Forum - View topicREVIEW: Otomen GN 1
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Dragynstorm
 Posts: 131 |
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For a generally good review, it has some really rough points in it.
Isn't saying "the manga's story intentionally reproduces the very clichés it parodies" like saying something along the lines of "It is bad that this artist intentionally made the art bad." I don't know, it just seems strange. But huzzah for some Otomen love! It's a fun series. |
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Pandy Wandy
 Posts: 20 Location: Richmond, VA |
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I though that Otomen was derived from "otome" and "ikemen." The English word for "men" did cross my mind, but I felt my first assumption seemed more reasonable.
Nevertheless, I have been eagerly anticipating Aya Kanno's Otomen long before Viz licensed this series. I excitedly purchased Soul Rescue and Blank Slate, but was let down with both of those two-volume releases. However, I still maintain high hopes for Otomen and am relieved that is well beyond two volumes in Japan. I take the series as a spoof on typical romantic shojo school love stories. The characters are well-drawn, but the story developments are a little cliche. I like where Otomen is going, so I'll hang on until the end. Oh yeah, Viz designed the front and back cover so cutely. The designer in me admires it lovingly. |
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rinmackie
 Posts: 1040 Location: in a van! down by the river! |
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I saw this in Shojo Beat and the story seemed interesting, though I'm not sure I'll be getting into it. As for the title, I think a better English translation would be "girly man". Also, I personally don't see how it's cliche; it seemed like a unique take on male/female stereotypes. In most American chic lit, "girly men" are usually revealed to be gay whereas straight guys are so masculine, it's like they're allergic to anything even remotely feminine.
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minakichan
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OH MY GOD I freaking love Otomen.
Yes, it's a bucketload of crap, but that crap happens to have sparkly pink roses growing out of it, so it's very fragrant crap. The review was totally fair in its criticism, but who cares? *spoons crap into mouth* |
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konkonsn
 Posts: 172 Location: Illinois |
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I didn't take Jun's rejection of the other girls this way. There are a lot of shoujo series that have the "perfect woman," but even in harem shows, she's a rare creature...usually the only one of her kind to exist in the world. And that's how I felt Asuka's character was portrayed. He's the once-in-a-lifetime ideal woman that every Japanese man dreams to find (note that I don't mean this seriously); and it's humorous because he's not a woman. Though, I'll admit to being offended at what's implied by the concept that he - a man who loves to cook, sew, and clean - is the ideal woman. I can't tell if that's another in-joke in this series because while everyone talks about how ideal Asuka is, the girl he loves is very much not ideal. Yet he loves her all the same. As I've said in another thread, I agree that this series doesn't deserve much praise for it's poke at shoujo series. Like Ouran, it only takes the humor at a surface level. It makes fun of shoujo, but it is very much still everything it pokes fun at instead of rising above it. I hope later volumes prove otherwise. |
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lys
Encyclopedia Editor
 Posts: 1017 Location: mitten-state |
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Hmm. I never thought about it being related to ikemen. It's true Asuka is pretty good looking, but he's characterized as a manly-man (strength, attitude, etc) with girly interests, so the good-looks part doesn't really come into it as much as the otome/maiden and men/man meanings. I so agree about the cover design though!! I was super excited to see Viz branching out a bit with their Shojo Beat manga designs :D It fits this series perfectly. As a fan of silly fluffy shoujo comedy and manga that makes fun of itself, this series is perfect to me. And as a lover of girly-girly cute stuff, I'm thrilled to have so much cute to feast my eyes on with every page! |
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PingSoni
 Subscriber Posts: 195 Location: Lansing MI |
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'Transsexual' is an adjective, not a noun. Thank you.
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R.G.
Posts: 687 |
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Man,I can hardly wait for Otomen to become an anime!
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asura_wings
Posts: 31 |
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Asuka reminds me of Kurogane in Tsubasa.
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strauss
Posts: 1 |
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Even though the main character always has this stoic look on his face, I can't stop reading, probably because the topic's unusual and treated quite lightly, in a way.
I've met a few guys with girly habits, most of them are straight and tend to behave like girls. One of them is also married, with children. It shows having girly habits doesn't necessarily affect your sexual orientation, but that's obvious. |
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