This anthology has a little bit of everything. Vampires, angsty shoujo
stories, even surreal fantasy/sci fi. Of course, since these are mostly
beginnings, I'll have to go out and buy the other issues!
I will start with the "Rifts, A Rear Attack Special," story by Pluto. As
usual, the art is great. This is probably the most erotic art I've seen from
her so far. I like kissing, and kissing all over. Rifts has plenty of that.
She even says that "Tongues & bodies meet in the urgency in the night..."
Purrrr.
After that great sex scene, Jamie wakes up alone, asking Grant the cat boy
where Blair went. Grant, of course is not about to help Jamie in the least.
Jamie muses about a bond Grant and Blair share which makes me wonder if Jamie
is Blair's child, why don't they have a bond?
Jamie enters a room where there is a posse waiting for him. Unfortunately,
they are not mortals, but are vampyres and Jamie is up the creak for killing
one. He finds this out by Blair's anger. At first, Blair is abusive, then
realizing he never told Jamie, decides to use sex as a punishment.
Some punishment!
We find out through Blair's thoughts that he is in big trouble because of
Jamie's actions, especially since Jamie is NOT supposed to exist in the first
place! This is where Pluto shows the caste system of vampyre, and whatever
Blair made Jamie. The underworld scene reminded me of a ball, where the
royalty sniffs about the commoners.
The story ends, as a cliffhanger, with Jamie still wondering what the hell is
going on.
I like how Pluto uses the different fonts to illustrate voice, whether it's
angry, or passionate, or just a different person speaking.
"Promises," by Ashura, starts off with one of those pinky swears, where
friends swear eternal loyalty. The panel where the swing is creaking, really
provides good foreshadowing.
The next set of pictures, show that one of them is now an adult, and we see a
mike in the darkness, with what looks like poetry, speaking of "masks." Again,
foreshadowing.
As we turn the page, we see this is a song, and he is a singer. I love the
outfit, by the way. Very sexy.
We see the boy, Onyx, when he leaves the club, without his rock star drag. And
we see his loneliness.
It's quite ironic when a few moments later, after being adored in the club,
Onyx is jumped by gay bashers. And not just any gay bashers, these are his old
friend Julian's minions. When Onyx asks why, Julian says he hates gays. And
liars. Two different things.
The arc ends with Julian telling Onyx about how his father died of AIDS,
though it's not shown whether it was by transfusion or by sex. Yet, even with
his hatred, it is not Julian that is brandishing the baseball bat, or is
saying "Have fun in hell!"
It will be interesting to see what happens in the next installment. I like her
art as well as the story.
"Shorts," by Tammy Lee was a welcome break to the drama. Very pretty art. Very
funny! I suppose Paramour is a catboy or something because of the cat hairs.
Lots of cat boys!
Gaybashing is a recurring theme in this Anthology, first in "Promise," and
also in "Allboys," by Melissa Androlet. Was it really declared "obscene in
Texas!"
It's a sweet story about Tommy and Shawn. From what it looks like, the story
begins right after summer break. After a quick hug at school and discovering
that no one is home, they go to one of their houses (it is not specified) for
a little trysting. I found the art erotic, yet, sorry to repeat the word,
sweet. I don't know why this would be obscene. Except for the fact that these
are two boys, there is nothing pornographic. There is an earnest innocence
here I found charming.
The next day they meet and Tommy apologizes to Shawn about not being able to
meet him at his house in the morning. This is where I could *feel* the cloud
coming over the horizon. They have different homerooms but their P.E. classes
are at the same time so they agree to meet after school.
Shawn turns his back on Tommy for one moment to go get his money and the
gaybashers come. Someone comes and the gaybashers run away, but not before
beating the stuffing out of Tommy. It ends quite hauntingly, with Shawn
returning, innocently talking about the movies, then seeing how badly Tommy
was beaten up.
I will be completely honest about the next story by Harley Sparks and Mirrai
Wynd called "Heart of Ice." I did not understand it! The art was great, but
I've always had a problem comprehending surreal stories. I couldn't tell if
the vampires were the minority, or the majority. I did like the tone, and the
art, and my lack of comprehension should not reflect upon the authors.
Last but definitely not least, is MDBL's "Shattered." The first thing that
set this apart from the others was the mini Japanese language and cultural
lesson, perfect for someone like me who only knows minimal Japanese. I also
liked how it was created like Japanese manga, from back to front.
"Shattered" begins with the blond Toru, getting seated as the new kid in
school. Immediately, the other kids beat up on him because he is "gaijin," a
foreigner and therefore, considered a freak. I find that ironic, considering
that a lot of Japanese think American culture is cool. Shiroh feels sorry for
Toru and befriends him.
I have to commend MBDL for the way she handles such a sensitive topic as
paternal sexual abuse. Instead of coming out and showing it, she shows the
symptoms: falling grades, withdrawal, blood, etc. And she shows how Shiroh
observes what is happening to his friend. I like how it's done in pictures, or
just words without pictures, very effective.
The end, where Toru leaves and Shiroh says goodbye is tender. The kiss is not
erotic, it is romantic. A perfect end to a very emotional fic, that is
deceptively spare. And the art is superb.
The only thing I would have liked to see in this anthology would be more
humor, to offset the drama. But I wouldn't call that a complaint at all. Now,
to start saving for the other anthologies...
--reviewed by
Janette
For the past few months I've had the pleasure of reviewing some
really great doujinshis by Umbrella Studios.
It's funny because before all
of this, I really didn't think there were any circles publishing doujinshis
in English. So, before I get started, I just want to thank Umbrella Studios
for putting out some great books and for giving me the honor of reviewing
them from time to time.
One of the latest doujinshis to come out of the Umbrella camp is their
Anthology 00 featuring short stories by Pluto, Ashura, Tammy Lee, Megumi,
Sparky and Mirai, and special guest MDBL. . Upon first inspection, I was very
impressed by the slick cover art and the way the logo stood out on the front
page. The back cover was just basic black with the Umbrella logo, a list of
the stories contained within, the rating, and the price of the book. There
were a couple of details that had me confused. There was no indication on the
cover or the contents about who drew the cover picture, and on the legalese
bit, the book was titled Anthology 01 rather than Anthology 00. That page
numbering was also off on this book. In the table of contents, "All Boys" is
listed on page 43, but it actually begins on page 45.
Within the past year or so, I've become a fan of the so-called
"likeable" villains. You know, those villains like Lady Une from Gundam Wing
or Dilandau from Escaflowne. Sure they're maniacal, but there's a method to
their madness. This is how I took to Blair from Pluto's "Rifts" story. Now
when I first heard about this story, I thought it would have something to do
with one of my favorite pastimes, the Rifts role-playing game. Unfortunately,
It didn't, but I was still happy with the finished product!
"Rifts" is a story about a vampire named Blair and his human lover
Jaime. Shortly into the story we find out that Jaime is part vampire and that
Blair is keeping him human. By doing so, Blair is also keeping Jaime hidden
from a vampire council, which is very interesting because Blair appears to be
on the council. At one point in the story, Blair's home is raided and the
council takes Jaime into custody because it is illegal to keep an
unregistered vampire.
What interests me here is that Blair and Jaime are lovers. Blair may not
show it but it seems that he really does love Jaime, but his hands are tied
because of the rules and regulations of the council.
I would love to see where Pluto is taking this story. The characters and
narrative are both well thought out. The artwork for this story is excellent
and it fits the mood. I couldn't help but stare at page 23's last shot of
Blair. It reminded me of Akio Ohtori from Shoujo Kakumei Utena. The only
problem I had with the art is during some scenes, the pencils resembled
sketches rather than completed work. The inks good have been bolder which
would have given it a more finished look.
The second story that really caught my attention was MDBL's "Shattered".
The first thing that caught my eye was the way the story was printed. This
is the first English language doujinshi that I've seen printed in the
Japanese format that is from right to left.
Shattered is an angst-ridden story about two boys in high school who
develop a relationship after one of the boys goes through a lot of problems.
It's never easy being the new kid in school, and for Takahashi Toru, it's no
different. He gets into fights, his grades start slipping and he starts
missing days at school. For some reason, Seki Shiroh feels drawn to Toru and
he wants to do whatever he can to help the hurting boy, but Toru keeps
pushing him away.
We finally find out what is going on in Toru's life that is causing him
to be so withdrawn and rebellious. After an outburst in class, he goes home
where he and his mother start to pack up to move. Shiroh immediately goes to
Toru's house where he comforts him and reassures him that he will wait for
him as long as it takes.
"Shattered" was an incredibly angst filled story with a sweet ending.
The writing was fast paced and very well done. I loved the way MDBL's art
focused on the two main characters while leaving everyone else in the
background. It's like reading a Peanuts strip where the characters such as
teachers really don't play too big of a role, so not as much detail is given
to them. My only problem with the art was the usage of the pages. There was
just too much empty space that could have been used up.
All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed Anthology 00 and I've had the pleasure
of reading through it quite a few times so far. While some of the stories
only have mild shounen ai, this book is not for the kiddies because there are
some stories that have explicit yaoi. So make sure you have your ID handy
when you buy this one! See ya next time!
--reviewed by
Jason
ANTHOLOGY 00
