A few months back, Karen Mahoney emailed us with the news that her Critique Partner and friend Chandra Rooney was coming out with her debut book, a novelization of the popular Tarot Cafe manhwa. Would we be game to read a genre we previously had little to no experience in?

Never ones to back down from a challenge, we agreed–and thus, the story of how we came in touch with the wonderful Chandra Rooney! We ended up enjoying The Wild Hunt, and had to have her over for an interview and giveaway (details on the giveaway at the end of the interview).

Without further ado, we give you Chandra!

The Book Smugglers: Hi Chandra, thanks for agreeing to the interview. It is great to have you here.

Chandra: Thanks so much for having me.

The Book Smugglers: Your novel Tarot Café – The Wild Hunt was released on Jan 6th and it made the thirteenth (as of Jan 10th) place on Amazon.com’s ‘Bestselling New & Future Releases in Occult’. Congratulations, you must be delighted.

Chandra: Thank you! Yes, I was so excited on when it broke the top ten and was at #8 on January 8. Not that I obsessively checked its ranking last week or anything.

The Book Smugglers: Tarot Café – The Wild Hunt is a novel that is a companion to the 7 volume manhwa (Korean comic) Tarot Café by Sang Sun Park. Whose idea was it to have a novel in the same world and how did you come to be the writer? Were you a fan of the series?

Chandra: I would imagine it was TOKYOPOP’s idea. Specifically? Perhaps Jenna Winterberg, the editor that I worked with, but I can’t say for certain. I wasn’t approached until after they had Park on board.

In early September of 2007 I received an email from Jenna after she’d found my blog stating that they were looking to hire writers for various prose projects. The writing samples on my blog got my foot in the door, but they understandably weren’t enough to secure the deal. I offered the short story that had been published in On Spec magazine, and then did a sample chapter and outline adapting The Fairy vignette from volume two.

That remains one of my favorite vignettes in the series—and I remember thinking that it was one of the few in the first two volumes that had the potential for expansion. All of the others seemed complete.

I became a fan through working on the novel. Hopefully, I’ll be forgiven for coming late to the series, as we worked very hard to create something the fans would enjoy.

The Book Smugglers: Did you work with Sang Sun Park at all? Did she have to approve your work before hand?

Chandra: My interaction with Park was limited and through several channels—my editor, a translator, and Park’s representative. We asked her several questions about the comic series, and she provided answers. She had approval over the outline and a sample chapter. From what I was told, her comments were minimal because she trusted we were going to do things right.

The Book Smugglers: The Tarot Café- The Wild Hunt has a mixture of new and old characters. Old characters like Pamela and Belus who were the protagonists in the Manhwa are not your creation. Was it hard to find a balance between old and new and to write characters that were not yours? Did you find it limiting?

Chandra: Limiting isn’t quite the right term for it. I agreed to the project because it involved working outside of my comfort zone, but the existing world and characters would create a safety net of sorts. When I got too focused on NEW!SHINY! Jenna would remind me that we had to ensure Pamela and the other characters were involved and playing important roles, even if they didn’t get as much screen time.

The largest concern when you’re working with another person’s creative property is how to be respectful of the source material. I think Robert Shearman described it as finding the beating heart of the series. Fortunately, we were able to ask Park what she specifically wanted to see and she said “betrayal.” [smile] I think we’ve more than delivered our fair share of that in The Wild Hunt.

The Book Smugglers: The novel is categorized as a “Light Novel” – which is the Japanese equivalent of YA…but with illustrations. Did you have to follow any set conventions whilst writing The Wild Hunt?

Chandra: The comic rather establishes all the conventions—tone, genre, etc. Without giving away too much about the novel, I did feel that we should have been able to establish in-text that our boy Jack was bisexual. To me nothing more than a bromance can evolve between two heterosexual males, because they are heterosexual. Apparently stating explicitly that a character is bisexual and establishing a believable threat that a successful seduction can occur violates the rules of the shonen ai (boy love) genre.

That’s really the only convention that I found myself knocking fists with, but it’s a tie-in so you have to do what existing series has established as the rules for the world.

The Book Smugglers: The book and the series have a Tarot Reader as the main character and Tarot itself play a major role in the series and the books. Did you have to learn Tarot to be able to connect the cards to the events in the novel?

Chandra: Part of why I was approached is that Jenna noticed my blog profile stated I was an amateur Tarot reader. Nowhere near as proficient as our Kaz, mind you. The spread that features in the novel is the actual spread done for Bryn before I started plotting the outline. We had basic ideas in place, but the majority of the story evolved from the story the cards told us.

The Book Smugglers: The series Tarot Cafe uses a lot of old myths and legends – from the paranormal to the religious and historical. Similarly in your novel you use The Wild Hunt – a folk myth present in Europe especially in the Middle Ages. Were you familiar with the myth before the novel? Are you a studious of mythology and folklore?

Chandra: I was vaguely familiar with the myth—and I wanted to work with it, but I had never really been able to conceive of a full-length novel concept involving the hunt and I wanted to do more than just a short story. (If that makes sense.) The length of the light novel format presented the perfect opportunity, and Jenna had previous experience working with a novel focused on the myth.

I’m a folklore and history junkie! I think if you read anything I write, you’ll see that I fixate on what we believe and how we involve the divine in our lives—as well as the every day role of stories. Both our personal and cultural mythology and how that shapes who we are and how we view the world.

The Book Smugglers: Are you aware of any plans to translate the novel into Korean and market it over there as well??

Chandra: Not to my knowledge, which of course doesn’t limit the possibility of it happening. Fingers-crossed, yeah?

The Book Smugglers: The Wild Hunt is now done, what comes next? Another book in the Tarot Cafe universe, perhaps? Or do you have anything else on the go?

Chandra: I have two personal projects on the go. One is an adult mythic realism series adapting Japanese fox and western fae lore in a contemporary Canadian setting. Closer in scope to Charles De Lint’s Newford tales than Neil Gaiman’s American Gods. The first book, THE TALE OF ARIAKE, is out on submission.

The other project is a yet-to-be-titled young adult series. Most of the time I refer to it as “the Valentine thing.” It evolved from a reaction to the careful attention to realistic contemporary settings for both THE TALE OF ARIAKE and The Wild Hunt. So the Valentine Thing is far-future speculative mashing up magic and science.

The influences for it are largely the manic tone and adventurous plots of the new Doctor Who series with various reoccurring fantasy and technological elements of anime and manga. Which is a mildly pretentious way of saying no one time travels but there is a great deal of running and CLAMP-like magic circles. Plus a handsome young god with a baseball bat fighting gas-mask wearing monsters that come out of mirrors and kidnap the main protagonist’s best friend.

The Book Smugglers: Who, or what, are some of your influences as an author? Who are your favorite authors? Do you have a genre of choice?

Chandra: I have always read speculative (sci-fi /fantasy), but I also read a lot of mysteries growing up as well as horror and thrillers. I’ve also lived as an ex-pat in both Japan and the United States, and that experience has had a tremendous impact on the kinds of characters and stories that I write.

Some of my biggest author influences have been Joss Whedon, William Gibson, Neil Gaiman, and Charles de Lint. Japanese comic writers like Nobuhiro Watsuki, CLAMP, Yukiru Sugisaki, and Sakura Kinoshita. Recent authors like Rachel Vincent, Vicki Pettersson, Marie Brennan and Melissa Marr, as well as television shows like Reaper, the new Doctor Who, Supernatural, Fringe and Pushing Daisies.

I want to like Heroes. I really do, but it nuked the fridge around the second episode of this season and not even the redemptive Syler arc could save it.

The Book Smugglers: If you were stranded on a desert island, what five books would you bring with you?

Chandra:
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman
The Scent of Shadows by Vicki Pettersson
Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson
Midnight Never Come by Marie Brennan
Spirits in the Wires by Charles de Lint

The Book Smugglers: We Book Smugglers are faced with constant threats and criticisms from our dear significant others concerning the sheer volume of books we purchase and read—hence, we have resorted to ‘smuggling books’ home to escape any scrutinizing eyes. Have you ever had to resort to smuggling books?

Chandra: [laughs] No, I own surprisingly few books in comparison to most authors. There was a time when I’d read whatever I could get my hands on, but in recent years I’ve found I don’t have as much time for it. Thus, I tend to be a very picky reader—a book has to do a lot and has to do it well to earn a permanent place on my shelf.

But if we’re talking about guilty pleasure books…I have a weakness for Jeaniene Frost’s vampporn—I mean, Night Huntress series.

The Book Smugglers: Thank you again for your time and we wish you all the best!

Chandra: You’re welcome, and the very best to you as well.

Chandra Rooney can’t remember exactly when she got her first Tarot deck, but she can remember she wrote her first short story in grade five. In the years since, she’s graduated from high school, been an English teacher in Japan, studied both fine arts and design, and worked as a freelance graphic designer in Los Angeles. Presently, she’s probably writing. When she has her cards read, she likes to use the Queen of Wands as her signifier.

Follow Chandra online at her blogs Dreaming In Red and Good Karma Reviews.

Want more? Check out the Six Shooter Interview with Chandra over at Urban Fantasy Land, Fantasy & Sci-Fi Lovin’ Blog, and Temple Library Reviews.

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And that’s not all (In our best “As Seen On TV!” voice)! We are giving away ONE COPY of The Tarot Cafe – The Wild Hunt!

To enter, all you have to do is leave a comment. The contest is open to everyone and will run until Sunday Jan. 18 at noon (PST). Our sorting hat, aka RANDOM.ORG, will impartially select the lucky winner.

Good luck!

Title: The Tarot Cafe -The Wild Hunt

Author: Chandra Rooney

Genre: Light Novel, Manhwa, Romance, Fantasy

Publisher: TokyoPop
Publication Date: January 2009
Paperback: 240 pages

Stand Alone or Series: First spinoff novelization based on the popular Tarot Cafe manhwa series (check out Ana’s review HERE). The Wild Hunt can be read as a stand alone novel, and is the first in a planned series of “light novels” based on the manhwa.

Why did we read this book: Our official honorary Book Smuggler, Karen Mahoney recommended the novel to us, being a fan of both the manhwa and of Chandra’s writing. In fact, The Wild Hunt is the whole reason behind our Manga Appreciation Week! We’re always up for new authors and genres, so of course we accepted.

Summary: (from TokyoPop.com)
Based on the best-selling manga!…Bryn McMillan’s boyfriend, Jack, has gone missing. She has the nagging suspicion that something terrible–and otherworldly–has happened to him, a feeling that only increases when she has vivid visions of Jack being chased by a vicious hunter intent on owning Jack’s soul. Always one to consult psychics, Bryn finds herself at The Tarot Cafe seeking a way to aid Jack in his spiritual struggle. But when she discovers what has happened to him, Bryn finds herself with an impossible choice between a life without love or an eternity of pain by her soul mate’s side.

REVIEW

First Impressions:

Thea: I’m at a distinct disadvantage with The Wild Hunt as I haven’t had the chance to read the original Tarot Cafe manhwa as Ana has. (On the other hand, I suppose you could say I have as fresh a perspective as any new reader!) In any case, I generally liked The Wild Hunt. Even without having any background with the series, I didn’t find myself lost or having any problem following the story–although I did feel that I was missing out on some subtext for the main characters, especially concerning the tarot reader Pamela. Also, I had the general impression that the plot was laid out in a way that seemed better suited for manga than a prose novel. Despite these misgivings, however, I found The Wild Hunt to be a solid, enjoyable novel.

Ana:I decided to read the manhwa series before The Wild Hunt as this was the original publication progress. I had just finished reading the manhwa series when I picked The Wild Hunt, not without a certain amount of anxiety. I loved the series and I wanted to read MORE about those characters, especially Belus of course. At the same I was worried – would the story work in a different format? What about the characters –old and new – would they work?

The answer is basically yes and generally speaking? The Wild Hunt manages to be faithful to the original at the same time that it brings something new to The Tarot Café world. I needed not to worry.

On the Plot:

Bryn McMillan is a beautiful, selfless young woman. An aspiring actress coming off a very successful serialization of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, Bryn has just landed what could be her Big Break as the star of a new tv show. Everything in her life seems to be falling into place–she has a family that loves her dearly and supports all her choices, her career is finally taking off, and she has a fiancee whom she loves with her whole heart. The only problem is that Jack, her fiancee, has suddenly turned distant and cold–and one day, he disappears completely. Bryn has terrible nightmares about Jack, seeing him as the victim of a hellish hunt, pursued by cold, possessed riders on horseback, who will never stop trying to claim Jack for their own.

Bryn realizes that her life will never feel complete no matter how successful her career is, without her soulmate by her side, and so she turns to the one place where she can receive guidance: the Tarot Cafe.

Thea: Plot-wise, this is a very straightforward tale. A young woman must choose between a life of material happiness and success, or joining her one true love in a possible eternity of torment. It’s not a complicated story, nor is it a new story–but, for what it is, it’s a satisfying story. The theme of self sacrifice, and Ms. Rooney’s astute understanding that every decision comes with a price is probably what I loved the most about this novel. I detest unrealistic, cookie cutter endings, and I loved that Ms. Rooney does not cheapen her novel by trying to make everything fit prettily together. Regardless of whether or not I agree with the ultimate ethical message of the novel, I appreciate the frankness Ms. Rooney has employed in delivering it.

That said, I had a few issues with the writing style and with the overall structure of the novel. For the majority of The Wild Hunt, Bryn is having a tarot reading done by the seer Pamela. Each time Pamela flips over a tarot card, both characters launch into flashbacks and memories. I can see this technique working seamlessly in a comic book or manga format, but unfortunately in the novelization the whole transition process feels awkward and unrealistic. And a tad tiresome. I’m not sure if this is a technique that was employed in the original manhwa, but the LOST-style flashback techniques in writing felt choppy and wasn’t particularly to my tastes.

The other quibble I had was with the writing style itself. The prose seemed overly-ornate, for example:

As her deep, chocolate eyes scanned the room, they met ones of tragic blue over the heads dotting the cafe booths…These were haunted eyes, their irises barely able to contain the secrets struggling to claw free, eyes that overwhelmed their face, its turned-up nose at war with elegant cheekbones and lips. The woman who belonged to the face seemed familiar, with her ink-stain hair falling across ivory skin, but Pamela couldn’t place where they might’ve met.

or…

It wasn’t because she didn’t love him. Bryn wore her love like a perfume, and its intensity flavored the air. Breathing in that adamant affection all day would make it difficult to smell the pain held by words spoken without realization of their barbs and broken glass syllables, or the way they poured poison into the listener’s ear.

Again, some folks might like it, but it comes down to a personal taste issue for me. Instead of drawing me into the story, these ornate descriptions made me notice them, in a bad way.

Ana:Thea, you are absolutely right – it is down to personal taste indeed. I really liked the writing – which I found lyrical. In fact, the very quote you use as an example above is the quote I chose as my favourite!

It wasn’t because she didn’t love him. Bryn wore her love like a perfume, and its intensity flavored the air. Breathing in that adamant affection all day would make it difficult to smell the pain held by words spoken without realization of their barbs and broken glass syllables, or the way they poured poison into the listener’s ear.

I think not only the quote is beautiful in itself but it also points to one of the themes in the novel: that sometimes love is not enough and one has to work for it. Even though Bryn and Jack loved each other they still had their problems, they still spoke words that hurt.

I think this is one of strongest points of the novel and of the plot – to talk about the weakness of the human condition – evidenced by their own choices and by The Wild Hunt itself. The Wild Hunt is a medieval myth in which a group of hunters ride through the night forever and they capture humans to joint their hunt and they have NO CHOICE in the matter, they become part of the hunt whether they like it or not. What can I say?

I am a sucker for books that incorporate folk tales and I think Chandra Rooney did a splendid job here. Not only because The Wild Hunt in itself is an interesting, dark tale but because it FITS so well in the dark, unapologetic world of The Tarot Café.

If I have one problem with the book (and this is where I must agree with Thea) is that the format, in which there is a Tarot reading and then Pamela and Bryn have flashbacks did not work very well in a novel. It was one of my favourite things about the Manhwa series but I didn’t think the transitions from past to present and back again was as smooth as it would have been with the aid of imagery.

On the Characters:

Thea: Here is where I feel like not having read the manhwa hindered me the most. By far, the most interesting characters for me were Pamela, the teen wolf Aaron, and the mysterious Belus. From Ana’s review of the manhwa, I now know that all three characters are pivotal to the original series, and the tantalizing tidbits thrown in about them are meant to enhance their roles in the original work. Other than the fact that I was infinitely more interested in these secondary characters over Bryn and Jack, I never felt lost or confused. The flashbacks to Pamela’s past and her own lost love, the dragon Ash, were skillfully written and provided invaluable insight to the character. The glimpses we see of the lovable Aaron and the cold Belus are similarly enticing–and I want to know much more about these players in subsequent novels.

Then, there are the main characters of Bryn and Jack themselves. Jack is absent for almost the entire novel–until the dramatic finish, the audience’s only glimpses of him are from Bryn’s memories and dreams. As such, I couldn’t help but feel like Jack was somewhat short-changed. We know from Bryn’s thoughts that she truly loves Jack and that she sees him as her soulmate, her one true love, etc, ad nauseum. But for all of Bryn’s memories, none of the happy times with the couple are actually seen–all I got a picture of was a distracted, self-interested dude that could not find happiness with his fiancee, so he turns to other muses for inspiration.

And then, there’s Bryn, our intrepid heroine. Or, perhaps I should say, our intrepid doormat. She’s a beautiful, delicate woman who is a Giver (with a capital “G”). She has her life ahead of her with a promising career, a loving family, adoring fans, and her own youthful beauty…but she has a complex about enjoying any of those things. She feels incredibly guilty for everything: for pursuing her acting career and making Jack float the rent for a while; for having a loving and supportive family when Jack’s family tries to sabotage his art career; for having a designer-brand handbag.

I kinda felt as though I was having some nasty Twilight Saga flashbacks myself when reading The Wild Hunt–like Bella, Bryn will sacrifice everything that she is in order to be with her truest, dearest love…and while that’s all very romantic, it sends out a message I’m uncomfortable with–especially considering this novel is probably going to be read by young teenage girls. Although, I should say that unlike the Twilight debacle, Ms. Rooney extracts a hefty price from her characters for their choices–and I appreciate that.

Ultimately, when it comes to Bryn, I gotta go with the more pragmatic Belus here:

“Sounds about right.” Belus flicked something off his wool coat. “Someone who would throw away a loving family and a promising career deserves the Hunt.”

Like the Meatloaf song goes, I would do anything for love…but I won’t do that.

Ana:
Starting with the old characters– Pamela, Belial, Belus, Aaron – they all make an appearance and they are all very faithful to the original Manhwa series which is one of the positive points in The Wild Hunt. It was like revisiting old friends and I had a knowing smile as I read the book because I just knew who and what the characters were.
I had hoped that The Wild Hunt would pick up the story where the series left of but it is actually a parallel story before the happenings at the end of the series with a new episode of Tarot reading which brings to the surface a new discussion topic for Pamela and Belus which fits really well with their story in The Tarot café. In that sense, the fact that I read the Manhwa series beforehand helped me appreciate The Wild Hunt even more.

As for the “new” characters themselves, Bryn and in a small measure Jack, I wasn’t particularly fond of either of them for what they were but I loved what they brought to the story. I explain myself: I feel that The Wild Hunt is less about Bryn and Jack and more about the choices she must face and as with the manhwa series, how her story and her decision affect and/or reflect on Pamela and Belus. And in the end, these two are the ones to voice the possible interpretations for Bryn’s ultimate choice. Pamela being the “romantic” voice and Belus being the “cynical” voice.

Bryn’s guilt over her success maybe something that leave a sour tastes in our mouth – but I feel is something many a woman face in their daily lives. It is not always that we can make the wise choice or do the “right” thing and even though I don’t agree with what she eventually did (gotta side with Belus on this one – as usual. Sorry, Pamela.), I appreciate how her choice comes with dire consequences attached. Even so, I still think she took the easy way out fuelled by her love (or is it obsession) for Jack. In any case, the simple fact that the story can ignite such discussions about love, fate, choices, and selfishness is a major positive side of the Wild Hunt.

So yes, Thea, in the words of the Great MeatLoaf, you took the words right out of my mouth.

Final Thoughts, Observations and Rating:

Thea: Overall, I quite enjoyed The Wild Hunt. It wasn’t spectacular for me, but I would continue to read the series. If anything, I find that my interest in the manhwa is piqued, and I intend on getting my hands on a copy of the original series!

Ana:I really liked the novel and I think I benefited from having read the Manhwa series first – it made it all the more enjoyable.

Notable Quotes/Parts:

The novel has 10 illustrations of the Tarot Cards of the Art Nouveau deck by Park Sang-sun and just like in the Manhwa series, the characters from the book replace the usual figures in the Tarot card.
A couple of examples:

Additional Thoughts: Come back tomorrow for an interview with author Chandra Rooney and a chance to win a copy of the Tarot Café, The Wild Hunt!

Rating:

Ana: 7 Very Good.

Thea: 6 Good, recommended

Reading Next: The Briar King by Greg Keyes

Title: The Tarot Cafe (Vol. 1-7)

Author: Park Sang-sun

Genre: Manhwa

Publisher: TokyoPop
Publication Date: From 2005 to 2008
Paperback: Average 200 pages.

Stand Alone/ Series: Series with 7 volumes

Summary: (Wikipedia) In contemporary Great Britain, Pamela is the owner of a mysterious Tarot Cafe. After midnight, she receives supernatural clients who come to her for advice through tarot readings. From cats to fairies to vampires, they tell her their stories even as she unravels their past, present and future through her cards. In exchange for her advice, they pay her with beads of Berial’s Necklace, which Pamela gathers for her own secret ends

Why Did I Read The Book – It was the reading of the newly published companion novel for this series that initiated the talk for a Manga Appreciation Week. I thought it was more than appropriate that I read the series beforehand.

Review:

I had never heard about the Tarot Cafe until Karen Mahoney told us about the companion novel which was what prompted us for this Manga Appreciation Week. Before reading the novel, I thought I should read the series and boy, was I glad because I ended up really enjoying it.

The Tarot Café:

The Tarot Cafe is a very successful, seven volume Manwha series, written and illustrated by Park Sang-sun, originally published in Korean and then translated into English by Tokyopop. The seventh and final volume was released in 2008.

Instead of writing a review for each volume I decided to write a review of the entire series since there is one clear story at the centre of it all.

Basically, The Tarot Café is set in present day England and is the story of Pamela, an 800 year old immortal seer (of past and future) who runs the Tarot Cafe and reads Tarot for a living. Pamela became immortal by accident when her lover, the dragon Ash, died in her arms and a drop of blood from his heart touched Pamela’s forehead (the blood of a dragon’s heart = source of immortal life) leaving a mark.

Pamela has been trying to find a way to die ever since so that she can be reunited with Ash. Her best bet is to fulfil her pact with the mysterious Belus who in exchange for the beads of a broken necklace belonging to a Hell’s Prince, the Demon Belial, will grant her mortality again.

Pamela does regular Tarot readings during the day but after midnight she receives a whole range of paranormal beings seeking her advice – and who pay her with the precious beads she needs to complete the set and fulfil her bargain.

The format, the story, the works:

Each chapter opens with the illustration of a Tarot card from a well-known Tarot deck( ie. Mythological, Art Nouveau ,and so on and so forth)replaced with a character from the story at hand. The episodes – usually Pamela’s reading to a particular visitor is divided in past and present – each card unfolds a memory that brings it forth to the reader, to Pamela and to the client. This is part of Pamela’s power as well – the ability to connect the client to his or her past as part of the reading and a means to help them to see the path ahead. It is very clear that the author is a connoisseur of Tarot and each panel that has a card also come with the explanation of its proprieties.

If the premise of the story in itself is very original – how many times have we read Quests for immortal life; I don’t recall ever reading a story with the direct opposite: the search of a mortal life – it is the format that makes this series a very smart one – because each reading takes Pamela closer to her goal whilst at the same presenting us with a myriad of intriguing characters and fairytale-like stories.

These episodes also help us understanding who Pamela is, how she relates to some of the themes that emerge with every reading – love, hate, revenge, loss – giving us the pleasure of getting to know the character – how very giving she is, how she is generous in helping people and how she doesn’t make judgments of her client’s or her friends’ actions. One such client , a boy named Aaron becomes her close friend and ally as he starts to work for Pamela at the Café.

(Side note: His reason for asking Pamela’s help with a reading has to do with another mysterious character called Nebiros who is essential for the series’ climax. )

And as the volumes progress some of the readings prompt Pamela to remember her own past –and this is when things really get going and the volumes get less episodic and with a clear story arc.

It all begins when practically at the same time Alecto , another dragon that has his reasons to hate Pamela AND Ash – The Ash – Pamela’s one true love, come back into her life. But with a twist: Ash has no memories of his past life and has a clear sociopath personality that is the catalyst for everything that happens next – from Pamela’s journey to her past and all the turns of her story. How her mother was burnt as a witch to save her daughter’s life, how it is all connected with a monk that was obsessed with Pamela and how Ash –found her, saved her, took care of her and eventually became her lover but also how he eventually proved to be something else entirely – betrayer perhaps? Most of all, we and Pamela realise just exactly what everything has to with the Demon Belial himself – who shows up here and there throughout the series at the most unexpected moments.

And of course there is Belus.

The enigmatic character that is always around. It is not clear if he is friend of foe as he seems to know more than he lets in. He is sardonic , completely cynical about everything and with a tendency of knowing too many characters he is not supposed to; whilst at the same time, being always there for Pamela: at the Café and in those moments when Pamela needs the most –many times he shows up at the brick of time and saves her life. Both repeat ad nauseam through the series that theirs is strictly a business association, but we clever people know better than that. He is also absolutely stunning – needless to say, Belus is my favourite character.

Not everything is what it looks like in this series. That is this great gothic feel and nothing is black and white, there’s gotta be a measure of acceptance for characters (protagonist and secondary) that have a darker streak to them – we are talking about demons and witches after all. There is a balance between darker episodes and lighter ones though.

I feel I am being very cryptic but I am avoiding spoilers at all costs in order to preserve the surprises. And there are many.

The art:
Dazzlingly beautiful –simple and effective. The lines are clear and to the point. And since pictures are worth more than a thousand words:

Nebiros

Pamela and a Tarot Card

Example of a Tarot reading

The cons:

There are a couple of points that kept me from giving this a higher rate.

Some of the dialogue was dreadful – really simplistic. I am not sure though if this is a limitation of the genre or a translation problem?

Although the ongoing story of Pamela’s search for mortality is the basis for the series there are many episodes with her Tarot readings that are not directly connected to the overall arc and a few of those I thought were rather mediocre – they felt like they were mere story fillers.

Even though I LOVED the art for the most part, some of it confused me – specially the men. They looked like women and, they looked all the same to me. Especially at the beginning, I had to re-read some parts to make sure I knew who the story related to. It took some time to get used to the way men were depicted but having said that CURSE ME, if I wasn’t drooling for all of them when I closed the last page.

Final thoughts:

If you are new to Manga, The Tarot Cafe is a good place to start. If you don’t want to commit to the seven volumes at once , I would recommend you to get at least volumes 1 and 2 as the first one in itself is not enough to give you the sense of what is to come, that only happens from volume 2 onwards.

Even with the minor grudges, I loved the Tarot Cafe. I became more and more engrossed with each volume – I was able to keep my cool and a certain distance up to volume 4 but from volume 5 onwards I was frantically reading and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. As the plot thickened and the story progressed to its fabulous climax, twists and revelations kept coming hard and fast and there was one particular “revelation” that left me completely dumbfounded because I did not see it coming .

I simply loved how everything ended: in a bittersweet fashion, with some open and unresolved issues and in that beautiful (and yet some times, disturbing) shade of grey that permeates the entire series. It was a very fitting ending and perfectly satisfying.

Rating: 8 – Excellent

Reading Next: The Tarot Cafe – The Wild Hunt by Chandra Rooney

Title: Goth

Author: Otsuichi (Otsu-ichi)

Genre: Horror, Light Novel, Short Fiction

Publisher: TokyoPop
Publication Date: October 2008
Paperback: 240 pages

Stand Alone or Series: A stand alone collection of six connected short stories involving two high school students. The novel was adapted into a one and two-volume manga.

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
A notebook that leads to murder – a refrigerator filled with hands… a pit of dead dogs… an accidental suicide… a boy buried alive – and where two teenagers linked by an obsession with murder and torture explore the recesses of humanity’s dark side.

Why did I read this book: I had never heard of Goth or of its author, Otsuichi (on a sidenote, I love authors that are so badass they only have one name. Granted, it’s hard to pull this off if the name is “Pammy” or something, but it works for Otsuichi)–we received review copies of this novel along with our copies of The Wild Hunt from TokyoPop…so I had absolutely no idea what Goth was about, or what to expect…

Review:
When I received a review copy of this novel in the mail along with my copy of The Wild Hunt, I had absolutely no idea what this novel was about. I had never heard of it, had never seen it in the bookstore before. I didn’t even read the back cover. All I knew was that we had a manga week coming up, and that Goth qualified as one of my reads. Needless to say, I was completely taken unawares by these two hundred pages.

I mean, Holy Shnikies, Batman!

How can I describe my experience with Goth? It kind of feels like I’ve been blindsided by a runaway semi. Make that the evil semi with the Green Goblin face from Maximum Overdrive.

The Evil Green Goblin toy truck from Maximum Overdrive

THAT is how I feel about this disturbing, deliciously depraved novel. Goth is disturbing. It’s dark. It gets under your skin and stays there long after you’ve finished reading the slim volume…and I absolutely loved it (For the record, I love that Green Goblin truck from Maximum Overdrive. Who doesn’t love that movie?).

Goth is divided into six “chapters”, which are actually interconnected short stories involving the two main characters, an unnamed (until the last chapter) male narrator and a girl named Morino. Both characters are outsiders, though the narrator knows how to pretend and smile and chatter about everyday nothings with his classmates. Morino, on the other hand, does everything possible to separate herself from others–glazing over and ignoring anyone that tries to talk to her, wearing only black, expressing no emotions ever. What brings these two different characters together, however, is their shared fascination with death. Morino knows that the narrator puts on a front for the rest of the world, and one day after class she walks up to him:

I would answer if someone spoke to me, and I joked around enough to keep things friendly. I did the bare minimum to lead a normal life. But these were all surface relationships, and all the smiles I produced were lies.

The first time we spoke, Morino saw right through that part of me.

“Will you teach me how to smile like that?” she’d said, standing directly in front of me after school, no expression on her face at all. She must have scorned me for it, privately.

The book opens with the self titled chapter, “Goth”. Morino comes to talk to the narrator and shows him a small notebook she found in the bathroom of her tea house. A killer in their town has abducting two women, and then mutilated their bodies, leaving their remains arranged on different mountains to be discovered by an unlucky passerby. The notebook Morino has found holds a detailed account of both murders–including details that only the killer would be able to know. The book also holds record of a third girl’s murder, Mizuguchi Nanami, a victim who has not yet been discovered. Morino and the narrator travel to the mountain location named in the journal to see if there is a third undiscovered victim, and they find the remains of Nanami. Fascinated, Morino takes the dead girl’s bag and shredded clothes, and begins to dress like the unfortunate victim. That is, until Morino has attracted the attention of the killer, and the narrator receives a text message from Morino, that simply says “help”.

The second story titled “Wrist-cut” is a memory of the narrator’s. He sees Morino’s slender pale wrists while she is writing on a blackboard, and he remembers when earlier that year a “wrist cutter” villain was on the loose. The wrist cutter would attack his victims and sever their hands–leaving the victims alive, but keeping the hands as his trophies. The narrator inadvertently discovers who the hand collector is, and tries to set Morino up as the collector’s next victim.

If he had determined that Morino was the thief, causing him to cut off her hands and kill her, my plan would’ve been complete. I would’ve had to wait until her severed hands were in his fridge, and then I could’ve gone to steal them. Of course there were a number of holes in this plan: There was no guarantee he would have taken her hands home, even if he had killed her…but there was a good chance he would’ve.

The only I hands I had wanted were Morino’s pale, beautiful hands.

The third chapter, entitled “Dog”, features a string of pet abductions. It also uses another first person narrator as a young girl and her beautiful dog go to any lengths to protect themselves from her mother’s abusive boyfriend. Once again, the narrator discovers who is behind the crimes and reacts in his own, strange way.

The fourth story in this book, “Twins” is probably my favorite chapter in Goth. Morino begins the chapter with her complaints of insomnia, and she enlists the narrator to help her find a rope–like the one she used to have–to wrap around her neck and help her sleep at night.

“When I can’t sleep, I always wrap something around my neck, close my eyes, and imagine myself being strangled to death. Then, I can fall asleep–it feels like sinking deep under water.”

Though Morino and the narrator share a strange bond through their mutual fascination with death and the macabre, they aren’t exactly close. Nor are they friends. But in “Twins”, Morino opens up to the narrator and shares a little bit of her story, as the narrator discovers her secret past, and why Morino is so emotionally void.

“Twins” marks a haunting turning point in the novel–and the next two chapters, “Grave” and “Voice”, take a new direction especially so far as the narrator is concerned. In “Grave” a seemingly normal, friendly man succumbs to his darkest hidden desires, and he buries a neighbor’s toddler son alive in his garden. The man searches for his next victim, settling on a local high school girl–and once again, the narrator and Morino end up involved.

In the last story, “Voice”, a high school girl named Natsumi has just lost her older sister to a brutal murder. An unknown high school boy approaches Natsumi with a cassette tape that has Natsumi’s sister’s voice, as she makes a final confession before she dies. The boy splits the audio onto three cassettes, and tells Natsumi she can only hear the whole message if she follows his instructions, ultimately leading to her own murder.

From these brief chapter synopses, it is clear that Goth is no lighthearted romp–it is a journey into the deepest recesses of human depravity, and the end result is truly disturbing. It is easy to show blood and guts and senseless violence–just take a look at the soulless Saw franchise, or pick up any two-bit horror novel by Brian Keene. It’s another thing entirely to go a step further, to question WHY someone would want to maim and torture, to delve into the psyche of someone who is fascinated with these morbid displays and to convey this abject horror to an audience. This is what Goth does with aplomb.

The stitches holding together the assortment of horror in Goth are the characters of Morino and the narrator, and their strange bond. At first glance, Morino seems to be the driving force behind the events of Goth. With her long black hair and pale skin, Morino actually is a beautiful girl–but she pushes aside all outward vestiges of emotion and humanity. Initially I found myself completely turned off to Morino, and felt that she was the one of the pair that was the most terrifying for her lack of feeling. At least the narrator attempted his false front, whereas Morino stood stonefaced, wearing a dead girl’s clothes (in the story “Goth”). She keeps others at a distance and has done so ever since she was a young girl–the reasoning behind this morbid fascination with death, hanging ropes, and her hate of dogs is explored beautifully in “Twins”. And ever so gradually, the narrator and I discover that Morino is not devoid of emotion or feeling. Rather, she is so full of emotion, she has no idea how to express herself. Outwardly she is a blank slate, but inwardly she bleeds and cries just like any other person.

After reading “Twins” it became apparent to me that the truly horrific one, the monster of this story was not Morino, but the nameless narrator. The narrator is Morino’s opposite in every way. To his own family, to outsiders he is an outgoing, normal boy. Friendly. Funny. He sails through life without causing anyone to sit up and take notice of him.

And yet…he is completely devoid of humanity. This passage comparing the two says it best:

As I listened to Morino, I thought to myself that she was very sharp today.

In her eyes, there was no sign of that alien tinge I had seen in those of the killers I had met. She viewed humans as humans. She probably would never kill anyone. She might have unusual interests compared with other humans, but she was still normal.

Morino and I had many things in common–but on this, we differed. This difference was a fundamental one, the difference between humanity…and otherwise.

She was human, the side that always got killed.

I was not.

Goth is so masterful in that these perceptions of the narrator and Morino are completely turned inside out, gradually revealing who is human and who is not. At one point in the story, the narrator compares Morino to a girl in a movie he saw once. The movie is Beetlejuice, the girl is Lydia (played by Wynona Rider)–and at first I could not agree with the sentiment. Lydia in the film is “strange and unusual”, but she tries to be so. In Morino’s case, the initial picture of her is someone completely sick and demented, not that of a teen trying to make herself different as part of a cry for attention. And yet, as the novel continues, after reading “Twins” especially, the narrator’s assessment is spot on. And at the end Morino knows it too…but I won’t spoil that for you.

Suffice to say, the narrator is the one that will give me nightmares in all his cold indifference. Goth succeeds where so many movies and novels fail–instead of creating someone EEEEVIL or some sadistic, depraved supervillain, the narrator is the most terrifying avatar of them all. Because he is coldly, apathetically hollow.

A word on the title–there is nothing whatsoever to do with Goths or Goth culture in this book. In the author’s afterword, he apologizes for the misnomer and for seeming to label Goths as murderers or criminals. Although Morino wears only black and is obsessed with death, that’s about where the “goth” sentiments end.

Despite the misleading title, this is a darkly dazzling nightmare of a novel. Sure, it’s not without its faults (how many crazy murderers/maimers can there be in one small town?), but I still loved every second of it. I started reading this book and could not put it down–except to email Ana with my “Oh my GOD Goth is really good. And disturbing. DON’T READ IT!” sentiments. This is not a book for the faint of heart–but for those who want to truly be shaken by a horrific excursion into the darkest corners of the human mind, I cannot think of a better candidate.

Notable Quotes/Parts: I’ve quoted quite a bit, but my favorite part of this book has to be the last two pages.

Her lips were moving, muttering something, but I couldn’t make it out over the noise of the crowd–not until we left the crowd and had reached the spot where she’d left her bag.

“I think you’re my opposite…” she was whispering, over and over…”At first, I thought you were like me. You reminded me of my sister. But you aren’t. We’re nothing alike.”

Morino’s bag was a simple black one. I picked it up and put it in her hand. It fell to the ground a second later.

I picked it up again, putting her fingers around the handle, but it was useless. She was too out of it to hold on. Her fingers couldn’t stand up to the weight of the bag, and it slid right out of her hand.

“Sometimes, I think you’re smiling with nothing inside you at all…I’m sorry if you take that personally, but that’s what I always think when I see you acting happy around everyone else. And sometimes, I feel really sorry for you.”

She said all this without looking up at me. Her voice was trembling, like a child about to burst into tears.

“But I’m the reverse.”

She looked up now, looked me right in the eye. I was taller than her, and from this distance, she had to look up at me. Her expression was as blank as ever, but her eyes were a little red, and they seemed damp.

“I know,” I said.

Additional Thoughts: Goth put me in the mind of a few J-horror films that I adore–because they are so depraved. The first is Audition, from the notorious Takashi Miike.

The Audition torture scene

This is a slow, creeping horror movie, at times incomprehensible, but always terrifying. The last scene, involving piano wire and severed limbs gave me nightmares.

Another trippy film fans of Goth might like is Three Extremes.

A scene from The Box

This is a collection of three short films from three different Asian directors. The first and last films, “Dumplings” with Bai Ling, and “The Box” from Takashi Miike again, are my favorites and will haunt you long after they are finished.

There’s also the Japanese film Suicide Club, in which children and teens across the country decide to kill themselves–just to do it. I still have no idea what the whole movie means (what the eff is up with the ace bandage-like rolls of skin?!), but the general feeling of senseless detachment matches the feeling of this novel perfectly.

As for Goth itself, it was also adapted into manga format–however, I am hesitant to read the adaptation. The clipped, emotionless prose of the novel is part of its charm–the inner dialogue of the narrator is easily why I found this book to be so disturbing. The manga is necessarily stripped of this and of the narrator’s reptilian perceptions–and I don’t think the story would work nearly as well without them. Here are a few scans of the manga artwork…somehow, the novel just does it better for me.

Verdict: One of the best horror novels I have read in a long time–and I’m not usually a fan of this real-life murderer sort of horror (I’m much more of a supernatural horror kind of gal). Goth is a book that disturbed me profoundly…and I will definitely read it again and again. Highly recommended.

Rating: 9 Damn Near Perfection

Reading Next: The Tarot Cafe – The Wild Hunt by Chandra Rooney

Title: Demon Diary (vol 1)

Author:Written by Lee Chi Hyong; Illustrated by Kara

Genre: Manhwa (South Korean) – Comedy/Fantasy

Publisher: Tokyopop Press Inc
Publication Date: 1 Jun 2004
Paperback: 192 pages

Summary: Raenef is the black sheep of the demon court, with minimal knowledge of magic and courtly etiquette. In order to help him claim his birthright as a demon lord, the gods send him the wise and noble demon teacher Eclipse to be his tutor. As Raenef and Eclipse begin their journey of discovery, they find that the bonds of friendship are stronger than the teacher/student relationship.

Why Did I Read The Book: For the Manga Appreciation Week. Why did I pick this one in particular? Amazon recommendations. *Ana rolls eyes*

Review:

Will I ever learn? Instead of picking a recommendation from any of the myriad of bloggers that read Manga, I go and get one based on Amazon recommendations. This is not the first time I end up with a contender for Worst Book of the Year (Noughts and Crosses anyone?) .

Demon Diary in one word: Meh.

I wished this was quite enough to constitute a review since I don’t want to spend any more time than I already did with this but something (Thea) tells me it is not.

Young Raenef is the newly appointed Demon Lord , a position he accepted merely because he, being a street urchin, wanted housing and feeding for free. But so much more comes attached to the “job” – as anyone with a shred of intelligence can surmise by its title – Hello, Demon LORD. Raenef is to inherit the powers of the Demon Lord that came before him and to learn the arts of being a powerful demon in the wars against humans. A Demon called Eclipse, rumoured to be very cruel and powerful is to be his instructor and the comic centres on these two characters’ relationship.

It kicks off with Eclipse teaching Raenef how to address those that are beneath him (ie. pretty much anyone) and those first scenes are enough to tell me that I am in for a bumpy ride. I am sure Raenef was intended to come across as a loveable fool, or an endearing youngster with a heart of gold, but the better words to describe him would be: moronic idiot. His incapacity to grasp even the basics of what he is supposed to be was mind-blowing. I guess the Eclipse School of Teaching doesn’t help either – I fail to see how yelling “you will reign in terror whether you like it or not” to your student is an effective way of teaching but what do I know?

From the get go, it is clear this is intended to be a light, comic story– and the examples I used above are in truth, supposed to be funny. Yet, they are not.

Eclipse who is rumoured to be this really mean guy is and is respected by everybody soon enough starts to behave like Raenef and becomes attached to the young chap and they develop a friendship – probably a prelude of things to come, in which Raenef, the Demon Lord himself, with his humanity and goodness will most likely bridge the gap between demons and humans?

But the irony was lost in me because the text was mediocre, the art was nothing to write home about and the book failed miserably in what it set out to do: make me laugh. I wonder if maybe the jokes got lost in the translation? The second volume has a different writer which may well indicate better things to come. Unfortunately I haven’t got the slightest inclination to find out.

Notable Quotes / Parts: errr….

Additional Thoughts: there are two bonus stories with Demon Diary. Crystal Heart and Terra both written by Soome Lee and illustrated by the same Kara. What can I say? Both as mediocre and boring as the book they are attached to.

Verdict: Don’t waste your time or your money with this one.

Rating: 1 – yes, I thought it was that bad and I want my hours (ok, it was half an hour at the most, still I could have watched a re-run episode of Friends – much funnier) and my money (7 quid!!) back.

Reading Next – The Tarot Cafe Vols. 1-7 by Park Sang-sun

Title: Death Note (Vol. 1)

Author: Written by Tsugumi Ohba; Illustrated by Takeshi Obata

Genre: Manga

Publisher: Viz Media LLC; Shonen Jump Advance Graphic Novel Edition
Publication Date: October 2005
Paperback: 200 pages

Stand Alone or Series: First volume in a thirteen book series

Summary: (from Amazon.com)
Light Yagami is an ace student with great prospects – and bored out of his mind! But all that changes when he finds the Death Note, and notebook dropped by a rougue shinigami death god. Any human whose name is written in the notebook dies, and now Light has vowed to use the power of the Death Note to rid the world of evil. But when criminals begin dropping dead, the authorities send the legendary detective L to track down the killer. With L hot on his heels, will Light lose sight of his noble goal… or his life?

Why did I read this book: It was a complete impulse buy while waiting in a very long line at my local Borders. I saw the manga on the table next to me, thought the premise looked pretty cool, and I hadn’t tried any manga so…what the heck!

Review:

Light Yagami is a brilliant young high school student who appears very serious and focused on his studies, getting ready to take his college entry exams (after already pretesting as the highest score in Japan). The only problem is that Light is completely, utterly bored. That is, until one day a mysterious notebook falls into his path. Emblazoned on the front of the book are the words “Death Note”. Intrigued, Light picks up the notebook and studies it in the privacy of his room, opening it to find some very rudimentary instructions:

How to use it
I

- The human whose name is written in this note shall die.
- This note will not take effect unless the writer has the person’s face in their mind when writing his/her name. Therefore, people sharing the same name will not be affected.
-If the cause of death is written within 40 seconds of writing the person’s name, it will happen.
-If the cause of death is not specified, the person will simply die of a heart attack.
-After writing the cause of death, details of the death should be written in the next 6 minutes and 40 seconds.

At first, Light thinks the notebook is a joke–would someone really die if he writes their name in the book? Once he begins experimenting, however, Light discovers that the Death Note is the real deal. With so much power at his fingertips, the very intelligent Light decides that he wants to recreate the world in his image, as a god that will preside over a new-found utopia–and he begins to systematically kill the unjust, prisoners and criminals whose names and crimes he has seen on the news and researched online. Each criminal Light targets dies 40 seconds later of a heart attack.

As it turns out, the Death Note is a tool of the shinigami, or literally translated “death god”. Each shinigami has a Death Note, in which they write the names of humans who will die. Occasionally, a shinigami will lose his Death Note, or allow it to be picked up by a human. Such is the case with Ryuk, the shinigami that owns the Death Note that Light has found. As Light soon learns, those who touch the Death Note can see its shinigami owner though no one else can–and Ryuk and Light become strange acquaintances as Light provides Ryuk with incredible entertainment. As Ryuk says to Light, “Humans are…a RIOT!”

Soon, the rash of mysterious deaths catches the eye of the International Police Organization (Interpol), who believe all the criminal deaths are related–and dub the murderer “Kira” (the Japanese katakana letters ?? and pronunciation of “Killer”). Interpol pulls its Ace-in-the-hole by setting their top agent, the mysterious, faceless and nameless man known only as “L”, on the case. Though Light’s murders are the ultimate untraceable crime, he is soon locked in a battle of wits, with L closing in on his trail, while Ryuk observes these interesting human behaviors with his shinigami eyes.

Death Note is a trip. It is at once a horror story and a black comedy, and also a police thriller/suspense book with supernatural elements. What would a human of above average intelligence do with the key to limitless destructive power? In Light’s case, he decides to remake the world according to how best he sees fit. It’s very Ozymandias of The Watchmen, punishing the unjust and sacrificing the few for the good of mankind. Of course, the problem inherent with such thinking remains the same: who should be entrusted with such power? Who watches those who make the decisions who should live and who should die? Light’s predicament is not a groundbreaking new plot device, but the many stipulations of the Death Note makes for an interesting twist on this theme of absolute power. The moral questions the Death Note raises are also interesting, if a bit simplistic.

What I loved most about Death Note was in how damn likable Light was. He is, by definition, an anti-hero. His actions result in the cold blooded murder of hundreds of men (criminals or no, it is still murder), and at some points in the novel he considers the possibility that should any of his family members find the Death Note, he would be forced to kill them as well. Despite this icy-seeming demeanor, as the narrative follows Light and his schemes for utopia, I couldn’t help but admire his intricate plans and traps. With L on his heels, Light expertly plays Interpol, the FBI, and local Japanese authorities against each other, thwarting L’s attempts to unmask Kira at every turn. It’s all very thrilling and psychological, a Criminal Mastermind versus Detective Genius in a Moriarty-Holmes, Joker-Batman sort of way…that is, if you were actually rooting for Moriarty or the Joker (Hmm, perhaps a The Devil’s Rejects, or an Ocean’s Eleven comparison is more apt). Light is determined and of course intelligent, but he has both the good looks and the charm to draw classmates to him (he also happens to be the class stud)–and similarly, he draws in the reader with his enthusiasm and zeal to beat the system. At least, he won me over. In many ways he is like Alan Moore’s Ozymandias–charismatic and ingenious, with a plan to make the world a better place at any cost. Even his name, “Light”, embodies the Adrian Veidt persona perfectly–believing themselves to be the shining beacons of hope for Mankind…as misleading as that classification may be.

Light, meet Adrian Veidt.

The other character the reader gets to know intimately is Ryuk, the shinigami owner of Light’s Death Note. Ryuk is a vision with his glassy eyes, his punk rock hair, tight leather, and dark lips pulled back from razor sharp teeth. Ryuk’s predicament is simple–as a shinigami, he and the others of his kind take life from humans and in turn live forever (sort of), and because of their godlike status, they have grown bored and complacent. Ryuk is seen as an outsider by his fellow death gods because he wants to spend his time on Earth with humans. He’s a mischievous character, revealing unwritten rules to Light late in the game, and clearly on neither L nor Light’s side (though he does find Light very entertaining). Ryuk also is hilarious in a darkly comedic sort of way. He follows Light around like a demonic shadow, and he looks terrifying–there are a number of closeups on Ryuk’s very offsetting face–but his reaction’s to Light’s ingenious schemes, and in particular in one memorable last page of the manga, make him a dangerous, yet funny sidekick (although there is no doubt in my mind that at some point in the future, Ryuk will be Light’s undoing). The interactions between Light and Ryuk, with Light not even batting an eyelash to the nightmarish figure and Ryuk’s growing amusement to the whole situation, are priceless.

The only quibble I have with Death Note lies in some of the translation. Some of the humor and the phrases are very direct and literal translations from the Japanese, and while I didn’t have a problem with it (I read and speak a little), it might strike some as strange. Other than this negligible nitpick, what’s not to love? The art is wonderfully clean in the traditional black and white manga style. The plot is engaging and delightful in its absurdity, and I love the black comedy that fills the pages of Death Note. The question now is, how do I finance purchasing the next twelve volumes of the manga without breaking the bank?

Notable Quotes/Parts: I loved the final page of this volume, from an additional strip, originally published in Weekly Shonen Jump Volume 4-5 in 2005…

Light: Merry Christmas, Ryukie.
Ryuk: Ryukie…?
Light: So Ryukie, what do you want for your Christmas present?
Ryuk: Hmm? Can I have anything I want? The thing I want most right now…is…you know.
Light: [to himself] My…soul?
Ryuk: The Game Boy Advance SP. The Silver version.
Light: [falls over]
Ryuk: ADVANCE SP, ADVANCE SP, I WANT MY SILVER ADVANCE SP

Hee!

Additional Thoughts: Death Note’s success as a hit manga series has led to adaptations across numerous media. In 2006, an anime version aired in Japan, comprised of 37 twenty-minute episodes, now available in the USA–amazon link here. Then, two live action Death Note films were released in 2006 (with a 2008 spinoff film also available)–these films are available in English dvd here (bonus, the kid that plays Light is noneother than the kid that played Shuya in Battle Royale!).

The icing on the cake? Hollywood is in the process of creating an American remake of Death Note! This could be a good or bad thing…considering many J-horror/Asian Horror remakes are flat out shit–see The Eye, Shutter, or The Grudge 2. (Although on the flip side, one could look at the excellent remakes of The Ring and the pretty decent Dark Water for good examples of J-horror brought to American cinema).

In any case, I’m excited to get my hands on the anime and Japanese live action dvds! Here’s the first part of the first anime episode:

Verdict: Death Note is an engrossing, deliciously fun dark horror comedy, and one I could not put down. I eagerly await continuing in the adventures of Light and Ryuk in the remaining manga! Definitely recommended for those who don’t mind a bit of morbidity with their humor.

Rating: 8 Excellent

Reading Next: Goth by Otsuichi

Title: Vampire Knight, vol. 1

Author: Matsuri Hino

Genre: Manga

Publisher:VIZ Media LLC; Shojo Beat Manga Ed edition
Publication Date: English – Jan 9, 2007
Comic:208 pages

Stand Alone/Series: Volume one of an ongoing series.

Summary: Cross Adademy is attended by two groups of students: the Day Class and the Night Class. At twilight, when the students of the Day Class return to their dorm, they cross paths with the Night Class on their way to school. Yuki Cross and Zero Kiryu are the Guardians of the school, protecting the Day Class from the Academy’s dark secret: the Night Class is full of vampires!

Yuki Cross has no memory of her past prior to the moment she was saved from a vampire attack ten years ago. She was adopted by the headmaster of Cross Academy, and now works alongside Zero to guard the Academy’s secret. Yuki believes that vampires and humans can coexist peacefully, but her partner has different ideas…

Why did I read the book:It was recommended by one of our readers and I thought it could be a good addition to the Manga week.

Review:

I had my eyes on this Manga series ever since it was suggested by a reader way back when. This seemed like the perfect opportunity to pick it up and I am so glad I did – Vampire Knight, vol. 1 is a great way to start a series and it has wetted my appetite to read more. As an indication of its success (and as far as I am aware) the series is still ongoing and it currently has 9 volumes published plus an anime series with 26 episodes so far. This Manga is a traditional Japanese Manga meaning that the writing (and the reading) is from right to left and what we usually think as the front cover is actually the back. It takes getting used to, but once I get going it was rather easy not to get lost.

The opening page is already stunning in the art department and with a great set-up: a young girl being attacked by a vampire and saved by another. The child’s name is Yuki Cross and ten years later she is a student at Cross Academy and the adopted daughter of its headmaster, Cross Kaien. She is also a member of the school’s disciplinary committee along with her friend Zero. They need to make sure that the kids that attend the Day Class do not interact too much with the kids from the Night Class – the disciplinary committee are charged with maintaining the order and making sure that the secret is kept: that all of the kids in the Night Class are vampires – of the preternaturally beautiful and intelligent kind.

The Cross Academy is therefore, a special place born out of the headmaster’s dream that one day vampires and humans can co-exist pacifically. The kids go about their days (or nights) attending classes, the Day Class being clueless about the true nature of the Night Class. It is not very clear – at least not in this first volume – how exactly this co-existence is supposed to work with the Day Class being ignorant about the Night Class’ true nature so I feel that the true experiment relates to the Night Class being able to check themselves –for that they even take blood pills. If the Day Class is controlled by the disciplinary committee , the Night Class answers to Kaname Kuran, pureblood vampire of an ancient lineage and the vampire who saved Yuki’s life and took her to headmaster Cross. Kaname is both respected and feared by the other Night Class’ students and he helps keeping them away from the humans.

And this is the trio that carries the story: Yuki, who is a cheeky 15 year old girl clearly dedicated to her duties to her father’s ideal and to her friends – she has a close relationship with zero and a HUGE crush on Kaname who she knows is beyond her human grasp; Zero, an emo 16 year boy who comes from a vampire hunting lineage and abhors anything vampire – Zero has a tragic past and the secret he and the headmaster keep will change his life forever once it emerges; and Kaname who has a status in the midst of the all of the vampires and a stranger relationship with the headmaster – he seems to know more than he is supposed to about both Zero and Yuki’s past.

It is clear that both men have feelings for Yuki and that the series has a great potential for angst and darkness; and it starts in this first volume that is both introduction and set up of things to come (to say more about the plot is to spoil it). There is a bit of humour and a bit of lightness but I think this qualifies more as a dark fantasy series.

Whereas both the story and characters are interesting and the premise clever , I thought the greatest strength of Vampire Knight is the art –which I thought was gorgeous, stunning. The boys look like boys (a pet peeve of mine when it comes to Manga and Anime is that usually the men are so effeminate) and the action sequences were very cool and upped the tension quite a lot. There was great attention to details – from the different uniforms to the weaponry used.

If you are sick of Vampire flavouring with your paranormals you should probably keep away. Vampire angst (“to suck blood or not to suck blood that is the question”) is not really original but I liked what I saw so far, specially with a few hints that there is more to the angst than that simple equation – I will most certainly read volume 2 and see how it goes from there.

Notable Quotes/ Parts: An example of the art:

The Night Class:

Additional Thoughts: Vampire Knight reminded me of Vampire Academy by Richelle Mead which has a similar setting – a boarding school for vampires and humans.

But Vampire Academy is a bit more complex that the mere division between humans and vampires and is of course, a proper YA book and not Manga. It is in any case, highly recommended. Our joint review is here.

Verdict: Gorgeous art. Clever premise with interesting albeit not entirely original (vampire angst? been there, done that) characters.

Rating: I would rate the art alone at around a 9 and the book as a whole at a lower 7 – it is difficult to judge since it is only the first volume.

Reading Next: Demon Diary by Kara.

A few weeks ago our buddy Karen Mahoney (A.K.A The Honorary Book Smuggler) contacted us asking if we wanted to read an ARC of a novel called Tarot Cafe – The Wild Hunt by her critique partner, Chandra Rooney. The book is an original novel based on the TAROT CAFE manga series. We did a bit of investigating and found out that the Manga series is a major success so we decided not only to read the novel but also the 7 volumes of the Manga. We then thought why not read other examples of Manga as well? Back in September we received an email from one of our readers suggesting us to read Vampire Knight so we decided to finally pick this up and voila the Manga (Manhwa) Appreciation Week was born.

First a caveat: we are new to Manga and this is our first real exploration of the format.

Ana has never read any Manga prior to reading the ones we are reviewing this week although she was not completely ignorant about the genre – there was plenty of review reading and information searching for the past few months. Most importantly she is completely nuts about the art which she is comfortable with by watching Anime TV shows when growing up. Most specifically she loved Don Dracula and Saint Seiya (also known as the Knights of the Zodiac) both based on original Manga publications.

Dragon Shiryu – Ana’s favorite character out of the Knights of the Zodiac.

Thea grew up in part in Japan, living in both Kobe and Fukuoka for over four years (third grade, then eighth to eleventh grade). For all that, and despite knowing how popular manga was, she had never really picked up and read an entire book (what, don’t look at Thea like that–do you have any idea how hard kanji is to read?). Thea remained interested in the genre though and has a deep love for some Anime (she loves Hayao Miyazaki), and so when she arrived in the United States and found tons of accessible, English translations of manga, she decided to give the genre a try!

For those that like us, are newbies -what do you need to know before we get going: that Manga are basically, Japanese comic books. A very successful format in Japan, widely read and with stories in many genres: from fantasy to horror, comedy to sex. Japanese Manga follow the Japanese pattern of writing from right to left which takes a bit of adapting from westerns readers. Manhwa, the South Korean equivalent to Manga (of which the Tarot Cafe series is an example) follows the westerns patterns of script from left to right.

Equipped with this very basic facts, we start:

Later today, Ana will post her review of the first volume of the Manga Vampire Knight by Matsuri Hino.

On Tuesday, Ana reviews the first volume of the Manhwa Demon Diary illustrated by Kara and written by Lee Chi-hyong

and Thea reviews the Manga Death Note by writer Tsugumi Ohba and illustrator Takeshi Obata.

On Wednesday, Thea reviews Goth, a “light novel” by Otsu-ichi, that later was adapted into Manga (just to shake up things a little bit)

and Ana reviews the seven volume Manhwa series The Tarot Cafe by Park Sang-sun.

On Thursday, a joint review of the Tarot Cafe – The Wild Hunt, the companion novel written by Chandra Rooney and published on Jan 6th.

Friday , we interview Chandra Rooney about her experience writing the novel and you will have the chance to get a free copy of the book!

Sit back and enjoy!