Reading: Cybils nominee.
Summary: This is the story of two women, one a little and the other her young widowed mother. The story focuses on the little girl and her awakening identity as a woman, and also as a side story is her mother who finds love again for the first time since her husband’s death. As the back of my book says “first love and second chances.”
Comments: This first book in a trilogy follows the little girl from the age of about six to fourteen. It takes place in a small Korean village in a time period unknown, with the only clue to placing it somewhere in the 20th century being a steam or coal engine train. Now, I’ll start off by saying this is not the type of book I would normally read *at all*. I am much too conservative to even want to read a book that has the words “s*xual awakening” on the front flap but doing my job as a Cybils panelist I reluctantly set down to give the book a chance.
I can’t quite know how to say just how beautiful a story this was. A little girl’s curiosity about her body, the difference between boys and girls, grown-up things she over hears and how she goes straight to her mother with her questions and confusion is a tender love story in itself. The mother/daughter relationship presented here is truly touching and really the backbone of this volume. For those wanting a plot there really isn’t any. We are touched by the maternal relationship and watch as each of them separately experiences womanhood. The little girl’s experiences of finding our about her body, how it’s different than a boys, her first period and her first crush on a boy, who is studying to be a monk, are all respectfully portrayed. The mother, who is young and beautiful, suddenly finds that love for a man can touch her heart again when she falls in love with a traveling artist who keeps returning to visit her. There are a couple of incidents in the book that I could have done without but for the most part the material is presented in a decent way, making for a truly touching story.
I also really enjoyed the artwork. The is the first time I’ve read Korean manga which is called manhwa. I’m not a huge fan of manga artwork as I hate the horrible fake over expressive faces and how all the men look like girls. But this book was not drawn that way at all, aside from the occasional great big mouth to show extreme emotions all the artwork is very realistic and the detailed background scenery in many frames is lovely. The men aslo look like men. I wonder if this is typical of Korean manhwa or just this particular artist’s style.
I’ve fallen for Ewha, the little girl, and I’ll be reading the next book for sure. Though I won’t commit any further as I’ll have to see if the story remains within my boundaries as she gets older. This book, The Color of Earth, is not going to be for everyone but if the topic interests you and you are comfortable with the subject matter then I hope you find the story as touching as I did. I’ll end with a lovely little quote the girl says to herself near the end of the book:
Because I asked something I shouldn’t have asked. I heard what I shouldn’t have heard. And because I went where I shouldn’t have gone, I saw what I shouldn’t have seen. How will my young heart cope with all that I’ve heard and seen?