Kashimashi (part 2) review
Jul. 4th, 2010 01:23 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
elabyI keep writing posts and then forgetting to post them! *laughs* I have this backlog of random crap I meant to post about that sometimes ends up being no longer relevant. But manga reviews never go out of date!
I finished Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~, the whole series (there are six volumes sold in two omnibuses), and omg I loved it. My discussion of the first half of this series is here.
By the end of the first omnibus - by the middle of it, even - the issue of Hazumu having been physically a boy before and a girl now stopped being important, and I think that's why I like this series so much. Operating as I am under the theory that Hazumu has always been at the female end of the gender spectrum (the story implies as much, in my opinion), it was a relief when the other characters worked through their confusion about how to feel about her. For the rest of the series, the conflict surrounded not Hazumu's gender/others perception of her gender, but the characters all trying to work out how they felt about each other and what to do about it. It was very satisfying to me, as someone who's tired of fictional same-sex relationships being fraught with problems because they're same-sex, not because relationships are complicated.
I think my absolute favorite part was at the end of volume three, which was also the end of the first omnibus. Tomari had gotten over her Hazumu's-a-girl-now-ack funk and had come to understand that she loved her, and she had also moved past her jealousy of Yasuna. She and Yasuna declared a truce, a mutual agreement to never give up their love for Hazumu, but one in which they joined forces instead of stood on opposite sides. The whole group of friends set off fireworks and sparklers and things together, and just had pure, untainted, doubt-free fun. It made me so happy that both Tomari and Yasuna, who love Hazumu so much, finally started truly liking each other, too. Hazumu, with her "brightness" - she's one of those anime characters, embodiments of light - deserves that kind of love, free from pettiness.
This development kind of nullified the driving conflict of the first half of the series, so a second one was presented: Alien-san tells Hazumu that her "life grains" are running out and she will die in 30 days. It was a little bit contrived-just-for-angst, but the character development it brought about justified it, I think. Hazumu took it much better than everyone else, actually. She decided not to tell anyone and to live the rest of her life to the fullest, to do everything she ever wanted and spend time with her friends and appreciate life. Alien-san told her friends the same day he told her (his people are always told as a matter of course when their "life grains" are going to run out, so he didn't realize the trauma he was causing). He also told them that Hazumu could be saved if another person shared their life grains with her, but that if their love ever became tainted (with uncertainty, etc.) in the future, they would both die.
So, cue much angst and forced cheerfulness and crying in the rain. I won't go into detail, but this development made everyone confront their feelings for Hazumu, whatever those may be, and I think everybody came out the better for it. This story is freaking RIFE with character development. Everybody changes for the better, while retaining the characteristics that make them who they are. At the end, Hazumu comes to the decision that dying without telling Tomari and Yasuna the truth about which one she loves most is unfair to both of them, and she chooses Tomari. I knew this was going to happen, as I'd read the end before I ever bought the first volume (I didn't want to read the series if it ended with Hazumu being given a male body again), and even though I didn't really like Tomari at the beginning, I wouldn't have wanted it to turn out any other way. It was sort of like in Tenshi ni Narumon - Yuusuke had been pining for Natsumi for years, but the one he really belonged with, as shown by the development of the story, was Noelle. Some of Tomari's life grains were transferred to Hazumu, and they both live, thank goodness. I ended up loving all of the main characters by the end of the series (with the exception of their accident-prone teacher, who I could have entirely done without, but seeing as her only purpose was to go "I'm 35 and I've never had a boyfriend!" *falls out window* I don't really consider her a main character).
One of the things I really liked about this series is that all of the main characters - the five friends - get to do extremely important things, even if they're kind of comic relief-oriented most of the time. Asuta is the perfect example (omg I love him T_T). Asuta is Hazumu's best friend, the only (human) male of any importance in the story. He spends most of the time freaking out about his extreme attraction to Hazumu now that she has a female body, but it's not because "o noes I might be gay!" it's because Asuta thinks that having "pervy thoughts" about your best friend is the height of disrespect and bad behavior. He never once worries about his own manliness, only about protecting his friendship with Hazumu. It's never "I can't think those things, she used to be a guy!" it's "I can't think those things, she's my best friend!" Asuta is kind of the Wakaba of this series (anime parallels activate!). He's the mundane one, the silly one, sideliner. Mister Cellophane. And then when Hazumu is about the make the most awful mistake of her life because she thinks it's the right thing to do, Asuta straightens her out at the expense of his own feelings. It's an incredibly pivotal moment, because most of the time Hazumu knows naturally what to do and how to treat people, and this time, she's just gotten it way wrong. I love that such an important moment was given to him, peripheral to the main trio as he was.
Speaking of anime parallels, I'm not sure if Hazumu reminds me of Usagi because she's like Usagi, or because they're both part of that subset of anime heroines who are so incredibly good that they make the lives of everyone around them better just by existing. Lots of anime heroines are like that, and I'm not sure what makes me love Usagi and Hazumu but be vaguely annoyed by others of the same type. Hm. It bears pondering!
I finished Kashimashi ~Girl Meets Girl~, the whole series (there are six volumes sold in two omnibuses), and omg I loved it. My discussion of the first half of this series is here.
By the end of the first omnibus - by the middle of it, even - the issue of Hazumu having been physically a boy before and a girl now stopped being important, and I think that's why I like this series so much. Operating as I am under the theory that Hazumu has always been at the female end of the gender spectrum (the story implies as much, in my opinion), it was a relief when the other characters worked through their confusion about how to feel about her. For the rest of the series, the conflict surrounded not Hazumu's gender/others perception of her gender, but the characters all trying to work out how they felt about each other and what to do about it. It was very satisfying to me, as someone who's tired of fictional same-sex relationships being fraught with problems because they're same-sex, not because relationships are complicated.
I think my absolute favorite part was at the end of volume three, which was also the end of the first omnibus. Tomari had gotten over her Hazumu's-a-girl-now-ack funk and had come to understand that she loved her, and she had also moved past her jealousy of Yasuna. She and Yasuna declared a truce, a mutual agreement to never give up their love for Hazumu, but one in which they joined forces instead of stood on opposite sides. The whole group of friends set off fireworks and sparklers and things together, and just had pure, untainted, doubt-free fun. It made me so happy that both Tomari and Yasuna, who love Hazumu so much, finally started truly liking each other, too. Hazumu, with her "brightness" - she's one of those anime characters, embodiments of light - deserves that kind of love, free from pettiness.
This development kind of nullified the driving conflict of the first half of the series, so a second one was presented: Alien-san tells Hazumu that her "life grains" are running out and she will die in 30 days. It was a little bit contrived-just-for-angst, but the character development it brought about justified it, I think. Hazumu took it much better than everyone else, actually. She decided not to tell anyone and to live the rest of her life to the fullest, to do everything she ever wanted and spend time with her friends and appreciate life. Alien-san told her friends the same day he told her (his people are always told as a matter of course when their "life grains" are going to run out, so he didn't realize the trauma he was causing). He also told them that Hazumu could be saved if another person shared their life grains with her, but that if their love ever became tainted (with uncertainty, etc.) in the future, they would both die.
So, cue much angst and forced cheerfulness and crying in the rain. I won't go into detail, but this development made everyone confront their feelings for Hazumu, whatever those may be, and I think everybody came out the better for it. This story is freaking RIFE with character development. Everybody changes for the better, while retaining the characteristics that make them who they are. At the end, Hazumu comes to the decision that dying without telling Tomari and Yasuna the truth about which one she loves most is unfair to both of them, and she chooses Tomari. I knew this was going to happen, as I'd read the end before I ever bought the first volume (I didn't want to read the series if it ended with Hazumu being given a male body again), and even though I didn't really like Tomari at the beginning, I wouldn't have wanted it to turn out any other way. It was sort of like in Tenshi ni Narumon - Yuusuke had been pining for Natsumi for years, but the one he really belonged with, as shown by the development of the story, was Noelle. Some of Tomari's life grains were transferred to Hazumu, and they both live, thank goodness. I ended up loving all of the main characters by the end of the series (with the exception of their accident-prone teacher, who I could have entirely done without, but seeing as her only purpose was to go "I'm 35 and I've never had a boyfriend!" *falls out window* I don't really consider her a main character).
One of the things I really liked about this series is that all of the main characters - the five friends - get to do extremely important things, even if they're kind of comic relief-oriented most of the time. Asuta is the perfect example (omg I love him T_T). Asuta is Hazumu's best friend, the only (human) male of any importance in the story. He spends most of the time freaking out about his extreme attraction to Hazumu now that she has a female body, but it's not because "o noes I might be gay!" it's because Asuta thinks that having "pervy thoughts" about your best friend is the height of disrespect and bad behavior. He never once worries about his own manliness, only about protecting his friendship with Hazumu. It's never "I can't think those things, she used to be a guy!" it's "I can't think those things, she's my best friend!" Asuta is kind of the Wakaba of this series (anime parallels activate!). He's the mundane one, the silly one, sideliner. Mister Cellophane. And then when Hazumu is about the make the most awful mistake of her life because she thinks it's the right thing to do, Asuta straightens her out at the expense of his own feelings. It's an incredibly pivotal moment, because most of the time Hazumu knows naturally what to do and how to treat people, and this time, she's just gotten it way wrong. I love that such an important moment was given to him, peripheral to the main trio as he was.
Speaking of anime parallels, I'm not sure if Hazumu reminds me of Usagi because she's like Usagi, or because they're both part of that subset of anime heroines who are so incredibly good that they make the lives of everyone around them better just by existing. Lots of anime heroines are like that, and I'm not sure what makes me love Usagi and Hazumu but be vaguely annoyed by others of the same type. Hm. It bears pondering!
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Date: 2010-07-04 10:50 pm (UTC)It was very satisfying to me, as someone who's tired of fictional same-sex relationships being fraught with problems because they're same-sex, not because relationships are complicated.
Yes. Yes.
Speaking of anime parallels, I'm not sure if Hazumu reminds me of Usagi because she's like Usagi, or because they're both part of that subset of anime heroines who are so incredibly good that they make the lives of everyone around them better just by existing.
Just out of curiosity, who vaguely annoys you? I would put manga!Tohru into this category, most definitely, but I know that anime!Tohru kind of annoyed you near the end? (I think?) I can't think of too many more who I'd personally put in the same category, but Tamaki would definitely qualify for the male version. :}
Edited because the first icon really didn't fit ... :P