Songs of Self Abuse
I can't sleep.
I spent an hour or so reading random BL manga.
Then I started reading Renaissance Yoshida's Songs of Self Abuse (or Akane Shinchi Hanaya Sange). And I couldn't stop. I barely even know how to feel about this one. I am at a loss or bereft and stunned by something profound and all I know is that I just read something ugly and beautiful. Has anyone else read it? I don't know how to describe it, I probably need to sleep and then re-read it before posting about it but I want to talk about it now. The art style is non-standard (there are so many lines and everyone looks thin to the point of being emaciated) and the content is both disturbing and explicit and there's SO MUCH TEXT.
It's about as far away as possible from mainstream BL in execution (yet fascinatingly it still contains facets and tropes that feel so real and seamless in their inclusion that you barely catch them). Can I say it feels LITERARY? BECAUSE IT REALLY DOES. AND SO ROUGH AND CRUDE AND INTENSE.
"Three delusional high school boys weave an intricate tale as they search for the meaning of life, love, and everything in between." (Manga Updates)
FUKAZAWA BREAKS MY HEART.
SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO SAD AND SO DAMAGED.
I didn't really capture the depravity of some of the scenes (there is a LOT of explicit content), but it definitely makes for a disturbing read.
For artistic value alone I probably should have posted samples from the raw. I am thrilled it has been scanlated and would most likely never have found it otherwise, but from the standpoint of aesthetics alone it looks gorgeous with the original Japanese characters instead of translated text. It's the kind of book you could stare at for hours. It's definitely not for everyone; I didn't post any of the text-heavy segments here, but there are a fair few of those, some of which are conversations and others internal monologue and others still quotations (LACAN IN MY BL MANGA I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE THE DAY--). The style can be quite experiemntal; some pages are very busy with text and background detail and multiple characters and others are sparse in comparison. There are huge paragrpahs of text at various points. I think it's pretty evident, but this manga is also extremely explicit (there are heterosexual and gay sex scenes illustrated in full detail), and it features some disturbing sexual situations.
It has some heavy themes (prostitution, child abuse, incest, abusive relationships, dubcon at best in a couple of instances) and it has an often oppressive feel present even with the more slice of life segments, but I wouldn't say it feels devoid of hope. I did find it depressing, but never melodramatic.
I hope the second volume (which seems to feature some of the same characters and might be a continuation) is also going to be scanlated at some point, but right now I am mainly pleased to see this one covered, especially as it must have been far from an easy project to work on. I doubt this is ever going to get licensed for an English language release, sadly.
I spent an hour or so reading random BL manga.
Then I started reading Renaissance Yoshida's Songs of Self Abuse (or Akane Shinchi Hanaya Sange). And I couldn't stop. I barely even know how to feel about this one. I am at a loss or bereft and stunned by something profound and all I know is that I just read something ugly and beautiful. Has anyone else read it? I don't know how to describe it, I probably need to sleep and then re-read it before posting about it but I want to talk about it now. The art style is non-standard (there are so many lines and everyone looks thin to the point of being emaciated) and the content is both disturbing and explicit and there's SO MUCH TEXT.
It's about as far away as possible from mainstream BL in execution (yet fascinatingly it still contains facets and tropes that feel so real and seamless in their inclusion that you barely catch them). Can I say it feels LITERARY? BECAUSE IT REALLY DOES. AND SO ROUGH AND CRUDE AND INTENSE.
"Three delusional high school boys weave an intricate tale as they search for the meaning of life, love, and everything in between." (Manga Updates)
FUKAZAWA BREAKS MY HEART.
SO BEAUTIFUL AND SO SAD AND SO DAMAGED.
I didn't really capture the depravity of some of the scenes (there is a LOT of explicit content), but it definitely makes for a disturbing read.
For artistic value alone I probably should have posted samples from the raw. I am thrilled it has been scanlated and would most likely never have found it otherwise, but from the standpoint of aesthetics alone it looks gorgeous with the original Japanese characters instead of translated text. It's the kind of book you could stare at for hours. It's definitely not for everyone; I didn't post any of the text-heavy segments here, but there are a fair few of those, some of which are conversations and others internal monologue and others still quotations (LACAN IN MY BL MANGA I NEVER THOUGHT I'D SEE THE DAY--). The style can be quite experiemntal; some pages are very busy with text and background detail and multiple characters and others are sparse in comparison. There are huge paragrpahs of text at various points. I think it's pretty evident, but this manga is also extremely explicit (there are heterosexual and gay sex scenes illustrated in full detail), and it features some disturbing sexual situations.
It has some heavy themes (prostitution, child abuse, incest, abusive relationships, dubcon at best in a couple of instances) and it has an often oppressive feel present even with the more slice of life segments, but I wouldn't say it feels devoid of hope. I did find it depressing, but never melodramatic.
I hope the second volume (which seems to feature some of the same characters and might be a continuation) is also going to be scanlated at some point, but right now I am mainly pleased to see this one covered, especially as it must have been far from an easy project to work on. I doubt this is ever going to get licensed for an English language release, sadly.