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REVIEW: Requiem of the Rose King (GN 4)




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Lemonchest



Joined: 18 Mar 2015
Posts: 1771
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2016 4:04 pm Reply with quote
Not gonna lie, that cover art has "nope" written all over it.
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rinmackie



Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 1040
Location: in a van! down by the river!
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2016 6:17 pm Reply with quote
Lemonchest wrote:
Not gonna lie, that cover art has "nope" written all over it.


Not sure what you're getting at with the "nope". But if you're thinking something along the longs of gay bondage, you'd be mistaken. As someone who's actually read the volume, I can tell you it's spoiler[King Edward whose been captured and tied up].
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whiskeyii



Joined: 29 May 2013
Posts: 2273
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2016 7:21 pm Reply with quote
Ha, and here I would've bet money that the target audience would've found that cover to be at least a little enticing. Beautiful men at your disposal? Yes, please! Anime hyper

I'll be honest, I'm mostly following the reviews rather than the series because I am woefully unfamiliar with both Richard III and the actual history behind it. But the introduction (reveal?) of an intersex character is certainly interesting, and I liked Aya Kanno's treatment of gender roles in Otomen--mostly, anyways. I'm still not sure how I feel about Volume 1's opening being played for laughs.

So, fingers crossed for a graceful landing, I guess. ^^;
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rinmackie



Joined: 05 Aug 2006
Posts: 1040
Location: in a van! down by the river!
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2016 8:59 pm Reply with quote
Well yes, there's lot's of sexy men, but so far not much in the way of man-on-man action, just lots of innuendo and teasing. I'm not really that familiar with Shakespeare and English history but I'm enjoying it nonetheless. Though it can get a little confusing at times.
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SHD



Joined: 05 Apr 2015
Posts: 1759
PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 2:31 am Reply with quote
whiskeyii wrote:
I'll be honest, I'm mostly following the reviews rather than the series because I am woefully unfamiliar with both Richard III and the actual history behind it. But the introduction (reveal?) of an intersex character is certainly interesting, and I liked Aya Kanno's treatment of gender roles in Otomen--mostly, anyways. I'm still not sure how I feel about Volume 1's opening being played for laughs.

You don't need to know anything about Shakespeare or even history to enjoy the manga. For one it's not supposed to be historically accurate (or faithful to Shakespeare - it's not a Shakespeare adaptation, just "inspired by"), and two, it's not like the average Japanese reader knows any more so Kanno makes sure that everything is well explained and easy to follow.

I've been enjoying this manga immensely - I think it's a really good story with good characters, and interesting themes. (I don't think it should be, or is even supposed to be, taken very seriously as an examination of gender issues, though.)
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Princess_Irene
ANN Associate Editor


Joined: 16 Dec 2008
Posts: 2659
Location: The castle beyond the Goblin City
PostPosted: Thu Jun 02, 2016 7:50 am Reply with quote
SHD wrote:
I don't think it should be, or is even supposed to be, taken very seriously as an examination of gender issues, though.


I'm not sure about that - this is an excerpt from an interview with Kanno I did (for ANN):

Quote:
Both Requiem of the Rose King and Otomen deal with gender identity. Is that a topic that interests you?

I am strongly skeptical and opposed to the general definition of ordinary morals that provided. Gender identity is one of those.


She also remarked that she thought that Otomen absolutely had serious points to make about gender identity so I tend to think that she's heavily invested in the topic.

On the other hand, I'm beginning to think not being familiar with history or the plays might be a plus for readers - I think I might spend a lot of time trying to place events and characters that I really don't need to be spending. Confused
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