vignette00's manga / #death(27)

Half-hearted fantasy involving a royal family who has very specific connections with a certain angel. Predictable with a central conflict, if you can even call it a conflict, that results in a meaningless angstfest for the two main characters. Achille was one-note (naive, enthusiastic, ultimately responsible) and admirably makes a selfless decision to give up love in the third chapter, but even though he's supposedly different from his grandfather Grain, he might as well be just a conduit for Grain to spend the rest of his life "touched by an angel," as it were. This is a solid PWP -- personality, what personality? Meanwhile Raphie seems tormented by an "affliction" and a past traumatic relationship, except neither seem to actual register on his characterization. Maybe he cares about "his affliction", maybe he doesn't; maybe he gives a shit about Grain, but mostly I can't understand why he does, or really if he does. Finish all that off with work-a-day and unremarkable artwork and a worldbuilding that is so light it might as well be transparent, and you get the blah sandwich that is this story.

Overdramatic and strangely shallow despite its weighty themes. Set in Meiji Japan, we follow the bad relationship between two brothers as it ropes in a third party -- a young duke who specializes in teaching ballroom dance. Things end tragically, though a love story does emerge and survive. Youka Nitta makes some very odd choices about when to summarize and when to introduce time jumps, resulting in a lurching, melodramatic ride with lots of deadspace where characters don't develop, change, or learn anything new, and the last scene ties up the whole mess in a deeply silly play for people's love of "until death do us part." Shoots for "Farewell My Concubine," with lots of nods towards real history and upheaval, but ends up achieving none of the gravitas. Still, an extra star for Youka Nitta's art, which is always pleasing to look at.

The official summary and first chapter of this story hides the lede and makes it sound like the pet dog aspect between Kaede and Noro (the childhood friend) will play a bigger part than it actually does. The reality is that this story is very much about Kaede trying to understand and move on from his brother's death, especially his belief that he caused his brother to commit suicide. Noro's own unhappy childhood is hinted at, but Amagakure resists the temptation to make the whole story about people's deeply unsettling family tragedies and instead gives most of the Noro screentime to his fascinatingly complex feelings towards Kaede. Chapter 2 is a standout, with Noro musing over Kaede's selfishness and his own desire to both monopolize and be monopolized, and it neatly sets up Kaede's own fear that he causes pain to the people around him by being demanding and nosy. The intrusion of a friend of Kaede's brother in the last two chapters is a little too convenient, but on par with the themes of self-discovery, acceptance, and regret. Tonally, the art is sparse and kinetic, with a lot of white space, which may be surprising for readers of Amagakure's other works, like "Amaama to Inazuma."