Manga recommendation: Sakura Gari by Yuu Watase

[akk]

Sakura Gari
by Watase Yuu

genre tags: historical (Taisho era), yaoi(not romanticized), for mature audiences

I've come across several of Watase Yuu's earlier works, such as Ayashi no Ceres, Zettai Kareshi and, probably best known, Fushigi Yuugi. While those were entertaining and in parts almost light-hearted reads despite prevalent darker subplots in them, they were a tad too much fantasy to truly "ring my bell". Enjoyable reads, yes, but all-time favorites, certainly no.

Sakura Gari (up to vol. 2) is different. The story plays in Tokyo during the Taisho era (1912-1926) and a lot of research and detail has been given for a believable setting not only of the locations, but also of characters being believable in their time, of their surroundings, interactions, living conditions and events. In end notes of the two volumes already published, Watase-san admits that she put years of research into this story project. She hasn't delved into the BL (or the yaoi) genre before, and believe me, it shows -- in a positive way.
The story is drawn in beautiful, detailed, sometimes almost painful art without the idealizations of characters and especially behavior found in most manga with a BL component. I truly enjoyed reading the first two volumes and am eagerly waiting for the final one.

However, if you consider getting Sakura Gari, be warned: this is not a love story. It is considerably darker than Watase's previous works (though this might be a subjective feeling, because this plot grabbed me a lot more than the others), containing violence (sexual and otherwise). It is clearly geared for a mature audience and the BL component is part of a very precise historical setting that is much more than a mere backdrop of the main characters getting into each others pants.

Comments

[primera]

OMG OMG. I have been reading Sakura Gari since the first chapter came out. I got sucked in due to it... reminding me in odd vague ways of Tokyo Babylon! They're obviously completely different stories but just.. certain elements have them remind me of each other.

And I agree with you, the art is absolutely gorgeous and the historical setting is done wonderfully.

[primera]

And suddenly I'm reminded that I er kind of wanted to rec something to you! There is an anime called Mouryou no Hako which is based on a Japanese novel. In a nutshell it's a detective-murder-mystery / psychological / historical Japan / supernatural story. And with very attractive character designs done by... CLAMP!

I thought it might interest you due to the high, lengthy, precise detail it goes into about onmyoudo. This show is literally a treasure trove of information. I can't even begin to describe. And not just onmyoudo but all kinds of like.. Japanese/Chinese spiritology/mythology/folklore. All admist an insanely gripping and deep plot. I just have a feeling you would really like it, but I know that's presumptuous x) Just thought I'd mention it. The main detective character, Detective Kiba, reminds me of your detective Kono, too. And for that matter the main onmyouji character, Kyougokudou, reminds me of some kind of Seishiro/Subaru hybrid.

sorry for tl;dr, shutting up now

[brit_columbia]

It sounds very interesting! Is this something that has been translated into English, or does one have to be able to read Japanese?

[akk]

I don't know if it is licensed in English, because I read it in German, but there are English scanlations: http://www.yuuwatase.org/sakura.shtml
I can't read / understand Japanese myself. :)

[akk]

I know of Moryou no Hako up to ep 12, though I have yet to watch it in detail - lack of time (mostly), since FM is gobbling up whatever time there is. So please don't spoil the experience for me. It's one of the shows I'm looking extremely forward to spend time on.
Do you by chance know if more eps have been released or if it's complete with 12?

[brit_columbia]

Thank you! I've begun reading it and it's very good so far.

[akk]

Have fun. :)

[primera]

:x I won't say anymore about it! The show is complete at 13 episodes but the final episode has yet to be subbed. I've also only watched up to episode 12.

[akk]

*sigh* so I didn't miss it. I hope it's getting subbed, soon. :)

[killthwight.livejournal.com]

Thank you for this rec! I used to be a fan of Ayashi no Ceres and Fushigi Yuugi in my early teens, and since then I completely lost contact with what Yuu Watase was producing. This sounds really interesting, though.

[solo]

Oh, that sounds very interesting. Will check it out when I have some time! Thanks for the rec.

[akk]

There's a link to scanlations: http://www.yuuwatase.org/sakura.shtml (in case you didn't read the other comments).

[akk]

:) Ayashi and Fushigi didn't grab my imagination - but then, I've been out of my teens when reading them. Zettai Kareshi was a series I enjoyed reading, though I wished there'd been deeper looks into the ethical issues involved with creating "perfect mechanical boyfriends". There were hints, but it wasn't fully explored.

[killthwight.livejournal.com]

I was 13 or 14 when I read Fushigi and Ayashi, so at the time it made sense. Never picked up Zettai Kareshi though, when it was released I was already over my Yuu Watase fase.

Read the first chapter of Sakura Gari and I appreciate how much grittier it is than Watase's previous works. Her characters aren't as idealized either. I'll keep reading later on.

[akk]

I actually started with Zettai and then looked into Ayashi & Fushigi. Fushigi is still an "anti-depressis-read" of sorts - when I need something like and cheerful. Of course, in recent times I usually just watch a few eps of "Saiunkoku Monogatari" instead. ;)