You're Reading It Backwards

[pshaw_raven]

I have fallen behind on Black Butler. Ordinarily I'm the kind of reader who likes omnibus editions of comics or manga. Give me a free evening, a glass of wine, and a nice, thick book. But I picked up Black Butler almost at random after browsing the shelves at Barnes & Noble, back when I decided manga was worth my while and I was going to read some, but had no clue where to start or what was good. I still consider myself a real n00b, but partly that's because when I just say, "I like manga," I don't want people to think I've been reading for thirty years and know all the authors, artists, and have super-refined tastes and a huge collection. When I say it, I mean I'm still somewhat starry-eyed in front of the shelves, and each series potentially holds my new favorite story.

Lo these many years past, when I was newly married and still lived in Louisiana, I actually managed to see the animated movie version of Ghost in the Shell. I haven't yet seen the live-action version. But I expressed an interest in it to Fox (I've since divorced that first guy, mainly for being an emotionally abusive jackass, which Fox is not) who picked up a copy of the manga in Tokyo.

He sent me a picture and I looked it up to discover he'd gotten a bilingual edition that reviewers on Amazon noted was "uncensored." Hmm, naughty bits? Yep, naughty bits. America is so weird about that. It's like we use porn to sell every conceivable kind of food or product, but if you just make porn for the sheer hell of making porn then you're obviously immoral.

Anyway.

I finally got to sit down and start reading this thing and I'm really taken with it. The art's terrific. If I weren't already working on learning Icelandic I would probably be pushed to take up learning kanji and spoken Japanese. One language at a time, though. But I've taken a break because I know we'll likely eat dinner soon, and I want to just have some uninterrupted time with this story. It's been so long since I saw the movie that I only remember the bones of the plot. The same friend who had a copy also showed me that Studio Ghibli film about the tanuki, which I still love watching from time to time. She also was a big fan of Bondage Fairies ... 

As a side note, I have a generally positive attitude towards sexually explicit material. I say "generally," because I don't believe everything sexually explicit is something to feel positive about, but that's again, for another post.

So I was just sitting here writing and I noticed that, unless she's on one I don't have yet, Grell isn't on the covers of any of the Black Butlers. I do have a Funko POP vinyl of her, but I also try not to own a lot of doodads that I have to dust and clean around. So I have that one, and TV series Hannibal. So yes, my tastes run dark. ;) I told my mom once I blamed it on her because I recall as a small child being read to sleep ... with Edgar A. Poe stories. I think I came by it honestly.

There are two volumes of the bilingual edition on Amazon - same as the one I'm reading. I don't know what other editions were like since this is my first time with it, but I'm really impressed and enjoying the hell out myself. Hopefully I don't stay up too late!

Comments

[october_rain]

I've drawn some manga characters in the past, but funny enough never read any of it. I've heard of one recently that sounds interesting though, "Witch Hunter" so I might give that a try.

It's cool that you're learning Icelandic! I don't know any of it but discovered the awesomeness of Icelandic music last summer and have been hooked on a few groups from there: Samaris, Soley and Mammút. Has it been a difficult language to learn?

[pshaw_raven]

I'll look for "Witch Hunter" next time I'm at the bookstore.

I listen to Google Play for music, so in the evenings I'm often playing ambient or jazz, but there are a couple of playlists of Scandinavian groups that are just really excellent. I need to start keeping an eye on the names of the bands.

I'm still sort of beginning Icelandic, and the sentence structure *so far* resembles English, which is nice. There are a lot of pre- and suf-fixes to keep track of, and the worst problem I'm having is that it's difficult for me to pronounce some of the sounds correctly. I studied French in high school and college, then lived in Louisiana for a long time, so that's the way I tend to want to say things.

[evilpettingz00]

I thought Grell was a guy. o_0

One thing that always confused me about Black Butler was that I couldn't figure out what the target audience was supposed to be. You've got a pretty male character and some fanservice-y stuff with him that makes it seem to be aimed at a female audience (and I think most Black Butler fans I've seen have been female,) but then there's a lot of violence, which would usually mean it's aimed at teen boys. It really doesn't matter since those are just stereotypes and we can all watch whatever genres and content appeal to us anyway, but since anime is usually pretty clearly intended to be one thing or another (shoujo, shonen, seinen, etc.), I've just been curious about what Black Butler is meant to be. Do you know?

[pshaw_raven]

I think he is ... I just got in the habit of using female pronouns with Grell for some reason.

I'm not entirely sure where BB lands as far as its target audience. The vast majority of fans I've interacted with have been female, but there are some guys. I'd classify it as simply "horror," in English categories, though Japanese horror is a whole other thing.

[evilpettingz00]

Then it remains a mystery!

[yohjideranged]

I'm behind on Black Butler too...I just didn't have the time for a while and then money became an issue to get the latest volumes.

I really need to get back into it, I really do.

[pshaw_raven]

I think I may only be two volumes behind right now. It looks like v. 24 is just out.

[dorchadas]

Masamune Shirō's career has kind of an odd trajectory. He did a bunch of great cyberpunk manga in the 80s--Ghost in the Shell, but also stuff like Appleseed--that all got anime adaptations, and now he mostly does porn. The internet tells me he put out a collection called Galgrease, because it's full of gals who look like they're covered in grease.

--Icelandic

Huh! If you don't mind my asking, why did you decide to learn Icelandic?

[pshaw_raven]

I'm almost tempted to look at Galgrease just for curiosity. There's some porn in Ghost, not lots and lots, but I was flipping through the first volume and came across some, which made me think, "Oh that's why people are saying 'uncensored.'"

In December I took a trip to Iceland, and while almost everyone spoke some English, I decided it would be worth my time to learn some Icelandic. I enjoyed the trip enough that I want to go back and explore more.