A Windflower Embroidery by m:m
Jan. 29th, 2019 02:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
comicsqueeContent notes: homophobia, age gap
When foreign comics take place in the US, it's GREAT. I love seeing perceptions of the US. This, not surprisingly, feels very much like a gay movie or novel, and I mean that in the best way. I can see this being an indie film very easily. And this is m:m's first ongoing series, I think?? NICE.
Originally titled Anemone no Shishuu from Nihon Bungeisha, A Windflower Embroidery is about Angel Morales who works at a bar during the night and a 30-year-old novelist Julio Brown who writes under the name of Edmund Black. They both come from oppressive families - Angel with his conservative and over protective mother, Julio with his homophobic brother and parents. One evening, when Julio's alcoholic brother is shaking him down for money, Angel intervenes, and thus sparks a connection that will lead to laughs and love and DRAMA WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN TO YET BUT YOU KNOW IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
Because Angel is NOT a 20-something adult, but a teenager still in high school. And boy, is he smooth at avoiding THAT, aren't you, Mr. I'll-be-waiting-outside-while-you-pay-for-the-booze. (GREAT scene.)
As the above image shows, they are REALLY cute together and have fun times. I VERY MUCH relate to Julio's general worries and nerdom. I mean, I was never one of the cool kids like Angel is, and like, hey, props to Julio for not being ABSOLUTELY FUCKING TERRIFIED OF CLIMBING A BILLBOARD???
But this is a DRAMA series, and the tone absolutely reflects that. There's a lot of contemplation and flashbacks, and there's always the tension of the possibility of SOMETHING going wrong. Mostly as to someone (his mother or Julio) finding out what Angel is really up to/who he really is. But the sense of fun and joy that Angel and Julio experience together is just so lovely amid all that.
In this problem, Julio's problems are VERY apparent. He's a very lonely, reserved man, so of course Angel's boldness is exhilarating to him. I'm really excited to see what this motivates him to do in the next volume. And it was SO LOVELY to see him feel so accepted and loved. There's an over-the-top metaphor about water glasses, but it's A FUCKING BEAUTIFUL OVER THE TOP METAPHOR, BECAUSE I TOTALLY SNIFFLED AT IT and it's just so so sweet.
As for Angel, he's clearly stifled by his mother, but he wants to achieve something, make her proud of him, so proud that she'll HAVE to accept who he is. He's only had his friend Lucy really know him so far.
But let's take a quick second to talk about Lucy, BECAUSE I LOVE HER SO MUCH!
She is AMAZING. As a child, she used to dress in super frilly clothes, but she really loves the explicit rocking music that Angel lends her when they're kids. She's not in it much, but she's playful and fun and confused, too, because TEENAGERDOM. Anyway, I would read a whole series just about Lucy. I know this is a BL manga, but I really hope we get to see what happens with her in the future, too, whether she figures out this love thing or not and what she ends up doing with her life.
Now let's get to the art. The art is GORGEOUS. It's clean and detailed, with a very solid look, with a great feel of realism. I love how people's body types and faces change with age (the subtle difference between Julio's face now as a chubbier guy and his face when he was a young man coming out to his family is something I really like.) But the expressions and exaggeration, showing off great movement and life, are all FABULOUS. There's nothing stiff about the art. And let me repeat about the EXPRESSIONS. Everyone (especially Angel) has a thousand different types of smile alone.
This series is still ongoing in Japan (it's a 2018[!] title), so it's going to be a wait. I really really REALLY hope Renta keeps publishing the series in English and doesn't drop it (since it IS going to be a bit of a wait,) because I really, really love it. It's also a series that could have any number of endings, not all of them happy, but I am HERE for whatever goes down. I cannot wait!!
A Windflower Embroidery is available in English from Renta!
Cover featuring Angel in a field of red flowers
When foreign comics take place in the US, it's GREAT. I love seeing perceptions of the US. This, not surprisingly, feels very much like a gay movie or novel, and I mean that in the best way. I can see this being an indie film very easily. And this is m:m's first ongoing series, I think?? NICE.
Originally titled Anemone no Shishuu from Nihon Bungeisha, A Windflower Embroidery is about Angel Morales who works at a bar during the night and a 30-year-old novelist Julio Brown who writes under the name of Edmund Black. They both come from oppressive families - Angel with his conservative and over protective mother, Julio with his homophobic brother and parents. One evening, when Julio's alcoholic brother is shaking him down for money, Angel intervenes, and thus sparks a connection that will lead to laughs and love and DRAMA WE HAVE NOT GOTTEN TO YET BUT YOU KNOW IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN.
Because Angel is NOT a 20-something adult, but a teenager still in high school. And boy, is he smooth at avoiding THAT, aren't you, Mr. I'll-be-waiting-outside-while-you-pay-for-the-booze. (GREAT scene.)
Angel (left) and Julio (right) being dorks together. SO CUTE.
As the above image shows, they are REALLY cute together and have fun times. I VERY MUCH relate to Julio's general worries and nerdom. I mean, I was never one of the cool kids like Angel is, and like, hey, props to Julio for not being ABSOLUTELY FUCKING TERRIFIED OF CLIMBING A BILLBOARD???
But this is a DRAMA series, and the tone absolutely reflects that. There's a lot of contemplation and flashbacks, and there's always the tension of the possibility of SOMETHING going wrong. Mostly as to someone (his mother or Julio) finding out what Angel is really up to/who he really is. But the sense of fun and joy that Angel and Julio experience together is just so lovely amid all that.
Julio contemplating how much of a boring person he is. I'm boring, too, but at least you've got your writing! (And Angel!)
In this problem, Julio's problems are VERY apparent. He's a very lonely, reserved man, so of course Angel's boldness is exhilarating to him. I'm really excited to see what this motivates him to do in the next volume. And it was SO LOVELY to see him feel so accepted and loved. There's an over-the-top metaphor about water glasses, but it's A FUCKING BEAUTIFUL OVER THE TOP METAPHOR, BECAUSE I TOTALLY SNIFFLED AT IT and it's just so so sweet.
As for Angel, he's clearly stifled by his mother, but he wants to achieve something, make her proud of him, so proud that she'll HAVE to accept who he is. He's only had his friend Lucy really know him so far.
But let's take a quick second to talk about Lucy, BECAUSE I LOVE HER SO MUCH!
Lucy and Angel are SO not into each other, but what better repellent than fake dating?
She is AMAZING. As a child, she used to dress in super frilly clothes, but she really loves the explicit rocking music that Angel lends her when they're kids. She's not in it much, but she's playful and fun and confused, too, because TEENAGERDOM. Anyway, I would read a whole series just about Lucy. I know this is a BL manga, but I really hope we get to see what happens with her in the future, too, whether she figures out this love thing or not and what she ends up doing with her life.
Aw, Luce, maybe you're ace! Or maybe you're just in an awful little town and need to get to the big city!
Now let's get to the art. The art is GORGEOUS. It's clean and detailed, with a very solid look, with a great feel of realism. I love how people's body types and faces change with age (the subtle difference between Julio's face now as a chubbier guy and his face when he was a young man coming out to his family is something I really like.) But the expressions and exaggeration, showing off great movement and life, are all FABULOUS. There's nothing stiff about the art. And let me repeat about the EXPRESSIONS. Everyone (especially Angel) has a thousand different types of smile alone.
What a tease.
This series is still ongoing in Japan (it's a 2018[!] title), so it's going to be a wait. I really really REALLY hope Renta keeps publishing the series in English and doesn't drop it (since it IS going to be a bit of a wait,) because I really, really love it. It's also a series that could have any number of endings, not all of them happy, but I am HERE for whatever goes down. I cannot wait!!
A Windflower Embroidery is available in English from Renta!