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katikatThe twins lent me this awesome manga in its German edition. "Ja-dou" is a masterpiece of shounen-ai manga. Though you can buy it in German only because it hasn't been published in the US yet.
"Ja-dou" is set in a fantasy land, in the empire of Heaven, and tells the story of four young men. The bad-tempered Ashray Row La Dai, the General of the South, Tiarandear Fei Gi Emeroad, the Shugo-Shuten and protector of the whole empire of Heaven, Teiou, the General of the East and Keika, a demon and Teiou's lover. Ashray, Tia and Teiou have known each other since their childhood but when they had to take on their duties, they grew apart. Especially between Ashray and Tia a deep chasm appeared and even though they love each other deeply, they can't admit their feelings to each other. But lately, more and more bloodthirsty demons appear in the empire of Heaven, threatening its citizens and the responsibility lies heavily on the shoulders of the Shugo-Shuten and instead of helping his childhood friend, Ashray hunts the demons alone, creating havoc wherever he appears to the point where his father threatens to expel him from Heaven to Earth...
This manga has a really intriguing story. All the realms of Heaven, the land of the humans and the realm of Gods... Even the demons are quite interesting and not your usual point-eared "Saiyuki" creatures. The first volume explains the story, the background and makes the readers like the characters - which is rather easy, trust me. In the second volume, the plot thickens and the volume ends with a cliffhanger that makes you want to read more. So, it's not just a pretty picture book you buy for the sake of nice drawings. This is no PWP stuff. It has angst, it has humor and it has a nice love story too.
As I said, there are two couples. The established pairing Teiou and Keika - established doesn't mean lovey-dovey though since Keika is a demon in a land where people hate demons very much - and Ashray and Tia.
The manga concentrates mostly on the hardship of Tia and Ashray getting together. Tia carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and his power springs from the intimacy he shares with others; which means that he has many lovers - a thing Ashray can't easily accept. Tia has many secrets he is not willing to share with Ashray because he fears that his friend would hate him. Ashray on the other hand is a bad-tempered red-head who is simply not willing to jump over his own shadow and talk with Tia. And so the misunderstandings between them pile up and up with no solution in sight. And the appearance of the Moon God Auslese who at first claims Ashray's virginity and then makes Tia share his bed doesn't really help either...
The highlight of this manga are the drawings by Mamiya Oki though. The pictures are amazing. Mamiya Oki's other work includes "The Demian Syndrome" (see my icon), another favorite manga of mine that should appear in Germany soon too. It's wow, simply wow. With a lot of painstaking details and background illustrations that make you simply swoon!
I will definitely buy this manga even though I have already read it borrowed from friends. Amazing, really. Five stars out of five!
"Ja-dou" is set in a fantasy land, in the empire of Heaven, and tells the story of four young men. The bad-tempered Ashray Row La Dai, the General of the South, Tiarandear Fei Gi Emeroad, the Shugo-Shuten and protector of the whole empire of Heaven, Teiou, the General of the East and Keika, a demon and Teiou's lover. Ashray, Tia and Teiou have known each other since their childhood but when they had to take on their duties, they grew apart. Especially between Ashray and Tia a deep chasm appeared and even though they love each other deeply, they can't admit their feelings to each other. But lately, more and more bloodthirsty demons appear in the empire of Heaven, threatening its citizens and the responsibility lies heavily on the shoulders of the Shugo-Shuten and instead of helping his childhood friend, Ashray hunts the demons alone, creating havoc wherever he appears to the point where his father threatens to expel him from Heaven to Earth...
This manga has a really intriguing story. All the realms of Heaven, the land of the humans and the realm of Gods... Even the demons are quite interesting and not your usual point-eared "Saiyuki" creatures. The first volume explains the story, the background and makes the readers like the characters - which is rather easy, trust me. In the second volume, the plot thickens and the volume ends with a cliffhanger that makes you want to read more. So, it's not just a pretty picture book you buy for the sake of nice drawings. This is no PWP stuff. It has angst, it has humor and it has a nice love story too.
As I said, there are two couples. The established pairing Teiou and Keika - established doesn't mean lovey-dovey though since Keika is a demon in a land where people hate demons very much - and Ashray and Tia.
The manga concentrates mostly on the hardship of Tia and Ashray getting together. Tia carries the weight of the world on his shoulders and his power springs from the intimacy he shares with others; which means that he has many lovers - a thing Ashray can't easily accept. Tia has many secrets he is not willing to share with Ashray because he fears that his friend would hate him. Ashray on the other hand is a bad-tempered red-head who is simply not willing to jump over his own shadow and talk with Tia. And so the misunderstandings between them pile up and up with no solution in sight. And the appearance of the Moon God Auslese who at first claims Ashray's virginity and then makes Tia share his bed doesn't really help either...
The highlight of this manga are the drawings by Mamiya Oki though. The pictures are amazing. Mamiya Oki's other work includes "The Demian Syndrome" (see my icon), another favorite manga of mine that should appear in Germany soon too. It's wow, simply wow. With a lot of painstaking details and background illustrations that make you simply swoon!
I will definitely buy this manga even though I have already read it borrowed from friends. Amazing, really. Five stars out of five!
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Date: 2006-10-28 10:36 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-05 03:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-11-05 06:09 pm (UTC)I have no idea if Ja-dou is going to be published in English. I wouldn't be surprised though. There's so much Yaoi and Shonen ai stuff already on the (English) market and Mamiya Oki is pretty well known so it would be kind of strange if no one snatched the title.