Forum - View topicRed Colored Elegy
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Kagemusha
 Posts: 2783 Location: Boston |
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This baby was just released in the US direct market this past week, and if your lucky you may be able to find a copy in your local Borders. For anyone unacquainted with the title: Red Colored Elegy was a landmark in underground manga, drawn by one Seiichi Hayashi from 1970-71 when Japan was experiencing both social turmoil and the beginning of economic prosperity. While there's no specific allusions to the period I get the feeling that this is a work that's very much a snapshot of its time and place in history, which is unsurprising since it seems to be autobiographical to an extent.
The story (a term I use rather loosely) follows the tumultuous relationship of Ichiro, a struggling manga artist who is forced to slave at an animation studio to put food on the table, and his girlfriend Sachiko. Few other characters find their way into the narrative, and when they do its only to further develop the two central ones. What little narrative the work has drifts along, jumping from one vignette to another with no real drive or arc. I know that sounds pretty bizarre and I'm sure that many readers will fail to see what all the fuss is about, but the Hayashi's storytelling is truly a sight to behold, at turns confounding and sublime. The entire book reads more like a visual poem than a novel, with two-page spreads of seemingly random (perhaps symbolic?) objects or places littered throughout. The whole thing is dripping with a dreamy, slightly surreal atmosphere that just pulls you in despite the lack of a driving conflict. I'm still unsure on what I think of some of its more cryptic sequences (some of which are admittingly a little bit too bizarre) but that isn't necessarily a bad thing, as it give me an excuse to go back and read the whole thing over again. But what really impressed me is not the nuts-bolts of the storytelling but the emotional core of the work. There's a painful honesty here that all to often is lacking in relationship dramas. What causes problems for Sachiko and Ichiro isn't manufactured melodrama, but their simple inability to communicate to one another. I'd go into more detail but I think that would ruin the experience. What I will say is to pay attention to every panel. This is a manga were the wordless panels carry as much meaning as the ones with speech bubbles. I could go on, but by now you probably get the point. Like I mentioned before a good many people will see this as a "Not my cup of tea" book, but in my mind its one of the best manga I've read all year. So hopefully a few others here manage to find a copy and we can get a discussion going. |
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Moomintroll
 Posts: 1600 Location: Nottingham (UK) |
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All of the places I normally buy comics from are showing it as being not being available until the 1st of August. I will definately be buying it as soon as I can get hold of a copy though.
There's a PDF preview at D&Q's site if anybody's interested. |
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marie-antoinette
 Posts: 4136 Location: Ottawa, Canada |
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This title was mentioned in the latest issue of Shojo Beat (or the one before it...recently, at very least, because I recognize the cover) and it sounded really interesting. And I'd love to own something from D&Q, because they are such an interesting publisher (and Canadian!).
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Ningensei
 Posts: 333 Location: Seattle, WA |
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This sounds really great! I will definitely pick it up if I can find it at my local Borders or Barnes and Nobles. If I can't find it, I'll probably just buy it online then. Thanks for the recommendation, Kagemusha, you always seem to know about a lot of overlooked and obscure manga that I may never have known existed.
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croakinglizard
Posts: 14 |
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I'll be buying it eventually. Along with D&Q's new Yoshihiro Tatsumi collection, Goodbye. There's one of those new concept Borders having a grand opening this weekend, July 18-20, and they sent me a coupon for 30% off one book. Hopefully they will have either Goodbye or Red Colored Elegy.
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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Like I said here, Red Colored Elegy is a completely unique work not seen before in the English-speaking manga market. Definitely something to read, absorb and re-read again and again (which I'll inevitably do).
Definitely won't appeal to most's taste, but certainly grab it if you want something so utterly out there and beyond mere categorization. |
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Not a Jellyfish
 Posts: 539 Location: Boston, MA |
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I totally picked this up a couple weeks ago and haven't had the chance to indulge myself yet. From the few pages I flipped through and the summary on the back, it looks amazing. I would have picked it up for the mere fact that it's a D&Q manga. I only wish D&Q's stuff was more widely available, as I want to buy everything they have ever published.
 Thanks for reminding me I bought this volume, I'll check it out ASAP and leave my impressions.
EDIT: Btw, HellKorn, your av looks very familiar. What is it from? |
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HellKorn
Posts: 1669 Location: Columbus, OH |
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My avatar is from Jaka's Story, the fifth volume of Cerebus. It's Jaka as a child. |
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Mega_Me
 Posts: 3 Location: Medway, MA |
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It sounds like an incredible read, but what age would you say it's appropriate for? I've wanted to read things like Sexy Voice and Robo before, but I've always been worried about age ratings... I am currently 14, but I could probably handle things for 16 year olds.
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Highway Star
 Posts: 227 Location: Ireland |
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Don't let age ratings hold you back man, I'm only 16 but all I ever usually read is 18's manga. And I've never been asked for ID when buying those particular volumes, I don't think retailers are all that strict when it comes to graphic novels. Maybe in a comic specialist store, but not in Borders. I'm planning on getting Elegy soon as well, but I've yet to locate a copy in Ireland... |
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